Skip to main content

Giants Extremely Lucky to Still Have Shot at Playoffs

 GIANTS 23 - COWBOYS 19 

Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. And in the case of the 2020 New York Giants that may indeed be the case. Thanks to a horrible decision by Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy for not challenging was a clear trap on the part of Giants wide receiver Dante Pettis, on a 10-yard "completion" at the Dallas 32-yard line, the Cowboys lost out on a shot at winning the NFC East -- pending a Washington loss tonight. 

McCarthy decided not to challenge the play, the completion stood, and Graham Gano converted on a 50-yard field goal to give Big Blue a 23-19 lead with 6:27 to go. Had McCarthy challenged, the Giants would have been out of field goal range. Perhaps punted. Perhaps Dallas gets the ball back down 20-19, needing only a field goal to win it 22-20. But that never happened. 

Instead, Andy Dalton and his blood soaked hand couldn't get Dallas over the finish line. The Cowboys pushed the Giants right to the bring though. Dalton moved Dallas all the way to the Giants 17-yard line before tossing a game killing interception in the end zone on a pass intended for Dalton Schultz that was picked by Xavier McKinney.

But things would only get weirder. 

A fumble by Wayne Gallman on second and five, was initially ruled a recovery by Dallas, but the heads lineman called it a Giants recovery. Review later showed that Gallman not only fell on the ball -- literary - with his rear end, but recovered the loose football on the bottom of the pile. Ball game. 

Quarterback Daniel Jones finished 17-of-29 for 229 yards, two scores and an interception. His 33-yard touchdown to Pettis in the second quarter, where Pettis bobbled the football before rolling into the end zone gave New York an seemingly insurmountable 20-6 advantage. 

Unfortunately, the Giants offense disappeared in the second half, earning only six first downs in the entire half. Evan Engram proved to be a huge culprit as well, getting called for a huge holding call that cost the Giants a first down. In short it was amazing the Giants escaped a near choke job in the final week of the season. 

Now the Giants have to hope and pray that the Eagles - of all teams - beat the Washington Football Team on Sunday night. If that happens, the Giants win the division at 6-10. If Washington wins, the Football Team will win the East at 7-9. 

Future schedule: Well, if the Giants win the NFC East Sunday night, they will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next weekend in the wild card round. 

Beyond that the Giants 2021 opponents are as follows: Home: Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, Carolina, Atlanta, Arizona or LA Rams or Seattle, Las Vegas, and Denver. 

Road: Dallas, Washington, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Kansas City, LA Chargers. 

The 2021 season will also introduce the 17th game, and as it stands right now, the NFC East will face an AFC East opponent next year for the 17th game. The Giants will face the Miami Dolphins as a result, since both teams wound up no worse than second place. If the Giants win the NFC East, that opponent will instead be the Buffalo Bills.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...
8 comments
Read more

Is Aaron Glenn in Danger of Getting Fired?

 According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio there is a "chance"   that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn could be fired at seasons end.  While Florio doesn't site any sources, the rumor has caught fire the last two days. The question is would it make sense? Let's examine this for a second?  Why it Makes Sense:  Glenn has not been great in his first year as Head Coach of this team. The talent has taken a major step backwards, granted two of those talented players were traded away in Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas.  The decision he and GM Darren Mougey made to give Justin Fields a two year deal proved to be a horrible mistake, and Glenn stuck with Fields for far too long before pulling the plug following the Jets loss to the Patriots on a Thursday night in mid November.  Glenn gave now former Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks too much power to run the defense, and the players couldn't stand Wilks. Reports indicated this week af...
Post a Comment
Read more

Same Ol' Jets! Gang Green Dropped by Ravens

 RAVENS 24 - JETS 9  In short the opener to the 2022 season for the New York Jets was a complete and utter disaster.  A team that came into the season with the promise of better days ahead, a team that had taken on so many kudos in the off-season for what so many in the media had claimed was an impeccable off-season and draft, came out flat as a pancake when it mattered the most.  If this was a debut of what is to come for the Jets in 2022, you better start preparing your 2023 draft boards.  Sunday's 24-9 loss wasn't just a defeat at the hands of a better team, it was a total indictment of the Jets current predicament.  The Jets offensive line, which has been battered and beaten this summer with the losses of Meckhi Becton and Duane Brown looked like a sieve on Sunday. Joe Flacco, who is not exactly fleet of foot, was under siege all afternoon. The fact he came out of Sunday's game having been sacked only three times was a miracle in itself.  George Fa...
Post a Comment
Read more