Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
The New York Giants hosted division rival the Washington Football Team (formerly Redskins) at MetLife Stadium looking to avoid a 0-6 start for the first time since 2013. Washington, under new head coach Ron Rivera came in with a 1-4 record losing their last 4 games after their season opening win against Philadelphia. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was making his 18 start after taking over for Eli Manning last year (3 and 14) as 2 of those wins came against Washington who looked to get on the board the very first time they touched the ball. After Kyle Allen moved them down to the Giants 29 yard line in 12 plays, D Hopkins could not convert the 47 yard field goal.
Jones and the offense took advantage of the miscue and were poised to get in the end zone first. Down on the 11 yard line, Jones would get sacked on third down and had to settle for a Graham Gano 33 yard field goal. New York extended the lead to 10-0 after Allen gets picked off by James Bradbury IV, his second int of the year. 3 plays later, Jones finds Darius Slayton for the 23 yard touchdown pass. It was Jones’ first touchdown pass in 145 attempts, the longest in Giants history.
Both teams would trade field goals before halftime as Big Blue took a 3 point (13-10) lead. New York only touched the ball two times in the third quarter failing to put any points on the board. Washington tied the game after Jones kept his turnover streak intact. Getting all the way down to the Washington 11, Jones looked for Slayton, gets pressured and throws a pass off his back foot. Kendall Fuller diving and coming up with the ball before going out of bounds. Said Jones of his latest miscue, “I was just trying to throw the ball away and didn’t get enough on it, out the back of the end zone,” Jones said. “I’ve got to make that decision sooner and get the ball out.” 14 plays and 55 yards later the game was tied after a Hopkins 28 yard field goal.
Looking to atone for his earlier pick, Allen, from the shotgun on his own 45 gets sacked by Kyler Fackrell. The ball is recovered by Tae Crowder who rumbles 45 yards for the go ahead score. Said Crowder, “I was just in the right place at the right time, just trying to make a play for my team.”
Things would get very interesting the next time Allen and Washington got the ball. With 2:53 left in the game, Allen begins the drive from his own 20. 80 yards and 8 completed, Allen finds C Simms for the 22 yard touchdown getting them within 1 points (20-19). Instead of kicking the extra point to tie the game and send into overtime, Rivera (they don’t call him “Riverboat Rivera” for nothing) elects to go for the two point conversion to win the game. It backfires as the Giants defense smothered the Washington receivers forcing Allen to throw an incomplete pass. Rivera addressed the media after to explain his decision. “I’m going for it. The intent is to learn how to win football games. That’s a part of my philosophy. The only way to learn to win is to play to win, and that’s what I want those guys to understand, that’s the mentality.”
So, the New York Giants are finally in the win column thanks to a shaky decision by Rivera. This Sunday, they travel down I95 to play another division foe in the Philadelphia Eagles who lost a close game (30-28) to the Baltimore Ravens. The Dallas Cowboys got mauled Monday night at home to the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 dropping their record to 2-4. If the Giants take out the Eagles and Washington can come away with a win against Dallas, the Giants would be only one game out of first place. This, after starting the year losing their first 5 games of 2020. Such is the current state of the mild, mild NFC east.
