The New York Giants could not take care of business on Thursday Night Football. New York lost a 24-21 nailbiter against Washington in a game that was back and forth until the closing minutes. The Giants gave their fans a lot to be excited about, but they couldn't play a complete 60 minutes in Week 10.
Giants head coach John Harbaugh admitted that his team blew the game after the final whistle. That said, he's still hopeful that New York can turn their season around.
“It’s a missed opportunity, certainly, but it doesn’t change things for us,” Harbaugh said after the game, per the Associated Press. “There is still a lot of football to play. We played well — just not well enough. We worked hard for this, but you can’t let it bring you down. This was one that got away.”
So what exactly went wrong for New York this time? And should fans be worried that the Giants are actually pretenders?
These are the Giants most to blame for Thursday's devastating divisional loss against the Commanders.
The Giants need to be more efficient on third downs, and it starts with J.J. McCarthy
The Giants could have easily taken over this game if they could just move the chains.
New York went a pitiful 4-of-12 on third-down conversions. That ridiculous level of inconsistency forced the Giants into five punts and cost them in the fourth quarter when they desperately needed to convert. McCarthy played a big part here because the Giants threw the ball eight times on third downs.
On balance, McCarthy actually had a pretty good game after finishing 23-of-36 for 293 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also added 34 rushing yards on the ground.
One area where McCarthy struggled mightily was against the blitz. Yes, practically any NFL quarterback will not play well under pressure so this shouldn't be a huge surprise. But fans have a right to be concerned with how easily Washington crushed their offense by simply sending the house at the end of the game.
Hopefully McCarthy plays better next week against the Jaguars.
New York did not play complementary football in the fourth quarter
There is plenty of blame to assign on both sides of the ball during the fourth quarter of this one.
Weirdly, both sides of the ball made some incredible plays in the closing minutes of this game. However, they each also made some brutal mistakes that completely destroyed their chances of success.
The offense had their moments, most notably the 66-yard go-ahead touchdown pass from McCarthy to Isaiah Likely. That score put New York out in front and push them incredibly close to taking over the game.
New York gained multiple opportunities to capitalize on that lead, but they couldn't get it done. Jevon Holland and Ar'Darius Washington each picked off Jayden Daniels in the final six minutes of the contest. But the Giants were unable to successfully milk the clock or punch in a decisive score to put this one away.
Then it was the defense's time to fold. They allowed Washington to march down the field and take the lead, leaving New York with less than a minute left and three time outs.
The Giants failed to get themselves into field goal range and the game ended on a McCarthy arm punt intended to Malik Nabers.
New York was given every opportunity to decisively win this game late, but they let those opportunities slip away.
Dominic Zvada missed yet another kick on TNF
Special teams woes continue to haunt the Giants.
Rookie kicker Dominic Zvada missed yet another kick on Thursday Night Football, his sixth of the season. Zvada missed a 33-yard attempt early in the game that didn't seem like a big deal at the time. But when you lose by three points, that mistakes becomes magnified.
Harbaugh is still confident in Zvada and won't make a change at kicker just yet. Even so, the Giants cannot afford for the rookie to make any addition errors this season.
“Yeah, we're confident,” Harbaugh told reporters after the game. “You know, you can't, as soon as a guy doesn't make a play, I mean, start firing people left and right. Especially your kicker who's a rookie. So I'm confident that he's gonna become a good kicker. … We're just not gonna knee-jerk it like that. He's gonna make kicks. He's gonna make a lot of kicks, I believe in him.”
Zvada's miss early in this game may have even influenced New York's decisions in crunch time. After failing to convert on third down in the fourth quarter, the Giants had the opportunity to attempt a long field goal. Instead, the Giants punted the ball a measly 12 yards. Ultimately, the Commanders took that opportunity and drove the length of the field, punching in a game-winning touchdown with Stefon Diggs.
The Giants better clean up their kicking game in a hurry if they want to make any noise during the playoffs this winter.