Giants-Commanders Week 13: By the Numbers
For the first time since 1997, there was an eerie feeling inside the New York Giants locker room after their Week 13 divisional bout with the Washington Commanders.
No, the team had not lost another game in a recent stretch of insufficient football. They did not watch their hearts get ripped out by another walk-off field goal attempt from the enemy. The exact opposite occurred at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, leading to a result nobody on either side expected.
Welcoming the rival Commanders for a contest with important divisional and playoff implications, the Giants and their opponent left feeling puzzled and somewhat empty as an overtime nailbiter yielded no additional scoring and forced the game into a tie, 20-20.
Despite an incredible passing performance by quarterback Daniel Jones—who went 25/31 for 200 yards and a touchdown—and having 134 yards on the ground, the Giants could not hold onto their 20-13 lead in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Washington took things to overtime with a late touchdown by Jahan Dotson, where they and New York received multiple chances to put the adversary to rest.
The Giants' final opportunity to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat came with five seconds left in the overtime period. After a few untimely mistakes on critical plays to set up the attempt, the match was placed into the hands—or legs—of reliable kicker Graham Gano to secure a 58-yard field goal. Even with no wind in his path and a 63-yard career long to his name, Gano’s shot sunk just short of the lower post, and Big Blue would leave with an unceremonious tie in the record books.
While the outcome didn’t notch a third consecutive defeat into the Giants now 7-4-1 record, the communal energy inside the locker room showed the team processing the game as if it ended in another excruciating loss. “Not good enough” and “disappointing” were the first buzzwords for the distasteful December afternoon.
"I don't know what a tie is. That's just my mentality. I want to win,” said linebacker Jihad Ward after the game.
Before their rematch scheduled in two weeks at FedEx Field, the Giants will have to work quickly to shift off their melancholy outing and prepare for an even tougher matchup with the No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday. As the playoff picture gets tighter by the week, each contest will hold greater significance if the Giants want to punch their first postseason ticket in six seasons.
It’s going to be a challenging yet revealing week two weeks for the overachieving Giants organization, but until then, let’s digest the numbers and playmakers that mattered to the uncommon outcome on Sunday.
Daniel Jones’s Nearly Perfect Half
Daniel Jones had arguably his cleanest half of NFL football in the first two frames against Washington.
The quarterback’s afternoon got off to a rough start when he fumbled the pigskin three plays into the Giants’ opening drive, leading to an early Commanders’ field goal. Yet after that mishap, New York didn’t see a single dropped pass from their No. 6 overall pick until the final seconds of the second quarter.
Leading the charge after New York quickly fell 10-0 in the first quarter, Jones commanded the offense through three consecutive drives of at least five plays and 45 yards, each finishing with points on the scoreboard. He started a combined 10/10 for 97 yards in those possessions and connected with five receivers. He also added 56 yards on the ground in eight carries.
The 25-year-old’s lone incompletion would come in the waning seconds of the first half, and it was completely intentional. Looking to position his kicker for a chip shot to tie the contest at 13-13, Jones spiked the football at the Washington 9-yard line to end his impressive streak of passes. The sacrifice worked out in the Giants' favor, a successful 27-yard field goal try to even things at halftime.
Speaking about the effort was a mixed bag for Jones, who expressed remorse that it didn’t fuel a more fruitful second half and overtime for his disappointed Giants team.
“We dug a hole for ourselves to start the game going down 10, so that was tough,” Jones said after the game. “I thought we finished the first half strong, clawing back and tying it up.”
“Started the second half well but didn’t do enough down the stretch. We had plenty of opportunities and didn’t convert on them.”
Out of the three first-half scoring drives for Jones and company, the most opportunistic came on the Giants second possession. Beginning at their 19-yard line, Jones took the offense 81 yards in five plays, including a phenomenal linkup with receiver Darius Slayton for 55 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Four plays later, running back Saquon Barkley would pound the rock up the middle for 13 yards and a touchdown to even the affair at 10-10 in the second quarter.
The remainder of Jones’ performance would be fairly crisp, completing a combined 15/20 passing attempts for 103 yards and a touchdown in the second half and overtime. Neither period would touch his dazzling first half, which would help him finish 25/31 for 200 yards and his third-best day in the last five games.
In the end, however, it appears all that effort will become just an asterisk to the quarterback's 2022 resume. That is because nothing matters for Jones and New York if it doesn’t result in a win.
Slayton Tops Receiving Again
It’s been re-emerging for weeks now: the special connection between Daniel Jones and wide receiver Darius Slayton.
Once the former’s favorite pass target during their respective 2019 rookie campaigns, Slayton was a player on the fringe of missing the Giants’ roster during training camp. Amid a lack of competition and impending injuries at the wide receiver position, he earned a spot on the 2022 team and has since taken back the throne atop New York’s pass-catching corps.
With the absence of production from Kenny Golladay and losses of Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson to ACL injuries, Slayton has risen to become the Giants lead player in the passing attack. In twelve games, he holds a team-high 33 completions for 556 yards and two touchdowns, the third-best start of his career. The last five contests for the former fifth-round pick include at least five receptions and 63 yards receiving, a trend that didn’t stop on Sunday.
Against a pesky Washington pass defense, Jones found his fellow 25-year-old receiver six times on eight targets for 90 yards, netting an average of 15 yards per catch to lead all Giants receivers. That line marked the fourth time in the last five weeks that Slayton has led the team in receiving production, and the trend has helped him smash his total output from 2021.
Most of Slayton’s production against the Commanders came in the first half when he tallied two receptions for 63 yards to power Jones’ stellar passing display. However, what would excite the MetLife Stadium crowd came on the penultimate possession for New York when Slayton hauled down a massive 55-yard reception to set the Giants in scoring range with 10:48 remaining in the second frame.
Returning in the second half, the Giants tried to keep Washington on their heels with Slayton’s deep-threat accuracy, but the two sides couldn’t find a match in the third level. While he would earn four more receptions for 27 yards in the final 30 minutes, Jones failed to find Slayton on back-to-back deep balls that would have put the offense in field-goal range at the end of the fourth quarter.
Instead, the Giants offense stalled at their 25-yard line, punted, and were forced to brace for a disappointing overtime period. For Slayton and his team, the missed opportunity came down to simple receiver fundamentals of holding onto the big play.
“Yes, it’s a little bit of a different angle when you’re going up that seam. I had it, and I just have to find a way to bring it in on the way to the ground,” the receiver said after the game.
“It’s a football play,” added head coach Brian Daboll. “Bounced out of his hands. We had a levels play there called, and coverage kind of broke. We had a chance on it; we just didn’t connect on it.”
Still, for a fourth-year receiver that wasn’t guaranteed a roster spot three months ago, one has to respect the heroic contributions Slayton has brought to a woeful Giants receiving room over the last several weeks. The position will continue to be a lingering concern until the end, but as long as the Auburn product’s reliable hands are in the huddle, New York should be able to make some flashy plays in their aerial attack.
Giants Defense Clamps Down in Second Half
On Sunday, the Giants finally got back a slew of talented performers in advance of the most important stretch of their 2022 season. For the defense, the returns were highlighted by outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who, with the rest of the unit, gave Washington all the trouble it could handle.
In one of their more dominant performances of the past month, the Giants defense allowed Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke to complete 27 of his 41 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Yet it came at a hefty price for the Commanders offense, the cost being 87 total tackles, including five sacks, ten quarterback hits, three forced fumbles, and two subsequent recoveries.
The leader on the Giants’ defensive scoreboard was safety Julian Love who accumulated 12 total tackles and a tackle for loss. However, the biggest contributions stretched beyond his afternoon, with reinforcements made by a trio of Dexter Lawrence, Kayton Thibodeaux, and Ojulari.
Lawrence, who stands second on the Giants defense in tackles (54) and leads the team in sacks (6), made his payday terrorizing the Washington backfield in the second half. Along with notching nine tackles, including one for a loss, the former 2019 draft pick had one sack for six yards and two quarterback hits to slow down the late-game passing prowess of Heinicke.
The Clemson alum’s newest sack came with 10:53 left in the fourth quarter, with the Commanders trailing 20-13 and approaching field goal range. At the Giants’ 28, Heinicke stepped back to pass but was sent back six yards by the pass-rushing wrath of Lawrence and sacked for the fourth time in the afternoon. Losing ground would cost Washington points, as the ensuing field goal try from 34 yards out would miss wide right.
Lawrence now ranks among the top 32 defensive linemen for total sacks this season, but the stuff party didn’t stop with him. His teammate in defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux would join during overtime with the Commanders squeezed near their endzone. On the first play of their second possession, the Giants 2022-first round pick sent Heinicke back eight yards for his second career sack that landed dangerously close to a game-winning safety.
Thibodeaux’s efforts would hold the Commanders to a three-and-out drive and allow the Giants to earn one more possession before time expired on the contest. He finished with five tackles and his first sack since Week 6 and holds a total of 16 tackles on his rookie campaign.
Among the three, Ojulari had the best “welcome back” outing. Following his stint on IR with a calf injury suffered in October, the Giants’ 2021 second-round pick returned and throttled the Washington backfield with one sack, two quarterback hits, and a forced fumble that set the Giants up for a go-ahead score in the third quarter.
On the third play of the Commanders’ opening possession, Ojulari pressured the backfield and sacked Heinicke for a loss of eight yards, forcing the football out in the process. After a handful of bobbles trying to possess the ball, Ojulari would fall on his forced turnover to give New York the football at the Washington 25-yard line.
Five plays and 20 yards later, Ojulari’s efforts were capped off by a Daniel Jones touchdown pass to receiver Isaiah Hodgins, a six-yard play that put the Giants ahead 20-13 at the top of the third quarter.
For another week, the Giants had to rely heavily on their stout defense to remain in range of a close victory. This time the victory, nor the loss, did not come, but with the draw comes even more pressure for the offense to settle the favors if they want to win down the stretch.
Two Missed Kicks
As much as any other factor in Sunday’s game, it was a duo of missed kicks by the Giants and Commanders that left a final, indelible mark on the distasteful draw that followed both teams out of MetLife Stadium.
Entering Week 13, the Giants had no reason to be concerned about their special teams unit headlined by veteran kicker Graham Gano. The 13-year stalwart has been the most reliable scoring threat on the roster, converting 88% of his field goal tries, including 8 of 9 from 30 or more yards. Before kickoff, he was a perfect 5-5 from the 50-yard range, something he’s nearly mastered in the last three seasons.
Likewise, the Commanders were returning with Joey Slye, a fourth-year boot out of Virginia Tech. Gano, the team’s leading scorer through 12 games, had converted 87% of his field goal attempts, including 6 of 8 from 40 yards deep and a perfect 3 of 3 from the 50-yard line or deeper. Slye’s kicking background may be murkier than Gano’s, but he’s still been able to serve as a strong source of points on Washington’s side of the scoreboard.
However, both kickers would see their reliability tested in Sunday's divisional bout. Ultimately, their miscues would open the door to the fifth all-time tie between the two franchises.
Slye’s miss would come first during the Commanders’ third offensive possession of the third quarter. Quarterback Taylor Heinicke led the Washington unit 12 plays, and 46 yards downfield to the Giants’ 25-yard line, assisted by the rushing efforts of Brian Robinson Jr. A offensive holding call and sack by Dexter Lawrence pushed the team back to the New York 34, setting up Slye for a tough 52-yard attempt.
With no wind in his face and pressure to succumb to, Slye blasted the attempt through the air, and it went wide right into the back end netting, resulting in a fruitless drive for the Commanders’ offense. The score remained 20-13 in favor of the Giants, a reality allowing overtime later in the contest.
The overtime period was where Gano’s rare mishap kicked in. After nearly ending the game on a safety when Kayvon Thibodeaux sacked Heinicke at the Washington 1-yard line on their second possession, the Giants got the ball at their 43-yard with the best field position to close things out with their kicker’s leg.
With only 28 seconds on the game clock, Daniel Jones would move the football 17 yards in five plays, connecting with Richie James and Daniel Bellinger en route to the Washington 40-yard line. Having only five seconds left to boot the game-winner, the Giants had no time to make Gano’s life easier and were forced to heave a prayer from 58 yards out.
For historical context, it was back in 2018 that Gano set his career-high 63-yard attempt as a Carolina Panther, shocking the Giants with one of the longest-recorded field goals in NFL history. Three years later, fate would not be on his side again, as the Giants’ kicker watched his own boot sink a few yards short of the lower post, and the score remained even at 20-20 as the final whistle sounded.
The miss marked Gano’s first of the season from 50-or-more yards distance and secured the Giants’ first tying contest since 1997. Gano said the attempt was close to his comfort range in that scenario, but it was the conditions mixed with how he hit the ball that he felt impacted the lasting outcome.
“Yeah, the line was about a 53-yarder. Everybody knew that,” the kicker noted. “At the end, you’ve got to kick it whether it’s 58 or 63. Wherever it’s at, you’ve got to give it a shot.”
“The whole operation was fine; hit a good ball. I’m not disappointed with the way I hit it. Of course, I would want to hit further, but conditions-wise, sometimes that’s how it goes.”
Beyond the miss, Gano would hit two field goals earlier in the game, connecting from 48 and 27 yards, respectively, in the second quarter to help tie the affair at 13-13 heading into the break.
His most important kick Sunday may have shocked the Giants and left a bad taste in their mouth, but there is no reason to doubt Gano will rebound for an important match against Philadelphia. His leg could be the difference maker again in that contest, and his resume has begged anyone to find another option better suited for the challenge than his “GOAT” pseudonym.
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