Giants Must Guard Against Deflation After Tying Commanders

The Giants had a chance to strengthen their hold on a postseason berth, but they squandered it away more than once against the Commanders.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Dec 5, 2022 8:00 AM EST

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New York Giants

Washington Commanders

Defensive end Jihad Ward had the right idea regarding the outcome of the New York Giants Week 13 home game against the Washington Commanders.

"Personally, I'm treating this as an 'L,'" Ward said moments after the Giants battled to a 20-20 tie with the Commanders.

As he and the rest of his teammates should. Because although the Giants (7-4-1) didn't lose any ground (yet) in the NFC playoff race, where they currently hold the sixth seed, they did blow a golden opportunity to reinforce their hold.

On the surface, the Giants squandered too many opportunities along the way. One can start with the ten points they spotted Washington, three coming on a drive set up by a Daniel Jones turnover, and seven coming on the 19-yard touchdown pass receiver Terry McLaurin caught when cornerback Fabian Moreau missed him.

There was also the taunting penalty--arguably a ticky-tack call but one that was called nonetheless--against center Jon Feliciano, who, following a catch by Darius Slayton, ran over to celebrate with his teammate, a decision this officiating crew didn't like.

That penalty knocked the Giants out of field goal range, a three-pointer by Graham Gano coming in that spot likely to give the Giants the win and avoid the need for overtime in the first place.

There were more gaffes from the offense. Slayton, who caught a gorgeous 55-yard pass earlier in the game, dropped another deep ball despite being wide open, the sequence being somewhat weird as it looked like he stopped running at one point.

The biggest issue with the Giants inability to hold on to the lead is they got away from what they do best, particularly in the second half when they couldn't get running back Saquon Barkley going, reducing him to just seven carries for three yards.

Even the coaching, which for the most part this year has been applause-worthy, played a part in the loss. Why, for example, did the Giants get so conservative in their final series of the first half and not try at least one shot for the end zone? And why punt in the overtime period on fourth down and short in plus territory?

And what happened on six straight second-half/overtime drives, when New York not only failed to move the ball more than nine yards, but they also either failed to move the ball at all (zero or negative yards) on their last four possessions in regulation?

So many questions, so few answers, and so little time to figure it out, as the Eagles are coming to town next week.

"I think we’re all pretty disappointed with the result," said quarterback Daniel Jones, who finished 25 of 31 for 200 yards. "Certainly not the one we were looking for. We’ll go back to work and clean up a lot of things. I think it’s safe to say we’re disappointed but looking forward to getting back to work and working on things we got to improve on."

What they need to improve upon, besides the obvious, is getting back their identity from the first half of the season, when head coach Brian Daboll showed no fear in putting his trust in his players in situations like fourth down and short or taking a deep shot or two.

Even if the players couldn't come up with it, having greenlighted some of those otherwise conservative decisions might have sent a much-needed spark.

Instead, the mood in the locker room was mostly dejected.

"We knew we had chances to win the game, and if we just executed, we probably had a really good chance to win the game," said receiver Darius Slayton. "It’s just disappointing when you don’t do what you need to do to close out a game, even though it technically isn’t a loss; you want to win. You play to win; nobody plays to tie."

"It sucks, obviously," said Saquon Barkley of the tie. "You go out there, you wanna compete, and you want to win. When you put your bodies on the line and come out with a tie, it doesn’t feel good for either team."

The game is over and in the books, but it's gut-check time for these Giants. What they do next, how they prepare, and what they put on the field against the Eagles will be quite telling.

"Just have to treat it like a win or a loss," Barkley said. "Just have to go back in and watch film and get ready for the next opponent and get back to it."