The New York Giants squandered a prime opportunity to turn their season around and blew a late lead to lose 13–10 in overtime against the New York Jets. The Week 8 matchup was highly anticipated as the two New York teams hoped for a fiery rivalry matchup. The game ended with a Big Blue meltdown as the Jets came back to win in overtime.
The Giants’ defense is still playing at a high level
Matched up against a poor New York Jets offense, the Giants’ defense did well to put the team in a position to win the game. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale held the Jets to just 251 total yards of offense as Big Blue forced two turnovers to put them in a winning position in the fourth quarter.
However, despite the unit’s excellent performance throughout the game, Martindale’s defense came up short toward the end of the game, allowing Zach Wilson and the Jets’ offense to march down the field and equalize the game in the dying embers of the fourth quarter.
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The Kayvon Thibodeaux breakout is happening
Second-year EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux caught criticism from WFAN this week and responded in a massive way against the Jets. He turned in a single-game career-high three sacks to bring his total to 8.5 on the season. Thibodeaux also finished the game with nine total tackles, three tackles for loss, and a forced fumble.
The offense is still inept
All season long, the Giants’ offense has been among the worst units in the league. That remained unchanged in this Week 8 performance. After backup QB Tyrod Taylor went out of the game with a rib injury, Tommy DeVito entered and the offense faltered even further.
The Giants finished the game with just 194 total yards of offense. They scored just one touchdown (a DeVito run) and failed to win the game despite having a lead for much of the second half.
Graham Gano is clearly too injured to perform
The typically-reliable Graham Gano has been anything but in recent weeks. He missed two field goals in today’s game, including one in the fourth quarter that gave the Jets possession, leading to their late equalizing field goal.
Gano has now missed six field goals this season. The veteran kicker has been playing through a knee injury that is clearly hampering his ability to perform at a high level. The Giants will need to consider weighing their options at the kicker position.
