NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 33 – NEW YORK GIANTS 15…
The New England Patriots soundly and easily defeated the New York Giants 33-15 on Monday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Giants fell to 2-11, having lost seven games in a row. For the first time in team history, they have also lost eight road games, with one more road game remaining on the schedule.
Like the score, the Patriots pretty much dominated team stats. They out-gained the Giants in first downs (21 to 14), total net yards (395 to 239), net yards rushing (119 to 111), net yards passing (276 to 128), and time of possession (33:26 to 26:34). They also won the turnover battle 1-0. The Giants were terrible in all three phases, including special teams, which was a train wreck.
The Patriots received the ball to start the game and returned the opening kickoff 39 yards to the New England 47-yard line. The Pats drove 49 yards in 12 plays, reaching the New York 4-yard line, but were forced to settle for a 22-yard field goal. The Giants gained one first down and then punted. But Jamie Gillan’s punt was returned 94 yards for a touchdown and the Patriots had a 10-0 lead.
The Giants went three-and-out on their second possession, with an unnecessary-roughness penalty on tight end Theo Johnson pushing them back 15 yards. The Patriots returned Gillan’s punt 17 yards. It took just five plays for New England to travel the remaining 61 yards with quarterback Drake Maye finishing the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass. With a minute left in the first quarter, the Patriots were up 17-0.
The Giants finally got on the board on their third possession. Cornerback Deonte Banks returned the kickoff 34 yards to the New York 38-yard line. Running back Devin Singletary picked up eight yards on 3rd-and-3 and an unnecessary-roughness penalty on the Patriots helped the Giants convert on a 3rd-and-8 incomplete pass from quarterback Jaxson Dart. On the next snap, Dart threw a short pass to wide receiver Darius Slayton who ran the rest of the way for a 30-yard touchdown.
The Patriots went three-and-out and punted. This was their only punt of the first half. The Giants were given great field position at their own 44-yard line due to the 22-yard punt. The Giants gained two first downs but the drive stalled at the New England 29-yard line. Worse, place kicker Younghoe Koo somehow jammed his kicking foot into the ground as he was about to kick the ball, leading to a 13-yard loss when the holder, Gillan, was tackled with the ball.
Things quickly got worse for the Giants. It took just five plays for the Patriots to drive 58 yards for a touchdown, with Maye throwing a 33-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kyle Williams. Wide receiver/returner Gunner Olszewski was hammered by a helmet-to-helmet hit on the ensuing kickoff, suffering a concussion, and fumbling the ball away at the New York 27-yard line. The Pats gained one first down and settled for a 30-yard field goal, but they were now up 27-7 with 1:51 to play before intermission.
However, the first-half beat-down was not over. The Giants went three-and-out. Starting at their own 23-yard line with 1:07 left, Maye completed passes for 7, 15, 36, and 9 yards to set up a 28-yard field goal as time expired.
At the half, the Giants trailed 30-7 . It was the first time the Giants have given up 30 or more points in a first half since 2009. The Patriots scored on five of their six first-half possessions, not counting the 94-yard punt return for a score.
Trailing by 23 points, the Giants received the ball to start the third quarter. They drove 33 yards in six plays, but a 4th-and-6 pass from the England 38-yard line was incomplete and the Giants turned the ball over on downs. The Patriots gained just 35 yards on 13 plays and missed the 45-yard field goal attempt. After those two drives, there was just four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Giants made the game a little bit more interesting with their second possession of the second half. The Giants drove 65 yards in nine plays with Singletary finishing the possession with a 22-yard run for a touchdown. Dart then scrambled around before finding Slayton for the 2-point conversion attempt. The Giants now trailed 30-15 early in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots gained two first downs and punted. This ended up being their second and last punt of the game. Starting at their own 14-yard line, the Giants gained one first down but oddly decided to punt the ball away on 4th-and-8, training by 15, with just eight minutes to play. The Patriots pretty much finished the game on their ensuing possession, driving 58 yards in 12 plays, taking 5:27 off of the clock, and adding a 23-yard field goal to make the score 33-15.
Dart got the ball back with just 2:14 on the clock. The Giants reached the New England 35-yard line before Dart was sacked. The drive then ended with two incomplete passes. The turnover on downs led to two kneel downs by Maye to end the contest.
Dart finished the game 17-of-24 for 139 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions. His “leading” receiver was Wan’Dale Robinson who caught seven passes for just 34 yards. Singletary carried the ball 12 times for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the Giants gave up almost 400 yards of offense, allowed six scoring drives, and did not force a turnover.
GAME VIDEO LOWLIGHTS are available on YouTube.
ROSTER MOVES, PRACTICE SQUAD ELEVATIONS, INACTIVES, AND INJURY REPORT…
Before the game, the Giants signed OLB Tomon Fox to the 53-man roster from the Practice Squad.
The Giants also activated (standard elevation) WR Dalen Cambre and ILB Swayze Bozeman from the Practice Squad.
Inactive for the game were OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (Shoulder), OLB Victor Dimukeje (Knee), ILB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (Neck/Knee), QB Russell Wilson (3rd quarterback), WR Jalin Hyatt, OT James Hudson, and CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse.
WR Gunner Olszewski (concussion) and RB Tyrone Tracy (hip) left the game with injuries and did not return.
POST-GAME REACTION…
Transcripts and video clips of post-game media sessions with Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka and the following players are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:
- Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka (Video)
- QB Jaxson Dart (Video)
- WR Darius Slayton (Video)
- TE Theo Johnson (Video)
- OG Jon Runyan, Jr. (Video)
- OLB Brian Burns (Video)
- OLB Abdul Carter (Video)
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
General Manager Joe Schoen will address the media at 1:45PM on Tuesday. Select players will also address the media around 1:05PM.