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Washington Commanders 29 – New York Giants 21

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WASHINGTON COMMANDERS 29 – NEW YORK GIANTS 21…
Another game, another loss for the lowly New York Giants as they fell 29-21 to the Washington Commanders before a sparse and cold crowd at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Sunday. The Giants have now lost eight games in a row and are 2-12 on the season.

Much of the first half was dominated by the Commanders. By midway through the second quarter, they were up 13-0 and the game did not feel as close as the scoreboard. In their four drives, Washington managed two field goals and a touchdown. The Giants were playing with little emotion and effort and much of the game was being played on the Giants’ side of the field. New York’s first possessions resulted in a missed 52-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo and two punts.

However, the Giants got back into the game with a 10-play, 65-yard drive that started with 8:26 before halftime. The key play was a 29-yard scramble by quarterback Jaxson Dart. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-10, running back Tyrone Tracy scored from 12 yards out to cut the score to 13-7.

Momentum continued to shift when the Giants forced a three-and-out and Washington punted the ball back to the Giants. However, the punt traveled 55 yards and the Giants lost three yards on a punt return by safety Jevon Holland. New York then went backwards, losing ten yards and only taking 35 seconds off of the clock. It got much worse. Washington easily returned ensuing punt 63 yards for a touchdown (extra point missed). The Giants got the ball back with 65 seconds left. Four plays later, Dart threw a bad interception that was returned 55 yards to the New York 10-yard line with 10 seconds left. After an incomplete deep pass, the Commanders kicked the 42-yard field goal.

What had been a 13-7 game with 1:40 left quickly turned into a 22-7 disaster for the Giants by halftime.

The Giants received the second-half kickoff and immediately cut the score to 22-14 with a 7-play, 82-yard drive. Dart completed a 24-yard pass to tight end Theo Johnson. Three plays later, he threw an 18-yard touchdown to Tracy. The rest of the third quarter was scoreless with two punts by Washington and one by New York. However, the Giants did begin a drive with six minutes left in the quarter that reached the Washington 25-yard line. An unnecessary roughness penalty on center John Michael Schmitz pushed the Giants back and Koo missed the 51-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was Koo’s second miss of the game.

The situation got worse on Washington’s ensuing possession. Quarterback Marcus Mariota completed an 18-yard pass. After two Washington false starts, on 1st-and-20, Mariota found a completely wide-open Terry McLaurin for an easy 51-yard touchdown. Washington was now up 29-14.

The Giants could have made it a bit more interesting again, but failed after Dart completed a 42-yard pass to Theo Johnson to the Washington 9-yard line and an 8-yard pass interference penalty. Facing 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line, the Giants could not score. Dart lost a yard on a run. He was pulled from the game for two plays for yet another bogus concussion examination. Meanwhile, running back Devin Singletary lost two yards and quarterback Jameis Winston threw an incomplete pass. Dart came back into the game on fourth down but threw an incomplete pass. Turnover on downs.

Washington drove from their own 4-yard line and crossed midfield. But on 3rd-and-12 Mariota was sacked by safety Dane Belton. He fumbled and the ball was recovered by outside linebacker Brian Burns and returned 23 yards to the Washington 21-yard line. Four plays later, on 4th-and-5, Dart threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. With less than four minutes to play, Washington was up 29-21.

The game appeared to be all-but-over after a 36-yard Mariota pass to the New York 39-yard line. But with 2:38 left, the Giants got the ball back when outside linebacker Abdul Carter forced a fumble on a 7-yard loss that he also recovered. Down by eight points, the Giants had the ball back at midfield. After picking up one first down, the Giants died with a whimper, however, with a 2-yard pass and three incompletions by Dart. Washington then just knelt on the ball for the final 1:37.

Dart finished 20-of-36 for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Robinson was the leading receiver with five catches for 54 yards, but Johnson did have 72. yards on three catches. Tracy carried the ball 15 times for 70 yards and Dart carried the ball nine times for 63 yards.

Defensively, Abdul Carter had a good game with seven tackles, three tackles for losses, one sack, and two forced fumbles.

Special teams were a disaster, allowing a punt return touchdown and Koo missing two field goals.

GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS are available on YouTube.

ROSTER MOVES, PRACTICE SQUAD ELEVATIONS, INACTIVES, AND INJURY REPORT…
On Saturday, the Giants activated ILB Darius Muasau (ankle) from Injured Reserve, placed OLB Victor Dimukeje (knee) and CB Nic Jones (shoulder) on Injured Reserve, waived CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, signed WR Dalen Cambre and OLB Tomon Fox to the 53-man roster from the Practice Squad.

The Giants also activated (standard elevation) DL Elijah Chatman and P Cameron Johnston from the Practice Squad.

Inactive for the game were WR Gunner Olszewski (Concussion), DL Rakeem Nuñez-Roches (Ankle), OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (Shoulder), P Jamie Gillan (Left Knee), WR Ryan Miller, OT James Hudson, and QB Russell Wilson (3rd QB).

The Giants reported no injuries from the game.

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:

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
Interim Head Coach Mike Kafka will address the media by Zoom on Monday.