It’s amazing what one win can do for a football team fighting for their life. The Giants were a team who were competing in their games however, were losing at the end. This piled up for 7 losses until finally they were able to break that with their win last week. While a record of 4-7 isn’t the greatest, they have a rare opportunity to still be able to make it to the NFC playoffs, in the form of a wildcard berth. Their opponent this week has the luxury of having a shot at their division while being 5-6 so both teams were fighting for something in this game. Coach Burn knew that the Steelers have put together one of the best rosters so in order to take down this team they would have to create a game plan that included no turnovers given up and a way to attack their slower secondary. The Giants receiving core is one of the fastest in the league so the plan was to attack the cornerbacks deep.
The Giants played the game very safely, however, it was the Steelers who shot themselves in the foot when they threw into coverage in the endzone and James Bradberry took the pass for six. This was exactly what the Giants needed as the Steelers were in a prime position to go up two scores, instead the Giants took the lead. The game would continue closely as it was tied 13 all at the half. The Giants had a few plays that sealed the game for them. 4th & 6 on the Steelers 38 yard line Coach Burn decided to go for and converted the fourth down instead of kicking the field goal. This led to 4th and inches on the Steelers 5 yard line. Once again Coach Burn went for and converted the yardage with a dive to tight end Ruldolph. Two plays later Jones threw to Barkley for the go ahead touchdown. This would ultimately be the score that won the Giants the game as defense did what was needed to end the game with a score of 27-20.
The offense didn’t have a great day however, Jones once again took care of the football, only throwing 1 interception. He was able to move in the pocket and move the ball against the stacked Steeler defense. He threw for 252 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception on 27 attempts. Barkley wasn’t able to get going in the run game, however, he was an integral part in the play action game. We can see how important it is for Daniel Jones and the Giants offense when they aren’t hindering themselves with turnovers.
With talking about turnovers, we turn over to the Giants defense who forced 3 interceptions of rookie JT Daniels. Daniels made several bad reads which cost his team in the long run, however, his biggest turnover came near the end of the game where he fumbled the ball after attempting to get away from fellow rookie Thibodeaux. Like Jones did earlier in the season, Daniels single handedly lost the Steelers the game and possibly a shot at their spot in the playoffs.
The Giants have quietly found themselves on a win streak and have kept themselves in the NFC Wildcard race. They will need to continue this streak for the rest of the season as any loss will most likely knock them out of the playoff race. Up next they face off against a tough divisional foe in the Washington Football Team.
