After last week’s turnover debacle, Coach Burn preached ball safety and the team worked on coming up with ways of limiting turnovers. This included Jones throwing the same routes and windows as in games and working on his timing in the pocket. Jones felt ready to play, even with a banged up offensive line. Von Miller is set to return versus three backup lineman which isn’t the most ideal situation.
The Giants were coming into this game with two goals in mind. They were coming into the game with a primary goal of winning the game. The secondary goal was to complete Free Safety Xavier McKinney’s dev story. He had to get either 2 tackles for loss, forced fumbles, interceptions, or sacks in order to get superstar abilities.
The Giants changed their defensive gameplan in order to help Mckinney succeed in his goal. Mckinney worked as the slot corner in this game. He started off blitzing off of the edge , however, Josh Allen started off the game on a roll, driving the Bills down the field. The Giants would match the Bills drive and the game would be a back and forth game until the fourth quarter where late in the fourth quarter the Bills were up 8. With about 3 minutes left, Jones knew that he needed to drive the length of the field in order for the Giants to have a chance. Jones had been playing extremely well, only throwing one interception so far in the game.
Jones worked the Bills defense and got down to the one yard line. After a couple of stuffed runs, it came down to a fourth down call. This was it, this was to attempt to tie the game. Jones initially had a rpo screen called, but checked out of it because he didn’t like the run or screen look. He felt that the Bills were bringing pressure, so he checked to a short pass over the middle of the field. He ran the play, only to miss a wide open Campbell in the endzone. The play flew past the outstretched arms of Campbell to a waiting Bills defender.
The Bills would run on their next drive and break off an 80 yard touchdown run by Cook. This was a dagger because before this run the Giants helped the Bills run game for less than 50 yards. Jones would drive the Giants back down into the redzone, only to throw a duck of a pass to the defense, ending the game in a Bills victory of 38 -23.
Key Injuries:
N/A
The Giants have suffered enough this year with injuries so they were given some luck in this game in that department.
Key Stats:
QB Daniel Jones: 21/32 297 Yards 2 Touchdowns 3 Interceptions
Jones started the game with an interception, however, after that he settled down and played well except for the game breaking interception that would have tied the game with a two point conversion. Jones practiced what Coach Burn preached, but there were bad passes, it was just unfortunate that this bad pass was when the game was on the line.
HB Saquon Barkely: 15 Rushes 63 Yards/ 7 Receptions 46 Yards 1 Touchdown
Barkley was bottled up for most of the game, however, some of that isn’t his fault. When you start three backup lineman it’s going to be tough to run the ball versus any starting defense in PML. He has been great in the passing game as of late, and has been a good blanket for Jones to check the ball to.
WR Jalin Hyatt: 4 Receptions 102 Yards 1 Touchdown
Hyatt has been the go to receiver in this offense this season. He is leading the team in receptions and has proven himself to be the number one receiver despite his overall rating. Hyatt hopes to be in the conversation for offensive rookie of the year, however, some other guys are being force fed so that might not happen.
FS Xavier McKinney: 6 Tackles, 1 Tackle For Loss, 1 Sack
Mckinney playing and blitzing from the slot is the only reason he got this superstar development. He made a nice corner sack late in the game, which helped the Giants almost come back in the game.
