Photo: Special to the NY Beacon  

By Andrew Rosario

New York Giants fans can only imagine. Off sides cost them the game against Washington. The defense comes up short against Atlanta. The offense betrays them in Kansas City. Big Blue takes out the Saints in New Orleans then dominates Carolina at MetLife Stadium. The Giants could not have predicted the outcome of the Dallas Cowboys game when they hosted the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday. When they look back on their season and are watching the playoffs from home, the outcome of those three games will haunt them.

It was a crisp Sunday afternoon when the Giants won the coin toss and elected to receive the Vegas kick off. 9 plays and 75 yards later, quarterback Daniel Jones get them into the end zone for a early 7-0 lead. Jones finding tight end Evan Engram for the 30-yard touchdown pass. The Raiders didn’t flinch the first time they got the ball. Quarterback David Carr moved them 73 yards on 12 plays in more than 5 minutes watching wide receiver Hunter Renfrow run it in from 2-yards tying the game at 7. Both teams would punt on their next possession before the Raiders would take a 10-7 lead after a Daniel  Carlson 25-yard field goal.

They traded punts again before the Giants would tie the game at 10 after a Graham Gano 35-yard field and then watched the Raiders take a 13-10 lead right before halftime when Carlson hits another field goal from 32-yards. The Raiders took the field to start the third quarter looking to extend their lead. The Giants defense stepped up in big way. Carr looked at Renfrow who ran a short route. Safety Xavier McKinney, who missed two days of practice because of Covid issues, steps in front for the interception returning it 41 yards for the go ahead touchdown. Said McKinney of the play, “I just read the quarterback. I felt Renfrow going out and I was kind of just all eyes on the quarterback the whole time. He was looking it down, so just trust my instincts and I went, and I made the play.” 

Both Teams exchanged field goals with the Raiders getting within 1-point (17-16) before New York goes up 20-16 after another Gano 32-yard field goal. With Las Vegas looking to take the lead, McKinney comes up big again. This time, Carr looks for Zay Jones deep and McKinney comes up with his second interception icing the game. Said McKinney off his second pick, “I actually told (Cornerback James Bradberry) Brad earlier in the game they did the same thing, I broke on it. They actually threw a back shoulder and I told him after that, I told him, I said, If they do that again, I’m going to beat it and I’m going to pick it. They did the same thing, tried to run the double move, pumped them and then threw it the same way he pumped, and I made a play.” Gano adds another field goal (38 yards) and watches as outside linebacker Quincy Roche forces a fumble that defensive end Leonard Williams recovers.

Said second head coach Joe Judge after the win, “really, what I see with our guys is a group of guys who are truly a team, they work together, they support each other, they compete against each other, but they show up every week with the intent of being successful together as a team and they put in the work of what it takes to be successful.”

Last year, the New York Giants had to rely on the Philadelphia Eagles to beat the Washington Football team in order to get to the postseason. The Eagles were on their way to victory when they benched their quarterback and watched Washington come from behind to win the game knocking them out of the playoffs.

This year, at the end of the season, they will look at those losses against Washington, Atlanta and Kansas City as the reason they will go another year without being part of postseason tournament.