LANDOVER, Maryland – That’s a kick in the head.
The Giants somehow managed to lose a game they shouldn’t have lost, especially since they didn’t have a kicker and the Commanders did.
It has to be a low point for a franchise that has experienced a string of them recently: The Giants left the field at Northwest Stadium on Sunday with an absurd and embarrassing 21-18 loss. They were finished when Austin Seibert, who was signed this week, made his seventh field goal of the day from 38 yards out as the final buzzer sounded.
The Giants did not allow a touchdown to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, but were unable to get the Commanders off the field all day. The Giants refused to attempt a field goal because they lost kicker Graham Gano to a hamstring injury on the opening kickoff. Gano entered the game with a groin injury, but the Giants did not activate Jude McAtamney from the practice squad.
This decision proved costly. The Giants gave up five points (two failed conversions, one missed extra point) because they did not have a backup kicker who could actually kick.
The Commanders had seven possessions in the game and made seven field goals. They did not punt once.
The Giants were going for a potentially game-winning touchdown when Daniel Jones escaped the pocket on fourth down and fired a perfect pass down the right sideline. Rookie Malik Nabers kept his feet in the field, but the ball bounced off his hands and fell heavily to the ground with 2:04 left in regulation. It was Nabers’ 18th target of the game, and he pounded the turf in disgust.
Nabers finished the game with 10 catches for 127 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Daniel Jones was 16 of 28 for 178 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants allowed 215 rushing yards.
The Giants took an 18-15 lead with 11:32 left on the clock when Jones caught his second touchdown pass of the day. He hit Wan’Dale Robinson on the run and scored on a 7-yard pass, with Robinson one step ahead of rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil. With kicker Gano unavailable, coach Brian Daboll apparently didn’t approve of punter Jamie Gillan attempting the extra point. Gillan missed one point in the first quarter — and by a lot. Jones’ pass for the two-point conversion bounced off Darius Slayton’s hands.
The Commanders then did what they had been doing all game – they drove the ball for a field goal. They committed their fourth and fifth false start penalties in the red zone and Seibert’s sixth field goal made it 18-18.
Leading 12-9, the Giants got the kickoff to start the second half and were on the move, but were stopped when Devin Singletary was knocked out of his hands by Benjamin St-Juste at the end of a 15-yard run, resulting in a fumble recovered by Clelin Ferrell at the Commanders’ 35-yard line. In a close game, such turnovers are deadly. Of course, the defense couldn’t stop a nine-play attack that ended with Seibert’s fourth field goal, tying the Commanders at 12-12.
Jones missed three passes and was three-and-one out. The run defense, shaky all day, was embarrassed when Brian Robinson was stopped at the line on third-and-1, but Cor’Dale Flott failed to dunk the ball at the end and Robinson sprinted 40 yards. With first and goal at the 8-yard line, the Giants’ defense was solidified in the red zone and Seibert’s fifth field goal put the Commanders ahead 15-12 late in the third quarter.
The Giants were a step too slow from the start. They gave up a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown on the first play, but were lucky that a holding penalty invalidated the play. And then the Giants couldn’t get off the field as the Commanders kept the ball for 9:36 and needed 16 plays to get to the Giants’ 1-yard line. A holding penalty on safety Jason Pinnock on third down preserved possession. A false start by right end Ben Sinnott at the 1-yard line forced the Commanders to settle for a field goal for a 3-0 lead.
The Giants responded immediately. Jones called his own number twice at the option keepers and gained 6 yards. The big hit on third-and-12 was a 28-yard catch-and-run by Nabers. At the end of the gain, Nabers was knocked to the ground by linebacker Frankie Luvu with a blind-side hit. The NFL spotter in the locker room called onto the field to have Nabers checked for a possible concussion because Luvu’s helmet had touched Nabers’ helmet.
Singletary lost cornerback Michael Davis on a cut and completed a 7-yard touchdown run, giving the Giants their first touchdown on an opening drive in 27 games. Yes, 27 games.
A persistent problem for the Giants in the first half was an inability to get off the field on defense. The Commanders scored field goals on drives of 16, 10 and 14 yards. They sacked Daniels four times in the first half and kept Washington out of the end zone late in the second quarter when Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence combined to stop Austin Ekeler at the Giants’ 8-yard line with no gain.
It was the Nabers show after the Giants took their 31-yard line with 1:45 left in the half. Jones threw to Nabers 13 yards, then 21 yards, with Nabers executing a spin move to shake off Davis. With eight seconds left, on third down, Jones found a completely free Nabers, who scored the rookie’s first touchdown. He responded with a kind of victory dance that probably needs some work.
Not wanting to score an extra point with their punter, the Giants attempted a two-point conversion, but Jones was forced out of the pocket and his pass was intercepted in the end zone.
