The New York FOOTBALL Giants are Back (Giants Texans Recap)
I suppose I should start by apologizing for the piss-poor, whiny attitude exhibited in that joke of a game preview. It seems as though my acute case of ‘poopy pants’ made me ignore the fact that John Fucking Harbaugh is my football coach, and I don’t need to fear any team, especially not the Houston Texans and their dog boner uniforms.
Just like Cam Skattebo, I’m choosing to take this negative experience and learn from it. Moving forward, I’m going to be the best amateur sports blogger I can be – not just for my niche audience, but for the football team I’m once again damn proud to support.
The New York Football Giants I grew up loving are finally back, and it’s my (unpaid) job to let it known.
JJ McCarthy was simply phenomenal on Sunday. I was extremely skeptical that he would be able to replicate the aggressive, downfield passing attack shown late in the Saints game. It took exactly one drive for this kid to prove me so very wrong. From wire to wire, JJ challenged an extremely talented Houston defense vertically – hitting Nabers, Fields, and even Thomas Fidone on long strikes, generating explosive plays with ease.
The arm talent that got McCarthy drafted in the top 10 was on full display. He was consistently rifling bullets into the tightest of windows while also layering balls over defenders whenever necessary. Matt Nagy and the offensive coaching staff deserve a ton of credit for ditching all of the RPO nonsense and instead choosing to build off the success JJ saw in limited action. They had McCarthy playing with a level of confidence and comfort that you would never expect from a team’s 3rd starting quarterback, let alone one that has only had access to the playbook for less than a month.
It probably goes without saying, but I think we found our quarterback for the remainder of the year. If he is somehow able to build on this elite showing and elevate his play even more, the sky is truly the limit for this young player and the team as a whole.
While McCarthy is going to get the headlines, this defensive effort should not be overshadowed in any way. They were rightfully criticized by both the media and Dennard Wilson himself for their poor effort against New Orleans. Down 3 more starters, they responded by limiting Houston to 237 yards of total offense – 43 of which came via God throwing (and tipping) a karmic bone to Tank Dell in his first game back.
The much-maligned run defense held the Texans’ ground game to just 84 yards on 25 carries – which is good for 3.36 YPC. The pass rush generated pressure on 25 of 29 passing plays, preventing Stroud from getting into any sort of rhythm. Unfortunately, these doofy linemen continue to put Abdul Carter in rear-naked chokes, preventing him from accumulating the stats needed to earn the All-Pro recognition he rightfully deserves. But alas, I guess I’ll just have to settle for Deonte Banks getting his gold jacket for defending the forced, fluttering balls that come as a byproduct of our relentless front seven.
All kidding aside, the defensive coaching staff deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for their collective work on the Tae Banks reformation project. Banks was a player I simply hated watching play football. The mental errors, bad habits, and poor attitude made him destined to become the latest inductee into the Eli Apple/Deandre Baker school of bust Giants DBs. Going into the summer, he was a legitimate cut candidate that no Giants fan would have protested. Now? He’s not only assuming number 1 corner responsibilities but locking up Nico Collins (2 rec, 6 yds) in the process.
The unit undoubtedly still has holes, but seeing the miracles Dennard Wilson performs on a weekly basis has made me a believer in whatever god he chooses to worship. Tremaine Edmunds played just about every defensive snap of the season, wore the green dot, and captained the unit for the past 5 months. Yet despite losing him for the year, the alignments and communication on that side of the ball didn’t skip a beat. It will never be perfect due to the talent/injuries in key spots, but the defense should continue to keep us in games thanks to the work done by this coaching staff.
Despite all of these positives, this game very much remained in doubt. Missed field goals and some horrific officiating prevented the 10.5-point underdog Giants from pulling away. When Stroud marched down the field to tie the game at 21, the “here we go again” feeling was almost suffocating, and it seemed as though this golden opportunity would be wasted.
But once again, strong coaching and leadership were able to put aside all of the negativity and heartbreak that has plagued us for too damn long. After forcing a 3-and-out (featuring a laughably bad omen: dropped INT), the Giants offense was given the ball with an opportunity to pull off the upset in walk-off fashion.
Following a week in which Skattebo received 0 touches and the entire running back room was publicly held accountable, it was only fitting that this group would put the finishing touches on a massive team win. Skat lumbering down the sideline for the game-winning score would have been borderline cliché. Instead, his insatiable lust for human contact led him to barrel back toward the middle of the field so he could fight a few more defenders. By that final snap of overtime, the vaunted Texans run defense had been broken, and Devin Singletary put this overrated team to bed.
The difference in approach, overall character, and, most importantly, results in the first 7 weeks of the Harbaugh Era have been beyond rejuvenating. In a year where we’ve lost our 3 biggest on-field leaders, this team continues to come out prepared and motivated week after week.
After having so many seasons end before Halloween, I just can’t wait to inhale Snickers and watch shitty horror movies knowing that we get to watch Harbs coach circles around Nick Sirianni in 2 weeks’ time.
