Recap Week 2 – New York Giants at Washington Commanders

Commanders Defeat Giants on Last Second Field Goal

September 16, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

The Giants won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. Austin Ekeler ran the kickoff back for a touchdown but that was negated by a holding call on Nick Bellore. Graham Gano was injured on the play. The first series was almost a 3 and out, but the Giants were called for defensive holding on Zach Ertz on third down. Jayden Daniels then led the team with short passes and runs by Brian Robinson to the Giants 37 yard line. Daniels scrambled for a called first down on third down, after eluding a large loss on a sack. The Giants challenged the call, and it was reversed. Robinson picked up the first down with a six yard run to keep the drive alive.  A 12 yard screen to Dyami Brown got the ball down to the Giants 13 yard line.  After losses on the next two plays, Ekeler ran for 13 yards to make it fourth and short. The Commanders elected to go for it initially, but Ben Sinnott was called for a false start and the team had Austin Seibert kick a 27 yard field goal.

Bellore was called for unsportsmanlike conduct on the kickoff, which put the Giants at their own 47 yard like to start. Devin Singletary gained 8 yards on a run on the first play. Jones ran for the first down on the next play. The Commanders’ defense was able to put the Giants in a third and long, but Malik Nabers caught a pass on a rub route for a 28 yard gain down to the Washington 13 yard line. After another run by Jones, Singletary ran for the 7 yard touchdown, breaking several tackles. Jamie Gillian, the punter, missed the extra point.

Second Quarter

After a touchback and no penalty on the kickoff, Washington picked up 6 yards on two plays. Daniels then hit Ertz for a 21 yard gain where he took the ball away from the defender. Ertz caught a 7 yard pass on the next play and Robinson picked up 12 yards running on the next two plays. After a short run by Ekeler and a busted play, Washington faced a third and six. The Giants blitzed and sacked Daniels for a 7 yard loss. Seibert nailed the 45 yard field goal to tie the game at six apiece.

The Giants then had a short drive, with Singletary picking up 22 yards on another tackling breaking run. Washington’s defense was able to stop the Giants after that to force a punt after applying pressure on Daniels.

After the punt Washington started at their own 18 yard line. The Commanders lost yardage on two plays, before Daniels ran for 14 yards and a first down. He took a hard hit and missed one play. He came back in and threw a first down to Terry McLaurin. Two plays later, Robinson ran for 32 yards down the left sideline. On a third and thirteen, Daniels hit Ekeler over the middle, who took it 16 yards up field. After a Samuel Cosmi false start, Daniels scrambled for 9 yards and Robinson picked up 2 yards.  On third down and four, Ekeler was stopped for no gain. Seibert kicked a 26-yard field goal to give Washington the lead back.

The Giants got the ball back with 1:50 left on the clock. Washington’s defense showed poor coverage and tackling again, allowing completions to Nabers for 13 yards, 11 yards to Wan’Dale Robinson and 11 yards to Darius Slayton.  After an incompletion, Jones hit Nabers for 21 yards with another missed tackle by Mike Davis taking the ball to the Washington 13 yard line. Jones scrambles for 9 yards and three an incompletion on second down. He found Nabers wide open on third down for a touchdown. New York’s two point attempt failed with Percy Butler intercepting the ball in the end zone.

Halftime: Giants 12, Commanders 9

Third Quarter

The Giants started with the ball in the second half and opened with a 19 yard pass to Slayton. Singletary picked up 11 yards on a run up the middle. After Clelin Ferrell sacked Jones for a three yard loss, Benjamin St-Juste kicked the ball away from Singletary on a 15 yard run with Jeremy Chinn recovering.

The Commanders put themselves in a hole to start the next drive, thanks to an ineligible downfield pass penalty on a completion to McLaurin. On third and 8, Daniels found an open Ertz for a 20 yard gain and followed that up with a 14 yard completion to him. Robinson ran 18 yards on a delay up the middle to the Giants 11 yard line. The offense was unable to make a first down or a touchdown, so Seibert kicked a 27 yard field goal to tie the game.

On the next drive, for some unknown reason, the Giants tried to pass on three straight plays and were unsuccessful each time. This was the first three and out for the Washington defense. The Giants punt went 60 yards, but Olamide Zaccheaus returned it 24 yards in a tackling-breaking run.

After a screen pass to McLaurin lost three yards, Daniels hit McLaurin for a 12 yard completion. Robinson broke free from a scrum at the line of scrimmage and ran for 40 yards. Ekeler picked up 13 yards on the next two plays to set up a first and goal at the 4 yard line. A false start on Nick Allegretti and a two yard loss set up a third and 11. The pass was incomplete and the holding penalty on Cosmi was declined. Seibert converted a 29 yard field goal to Washington the 15-12 lead.

Fourth Quarter

The Giants’ next drive featured several big plays including a 13 yard completion to Nabers and a 18 yard run by Singletary moving the ball to Washington’s 38 yard line. The Commanders held Singletary to 4 yards on two rushes to set up a third and six. Washington came with the blitz and forced a false start by the Giants. The Giants picked up 8 yards on a Nabers catch; however, with no field goal kicker they went for it on fourth down. Nabers caught another pass for 4 yards and the first down.  The Giants picked up 8 yards rushing on the next two plays. Noah Igbinoghene was called for defensive pass interference to give the Giants a first and goal at the Washington 9 yard line. After stopping the Giants on two plays, Jones hit Robinson for the touchdown past Mike Sainristil. The two-point conversion failed, giving the Giants an 18-15 lead.

The Giants were called for a kickoff violation and got the ball at their own 40. On third down, a sack of Daniels was negated by a defensive holding penalty on the Giants. Daniels then hit Noah Brown for a 15 yard completion. After a short completion to McLaurin, Daniels threw a backside screen to Ekeler who gained 27 yards down to the Giants 6 yard line. Washington then picked up its 4^th false start penalty in the red zone. After two plays which saw Washington gain 1 yard, they committed their 5^th false start penalty in the red zone. After an incompletion, Seibert hit the 33 yard field goal to tie the game at 18.

On the Giants next drive, Washington’s defense got in on the penalty action, going offsides to give the Giants a first down. Several plays later on third and nine, Daniels hit Nabers for 25 yards on shallow crossing route. Nabers was called for an illegal shift penalty putting the Giants at first and 15. The Washington defense was able to force a turnover on downs when Nabers dropped a pass on fourth down and 4.

Washington got the ball back with a little over two minutes to play. After stopping Ekeler for no gain, Daniels hit Noah Brown for 34 yards on a deep in. Zaccheaus picked up 8 yards on a short pass. Robinson picked up 11 yards and the first down on the next play to the Giants 24 yard line. Daniels ran for 14 yards on a option keeper down to the 10.  Washington ran the clock down on the next two plays before attempting a game winning field goal. Seibert hit the 30 yard field goal to set a franchise record with 7 field goals in a game.

Commanders 21, Giants 18

Thoughts

The game was won by an injury to Graham Gano which limited the Giants offensively.

The Commanders may have finally found an answer for their kicker problem in Austin Seibert, who was solid inside a 50 yard range.

The offense was horrible in the red zone, committing 5 false starts killing off potential touchdowns.

The defensive tackling did not look much better than last week. The communication in the secondary looked better with no glaring missed coverages. They still do a poor job with rub routes allowing those to go for large gains.

The pass rush seems to be anemic most of the time unless they blitz.

This team has a long way to go to be a consistently better team.

Good news, Jayden Daniels is off to a good start to his career. Better news we scored on 7 of 8 offensive possessions, counting the first half kneel down.

Bad news, have I mentioned the defense.