Written by: Tony “The Prophet” Yantosca
GROUNDHOG DAY-GIANTS CHOKE ON VICTORY AND LOSE AGAIN
It is very painful to watch the Giants continue to blow games that they had won. It is a sorry Groundhog Day for all Giants fans. Joe Judge was right. He said the fish rots from the head down and that is John Mara. We have the rest of the cast of incompetent characters. Gettleman cannot evaluate talent. He has been trying to rebuild the offensive line since he got here and it has been a 4-year utter failure. Garrett cannot call an imaginative game to use the healthy weapons that he has left. Graham was the only coach that performed well except at the beginning of the game. He ran a soft umbrella coverage that gave The Cheetah, Tyreek Hill, 8 receptions on 12 targets and a touchdown in the first half alone.
Now I want to talk about Joe Judge. He is a FRAUD. He snowed Mara, Tish, and Gettleman with his tough talk interview. They swallowed the bait hook. Line and sinker. We have not seen any of it. He was supposed to bring the non-nonsense Patriot Way with discipline and tough play. This team is making the same mistakes game after game, and critical situation after critical situation. His press conferences are a broken record and nothing changes the next week. He hit a new low saying that he has had headphone problems in this game and all year. The next day the NFL came out and said there are no problems. Someone suggested that maybe he didn’t know that they shut them off with 15 seconds on the play clock.
The game opens with a long well scripted first drive for the Chiefs. They get all the way down to the Giants 5-yard line. Then Mahomes throws a pick to Jordan Love. Two plays later it was nullified when Daniel Jones telegraphed his throw to Slayton. William Gay followed “One Read Danny’s” eyes right to the ball and intercepted Jones. It only took Mahomes 4 plays to find Hill in the end zone and a huge opportunity was wasted.
On their 2nd drive since then the Giants score on a touchdown pass to Rudolph tying the game. The Chiefs have to punt on the next series and Pettis fumbles the punt and recovers it. He was popped in the process is knocked out of the game for his mistake. The Giants are already down Golladay and Shepard got hurt in the game not to return.. On the second drive for the Chiefs after that score, they drive 68 yards. McKinney nearly picked Mahomes earlier in the drive but the ball hit the ground.
On the ensuing kickoff, Johnson gets called for taunting moving the ball back to the Giants’ 9-yard line. The Giants drive the length of the field buy with 3:09 left on clock with a 3rd and 4 from the Chiefs 7-yard line, Judge has to call a time out because there is utter confusion lining up the play. On third down, “One Read Danny” throws a short pass to Shepard who runs a short route and is 2 yards short. Now on 4th and 2 the conservative Judge kicks a field goal. He went on 4th and 2 before and scored. You are a 2-5 team with nothing to lose playing a team that can put up points like a pinball machine, go for it! They kick the field goal and it’s 14-10 Chiefs.
With 3:36 in the 3rd quarter Logan Ryan punches out the ball from Kelce on a completed pass and the Giants recover the fumble on their own 43-yard line. The Gmen for once capitalize on a break and score on a 2-yard Engram touchdown, his first catch of the game and first TD of the year. The Giants finally get the lead in this game at 14:53 of the 4th quarter.
The Giants continue to make mistakes when they get the ball back. Penny is called for a taunting penalty and on the punt, the Giants get called for illegal touching. The Chiefs get the ball back at 4:41 left in the game and it is tied 17-17. During the drive the Giants intercept Mahomes form the second time. There were 5 plays where he could have been picked during the game. However, lack of discipline and mental mistakes kill this team and Joe Judge is responsible! On 2nd and 20, Ximines jumps off side and the Holmes interception does not count. It would be overtime at the worst and the Giants could get a chance to win with 4:22 left. Then on the next play Crowder gets called for a facemask but he never touched the facemask. The officiating has been horrendous again this year but you can’t blame this loss on the officials.
RAIDERS/GIANTS MATCHUP
There is adversity for both teams coming into this game. The Raiders are dealing with the Henry Ruggs DUI case and itsaftereffects for the team. They have won 2 games with coach, Bisaccia, since the team fired Gruden. The Giants are coming off another blown gut-wrenching loss caused by mental mistakes and penalties. They were also hit by COVID this week. They dealt with a number of false positives. However, Barkley, McKinney, Skura, and Brightwell are in the Covid protocol. They cannot afford to lose McKinney and Skura. Barkley as expected to miss the game.
When the Raiders have the ball, they will want to throw the long ball and beat the Giants deep. They will want to run somewhat to set up play action. With the injuries to Jacobs, who will be back for this game, they have only been able to run for 87 yards/game which is 29th. Waller, who is back for this game, is the main target. The Giants need to run the same defense that they used vs the Chiefs. They ran cover 2 with 2 deep safeties and doubled Kelce who only had 4 receptions for 27 yards and Logan Ryan punched the ball out of his hands on one of the receptions. Renfrow is the next target with Edwards and Jones moving up the depth chart.
Carr has 16 deep completions of 20+ yards in 7 games. He has a 116.5 passer rating on these deep throws which is 4th. The Giants are 5th on allowing such long attempts. Their rating vs these long throws is 112.3. So, this is the key matchup of the game. Carr is 5th in total passing yards in the NFL. The 4 quarterbacks in front of him all have played one more game, so in reality he is even higher. The only way the Raiders can beat the Giants is through the air.
The Giants proved last week they could hold Mahomes to 275 yards passing and 20 points when they average 296 yards/game. Carr should easily have over 300 yards passing. For whatever reason Gruden did not like Kenyan Drake. In the 2 games since he has been gone he scored both weeks. Look for him to be effective in the pass game especially on 3rd downs.
Once again the Giants are the walking wounded. News update on Friday, Barkley and McKinney were removed from the COVID list. Besides the COVID protocol players (Barkley ankle too) Shepard, Pettis, McKinney, Carter, Ebner, do not look good to play. It appears that 3 of the 4 Covid tests were false positives. The Giants probably use the same COVID testing company as they do for their headphones. Golladay, Toney, Smith, and Ross are questionable and had limited practices. There is a chance all 4 will play.
For the Giants to win, they will have to run for well over 100 yards. That means Booker needs a big day along with Jones rushing. They have no one else. If Garrett had imagination, he should use Toney on jet sweeps and also look to get a bigger role for Penny. The Raiders are 28th vs the run and give up 131 yards/game.
It seemed Toney was on a pitch count especially in the first half last week where he was used as a decoy. Booker was the leading receiver last week with 5 receptions. If Jones has to be Captain Checkdown because of the Swiss Cheese offensive line again this week, they will certainly lose. The Raiders have given up 44 receptions to tight ends for 377 yards and 4 touchdowns in 7 games. Both Engram and Rudolph scored last week because Jones was under pressure and he was throwing underneath. Toney had 4 receptions for 26 yards last week. Garrett will have to design deeper plays for him especially if Shepard is out, if they want a chance to win. Slayton has been in the Witness Protection Program. He had 0 catches on 2 targets last week. They need the real production from him as the X receiver with Golladay out as usual. I told you before the season, Golladay would be a bust based on his injury history! The latest report shows him questionable so he may finally see the field.
THE PREDICTION
The Raiders are coming off their bye. It is a 10am Pacific Time game for the Raiders. Historically they have not performed well in those games. The Giants have not performed well at home either. They are 10-27 since the start of 2017. The Gmen can keep this one close but The Raiders win their 3rd game in a row under their new coach. The deep passes ultimately do them in. I am calling this one, Raiders 27, Giants 20. The second score I liked was Raiders 28, Giants 23. The Giants can’t lose next week because they are on their bye.
GIANTS DECADE OF MALAISE
Dave Gettleman’s Record since becoming GM: 16-38
Giants Record since last Super Bowl win: 59-93
Giants Record since the start of 2017: 20-52
Giants Home Record since 2017: 10-27
Jason Garrett’s Record: 8-16
Daniel Jones Record as a Starter: 10-24
Daniel Jones: 46 TD’s (39 pass,5 rush); 46 turnovers (27Interceptions, 36 fumbles, 19 lost)
Joe Judge’s Record: 8-16
Winning Seasons since 2011 Super Bowl Year: 2
New York Giants Underground 