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New York Giants head coach Joe Judge nailed it when speaking about the penalty by defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence that gave Washington Football Team a second chance to hit what ended up being the game-winning kick.
“I’m not gonna put this on Dexter Lawrence,” Judge told reporters after a Dustin Hopkins kicked the game-winner after the penalty. “There’s things we all have to do better as professionals, but I’m not gonna put this on any one player in one situation.”
And that’s the right move. Because while that penalty did end up erasing a wide-right that meant the Giants wouldn’t start 0-2 yet again, there were so many other problems to pin the loss on.
There was the holding penalty earlier in the game that erased a 58-yard Daniel Jones touchdown run. A Darius Slayton drop on a wide-open would-be touchdown that would have put Big Blue up by 10 with over six minutes to go in the fourth. An offensive line that lost one of its key players to injury that allowed four sacks.
How in the world did Darius Slayton drop this ball 🤦🏼♂️pic.twitter.com/rrISwKLJVc
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) September 17, 2021
As I wrote in this space just yesterday — and I won’t repeat myself too much — the Giants need to lose a lot to cure what ails them. And it’s losses like this that expose the problems this team has. Short-term, it’s sloppy plays like these, miscues that make the difference between a one-point loss and a tough divisional victory on the road in a short week. Long-term, it’s week-to-week inconsistencies that keep coming up.
So, yeah. Don’t blame Lawrence only for this one.
Quick hits: College football watch grid! … What are you doing Steve Cohen?? … Tom Brady could play til he’s 50? … and more.
— Here’s Jason Kirk’s Week 3 watch grid for all the college football action this weekend.
— Mets owner Steve Cohen actually offered a reward to whoever could out the source of a negative story about him.
— Tom Brady didn’t rule out trying to play until he’s 50.
— Lane Kiffin wants Peyton and Eli Manning to call Ole Miss vs. Tennessee, which would be brilliant.