Oddsmakers did not give the New York Giants much of chance going into their game against the surging Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon and for good reason.
The Giants were coming off back-to-back deflating losses to Arizona and Cleveland, scoring a total of 13 points in the two games. The Ravens were trending in the other direction, entering the game on a three-game winning streak in which they amassed 121 points and appeared to be unstoppable.
Baltimore has been the kings of December winning 11 of the 12 games started by quarterback Lamar Jackson since 2018.
Make that 12 of 13.
The oddsmakers had it right. The Giants did have little chance in this game. To be fair, it’s hard to see any team stopping the Ravens’ offense right now. They are so dynamic with Jackson running the RPO, it’s not a fair fight. Throw in the fact the Giants are punchless on offense and you had a perfect recipe for a quick TKO.
Baltimore came out of the gate strong and didn’t let up. They held the football for 13:17 of the first quarter, running 23 offensive plays to the Giants’ three, 147 total yards (95 on the ground) en route to a 14-0 first quarter lead.
The second quarter brought more of the same. The Giants started out the quarter with the ball but quickly had to punt it back after rookie Austin Mack dropped a sure first down killing the drive after five plays.
Then it was all Ravens again with Jackson and rookie running back J.K. Dobbins providing a deadly 1-2 punch on the ground. Jackson, after hitting wide receiver Marquise Brown for an easy touchdown on the Ravens’ first possession, threw short, high percentage passes to move the chains and keep the Giants’ defense on the field, running up the lead to 17-0 midday through the second quarter.
With all the running, the clock ran down quickly. The Giants finally got their offense together late in the first half but once again, could not turn a red zone opportunity into a touchdown. The Giants ended up settling for a 31-yard Graham Gano field goal. The red zone problem is nothing new. They entered the game 31st in the league in red zone offense (45.95%).
It really didn’t matter since the defense could not stop Jackson & Co. Baltimore got the ball back with 1:08 remaining, drove it 65 yards in nine plays, settling for a Justin Tucker field goal giving them a 20-3 halftime lead.
The Giants settled down in the second half but did allow former nemesis Dez Bryant to score an easy touchdown to give the Ravens a 27-6 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Big Blue narrowed the lead later in the quarter to 27-13 after Daniel Jones hit Sterling Shepard for a 3-yard touchdown to cap off a 15-play, 76-yard drive.
The loss dropped the Giants to 5-10 on the season putting their postseason hopes on life support.
Notes
- The Giants won the second half 10-7 but who’s counting? It just shows they were invested for the full sixty minutes.
- The Giants rushed for under 100 yards for the third straight week. Their 54 yards were the lowest on the ground since they gained just 29 against Pittsburgh in Week 1. They are 0-7 when they rush for under 100 yards.
- Baltimore rushed for 249 yards, the most allowed by the Giants this season — by a lot. The most the Giants had given up in a game this year was 159 against Arizona in Week 14.
- This was only the fourth game this year the Giants did not commit a turnover. They created one — a Lamar Jackson fumble inside the five that was recovered by Logan Ryan. The Giants are 2-2 this year when they don’t turn the ball over.
- The Giants had three hits on Jackson but did not sack him. Jones, however, was sacked six times in the game. For the second straight week, he was relegated to the pocket and did not attempt to rush the football until the final minute of the game.
- Jones was sacked three consecutive times on a drive in the early fourth quarter. Rookie tackle Matt Peart was victimized by three separate Ravens.
- Kicker Graham Gano’s two field goals tied Josh Brown’s franchise record for consecutive field goals at 29.
- Tight end Evan Engram injured his ankle in the final two minutes of the game.
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