Another game of the week. I’ve done 3 of these, and it’s only week 6. Can we just have a normal year of football, so I don’t have to keep doing these? Maybe? Enough complaining about my workload, let’s cut to the chase. Two teams enter a Sunday Night Football match about as lopsided as they come.
Entering as the visitors: the New York Giants. Contrary to preseason expectations, they have struggled out of the gate, to the point where they are the worst team in football by a country mile. Their offense cannot move the football. Like literally they can’t move the ball down the field. Daniel Jones has struggled mightily so far. His weapons are an injury-prone Saquon Barkley and some decent tight ends. Their offensive line is frightfully bad. In five games, Jones has been sacked 28 times. That’s over 5.5 sacks per game. The defense has been good, but even it can’t hold the line for very long when the offense literally can’t score points. Their coaching staff has been revealed to be massively overrated due to last year. If you were to ask the fans about sacking this coaching staff, they’d be in favor of it. Even worse, their opponent isn’t exactly a pushover.
The Buffalo Bills. Fresh off yet another round of choking in the playoffs. Like other seasons, they have continued to murder opponents here at the start of the season, but alarming red flags have come up throughout. To start with, a season-opening fiasco against the Jets, with Josh Allen reverting to rookie form and gifting Jordan Whitehead a $250,000 incentive with 3 picks. Then, the London game. Going to Tottenham and laying an egg, thanks to sloppy play and bad offense. The cornerstones of the defense have dropped like flies over the past few weeks. Tre’Davious White is out for the year. Matt Milano is out long-term. Daquan Jones copy-pasting Milano’s injury. But this should be an easy win. At home, in primetime, with Von Miller playing once again. This would be a spectacle.
As the game started, however, the only spectacle would be the punting. Both teams went 3-and-out on their opening drive. However, Buffalo doesn’t just sit complacently. They march the ball down the field. Gabe Davis runs off for a first down and fumbles the ball right to the Giants’ defense. However, this isn’t a big deal. Remember, the Giants cannot move the ball. They get into field goal range but nothing more. 3-0. This is when the Bills wake up and push into Giants territory. They set up Tyler Bass. This man is automatic. But he misses one wide to the right, giving us flashbacks to Scott Norwood. The Giants march down the field for another field goal. It is now 6-0. However, the Bills, they will not stand by. Josh Allen leads them down the field- to an interception. The Giants want that two-score lead. They push to the goal line, but there’s a problem. There are only 10 seconds left in the half, and they don’t have any timeouts. So what do the G-men do? Run a draw play up the middle. With expert clock management, the Giants don’t get any points. End of the half.
After halftime, the Bills finally woke up. After punting back and forth a couple of times, Buffalo finally managed to put together a long drive. They, too, drive to the goal line and then run a draw play out of shotgun from inside the 1. Master play calling by Dorsey. Doesn’t matter, though. They scored on the next play on a checkdown to Diontae Harty. The Bills have the lead in the 4th quarter, but the Giants have the ball. They march down for another field goal. Buffalo then goes back down the field and scores a touchdown. A passing touchdown. A rarity in this game.
This is where the real magic begins. The Giants only have 4 minutes to engineer a game-winning drive. Down 14-9, they are brought to a 4th and 8. And the Bills stop them. But the Giants have all 3 timeouts. Buffalo fails to convert on their first two tries, but they are at 3rd and 8 in New York territory. They’re down to their final play. Buffalo. You’ve got this. This is when Allen decides to sell the game by underthrowing a wide-open receiver in Dawson Knox. 4th and 8. A dilemma is now upon the Bills. They could kick from 53 yards, the same point from where Bass missed earlier in the game. Or they could punt it away and try to pin the Giants deep. Buffalo elected to kick the field goal and missed it wide right again. Something about the Bills kickers missing wide right in the clutch against New York. I don’t get it. Must be the throwback helmets the Giants were wearing. Nevertheless, the Giants have the ball at their own 38-yard line. They march all the way down the field and burn all their timeouts but are down to their final play again. It’s 4th down. What do they do? They convert it. A gutsy throw over the middle to Jalen Hyatt to move the sticks. But now it’s pressure time. Two seconds left and no timeouts from the 9-yard line. Once again, down to their final play. They throw to the end zone, and it’s broken up. The Bills would win, but a flag came in at the last moment for pass interference in the end zone. It will be an untimed down from the 1-yard line to decide the game. Take 4. They’re down to their final play again. Foot on the throat of Buffalo. Fortunately for the Bills, they managed to hold the line. They force an incomplete pass to seal the game. Despite the blatant holding on the play, the Bills managed to escape… the Giants. Well, okay then.
Buffalo, run. Run as fast as you can out of that stadium. You didn’t deserve to win that game. Giants, good effort, but you’re 1-5. That horrible clock management at the end of the half? Probably cost them the game. If they did what they should have done and took the points, or even better, just not run the ball up the middle, they wouldn’t have to go for 6 on the last drive. Gano kicks it in with ease, and the Giants win. Instead, they had to rely on the sandbags they call an offense to get a touchdown. Their offense hasn’t scored a touchdown in over 3 and a half games. That’s legendary ineptitude. Even then, they still got to the 1-yard line twice this game, which should be a sign of optimism for Giants fans. They usually turn the ball over or get sacked before they can get there.
This leads us to the Bills. This game leaves me with more questions than answers. Can the offense wake up and go back to how it was early in the year? Can the defense recover from the injuries and not fall apart down the stretch? Can Ken Dorsey stop sleepwalking through the season and actually call good plays? Can they not run a draw play out of shotgun from inside the 1-yard line? It should be fine, though, since their next two opponents are the Patriots and Tampa. You’re not going to choke those away… are you?
