It certainly wasn’t your usual score line at the end. Nor was it your typical football game. But, Bruce Arians and the gang couldn’t care less. They only care about the 25-23 victory they walked away with against the Giants on Monday night.
Rocky Start
Tom Brady led his team down the field to get their only points of the first quarter, those points coming in the form of a 37 yard field goal from Ryan Succop. The Giants striked back with points of their own. This came on a nice sliding grab from Dion Lewis in the endzone for a touchdown. Lewis ran a short wheel route from 7 yards out, and Daniel Jones found him. The Giants fired back later on in the second quarter with yet another touchdown. This one was a two yard sneak into the endzone from Wayne Gallman Jr. Ryan Succop fired home a 40 yard field g0al to end the first half.
The Giants, The Gift That Keeps on Giving
After Daniel Jones threw a pick to Carlton Davis on the 2nd play of the 3rd quarter, Ryan Succop nailed a 43 yard field goal. 4 minutes later, Brady led yet another drive down into Giants territory, but this time, he went one step further. He found Rob Gronkowski in the back of the endzone for a touchdown. It was a nice pass, and a good route by Gronk, even though it was only from 3 yards out. They tried for two, but could not convert. The pass was intended for Mike Evans. Finally, the Giants got points on the board in the third, courtesy of a 33 yard chip shot from Graham Gano.
In the fourth, Brady capped off a 6 play 66 yard drive with a great ball to Mike Evans, who laid out to make a spectacular catch. 6 minutes later, after the Giants went 3 and out once more, Brady and the gang went down and put another 3 points on the board, setting up a good ending. The Giants only needed a touchdown and a two point to tie the game up.
Controversial Finish
The Giants were in danger of losing the game on a fourth down and five, but Daniel Jones made some incredible moves to stay alive in the pocket, and rifled a pass to Evan Engram for a first down. Before the two minute warning, Jones made something out of nothing and went for a run. To be specific, it was a fifteen yard run for a first down. A couple plays later, Jones faced a fourth and sixteen. But, he stayed alive in the pocket for just enough time to find Sterling Shepard for a first down. two plays later, Jones would find Golden Tate in the endzone, lobbing over the head of Sean Murphy-Bunting. The Giants still needed a two point conversion.
On the two point conversion, Jones threw the ball to Dion Lewis, who at the time, was wide open. But, Antoine Winfield Jr. made a huge play to break up the pass, all the while barreling over Dion Lewis. There was a flag thrown immediately after the play for pass interference, but it was picked up. A knee or two later, the game was over, and it left questions about the call made on the two point. The reason why this was called back was because Winfield was playing the ball, he deflected it, and after the fact ran into Lewis. So, that’s why that was called back.
Box Score Stats
Tom Brady was 28/40 for 279 yards and threw for two touchdowns. Those two went to Mike Evans and Gronk. Daniel Jones went 25/41 while throwing for 256 yards and two touchdowns. He also would throw two costly picks in the second half. The two picks were caught by Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting. The touchdown passes would go to Dion Lewis and Golden Tate. Wayne Gallman recorded the only rushing touchdown on a short two yard run.
UP NEXT
The Buccaneers have a humongous matchup coming up on Sunday Night Football against the New Orleans Saints for first place in the division. Both teams are 6-2. For those who don’t remember, these two teams played in the first week of the NFL Season, where the Saints dominated the game and the Buccaneers, 34-23. So, the Bucs look to serve up a little bit of revenge to the Saints this Sunday Night.