Big Blue Review – Week 3 vs. Chiefs; L; KC: 22, NYG: 9
Being a Giants fan is hard work.
Hard.
Work.
It feels like every game, something new happens, and somehow, it’s worse than what happened the week before. In Week 1, the Giants couldn’t score a touchdown. In Week 2, they couldn’t score enough touchdowns. And in Week 3, they couldn’t even kick!
This is Week 2 of Big Blue Review!
Big Blue Review – Week 3 vs. Chiefs; L; KC: 22, NYG: 9
When Graham Gano suffered a leg injury in Week 2 last season against Washington, it cost the Giants the game, and they lost by three points. This time, Gano got hurt mere minutes before the Giants were scheduled to kick off their Sunday Night Football home opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. This was the third time in Brian Daboll’s head coaching career that his team has been without a kicker.
“Graham got hurt during defensive introductions before the game,” said Daboll. Are the Giants unlucky, or flat-out unprepared? Whatever it is, the New York Giants have found a way to dismantle the pillars that once stood for a top NFL franchise. But this destruction has been 15 years in the making.
It’s difficult to write about this issue without boiling over with frustration at the Giants’ unique inability to construct a healthy football roster. Gano has been kicking for the Giants since 2020. He is 38 years old, and his injury history is extensive.
“I was warming up just like normal and just felt a pull and went in and talked to the trainers,” Gano recalled. “They wrapped it up and tried to keep it as loose as possible. They couldn’t send me out not knowing if I was going to be able to get the ball over the line of scrimmage or not.”
Somehow, it wasn’t even remotely surprising when the NBC broadcasters announced that Gano had injured himself just minutes before kickoff, and punter Jamie Gillan was taking placekicking reps on the Giants’ sideline. That’s right, it wasn’t surprising. Even the New York Field Goal Giants sometimes find themselves incapable of kicking field goals.
And now, the Giants are 0-3. On Sunday night, they lost 22-9 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
To clarify, this isn’t a criticism of Gano. Players get hurt sometimes. This is intended to be a critique of how the roster was managed this offseason. Despite having a successful draft and making changes to the team’s defense, it was as if general manager Joe Schoen forgot to adjust one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines, and the inconsistent placekicking the Giants have dealt with for years.
What’s funny is that several reports came out last week about how Schoen left many areas of the Giants’ roster unchanged from last season. What’s even funnier is that it took a matter of days for the Giants to sign Younghoe Koo to replace Gano. That means they had every chance to sign a different kicker in the offseason.
The Giants felt Gano’s absence on their opening drive, and it cost them four points in the first half. It was fourth down and three in the opening drive, and the Giants had the football at Kansas City’s 28-yard line. They had to go for it instead of settling for a field goal. More accurately, they had to settle for attempting a conversion out of fourth down. They turned the ball over, which led to a scoring drive for the Chiefs, and they had to punt away their next possession.
But the Giants faced even more issues than an injured kicker. After putting up 38 points against the lackluster Dallas Cowboys defense in Week 2, the Giants could only score nine against Kansas City. Part of the problem was Russell Wilson, who only threw for 160 yards, completing just 18 of 32 attempts (56.3%). He also got intercepted twice.
“It was obviously disappointing,” said Wilson. “Obviously, I want to play a better game for us and give us a better chance to win.”
Part of the issue was that Mike Kafka, the Giants’ offensive coordinator, couldn’t figure out how to get Wilson out of the pocket faster, or help Malik Nabers run better routes against Kansas City’s omnipresent defense. He was calling for rushing plays all night long, which is not an NFL-caliber strategy for overcoming a tough defensive unit. It felt like it was Moon Ball or nothing for Wilson, and every deep throw was picked off or ruled incomplete. Short passes were few and far between, Giants receivers only totaled 41 yards after catches, and the team went 1-for-10 on third down.
Malik Nabers was double-covered on almost every snap, and he only caught two of seven passes for 13 yards. His first catch didn’t come until the fourth quarter, and this was his first career game with fewer than four receptions.
“I’m bummed,” Nabers said. “Anybody would feel beat up after going 0-and-3.” When asked about the extent of his frustration, he replied, “How frustrated do you think? We’re 0-and-3. We can’t win a game. It’s frustrating. We can’t win.”
No, they can’t.
“It’s not the goal, certainly,” said Daboll.
No kidding.
Team Stats:
Stats courtesy of NFL.com
Scoring Breakdown:
Stats courtesy of NFL.com
Scoring Drives:
Stats courtesy of NFL.com
In Week 4, on Sunday at 1 PM (12 PM CDT), the New York Giants (0-3) will host the Los Angeles Chargers (3-0) at MetLife Stadium (CBS).
Jaxson Dart will start at quarterback for the Giants. Read all about it in today’s Daily Report.
Big Blue Transactions:
9/24: NYG made a Practice Squad Exception for OLB Tomon Fox.
9/23: NYG signed K Younghoe Koo as a Practice Squad Veteran.
9/23: NYG terminated LB Curtis Jacobs from the Practice Squad.
9/22: NYG waived (no recall) OLB Tomon Fox.
9/20: NYG waived (no recall) WR Xavier Gipson.
9/20: NYG activated DL Elijah Garcia from the Practice Squad (Standard Eleveation).
9/20: NYG activated LB Neville Hewitt from the Practice Squad (Standard Elevation).
