Giants lose a heartbreaker in Denver

It was 19–0 going into the fourth, and the Giants lost

DENVER, COL — Good teams find ways to win. Sub par to bad teams find ways to lose, and that is exactly what happened in tonight’s Giants/Broncos game.The fresh and dynamic Giants offense was coasting in this game, going into the fourth quarter — but Shane Bowen’s defense let up 33 points in the final 15 minutes resulting in a loss off a walk-off field goal.<a href="https://medium.com/media/e0e607619732570326f73d30459ea77e/href">https://medium.com/media/e0e607619732570326f73d30459ea77e/href</a>“This one is on me.” QB Jaxon Dart said. “I’m leader of the offense. … I don’t take any excuse for age or being a rookie, there’s a responsibility when you’re quarterback to go win games, that’s just the standard I hold myself to.”“I’ve got to be way better than that.” Said Dart on his interception in the fourth quarter. “That s — t’s unacceptable.”Dart looked really good tonight, but the play that will get most of the criticism, the crucial pick-six leading to a Broncos touchdown, aiding the comeback, but if you look at the full picture of this game, Dart’s interception is far from the only reason the Giants are now 2–5.“I think everybody is in this together.” OT Andrew Thomas said. “This is a team. Everybody makes mistakes. It happens, it’s part of football. We’ve just got to do better as a collective finishing when it matters the most.”“When you get down to that fourth quarter, when it’s time to stand up and you need a stop, we’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be better.” CB Drew Phillips said. “When it gets down the stretch and it matters the most, we’ve got to stand up.”The Giants defense was absolutely horrible in the fourth quarter, allowing seven runs and 94 yards. Defensive issues as big as allowing 94 yards in the final quarter while trying to get your season back on track is why the Giants are going nowhere fast.“Tough way to lose” HC Brian Daboll said. “Put their heart and soul into it.” Daboll also confirmed that the team never took their foot off the gas in the fourth quarter.There was another big reason the Giants loss this game — their kicking situation. Big Blue’s replacement kicker, Jude McAtamney, missed two extra points today, which was the difference in the game. The Giants offense also could not convert a big two-point conversion early as well.“I’m not going to shy away from that.” K McAtamney said. “The snap and hold were good. It’s just my lack of execution on the kicks. I’m not going to shy away from my mistakes that let the team down.”The Giants need to figure out their kicking situation for the future. The primary kicker, Graham Gano, while effective is always on IR for various reasons, which is a big issue. Gano is eligible to return from IR ahead of next week’s game against Philadelphia, but his health remains a question. The Giants also have Younghoe Koo on the practice squad, and at this point, is he really going to be that much worse than McAtamney? I mean, it doesn't hurt to try because nothing will change unless you atempt to make a switch. I urge the Giants to start looking at kickers in the draft because this seems to be a constant weakness for the Giants under Schoen and Daboll.The bottom line — the defense completly failed in the second half once again. How many times am I going to have to rewrite the same story about the Giants second half defensive struggles? Shane Bowens defenders are undisciplined and frankly unprepared. It is up to the defenders, but the play calling was bad by Bowen once again and it’s enough of a sample size at this point that it might be time for a shakeup at D.C. Marra said he wanted wins, his D.C. has costed him at least two, today and the Dallas game.Silver lining number one — Dart looks like a legit starter. What he was able to do early against a really good Broncos defense is super promising for the future, and while his completion rate looked bad today, that was more on his offensive line, which is still a weakness, than his throwing decisions.Silver lining number two — at least the Giants are not 0–7 like the other team that they share MetLife with. on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.FanZone Report was originally published in Giants lose a heartbreaker in Denver