Bad teams have a tendency to find new ways to lose. For the New York Giants though, this is the second time in as many years they lost in the final seconds by allowing a 60-plus yard field goal.
A Graham Gano 63-yarder as time expired relegated the Giants to yet another loss in Week 5, a 33-31 decision to drop New York to 1-4 on the season.
It ruined a Giants comeback that overturned a 17-3 deficit, a Saquon Barkley 15-yard reception putting Big Blue up by a point with 1:08 left in the game. It was a comeback made even more difficult as there were a number of questionable penalty calls that continuously set the Giants back.
Here are three takeaways from the loss:
Giants Takeaways: Is Eli Manning the problem?
After wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. called him out, Giants veteran quarterback Eli Manning put together a good enough performance to keep the Giants in the game. A 22-of-36 performance for 326 yards was the highest output he’s recorded all season.
However, a pair of bad interceptions in the second half added a few detours in the Giants’ comeback trail.
After a field goal cut their deficit to 20-16 and Curtis Riley picked off Cam Newton on the Giants 10-yard-line to give New York even more momentum, Manning gave the ball right back to the Panthers when a short pass intended for Beckham was picked off by safety Mike Adams.
Carolina would score on that possession only for Manning to be picked off by Adams on his very next pass attempt.
Giants Takeaways: Defense continues to grind
While they allowed 33 points at the end of the day and displayed some shoddy tackling on a Curtis Samuel touchdown in the first quarter, the Giants defense did everything it could to keep the offense in the game.
Following the Panthers touchdown off the Manning interception to make it 27-16, Janoris Jenkins came up with the Giants’ second interception of the game.
They held a dangerous quarterback in Cam Newton to a quarterback rating of 27.8 and a passer rating of 75.5. It was the fourth time in five games the Giants have given up 235 passing yards or fewer.
Giants Takeaways: The offense showed up
While Manning was inconsistent, Beckham and Barkley continue to show that they are premier talents in the game.
Beckham followed up his comments with his best game of the season, reeling in eight catches for 131 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season. Before that though, he sparked the Giants offense with an improbable passing touchdown, taking a backward-screen from Manning before hitting a wide-open Barkley down the right sideline for a 57-yard score. It was their first touchdown of the day.
It was one of two touchdowns on the day for Barkley, also. The running back became just the third rookie in NFL history to put up five-straight games of 100-plus yards from scrimmage to start his career.
Their efforts helped the Giants score 30 or more points for the first time since the 2015 season finale.
