Oct 8,
1:00 PM Chargers at Giants
Game 5 | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
Chargers | 0 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 27 |
Giants | 9 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 22 |
Giants
lose to the Chargers 27-22. Eli Manning was 21 of 36 for 225 yards with 2
TDs, 1 INT, and 1 Lost fumble. Orleans Darkwa rushed for 69 yards on 8 carries
and 1 TD, and caught 1 pass for 3 yards. Wayne Gallman rushed for 57 yards
on 11 carries, and caught 5 passes for 25 yards and 1 TD. Shane Vereen rushed
for 18 yards on 5 carries, and caught 4 passes for 27 yards. Odell Beckham
Jr. caught 5 passes for 97 yards and 1 TD, and had 1 carry for 8 yards. Roger
Lewis caught 1 pass for 29 yards and 1 TD. Brandon Marshall caught 2 passes
for 15 yards. Jerell Adams caught 1 pass for 11 yards. Rhett Ellison caught
1 pass for 9 yards. Sterling Shepard caught 1 pass for 9 yards. Darian Thompson
had 1 INT. "The
Giants put points up on the board in the first quarter for the first time this
season. I didn't care that it was the defense and only two points, I just felt
like - I'll take it! I hoped maybe it was the start of something, and felt that
way even more so when Orleans Darkwa ran for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Giants
a 9-0 lead. Before I could enjoy happy thoughts for very long, Philip Rivers completed
a short pass to one of his receivers that went for 22 yards. On top of that, B.J.
Goodson was hit with a 15 yard unsportsmanlike penalty for running into a referee.
That gave the Chargers good field position at the Giants 34-yard line. The
drive continued into the second quarter and Rivers threw an incomplete pass that
would have had him at the Giants 27-yard line facing a 3rd-and-14, but Jason Pierre-Paul
had lined up in the neutral zone. The extra down and penalty made things easier
for Rivers, and before long he hit a receiver for a touchdown to narrow the Giants
lead to 9-7. Both teams basically went nowhere for the rest of the quarter,
punting back and forth and committing penalties, until the Chargers finally put
things together on their last drive of the half. Once again, Pierre-Paul was in
the neutral zone letting Rivers off the hook for his incomplete pass and handing
him an extra down near the Giants goal line. Still, the Giants defense hung tough
and the Chargers settled for a field goal to put them up 10-9 as the quarter neared
the end. Sterling Shepard and Brandon Marshall were hurt in the first half
and not on the field for the start of the second. The Giants lost yardage on their
first possession when Manning took a big sack. Rivers got the ball near midfield
and two plays later was in the Giants red zone looking to add to his lead. A few
plays later, Darian Thompson intercepted him in the endzone! The Giants followed
up with Manning, down two receivers, making more use of Odell Beckham Jr., and
then he hit Roger Lewis for a 29 yard touchdown. The Chargers committed three
penalties on their drive while struggling to get to midfield. Things were looking
good until Rivers completed an 18 and a 25 yard touchdown pass to take the lead
back with a 17-16 score. A minute or so into the fourth quarter Manning hit Beckham
for a 48-yard touchdown which he followed up with some sort of ritual celebration
with the ball. Anyway, after a two-point conversion failed, the Giants held a
22-17 lead. The Giants had played a sloppy game up to this point, and had
lost some key players, but it looked like they had enough to finish off the job.
The lead looked like it could last when the Chargers went nowhere on their next
drive, but then Manning took another big sack, losing yardage, and the Giants
were three and out. Once again, the defense held off Rivers down by the goal
line to keep the Chargers from taking the lead, but their field goal brought them
closer at 22-20. There was less than five minutes to go now in this game and I
was hoping that the Giants offense could do something that would help them get
their first win. I saw Beckham out there fielding kickoffs because Dwayne Harris
was hurt earlier. The drive started with Shane Vereen running for three yards,
and then Manning threw an incomplete pass to Beckham who was hurt badly on the
play. My heart was sinking as he was carted off the field. Then Manning took
yet another big sack, and this time he fumbled the ball away. The Chargers scored
a touchdown three plays later to hold a 27-22 lead. There was still three minutes
left to save this game, and with a lack of wide receivers, Manning was throwing
to Vereen and his tight ends. Manning was at midfield facing a 4th-and-10 when
his pass was tipped and intercepted. That did it, and from what I saw today,
I don't know what the Giants or their fans can expect for the rest of the season.
Too many players were hurt, and Manning is lucky to be alive after those five
sacks. Maybe he isn't really that lucky, as he will be out there on the field
playing behind this same offensive line trying to make something out of nothing
next week in Denver."
"I
said in the preview, and actually everyone knew that Chargers defensive end Joey
Bosa would cause problems for the Giants offensive line. Bosa had 2.5 sacks coming
into this game and added two in the first quarter. His buddy Melvin Ingram didn't
want to be left out, and he got two later in the game and also recovered the fumble
he caused on the last one. That gave the Chargers the ball on the Giants 11 yard
line. Three plays later they took the lead on Philip Rivers touchdown pass to
Melvin Gordon. The Giants still had the time to come back from a 27-22 score,
but failed when Manning's pass to tight end Evan Engram was tipped and intercepted.
Manning had tried to get the ball to Engram three other times over the course
of the game and never connected. I had
said over the past two games that Manning was frisky and managed to avoid sacks,
but no amount of 'frisk' was able to save him today against the Chargers pass
rush. The Giants running game took some of the pressure off. Orleans Darkwa
averaged 8.6 yards per carry and Wayne Gallman averaged 5.2 yards. Darkwa had
a nice 23 yard run for a touchdown. It was the Giants first by a running back
this season. Last year Rashad Jennings (3), Paul Perkins (0) and Shane Vereen
(1) all combined for a total of just four rushing touchdowns. That said, you
can see how important the passing game is to the Giants, and having their four
starting receivers hurt during this one game is a tremendous blow. Sterling Shepard
and Brandon Marshall have ankle injuries. Dwayne Harris has a fractured foot,
and Odell Beckham Jr. may need surgery. The defense got some pressure on Philip
Rivers, but did not come up with any sacks. Rivers was able to pull off the big
plays when he needed them, with the exception of Darian Thompson getting his first
career interception in the end zone. There were a few lapses on defense, and how
Jason Pierre-Paul could come up with two penalties for the same neutral zone infraction
is a mystery. Ben McAdoo still calls the plays and he surprised me going for
a two-point conversion early in the fourth quarter even after a penalty moved
the ball back to the 7-yard line. Also, he called his final timeout for no apparent
reason at the end of the game for a Chargers final kneel-down play. The
Giants are 0-5 after being 11-5 last year, so McAdoo has a lot catching up to
do. It will be interesting to see who he has on the field next Sunday in Denver."
First
Quarter | GIANTS
- SAFETY Play:
S. Pulley fumble out of bounds in end zone for Safety
Drive info: 3 plays, -4 yards, 0:50
Giants 2-0 GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Orleans Darkwa 23 Yd Run (Aldrick Rosas Kick)
Drive info: 5
plays, 64 yards, 2:19 Giants 9-0 |
Second
Quarter | CHARGERS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Melvin Gordon 6 Yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nick
Novak Kick) Drive info: 8
plays, 77 yards, 4:15 Giants 9-7 CHARGERS
- FIELD GOAL Play:
Nick Novak 20 Yd Field Goal Drive
info: 12 plays, 49 yards, 2:36 Chargers
10-9 |
Third
Quarter |
GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Roger Lewis 29 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Aldrick
Rosas Kick) Drive info: 9
plays, 80 yards, 4:10 Giants 16-10 CHARGERS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Hunter Henry 25 Yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nick
Novak Kick) Drive info: 12
plays, 92 yards, 6:06 Chargers 17-16 |
Fourth
Quarter | GIANTS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Odell Beckham Jr. 48 Yd pass from Eli Manning (Two-Point
Pass Conversion Failed) Drive info:
5 plays, 75 yards, 2:09 Giants
22-17 CHARGERS
- FIELD GOAL Play:
Nick Novak 31 Yd Field Goal Drive
info: 11 plays, 48 yards, 4:15 Giants
22-20 CHARGERS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Melvin Gordon 10 Yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nick
Novak Kick) Drive info: 3
plays, 11 yards, 0:48 Chargers 27-22 |
Notes:
Eli
Manning, who had thrown 122 straight passes without a sack, was sacked five times
for a total loss of 42 yards. Olivier
Vernon was out for the first time in his career after 84 straight games. Giants
rushed for a season-high 152 yards. Darian
Thompson got his first career NFL interception, picking off Philip Rivers in the
end zone. For the third straight
week the Giants had a fourth-quarter lead and could not close it out. Next
Games:
Oct 15 - Giants at Denver. Giants
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