Dec. 16,
1:00 PM Titans at Giants
Game 14 | | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
Titans | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 17 |
Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Giants
lose to the Titans 17-0. Eli Manning was 21 of 44 for 229 yards with 1 INT. Saquon
Barkley had 14 carries for 31 yards, and caught 4 passes for 25 yards. Riley
Dixon had 1 carry for 14 yards. Elijhaa
Penny had 1 carry for 2 yards. Evan
Engram caught 8 passes for 75 yards. Bennie
Fowler caught 2 passes for 43 yards. Sterling
Shepard caught 2 passes for 37 yards. Russell Shepard caught 2 passes for 28
yards. Jawill Davis caught
2 passes for 13 yards. Corey
Coleman caught 1 pass for 8 yards.
Michael Thomas had 1 sack.
"It
was one of those crummy rainy days at the stadium, and as it turned out a crummy
day for the fans on all counts. The game started with the Titans moving the ball
without much of a problem until they got to the Giants 30-yard line. They missed
on a field goal attempt, and that gave the Giants some nice field position. The
Giants did nothing with, it going three-and-out. Meanwhile, the Titans then ground
out a long drive that ended with a touchdown. It took over half the quarter and
it felt even longer if you were stuck out in the rain. The Giants created some
excitement when Eli Manning completed two long passes back to back to Russell
Shepard and Evan Engram, but the next two plays were a five yard false start penalty,
and Saquon Barkley losing ten yards trying to run the ball. It was all punts after
that, up until the Giants last drive of the half. Punter Riley Dixon suddenly
ran with the ball for 14 yards for a first down! Was it an intentional fake punt?
I wasn't sure, but I was thinking it might have been the longest run so far for
the Giants. The Giants had almost no time left on the clock, so the score ended
up 7-0 in favor of the Titans at the end of the half. The way this game was going,
I was happy that the Giants were only down by seven points. Things didn't start
well, with Barkley losing 4 yards on the first play of the third quarter, but
Manning followed that up with a long 38 yard pass to Sterling Shepard. After another
first down, and a false start penalty, the fans came alive when Evan Engram caught
one from Manning for 13 yards and a first down. The Giants got as far as the
Tennessee 18 yard line, before another penalty cost them ten yards. Manning ended
up throwing an interception two plays later. The Giants defense held, but after
the punt, Manning threw two incompletions before taking a sack where he fumbled
the ball away, trying to get it into safe hands. With good field position at the
Giants 14-yard line, the Titans soon turned that fumble into 14-0 lead. It
was hard to keep the fans in their seats, but not for anything good happening,
just for the rain pouring down. The Giants next three possessions, were three-and-out.
The Titans added a field goal, and only five minutes were left in the game. The
Giants used up the clock while managing to get past two fourth down plays. Facing
yet another from the Tennessee 4-yard line, Manning's pass to Engram fell incomplete,
and that was it. Watching the Giants play today was a big disappointment, and
for better or worse, now there's only one home game left. The Giants are at Indianapolis
next week, and they will finish up at home with the Cowboys."
"Last
week in their games, the Giants and the Titans put 70 points on the scoreboard.
Today just 17 in all. Unfortunately for the Giants, the Titans were the only contributors.
On both teams, neither quarterback threw a touchdown. The Titans were just fine
with that and their quarterback, Marcus Mariota, didn't throw one in his last
game either. This time Mariota didn't hurt their cause by throwing an interception,
as he did then. Now, in the last two Titans games, it's been running back Derrick
Henry who has scored all six of their touchdowns, running the ball into the end
zone. The Giants, on the other hand, needed their quarterback throwing touchdowns
as they saw last week when Eli Manning threw three. They also could have used
Saquon Barkley playing as he had last week when he ran for 170 yards and one touchdown
on 14 carries. Today Barkley had the exact same number of carries for just 31
yards. In the past few weeks, the Giants have really relied on Barkley running
the ball, but the offensive line took a big step back today, and I mean that literally.
They were overpowered by the Titans, and as Pat Shurmur had stated, "We're
gonna go as far as that line will block for us." Still, at halftime the Giants
were losing by just 7 points, even with Henry running for 127 yards and a touchdown
on 21 carries. For the Giants, Barkley had just 19 yards on 7 carries. They
had to go it again today without Odell Beckham Jr., and this time Manning really
could have used him. Beckham is a big distraction for opposing defenses, and even
when they can't get the ball to him, the other receivers benefit from the coverage
he draws. The weather was a big factor, and as far as completions went, Manning
had his worst passing day of the season. Half of his 44 passes were directed to
either Evan Engram or Barkley. Engram came up with eight of 12 for 75 yards. Barkley
caught only 4 out of 10 for 25 yards. Sterling Shepard caught only 2 out of 9. On
defense, the Giants held Mariota to just 88 passing yards, but the Titans quarterback
was almost an afterthought for their game plan, which featured only 21 pass plays
and 45 runs. The Giants defense was overwhelmed by the Titans line and by Henry,
who rushed 33 times for 170 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, the Titans gained
a total of 216 yards on the ground. The Giants run defense has suffered since
they traded Damon Harrison to Detroit for a fifth-round pick, and that weakness
certainly showed up big today. With the Giants playoff hopes gone, things could
shift a bit. If you remember, Kyle Lauletta didn't do too well in his NFL debut
last week in Washington. The Giants deactivated Lauletta for this game. They activated
veteran Alex Tanney, who over time had played in one game with the Titans. He
was signed by the Giants after he was released earlier this year. Now after this
game, maybe Lauletta will get a reprieve, and chance to show that he could do
better. Though a lot could be attributed today to the offensive line, Manning
certainly didn't play his best. Who knows what the Giants will do next week in
Indianapolis depending on how that game goes."
First Quarter
| TITANS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Derrick Henry 1 Yd Run (Ryan Succop Kick) Drive info: 15 plays, 75 yards,
7:45 Titans 7-0 |
Second Quarter
| NONE |
Third Quarter
|
TITANS
- TOUCHDOWN Play:
Derrick Henry 1 Yd Run (Ryan Succop Kick) Drive info: 5 plays, 14 yards, 2:47
Titans 14-0 |
Fourth Quarter
| TITANS
- FIELD GOAL Play:
Ryan Succop 22 Yd Field Goal Drive info: 11 plays, 49 yards, 7:03 Titans
17-0 |
Notes:
Giants
Eli Manning completed only 47.7 percent of his passes. Giants
Saquon Barkley's 56 yards from scrimmage was his lowest total of the season. Giants
finished with 260 yards, their second-lowest total of the season. Giants
15 first downs tied their season low, set in the opener vs. Jacksonville. Next
Games:
Dec 23 Giants at Indianapolis. Dec 30 Cowboys
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