When people say football is a game of inches in the future, they'll likely use the ending of Sunday's Jacksonville Jaguars-New York Giants game as evidence of why.
GAME OF INCHES AND SECONDS!
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
The pass is caught, but the @Giants D keeps the Jags out of the end zone as the clock hits 0️⃣. #NYGvsJAX pic.twitter.com/efSZ7tOMrT
What a wild ending in Jacksonville #NYGvsJAX pic.twitter.com/cwH1wYPycb
— NFL (@NFL) October 23, 2022
The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-5) came close to upending the New York Giants (6-1). Quarterback Trevor Lawrence delivered a strike to wide receiver Christian Kirk. He caught the ball at the 1-yard line but was immediately pushed back. Instead of a thrilling walk-off win, the Jaguars walked off the field in disbelief that they came so close to pulling off the win but didn't.
Instead, the Giants kept pace with the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles while the Jaguars fell three games back in the loss column to first-place Tennessee. Sunday's game was decided by inches. The ramifications of the play extend much further.
For those curious about the Giants, the only team to ever have negative DVOA with a 6-1 record was 1982 Washington, which of course went on to win the Super Bowl in that weird strike season.
— Aaron Schatz (@FO_ASchatz) October 23, 2022
We'll see where the Giants end up after today.
Per Aaron Schatz, the Giants are the first team since 1982 Washington to have a negative DVOA while starting a season 6-1. Advanced stats inform us the Giants should be viewed as a house of cards; impressive that they're standing after seven weeks but hard to expect to withstand repeated blows.
Where they currently sit, the Giants don't care what analytics says they are. Keep counting them out. They aren't shrinking.
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