Three Plays That Led to Giants' Week 13 Doom

The Giants held the Patriots to a field goal on their first possession, but they were unable to score on their opening drive, as they have so many times this year. 

Jamie Gillan punted the ball 54 yards, and Marcus Jones caught the ball on the 6-yard line, the closest Giants coverage man 10 yards away. 

Jones was able to take off and run through a sea of players on the field untouched for almost 40 yards. 

Gillan tried to run over and make a tackle at the 45-yard line, but he was not fast enough to get his body between Jones and the end zone, so he made a diving attempt, throwing his arm at the returner, which only made Jones break stride for a second. 

From there, it was a footrace in which two more Giants coverage men would lose as he galloped to the end zone. Just like that, the score was 10-0.

Another Theo Johnson Drop

Trailing 17-7 and coming off a touchdown drive, the Giants forced a punt, and the Patriots shanked the punt, giving New York the ball in plus territory. 

Four plays anchored by three runs in a row resulted in two first downs and a third first down on the Patriots' 29-yard line. Three plays later, it was 3rd-and-10, and the Giants called a passing play. 

Jaxson Dart had great protection, and tight end Theo Johnson got behind the defensive back, but could not catch a pass that went right through his hands. 

Yes, the pass wasn’t on target, but when it goes directly through the intended receiver’s hands, it needs to be caught. 

That led to the fourth-down field-goal attempt, where Younghoe Koo did his best Charlie Brown impression, and the team got nothing out of the possession.

Third Down Touchdown

The Giants needed a stop in the worst way. They were already dealing with losing points thanks to the Johnson end-zone drop and the Koo missed field-goal attempt; a hold would have calmed the major momentum the Patriots possessed going into their drive. 

The Patriots wasted no time getting the ball into Giants territory. With the ball on the Giants' 34, the defense stopped them for a 2-yard loss and followed it up by forcing a holding penalty that backed them up 10 more yards. 

After a 13-yard pass on second down, the Giants had a golden opportunity to get off the field, only giving up a field goal attempt. Instead, their big-money free-agent Paulson Adebo, who has been in and out of the lineup all season, gets burned on a fade route by Kyle Williams up the sideline for a touchdown. 

That made the score 24-7 and essentially put the game out of reach. The Giants were unable to make it interesting after that.