The New York Giants came up short against the Pittsburgh Steelers on "Monday Night Football."
The 26-18 loss was sealed partly by Pittsburgh pass-rusher T.J. Watt when he strip-sacked New York quarterback Daniel Jones and recovered the fumble late in the fourth quarter.
TJ Watt Strip Sack! #Steelers #NFL pic.twitter.com/fg7b92FNEq
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) October 29, 2024
The right tackle responsible for stopping Watt was Jermaine Eluemunor (No. 72), who made some odd comments earlier in the week about wanting to "be on an island" with Watt.
Well, he got his wish, but it did not go well. Eluemunor gave up two sacks to Watt, but when asked by WFAN on Tuesday, he had a completely different version of events.
"I was on an island with him for a majority of the game, and he didn’t do a damn thing," Eluemunor insisted. "He didn’t do anything for three-and-a-half quarters and he had one impact play."
The game tape said something different, and CBS Sports NFL analyst J.J. Watt, brother to T.J., came with the receipts for "The Pat McAfee Show" on Wednesday.
"What are we doing here man
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 30, 2024
You gave up the strip sack fumble at the end of the game" ~ @JJWatt #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/Wc5etODGUh
"What are you doing, man?" Watt asked, exasperated. "You gave up the strip-sack fumble that lost the game."
Despite dominating, Watt quickly pointed out that his brother took no shots at Eluemunor postgame. The ex-Houston Texans defensive end expressed frustration at the Giants tackle not taking responsibility for his failures and still talking smack after a loss.
"Before the game, the guy says he wants to be on an island all day with T.J. ... Guy was on an island on the [strip-sack] play, one-on-one on the island, that's your job ... you didn't do it," Watt said. "This guy two days, three days later, comes out and says he locked [T.J.] up all game, well, no, you didn't, you would've won the game had you locked him up all game."
New York head coach Brian Daboll confirmed immediately postgame that the plan was not for Eluemunor to be isolated against Watt, admitting that tight end Theo Johnson was supposed to chip in and help the right tackle on the game-clinching sack play.
"We had a shift with the tight end to get over to Watt, and we didn't get the shift," Daboll told reporters.
This episode is another embarrassing moment in New York's dismal season, which has reached a record of 2-6 for a second straight year.
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!