After rare miss, Gano moves on

The last time Graham Gano missed a field goal before Sunday came on a 57-yard kick in Week 2 of the 2020 season at Chicago. The Giants lined up for a lastsecond attempt before halftime and Gano’s kick tailed left.

That was one month after Gano signed with the Giants. He had spent all of the previous year, with the Panthers, on injured reserve when soreness from a 2018 leg injury followed him into the next preseason.

After that botched kick against the Bears, Gano made two in the second half and didn’t miss again for the next 35 attempts, until he lined up for a second-quarter attempt against the Saints last Sunday — this time from 35 yards. The kick gradually hooked until it curled past the left goal-post.

Since signing with the Giants in August 2020, Gano has served as a consistent point-scorer for a group that has lacked those at times. He opened last season by going 21-for-22 on field goals, then signed a contract extension through 2023.

Last week’s miss, however, Graham’s chance evaporated for now to break Adam Vinatieri’s streak for most consecutive field goals made, which he set with 44 makes between 2015-16. It was just his second miss in two seasons with the Giants, and his first from within 50 yards since Jan. 1, 2017, when he was with Carolina.

Once he reached the sideline following the attempt against the Saints, Gano recalled telling special teams coach Thomas McGaughey, “Hey, it’s time to start another one.” He made a pair of field goals in the second half, and his next opportunity to build on those will come Sunday when the Giants face the Cowboys.

“I shouldn’t have missed but I did, and you just gotta move on to the next kick,” Gano said Friday.

When asked whether there was any hesitation, from either him or the coaching staff, before jogging out for the gametying 48-yarder near the end of regulation, Gano chuckled. Experience in situations like those was why the Giants signed him, he said. That’s why McGaughey didn’t say anything to him after the earlier miss. That’s why the Giants’ special teams coach replied with, “Heck no, not with that guy,” when asked Thursday if there was any questioning in that situation.