Giants let upset bid slip away against Steelers
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – At least half of Joe Judge’s debut as head coach had the makings of the perfect start to a new chapter of Giants football.
But the other half had far too much of the stuff that plagued previous Big Blue regimes, and in the end the Giants let an upset bid slip away in a 26-16 loss to the Steelers on Monday night at MetLife Stadium.
The Steelers (1-0) came in as favorites, viewed as playoff contenders at the very least and potential Super Bowl contenders with a returning Ben Roethlisberger and a dominant defensive front led by stars T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree.
Watt and Dupree were certainly as advertised.
The Giants entered having lost the most games in the NFL over the last three years, leading to two head coaching firings. So overall, this outcome was anticipated.
But the Giants had their chances. They were scrappy, as Judge promised, yet way too sloppy, and that’s what they’re going to take away from this as the fundamentals let them down across the board.
The Giants led 10-9 late in the first half when Roethlisberger and the Steelers turned the game in their favor by marching 78 yards for a crushing touchdown with seven seconds remaining before halftime.
The Giants hung in there defensively for much of the first half until that final drive with Leonard Williams and Lorenzo Carter playing well throughout.
A glaring story line for the Giants was the fact that Saquon Barkley could not get anything going on the ground, and most of it was not his fault. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage eight times on 15 attempts, finishing with 6 rushing yards for the game.
The Giants are not going to win many games that way, and heading into Sunday’s game against the Bears in Chicago, they will have to solve that unexpected problem.
“Not really too concerned about the stats,” Barkley said. “You have to give credit where credit is due. They made some plays, and we weren’t able to run in the game.”
Daniel Jones (26-for-41, 278 yards, two touchdown passes) was outstanding at times, including a 41-yard TD pass to Darius Slayton that gave the Giants an early lead. But he threw two interceptions, one to Watt that the Steelers turned into a touchdown drive and another in the red zone that put a pin in the Giants’ balloon.
“Obviously, a play I’d like to have back,” Jones said. “I’ll have a chance to look at it with the coaches tomorrow, and really look into it. Costly mistake there.”
The Giants were marching and in the red zone when Jones, with Dupree forcing him into a backpedal, just threw one up to the goal line. The pass attempt fluttered and then was intercepted by defensive lineman Cameron Heyward in the end zone.