It wasn’t pretty, but the New York Giants won their second game in a row, defeating the New England Patriots 10-7 as Chad Ryland’s 35-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left with six seconds remaining in the game.
In a game featuring the two teams that have scored the fewest amount of points heading into Week 12, the matchup lived up to expectations as the first 10 possessions of the game ended with seven punts, two interceptions, and a fumble.
Some fans may have been disappointed that their team won as now it is unlikely they’ll earn a top-three pick in next year’s draft.
But the players aren’t thinking about draft position, and in the NFL, an ugly win is a good win, especially considering how disastrous the season began. Now head coach Brian Daboll and his team will head into their bye week feeling better about themselves than they did a few weeks ago.
Here are our three biggest takeaways from the Giants’ win over the Patriots.
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Once again the defense forcing turnovers was the key to victory
Just as the case was in their win last week over Washington when they forced six turnovers, the key to victory was the fact that the defense forced three turnovers by intercepting Mac Jones twice and Bailey Zappe once.
The Giants offense struggled mightily for most of the afternoon, but the defense was able to give them a short field to work with and as a result, all 10 of their points came off turnovers. Through the first nine games of the season, the team forced just eight turnovers, but in the last three games, they’ve forced 11.
Before the game, Jay Glazer reported that there had been friction between Daboll and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale. But after another strong performance for the defense, perhaps it will ease the tension between the two coaches.
Jalin Hyatt finally got involved in the offense
One of the reasons there was excitement coming into this season was that the team was able to draft arguably the fastest player in the draft in the third round in Jalin Hyatt.
However, through the first 11 games of the season, Hyatt had just 12 receptions for 221 yards.
Against the Patriots, New York finally got their speedy receiver heavily involved in the offense, as he had five receptions for a game-high 109 yards. Not only was it Hyatt’s first career 100-yard receiving game, but he became the first Giants player to eclipse the 100-yard mark this season.
Over the season’s final five games, the team needs to make it a priority to continue letting him be a focal point of the passing game to develop his progression further.
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Tommy DeVito had another solid outing
With several of his family and friends in attendance as he made his first career start, Tommy DeVito had another solid showing. He completed 17 out of 25 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.
What was most encouraging about his performance was his willingness to challenge New England’s secondary by throwing the ball deep on a few occasions, which we’ve seldom seen from the offense this season. He did turn the ball over once on an exchange between him and Wan’Dale Robinson, and most of his six sacks were his fault for holding the ball too long. But for the second week in a row, he had a quarterback rating over 100, and his teammates seem to respond well to his energy.
When the Giants return from the bye week to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 14, Tyrod Taylor could be cleared to play. But you have to wonder if New York will decide to stay with DeVito and continue to develop him to see if he can be on their roster next season instead.