Giants vs. Rams Q&A: How did Dane Belton do Sunday?
Dane Belton of the Giants celebrates after intercepting a pass in the third quarter against the Rams at MetLife on Sunday. Credit: Mike Stobe
How did the Giants fare after Jason Pinnock left the game with an injury?
Because of Dane Belton, the answer is very well, thank you.
After Pinnock left the game with a foot injury, Belton filled in and didn’t miss a beat, intercepting two passes and recovering a fumble. He also ran down the Rams' Puka Nacua and knocked him out of bounds at the Giants' 2 after a missed tackle by Adoree' Jackson turned a short completion into an 80-yard catch-and-run.
“I just want to take advantage of my opportunities whenever they come,” Belton said. “I want to stay ready no matter what. I know I can play at this level. When I have my opportunities, I want to show that.”
He did. And at the most opportune time.
Pinnock and Xavier McKinney rarely come off the field. (McKinney and inside linebacker Bobby Okereke have played every snap this season, and Pinnock isn’t far behind.)
Because of McKinney's and Pinnock’s snap counts, Belton has seen his own snap count drop to about half of last year’s.
“Yeah, it has been tough,” he said. “Like I said, I know I can play at this level. That’s nothing against those guys or the coaches or anything. It’s just the opportunity. It has been tough this year, knowing I can go out there and help the team but at the same time, there’s a game plan and they’re going to put the best plan out there. It's just staying ready. When the opportunitiy comes, you have to take advantage of it.”
Belton credited some of his effort against the Rams to getting lucky. But his process doesn’t seem to be from happenstance. He has continued to work, and on Sunday, it paid off.
After a big game, Belton said it’s “brutal not to win.”
“That’s what I’m really thinking about,” he said. “It would have been awesome to finish it out with a win.”
What impact did Darren Waller make?
Waller caught five of his six targets for 55 yards.
After the game, he said, “It doesn’t get more frustrating than that.”
The whole season for Waller has been a challenge. He’s played in only nine games because of hamstring issues that have plagued him over the years.
When he has been on the field, his contributions have been measured.
“There's been a lot of different moments during the season where you just leave frustrated and just leave with a bad taste in your mouth because you know that you should execute better and take advantage of those opportunities to win games,” he said. “And the wins don't just fall in your lap in the NFL. You got to make them happen. And there's been a lot of situations where plays needed to be made. They just didn't get made this year.”
Waller, it seems, made his biggest impact on the Giants during training camp. He was healthy then. There was optimism for what the Giants, with Waller, could be. Now he’ll look to next year, when he will hope to stay healthy.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
