Giants' defense had rough day vs. Jaguars, but got the job done when it mattered most
Fabian Moreau #37 and Julian Love #20 of the New York Giants tackle Christian Kirk #13 of the Jacksonville Jaguars short of the goal line on the final play of the game at TIAA Bank Field on October 23, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Carlson
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Xavier McKinney called Sunday’s game against the Jaguars “probably our worst defensive performance” of the season.
It may have been by some measures. The Giants allowed 452 yards, 142 of them on the ground, and let Jacksonville march up and down the field for much of the contest.
But when it mattered the most, it was the defense that came up with three huge stops at their own end of the field – two of them inside their own 5 -- to help lead the Giants to a 23-17 victory.
“In critical moments, that was good,” coach Brian Daboll said.
There were none more critical than the final play of the game. The Jaguars needed a touchdown to tie or take the lead and after converting a fourth-and-15 pass for a first down and getting extra yardage from a roughing the passer flag against Leonard Williams, they reached the 17 with 16 seconds left. The Giants forced two incompletions but on third-and-10, Trevor Lawrence hit Christian Kirk at the 1. Fabian Moreau made contact with the receiver first and soon a swarm of defenders were there – McKinney, Julian Love, Landon Collins – to make sure he did not push into the end zone. Kirk was brought to the ground and time expired.
“When you see that everybody is like OK, fly to the ball,” Love said. “That’s one of those plays you want to get him down no matter what.”
It was the last play, but not the only one, that kept the Jaguars from scoring points Sunday.
In the first half, McKinney forced a fumble by running back Travis Etienne as he was running toward the goal line, punching the ball out as he was crossing the 5. Love recovered it in the end zone with 3:26 left in the half and the Giants kicked a field goal on their ensuing drive to lead 13-11 at halftime.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Giants' defense girded again. The Jaguars drove to their 21 and on third-and-1 ran a direct snap to Etienne that was stuffed by Quincy Roche. Rather than kick a field goal that could have given them a 20-13 lead, the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-inches with a quarterback sneak by Lawrence. This time, linebacker Jaylen Smith was there to make the first contact and drive him back. That stop led to points, as well, when the Giants' Daniel Jones scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:31 left.
Those three instances helped decide the game but they were not the plays the Giants left TIAA Field thinking about. Brooding about, really.
“The details still matter,” Williams said. “Regardless of if we won or lost, we have to get out of the habit of creating those close situations at the end of the game. We can’t keep killing ourselves with penalties and letting it come down to that. We’re hoping we can get to a comfortable lead at some point and have a comfortable win at the end.
“We’re happy with the win but we all know and agree that there is a lot more we need to clean up to go where we want to go.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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