How bad was Giants' passing game? Not quite as bad as we thought
Mike Glennon of the Giants throws the ball in the third quarter of the game against the Bears at Soldier Field on Sunday in Chicago. Credit: Getty Images/Quinn Harris
Turns out last week’s Giants passing performance wasn’t as bad as it first seemed. It was still pretty bad, though.
A scoring change by the Elias Sports Bureau added 4 yards to the Giants’ total yardage figure from their loss in Chicago on Sunday, increasing their net passing yardage from minus-10 to minus-6.
On the game’s first play, Mike Glennon fumbled as he was sacked by the Bears' Trevis Gipson. Because the play began at the 25-yard line and the ball was recovered at the 14, the Giants were originally docked 11 net passing yards. But after reviewing the play, Elias determined that after Glennon lost the ball it started going forward, bounced off a Bears player’s helmet, and then went backward. Instead of the sack yardage going to the point of recovery (minus-11), it only went to the spot at where the impetus changed (minus-7).
So now, instead of that being the fewest net passing yards in the NFL since the Chargers had minus-18 in 1998, they’re only the worst since the Titans had minus-7 in 2009.
The Giants still finished with 155 net yards, the lowest total in the two-year Joe Judge era. The previous low was 159 vs. Arizona in 2020.
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.
