3 takeaways from the Giants vs. Vikings in NFL Week 16
Giants linebacker Abdul Carter and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II celebrate a sack versus the Vikings on Sunday. Credit: Ed Murray
The Giants still haven’t won a game since Oct. 9. Here are three takeaways from Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Vikings at MetLife Stadium, the Giants’ ninth straight loss.
1. The Giants continue to make bad history and could make more
Before last season, the Giants never had a season with 14 losses in franchise history. With two games left, they are one loss away from doing it in back-to-back years.
They’ve already become the first Giants team to lose eight road games in a season. A loss next week at Las Vegas would give them their first winless road season since 1976. The Giants have won only 11 regular-season games since making the playoffs in the 2022 season, the fewest by an NFL team.
It adds up to a glaring failure under general manager Joe Schoen. Giants ownership has committed to bringing him back and allowing him to lead the next coaching search, but if the Giants were to reach a 14th loss, would this level of futility cause them to change their mind?
2. Missed opportunities
When a team loses nine games in a row, it can look back at a bunch of things that went wrong. Sunday was another example of missed chances for the Giants.
If Abdul Carter hadn’t lined up in the neutral zone, Jevon Holland’s 96-yard pick-6 would have given the Giants an early touchdown lead.
If Theo Johnson hadn’t let Jaxson Dart’s pass slip through his hands, the Vikings wouldn’t have gotten an interception that set up a 12-yard touchdown run by J.J. McCarthy.
If Darius Slayton — who had another bad case of the drops — had made the catch on the Giants’ final drive, they would have been at midfield or deeper in Vikings territory. Instead, it was another missed chance for a team that could use some good breaks.
“I just know that we’re close and we’re just not close enough,” Holland said.
3. Defense making strides yet can’t get timely stops
For the second straight game, the defense forced multiple turnovers — this time it was Paulson Adebo’s first-quarter interception and Tyler Nubin’s 27-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown after Brian Burns’ strip sack — but it still couldn’t get stops when it needed to most. In the second quarter, the Vikings converted a fourth-and-1, then got 15 yards thanks to Dru Phillips’ unnecessary-roughness penalty. That led to a field goal.
The Vikings faced third-and-17 on their first drive of the fourth quarter, but Justin Jefferson made a 21-yard catch with his toes barely down before falling out of bounds. It extended the Vikings’ drive and Will Reichard finished it with a go-ahead 30-yard field goal with 4:15 remaining.
The finishing touch was Aaron Jones’ 9-yard run on third-and-8 to seal the win. The lane was created thanks to a block on Elijah Chatman that allowed Jones to run free and seal the Vikings’ third consecutive win.
It was an eventful 24 hours for the visitors, whose team plane experienced mechanical problems on Saturday and delayed their arrival in Newark.
Not getting the big stop has been the story of the season for the Giants’ defense. They do just enough right, but not enough late to clinch wins.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Burns said. “So we can’t blame nobody but ourselves.”
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
