Stevie Brown – © USA TODAY Sports Images
Stevie Brown and Jayron Hosley Injured in OT Loss to Jets: In an ugly game, the New York Giants fell to the New York Jets 24-21 in overtime on Saturday night at MetLife Stadium. Other than one big play by RB David Wilson, the Giants’ offense and QB Eli Manning struggled.
“What happened tonight was we fought like heck throughout the entire game on defense and on special teams,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “We really didn’t have anything to help us on the offensive side of the ball…There was no consistency whatsoever. We’ve got work to do on the offensive side of the ball. Whatever is going on, we’ve got to solve it and we’ve got to solve it fast. We don’t have much time.”
Worse for the Giants is that S Stevie Brown (knee) and CB Jayron Hosley (ankle) left the games with injuries. The preliminary diagnosis on Brown is a sprained knee, but the injury looked pretty bad. Brown could not put any weight on his leg and Coughlin did not sound positive about Brown after the game. An MRI will reveal the true extent of the damage. Hosley will also undergo an MRI. TE Adrien Robinson also injured his right thumb but x-rays were negative. CB Prince Amukamara rolled one of his ankles but continued to play and said he was fine.
The game started off well for the Giants as the Giants’ defense forced a three-and-out. Then on the Giants’ first offensive play of the game, RB David Wilson broke off an 84-yard touchdown run.
But a mistake-prone Giants’ defense quickly allowed the Jets to tie the game as the Giants’ defense was flagged for four straight penalties for 33 yards and then left a receiver wide open for a 22-yard touchdown.
In their next five offensive possessions, the Giants only managed one first down. And the Giants’ first-team offense, which played the entire first half, only added one more field goal, despite three interceptions by the Jets. In the Giants’ last two possessions of the first half, the G-Men gained five first downs, but missed a 53-yard field goal and turned the ball over on downs.
The offensive line – missing David Baas at center and David Diehl at right tackle – struggled, as did QB Eli Manning (8-for-20 for 83 yards). Wilson gained 84 yards on his first carry and the Giants netted 97 yards the rest of the first half (76 passing and 21 rushing yards). Once again, the Giants also struggled in the red zone. Facing a 1st-and-goal from the Jets’ 4-yard line, the Giants came away with zero points.
The Giants’ first-team defense, after the Jets’ scoring drive, did perform fairly well against an anemic Jets’ offense and a rookie quarterback, picking him off three times and forcing four punts in the first half. Amukamara, Brown, and DE Justin Tuck all picked off passes. Unfortunately, Brown injured his knee untouched on his interception.
“I feel bad for Stevie Brown,” said Coughlin after the game. “He’s been a tremendous addition to our team. The guy has another interception and then has that happen. I don’t really understand how it happened. I couldn’t see it, but evidently he just got his foot planted the wrong way. I don’t think it was a contact injury.”
At the half, the Giants led 10-7.
In the second half, the Giants began to play their reserves as the Jets continued to play some of their starters even into the fourth quarter. Curtis Painter played the rest of the way for the Giants at quarterback, finishing 13-of-29 for 140 yards.
The Giants had eight possessions in the third and fourth quarters, and on six of those possessions they could not pick up a first down. The second-team offense did go 71 yards in 12 plays on their second possession of the second half, setting up a 33-yard field goal. Another field goal was set up by a Jets’ fumble. The Giants could not move the ball, but PK Josh Brown hit a 50-yard field goal. The last Giants’ points of the game came late in the fourth quarter as the Giants drove 64 yards in 10 plays to tie the game at 21-21 on Brown’s 40-yard field goal.
On the other side of the ball, the Jets’ first-team offense easily drove down the field on their first possession of the second half, going 57 yards in seven plays to take a 14-10 lead. On the Jets’ next four possessions, the Giants’ defense forced two turnovers on fumbles, caused a safety, and forced the Jets to punt. But after a poor punt by Steve Weatherford, the Jets drove 37 yards in four plays to take a 21-18 lead late in the fourth quarter.
In overtime, the Giants received the ball first but RB Da’Rel Scott fumbled the ball away on the first play. However, the Jets missed the 39-yard field goal. The Giants drove to the Jets’ 46-yard line on their second possession in overtime, but a 12-yard sack pushed the Giants back and stalled that drive. The Jets then drove 81 yards in six plays to et up the game-winning 32-yard field goal.
Video highlights/lowlights of the game are available at Giants.com.
Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s Post-Game Press Conference: The transcript and video of Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s post-game press conference are available at Giants.com.
Post-Game Player Q&As: Transcripts of post-game media Q&A sessions with the following players are available at Giants.com:
Post-Game Notes: The following injured Giants did not play in the game: FB Henry Hynoski (knee), WR Victor Cruz (heel), WR Louis Murphy (leg), WR Ramses Barden (knee), OC David Baas (knee), OT David Diehl (thumb), DE Damontre Moore (shoulder), CB Corey Webster (knee/groin), S Antrel Rolle (ankle), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (PUP – back), and DT Markus Kuhn (PUP – knee).
Active but not playing were QB David Carr, QB Ryan Nassib, WR Terrell Sinkfield, WR Kevin Hardy, TE Chase Clement, OT Austin Holtz, and S Cooper Taylor.
