New York Giants: Zeroes and Heroes of Game 2 vs Buffalo

Zeroes of Game 2

There were so many zeroes this week, it was hard to narrow the group down.

Dishonorable Mention – Aldric Rosas. No kicker is perfect and it happens, but missing kicks will always be a good way to make the Zeroes list. After making 20 straight, Rosas pushed his only attempt to the left.

Dexter Lawerence

His overall effectiveness has been negligible so far. Lawrence is a rookie playing tough position to make an impact, defensive tackle in a 3-4 scheme. Still, his four combined tackles weren’t bad, but his lack of “influence” on opposing offenses is disconcerting. It’s not like opposing running backs see number 97 in the hole and change direction.

The main reason Lawrence made the list this week is that he committed a ridiculous penalty at a point when it mattered. A touchdown with 11:56 remaining in the fourth quarter pulled the New York Giants to within seven points at 21-14.

Buffalo’s offense had been largely stagnant in the second half but drove down to the three-yard line before Big Blue’s defense made a rare stop. The Bills were forced to kick a field goal, which Steven Hauschka made. Not so fast, Lawrence did the one thing they teach every D-lineman in high school not to do. He hit a defenseless center at the snap. Two plays later, Frank Gore stampeded over Giants linebacker Ryan Connelly for six points. That TD broke the Giants back.

Bennie Fowler

There are reasons why Bennie Fowler has never been any team’s first choice as a starting wide receiver, he’s very inconsistent. Fowler may also be the reason why Eli Manning was benched on Tuesday. The receiver dropped two passes that lost his team valuable yards.

The one he had before Rosas’ missed FG was very costly. Manning hit Fowler inside the 10-yard line with a pinpoint pass, but a hard hit from Bills safety Micah Hyde jarred the ball loose. Instead of first and goal from the eight, it was fourth and nine from the 29, leading to the failed field goal attempt.

Additionally, he cost his team a chance to get back into the game with a little over five minutes remaining in the contest. On second-and-five from the Giants 30 yard line, The wideout started going down the right side. Manning threw a pass that Fowler should have been able to catch in stride for a nice gain, but he STOPPED running. If Fowler had caught two of those three balls, especially the last one, Manning may still be the starter.

DeAndre Baker, Jabrill Peppers, and Antoine Bethea

This one is short, even though Baker, Peppers, and Bethea are the Big Zeroes this week. Three of the four New York Giants defensive backs had completely awful games. I wrote it Monday and I’ll write it again today, Bills quarterback Josh Allen wasn’t the second coming of Dan Fouts on Sunday.

Even so, he didn’t have to be a Hall of Fame passer to hit his wide-open receivers. It’s hard to tell which was worse, the huge cushion they gave Bills receivers or the number of times one of those receivers got past them.