New York Giants Zeroes and Heroes of Game 4 vs Washington
By Ed Stein
Zeroes
Dishonorable Mention – TJ Jones. The New York Giants big-play return man muffed a pair of punts. Fortunately, he was able to recover them. Jones however ticked off his head coach enough to be replaced by Peppers for one return.
Third place Zero – 2nd half offense
In the second half, not much offense from either team was apparent. There were five drives over 20 yards, three of them ended with turnovers, one via punt, and one was the final series of the game. Combined the teams had 55 plays for 216 yards, 136 for the New York Giants, and 85 for Washington.
Big Blue won the game and played enough defense to keep Washington at bay. The issue is that when Giants are ahead, the offense needs to step on the accelerator. Instead, they coughed up the ball twice and were generally ineffective when they didn’t turn it over.
Second place Zero – Dwayne Haskins
It was a bit surprising that Washington head coach Jay Gruden chose to put rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins in the game. It’s understandable that he would want to provide a spark to his team after the starter, Case Keenum, failed miserably in the first quarter. Still, Sunday probably wasn’t the best situation for a baptism by fire, down by two touchdowns on the road to a divisional opponent.
As we know the Giants chose Jones over Haskins with the sixth pick of the 2019 draft to be the team’s quarterback of the future. Washington owner Daniel Snyder was all too happy to select the former Ohio State Buckeyes QB 15th overall and bragged about the steal he got. Haskins also said he would make the G-Men sorry they passed on him.
Round one of the match clearly went to Jones. Haskins clearly struggled. Without wide receiver Terry McLaurin or Pro Bowl tight end Jordan Reed, who both missed the game due to injuries, he had no one to throw to. His day ended with nine completions in 17 attempts for 107 and three interceptions.
The Big Zero – Landon Collins
It would be hard to find a bigger Landon Collins supporter than yours truly. I thought it was a huge mistake for New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman to let the former Pro Bowl safety walk away as a free agent in the offseason for no compensation. After Sunday’s game, I’m of a mind to change my opinion.
Collins couldn’t handle Big Blue tight end, Evan Engram. Although Jones didn’t go to Engram as much as he could have, due to double coverage, when he did Collins was in over his head. That’s a surprise considering they have practiced against each other for the past two years.
Even worse were Collins’ post-game antics. Unhappy with something Peppers said to him earlier, Collins made a b-line for the man who replaced him on the Giants when the game ended. According to Bob Glauber of Newsday, Collins had plenty to say about the altercation.
"“He just started yapping,” Collins said. “I mean, you had a good game, so what’s your point of talking to me? You had a good game. Just go about your business. If I had a good game, I’m not going to sit there and trash-talk the opponent, especially a guy that’s been doing it way longer than you and better than you. He made his first play today in four weeks? “I mean, I made plenty of plays in that jersey and I’m still making plays."
Obviously round two of this clash of #21s will be something to watch for when the teams meet again in Washington three days before Christmas.
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