Giants' Brian Daboll, Graham Gano take responsibility for OT loss to Jets after missed field goals
It wasn’t pretty by any stretch, but on a cold and rainy Sunday at MetLife Stadium, the Giants, who started the game without Daniel Jones and whose backup, Tyrod Taylor, had to leave the game with injury, had a chance to pull out a win against the Jets.
Up three thanks to rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito’s first-career touchdown, a run in the third quarter, the Giants were a 35-yard field goal away from going up six with 24 seconds left in the game and the Jets out of timeouts.
It wouldn’t have iced the game, but Gang Green, who struggled on offense all game, would’ve needed to drive 75 yards in under 30 seconds and in the pouring rain to be able to win the game had Big Blue made the field goal.
However, Graham Gano missed the kick (which came on fourth-and-one, and had the Giants went for it and got the first down that would’ve ended the game) and Zach Wilson and the Jets mounted a mini drive that enabled Greg Zuerlein to kick the game-tying field goal and send the game to overtime where the Jets ultimately won 13-10.
“Kick a field goal there and they have 24 seconds with no timeouts and they need a touchdown, so I counted on making the field goal and they’d have 24 seconds with no timeouts to have to drive it the length and our defense was playing really good all game, so that’s why I made the decision,” head coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “… That’s the decision we made and it didn’t work out.”
Not only did Gano miss that 35-yarder, he also missed another field goal earlier in the game, a 47-yarder in the first quarter which if he had made would’ve secured the Giants a win.
In a close game decided by one score, Gano’s six points missed were the difference in the game and he puts the team’s loss squarely on his shoulders -- and leg.
“If I make those we win the game so it’s frustrating,” he said. “I care about this team, the fans, (we) put a lot of work into this. It sucks. You can put it straight on me. There’s nobody else, honestly. This one’s on me, for sure.”
He added: “Truth of the matter is I just gotta go out and make my kicks. They send me out there, they expect me to make them.”
It’s true -- the Giants do expect the 36-year-old to make his kicks, which is why they inked him to a three-year, $16.5 million contract right before the season started. At the time, the contract seemed like a solid bet after Gano had missed just eight field goals in 97 attempts in three seasons with the Giants.
However, this season Gano has already missed six field goals in 17 attempts.
“I have no excuse. That’s not who I am,” he said. “I’m sure some people want me to sit up here and make excuses but I got none. I just got to play better. It’s frustrating. I know the team played well, I just didn’t.”
Needing just one yard and having run the ball well with Saquon Barkley all game (36 carries, 128 yards) and almost exclusively in the second half, the decision by Daboll to have Gano even attempt the field goal in less than ideal weather conditions can also be scrutinized.
“Sometimes, it doesn't work out,” Daboll said. “I accept responsibility for that. ... We still had a few seconds there at the end to try and stop them and give them credit. Disappointing loss.”
