Giants takeaways from Sunday’s 26-25 loss to Rams, including Mason Crosby’s last minute missed field goal

With a playoff place still in the balance, the Los Angeles Rams were expected to take care of business against the Giants. However, New York gave the Rams all they could handle on Sunday in a thrilling matchup at MetLife Stadium.

Gunner Olszewski’s spectacular 94-yard punt return with just over three minutes remaining gave New York a chance to win the game on a two-point conversion but it fell incomplete as Tyrod Taylor rolled out and tried to shovel it to a wide-open Saquon Barkley.

While New York managed to get the ball back and Taylor’s 31-yard scramble set up a 54-yard field goal attempt for Mason Crosby with 30 seconds remaining, the kick missed and the Rams hung on for a big win.

Touchdowns from Kyren Williams and Cooper Kupp had given the Rams a 14-10 halftime lead with the Giants countering on Wan’Dale Robinson’s 24-yard end around and a last second field goal from Crosby. A second Williams touchdown extended the lead to 20-10, but the Giants cut it to a one-point game with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to Darius Slayton, and another field goal.

Williams completed his hat-trick when he broke a 28-yard touchdown run with 12 minutes to go, but the lead was only 26-19 after the extra point was missed.

Here are some takeaways...

- The Giants suffered an early blow when Jason Pinnock was knocked out of the game with a foot injury. However, Pinnock’s replacement, Dane Belton, did a good job of being in the right place at the right time to force three key turnovers. Belton intercepted two overthrown Stafford passes and recovered a fumble late in the first half.

- Bobby Okereke has filled up the stat sheet all year and entered the game with career-high numbers in tackles for loss (nine), passes defensed (nine) and forced fumbles (four). He also entered the game with 132 tackles, three quarterback hits and two interceptions. Heading into this week, Okereke was without a sack but came up big with 1.5 sacks in Sunday’s game. It’s been a solid season from Okereke in his first year with the Giants and he should be in the mix for a possible Pro Bowl selection.

- It was an impressive performance from Taylor, who racked up 319 yards through the air and 40 on the ground as he spread the ball around well and hit on some downfield throws, including a beautiful deep ball on the Slayton touchdown. He eluded pressure well on several occasions but was still also sacked six times. He also choked badly on the two-point conversion as he seemed to be caught in two minds, but almost made up for it with his late game scramble to get the Giants into field goal range.

- The Giants had their hands full with stud defensive tackle Aaron Donald, as you’d expect. Donald may not be the player he once was, but he still stood out with two sacks and a pass deflection. His disruptiveness up front was also a factor in Kobie Turner’s big day, as the rookie had 2.5 sacks and several pressures.

- It’s been a tough road back from injury for wide receiver Sterling Shepard and his frustration was palpable as he had a key drop with the Giants down seven in the fourth quarter. Shepard only has seven catches all season and has struggled to get any playing time with all the pass catching options New York has.

- Adoree’ Jackson had some good moments on defense with a forced fumble and a pass breakup. However, he was involved in a big moment when rookie sensation Puka Nacua slipped out of his tackle on a short pass to the outside and turned it into an 80-yard gain. That gave the Rams their only double-digit lead of the day. The rookie ended up with 118 yards to move within 28 of the all-time rookie receiving yardage record with one game to go.

- Slayton had another big day for the Giants, with 106 yards on four catches and Robinson had a team-high six catches and 79 yards from scrimmage. It was another somewhat underwhelming output from tight end Darren Waller, though, even though the Giants looked to involve him more this week. Waller ended up with 51 yards on five catches. Barkley also had uncharacteristically low production and a couple of bad drops.

Highlights

What's next

The Giants close their season with a Week 18 home matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, kickoff time is still TBD.