The New York Giants lost kicker Graham Gano early in the second quarter on Sunday night against the Cincinnati Bengals following busted coverage on a kickoff return.
After Bengals return man Chris Evans broke loose, Gano attempted to make a tackle on the 73-yard return. It did not go well and the veteran was later ruled out with a concussion.
That had significant ramification for the Giants, who are without a backup kicker or holder.
Enter punter Jamie Gillan and safety Julian Love, who were thrust into the roles of kicker and holder, respectively.
To the surprise of many, things went swimmingly. Gillan handled kickoff, field goal and point after attempt duties, while the Swiss Army Knife does what he always does — filled a need admirably. In fact, they were flawless.
With Love holding, Gillan connected on a 31-yard field goal and a point after attempt. He also booted two kickoffs out of the end zone and a third inside of it, which was only returned to the 21-yard line.
“I love kicking, I love punting, I love doing all of that stuff, so part of the competitor in me was a little disappointed Jamie got to kick off and not me,” long snapper Casey Kreiter told reporters with a laugh.
Kreiter was also tasked with showing Love how to hold on the fly.
“He’s such a good athlete, right?” Kreiter said of Love. “It was pretty simple, it was more just kind of show him what it looks like, snap him a couple balls on the sideline, give him the confidence I’m going to get you the ball that’s easy to catch, put it down this way and Jamie’s — he’s a good athlete, too, he’s a ball striker. We don’t try to oversimplify things in our room. It’s see ball, kick ball; grab ball, snap ball.”
Although the Giants are undoubtedly concerned with Gano’s health, they have to be pleased with how well Gillan, Love and Kreiter handled the emergency situation on the fly. It went better than anyone could have expected and likely gives the team confidence in the event a similar situation plays out during the regular season.
