The New York Giants played the Washington Commanders to a 20-20 tie on Sunday, a result that could either be helpful or hurtful to their postseason chances — depending on where you stand.
The tie was the Giants’ first since November 23, 1997, which also came against Washington, and just their third in the last 50 years.
Here are some things we learned in Week 13.
Luck is with the Giants
You call this luck, we can heard you ask.
Yes, we do. A loss could have put a pin in the season. They are still in the NFC Playoff picture heading into Week 14. That’s saying something for this rag-tag group that Brian Daboll has held together with spit and duct tape.
The Giants still have Washington again, Philadelphia twice and Minnesota on their schedule and they will be hard-pressed to get to nine wins, which still may leave them on the outside looking in.
But for now, they can enjoy a view from the penthouse while Daboll tries to figure out ways to keep them from getting evicted.
Gano...missed
The Giants had a chance to win the game in overtime, but the usually reliable Graham Gano could not get enough leg behind his last-second, 58-yard attempt.
He is human after all. Gano has been a stud most of his career, especially from over 50 yards. This time, however, he literally came up short.
We’re not blaming him, of course, that’s coming up in the next slide.
Backups aren't cutting it
As well as the Giants’ secondary played, they still needed to be better. The trio of in-season free agents and signees (Fabian Moreau, Zyon Gilbert and Nick McCloud) handled themselves fairly well, except for…
Washington got two touchdowns on numerous missed tackles. Moreau on McLaurin's, Gilbert and McCloud on Dotson. The secondary is playing backups and it shows. Tough to be without starters and not get burned #Giants
— The Giant Insider Newspaper & Podcast (@GiantInsider) December 5, 2022
The Giants have so many injuries in the secondary they had to roll the dice with these three. No Adoree’ Jackson, Aaron Robinson and Xavier McKinney have left them bare-boned on the back end. On Sunday, it hurt them as they allowed both Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson to slip through their hands for easy scores.
They weren’t alone, however. The entire defense had butterfingers. The numbers aren’t out yet, but they missed at least a dozen tackles in this game. Hurry back, guys.
Azeez makes a difference
The return of outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari made a huge impact on the Giants’ front seven. We finally got to see what Ojulari and his rookie compliment, Kayvon Thibodeaux, could do as a tandem.
They both recorded two QB hits and a sack apiece, not to mention numerous pressures and hurries. Ojulari had a forced fumble and a recovery, and was clearly a force. He’ll ramp up as the season unfolds. This should be helpful to the Giants going forward.
