The New York Giants won a football game for the first time since September 29 and Giant fans finally got to experience that winning feeling again. But that’s not all that happened.
Here are three Week 15 takeaways.
The win had it’s up and it’s downs
By winning, the Giants positioned themselves to fall in the draft order, but not without a few things needing to happen first. A win over Washington next week will likely drop them further down the order than just No. 3. A win in Washington will also clinch third place in the NFC East and keep them from finishing last for the third consecutive season.
The victory stopped a nine-game losing streak that will likely cost coaches — and possibly the general manager — their jobs. The win doesn’t erase the last two and half month’s misery. This team still needs to make some wholesale changes.
On the positive side, the win drew Eli Manning’s career record as a starter to 117-117. That will be one less mark against him for Hall of Fame voters to ponder.
The Giants did some things they haven’t done in years
The Giants finally put some points on the board, scoring 29 points in the second half, their highest total after halftime since December 9, 2012, when they scored 31 points in their 52-27 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
The Giants’ rushing game was busy and finally clicked in the red zone. They rushed for three touchdowns — two by Saquon Barkley and one by Javorius Allen — for the first time since October 16, 2011, when Ahmad Bradshaw scored three times against the Buffalo Bills.
Jackrabbit was not really missed
Janoris Jenkins, unceremoniously cut by the Giants last week after he defended his use of a word we won’t repeat on social media, was not missed by the Giants’ defense.
Jenkins probably wouldn’t have played this week due to an ankle injury but either way, the Giants got to finally throw their rookie defensive backs out on the field to sink or swim. DeAndre Baker, Corey Ballentine and Julian Love all saw extensive action.
Taking Jenkins spot at right corner was second year player Sam Beal, who played the entire game and led the team with 11 tackles (eight solo) with a tackle for a loss and a pass defensed.
