The New York Giants fell to the New England Patriots, 35-14, on Thursday night, dropping their record to 2-4 on the season.
Here are three quick takeaways from the loss.
The Giants are playing hard for Pat Shurmur
There’s no question about loyalty or any locker room dissension with this team, who is really just beginning to forge their identity. Despite being without some of their top players, they played the Pats tight for three and a half quarters, and, in front of a nationally-televised audience, did not embarrass themselves.
“We battled, we didn’t win, though. So, we’ve got to make more plays so we can win,” said Shurmur. “But I was proud of the way we battled. I’ve never been disappointed with how hard our guys fight, but we got to find a way to make more plays than the other team and win the game.”
“We didn’t fold,” center Jon Halapio said. “We didn’t give up. We just kept fighting.”
Moral victories might be all that’s left for these Giants until they can get healthy again.
Markus Golden is earning his keep
The Giants reunited the former Arizona Cardinal with his former defensive coordinator (James Bettcher) in hopes to rekindle his career. They inked the free agent linebacker to a one-year, $3.75 million ‘show-me’ deal in March and he is certainly paying off thus far.
Golden had a half-sack on Tom Brady Thursday night, the fifth consecutive game in which he’s recorded at least a half-sack. That gives him five in six games this season. Golden also had a fumble recovery for a touchdown in the game.
“I came into the game thinking we can win,” Golden said. “I come to every game motivated to win, because we work hard at practice. But yeah, when you’re tied up 14-14, you have momentum and everybody’s hyped and all that, you do think that. It’ll give you a good feeling. But I was upset. I wish we could have finished it.”
Jones struggled but still got his shots in
Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones wasn’t exactly a world-beater in Foxborough on Thursday (15/31, 161 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT, 35.2 QBR) but he also wasn’t intimidated by the Patriots’ defense, either.
With the offense depleted by injuries, Jones stood tall throughout the game, mistakes and all, and showed extreme poise. His 64-yard TD pass to wide receiver Golden Tate was the first passing touchdown allowed by the Patriots’ defense this season.
“I think I didn’t play well by any means,” Jones said after the game. “I don’t mean to confuse that, but I don’t think it was overwhelming. I think it was just bad plays, bad decisions.”
Jones is living and learning, and hopefully with the cavalry returning soon, he’ll go back to dropping some more dimes.
