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LANDOVER, Md. — Judging by the number of mistakes, neither the Giants nor Commanders wanted to win Sunday’s game.
So neither did.
The Giants missed a field goal — Dominic Zvada’s third errant kick on five tries — and lost a fumble on their two overtime possessions and the Commanders ran out of time when in range to attempt a 42-yard field goal and the teams tied 27-27 on a rain-soaked Northwest Stadium.
The tie tasted better for the Giants in the end because it looked like they were finished — until Jayden Daniels scrambled with 11 seconds left on a busted play. The Commanders couldn’t get back to the line of scrimmage in time to spike the ball.
It was a reprieve for the Giants after Cam Skattebo fumbled for the fourth time in five games — the second of the game and ninth of the season by the Giants — when the Giants were in position to attempt a long game-winning field goal.
The Giants entered Sunday wanting Daniels to run and test his injured left elbow on contact.
You wonder how quickly they regretted that plan.
Was it when he scrambled for a first down on third-and-11 in the red zone to set up a field goal? Was it when he ran for a 38-yard touchdown while cornerback Deonte Banks had his back turned in downfield coverage? Was it when he ran for a 26-yard touchdown run and cut inside to get over the goal line? Was it when he scrambled to set up the winning overtime kick that never happened?
The Giants authored a 14-point fourth-quarter comeback — scoring a game-tying touchdown on a difficult 17-yard catch in double coverage by a skying Malik Nabers with 1:43 to go.
The Giants couldn’t get a rushing attack going — leading to desperate attempts to insert backup quarterback J.J. McCarthy to try zone reads in his season debut — and didn’t fully capitalize on extending their early-season first-place lead to at least two games over the rest of the NFC East.
Jameis Winston completed 33 of 54 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Isaiah Likely and Nabers combined for 22 catches on 33 targets.
On a day when the grass at Northwest Stadium was slick and soggy, the Giants settled for attempting four 50-plus-yard field goals (2 of 4) on their first seven possessions. No matter how good the rookie Zvada is – he had been 9-for-9 to – that’s not an ideal weather strategy and created a 19-6 third-quarter deficit.
This time, the offense — or, rather, the officials — delivered a couple of goal-line gifts on the Giants’ path to victory.
Coming off back-to-back wins secured by defensive interceptions in the shadow of their end zone in the final two 20 seconds, the Giants rallied with two Isaiah Likely touchdown catches that almost weren’t.
Likely jumpstarted an offense that totaled 77 first-half yards with one touchdown catch that followed a pass-interference penalty to negate what would have been a soul-crushing third-quarter interception at the 2-yard line.
Once the Giants had all but abandoned the ineffective run in their pursuit of a rally, Likely scored again, though the ball was punched out as he dove for pay dirt. While the dogpile was still being separated, the referee announced that reply determined Likely crossed the goal line before the fumble.
An ineffective rushing attack (11 carries for 21 yards at that point) finally caught up to the Giants just before the first half’s two-minute warning.
A second-and-8 play-action fake fooled nobody, leaving Winston circling in a collapsing pocket. The ball popped loose from Winston’s grip and rolled backwards, setting up the Commanders for an easy 40-yard field goal and a 12-3 lead.
After a miserable start – allowing a four-play touchdown drive capped by Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s 33-yard run – the defense settled in and allowed only two field goals.