By Danielle McCartan (@CoachMcCartan and www.Facebook.com/CoachMcCartan)
BERGEN COUNTY, N.J.– “How come we can’t throw the ball more than 20 yards?” Beckham asked in an NFL Sunday Countdown interview with ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “How come we don’t attempt to throw the ball for more than 20 yards? Those are questions that we have to figure out.”
Beckham’s “captain obvious” comments, potentially divisive, appeared to be the catalyst the Giants’ offense needed. Having registered 31 points Sunday afternoon, the Giants scored above 30 points for the first time since January 3, 2016…. when Tom Coughlin was their head coach.
With a little creativity (which has been lacking in the Giants’ offense as of late), Beckham caught a wide receiver screen pass from Manning, then planted his back foot and let it fly, hitting a wide-open Saquon Barkley in-stride down the opposite sideline. With that 57-yard touchdown completion, quarterback Beckham showed Eli Manning and the rest of Giants Nation how it’s done. In his post-game press conference, Coach Pat Shurmur said, of the play: “The Odell to Saquon touchdown was a big lift…it was executed well and jumpstarted our emotions.”Beckham finished the day with 8 receptions, 131 yards, and one passing touchdown.
DID. YOU. SEE. THAT!?! @OBJ to @SAQUON #NYGvsCAR pic.twitter.com/iHVJwwPCTW
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 7, 2018
With 8:53 left to play, Giants’ cornerback Janoris Jenkins intercepted a pass from Panthers’ Cam Newton (Newton’s second INT of the game) that set up Odell Beckham, Jr.s’ first touchdown reception this season. It was a 33-yard strike. After the successful two-point conversion, the Giants pulled within three points of the Panthers.
In a quintessential two-minute drill, with no timeouts, the Giants needed to march down the field 83 yards and score a touchdown. In four plays, they did just that. Barkley caught some major air to cross the goal line on a 15 yard touchdown reception. He appeared to suffer an ankle injury on the play.
.@SAQUON @SAQUON @SAQUON #NYGiants back on top! #NYGvsCAR pic.twitter.com/3XVFFNKcBK
— New York Giants (@Giants) October 7, 2018
New York’s kicker Aldrick Rosas drilled the extra point to make the score 31-30 with 1:08 to play. The Giants had hope.
As it turned out, the game came down to an immense pressure situation: a Panthers field goal with time expiring. Kicker Graham Gano nailed it.
The farthest FG Gano had ever made was 54 yards. This is a 63 yard attempt. #NYGvsCAR
— Danielle McCartan (@CoachMcCartan) October 7, 2018
His kick tied the second longest field goal in NFL history. One of the my Panthers keys to the game was its special teams unit. With :00 on the clock, it made it official: the Giants lost a heartbreaker to the Panthers. The final score: 33-31.
There is not much time for Big Blue to lick its wounds: this week, they host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in primetime, on Thursday Night Football. Running back Saquon Barkley said, post-game: “We played our butts off today. It came down to the wire…the loss hurts…we have to keep fighting.” Manning echoed that sentiment, saying: “Our record is what it is. We have a short week playing Philly. We need to bounce back from this quickly and build off the fight that we showed today.”
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