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The New York Giants fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-23, Sunday afternoon in the Giants fourth regular-season game. The Giants are 0-4. Nick Folk kicked a game-winning 34-yard field for the Buccaneers as time expired.
Last week, the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on a game-ending 61-yard field goal by Jake Elliott.
Eli Manning finished the game 30-for-49 passing for 288 yards and two touchdowns. He continued to struggle to get the ball down the field, only averaging 5.9 yards per completion.
Odell Beckham was his usual self, catching seven passes for 90 yards, including a 42-yard catch on the Giants go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter.
Coach Ben McAdoo did not want to address the team’s long-shot playoff possibilities.
“We need to win a damn game,” he said.
“I’m irritated that we’re 0-4. But, we need to go to work. That’s how you fix it.”
Moments That Mattered
Olivier Vernon was ruled out of the game after re-aggravating his ankle injury. Vernon has never missed an NFL game in his career.
Odell Beckham left the game following a re-aggravation of the ankle injury. He returned one-play later after limping off the field originally.
The Giants first two possessions resulted in two three-and-outs and were followed by a four-play, 56-yard drive, leading to a Jameis Winston 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans.
The Giants turned the ball over on downs in Buccaneers’ territory following the Evans touchdown, and Winston capitalized, tossing a 58-yard touchdown pass to O.J. Howard.
The Giants finally got on the board with 7:17 left in the second quarter on a 30-yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas.
The Giants got their first touchdown of the day when Manning rushed 14 yards for a score to cut New York’s deficit to 13-10.
With less than a minute before the half, Winston hit Evans for what was ruled a 32-yard touchdown but the call was overturned and the ball was placed at the 1-yard line. The Giants defense came up huge on the goal line, holding the Buccaneers to a field goal, making the score 16-10.
The Giants carried the momentum from the first half over to the second. They began the second half with a stop on the defensive end and turned it into a 11-play, 61-yard drive that finished with a Manning touchdown pass to rookie running back Wayne Gallman. Giants jumped ahead 17-16 midway through the third quarter.
The Giants had an opportunity to go up more than a field goal at the start of the fourth quarter but Rosas missed a 43-yard field goal.
The Buccaneers took the lead with 7:44 remaining in the game. After a poor 15-yard punt by Brad Wing, Winston hit Cameron Brate for a 14-yard touchdown. Tampa Bay went for two on the score but the attempt was no good. The touchdown put the Buccaneers up, 22-17.
The Giants took the lead with 3:16 left in the game on a Manning two-yard touchdown pass to Rhett Ellison. The Giants were unsuccessful on the two-point try making the score 23-22, giving the Buccaneers to opportunity to win on just a field goal.
What’s next?
The Giants will play in their fifth regular season game on Oct. 8, when they will head back home to Met Life Stadium to take on the Los Angeles Chargers. The game can be seen on Fox at 1 p.m. EST.
NOTE: Be sure to check out Dan Berkman’s post-game Facebook Live session.