5 plays that led to Sunday’s loss by the Giants

Murphy’s Law continued to apply to the 2023 New York Giants season on Sunday, as the Raiders embarrassed the Giants 30-6 in Las Vegas. Before the game, the Giants gained reinforcements when both starting tackles returned to the lineup, but injuries continued to undergird the conversation around the Giants.

Daniel Jones returned to the starting lineup, but injured his knee at the start of the second quarter. Tommy DeVito finished the game, and finished 15 of 20 for 175 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. The offense was stagnant, the defense couldn’t stop the run, and rookie Raiders’ quarterback Aidan O’Connell was efficiently explosive when tasked to throw the football.

These are going to be a long next nine games. Here are the five plays, or sequence of plays that led to this week’s loss:

Play(s) 1: Can’t stop Josh Jacobs

The firing of Josh McDaniels invigorated a Raiders’ locker-room with a familiar face at the interim head coach. Antonio Pierce didn’t need to reinvent the wheel against the Giants; he leaned on running back Josh Jacobs, ran zone rushing concepts, and targeted Davante Adams when he was in one-on-one coverage.

Jacobs finished with 98 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns, and Adams had four catches for 34 yards. Pierce’s Raiders quickly made an impression, as rookie Aidan O’Connell led a six-play, 67-yard, drive that resulted in a Jacoby Meyers’ 17-yard touchdown run. The Raiders controlled the game from the onset; injuries compounded the situation, but is not an excuse. The Giants are just a bad football team.

Play(s) 2: Raiders’ interceptions

DeVito threw two interceptions on back-to-back passing attempts between Josh Jacobs’ second touchdown rush.

DeVito did a good job to step up in the pocket, but he threw into double coverage with Jalin Hyatt (13) running the deep post; the deep cross in the concept did come open, but DeVito took the deep shot, which was intercepted.

DeVito’s second interception bounced off Darius Slayton (86) and gracefully fell into the waiting arms of Nate Hobbs (39). The Raiders were already up by three touchdowns at this point and received the football in Giants’ territory; it was just this type of game.

Play(s) 3: Missed chances

The Giants took shots against the Raiders’ single-high defense, but the connection was off. Hyatt received two deep Daniel Jones’ targets on the second and third drives of the game. This was the first of those shots; Amik Robinson (21) bit on underneath action, leaving Hyatt open against a single-high safety. Fantastic concentration by Hyatt to haul in the pass, but he could not get his feet in bounds.

Play 4: Failed tush push

The Giants turned the football over on downs after a nine-play, 38 -yard, drive. Down 7-0, at the Las Vegas’ 34-yard-line, the Giants opted to try the tush push, but it failed. New York was about a half-yard away, which likely prompted the decision.

Play 5: Tommy DeVito’s touchdown

It was inconsequential to the outcome, but at least the Giants found a way to put points on the board with Wan’Dale Robinson’s first touchdown of the season, and DeVito’s first touchdown pass of his young career. This concluded an 11-play, 84-yard drive.