New York Giants: Handing out game balls for the win over Washington

Several players stood out on Sunday on offense and defense in the first win of the season for the New York Giants.

It took until the middle of October, but Joe Judge finally earned his first win as head coach as the New York Giants defeated Washington 20-19 on Sunday.

It was an ugly win and the Giants didn’t play their best as Washington outgained the Giants in total yards 337 to 240. But it was a win nonetheless and something Judge hopes the Giants can build on.

“Well, I think we all found out that when we put ourselves in position and don’t shoot ourselves in the foot that the results will come and happen,” Judge said when asked what he learned about his team. “I already knew they were a resilient group, I knew they were a tough group, a mentally tough group.”

“I’m just proud they were able to get the win today and that their work was rewarded. But there were a lot of things that were just confirmed that we already knew about these guys — they had good energy, they stayed together on the sideline, and every game you’re going to have some kind of a storm and you’ve got to fight through the storm”

After the game, Daniel Jones presented Judge with the game ball for his first win as coach. But a few players stood out in Big Blue’s victory who deserve game balls.

Tae Crowder

“Mr. Irrelevant” has shown that he’s very relevant to the defense. On Sunday he had 10 tackles and his 43-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown would prove to be the game-winner.

7th-round pick Tae Crowder just gave the Giants the play they needed. Big time scoop and score #TogetherBlue https://t.co/AqOtqHV5bf

— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) October 18, 2020

Blake Martinez

Martinez was making plays all over the field en route to a game-high 14 tackles. He was one of the reasons why the Giants held Washington to 3.6 yards per carry. What also doesn’t show on the stat sheet is Martinez’s ability to make sure that everyone is in the right place and knows their assignments. The middle linebacker is the “quarterback of the defense” and it showed on Sunday.

James Bradberry

If Bradberry continues to play the way he’s been playing, he’ll be named to his first Pro Bowl team. On Sunday he had three tackles, an interception, and was credited with a pass defended. His first-quarter interception would set up a Jones touchdown to Darius Slayton to put the Giants up 10-0.

Darius Slayton

He only had two receptions for 41 yards but one of those receptions was a 23-yard touchdown to give Big Blue a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. Darius Slayton was dealing with a lower leg injury but he gutted it out and helped his team come away with a victory.

This is Daniel Jones at his very best. Stands tall in the pocket and drops it in the bucket for Darius Slayton. Pretty #TogetherBlue pic.twitter.com/srHFQza8hZ

— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) October 18, 2020

The Giants will look to ride the momentum of this win into Thursday night when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. The Giants haven’t won in Philadelphia since 2013.