A pair of huge penalties late in the fourth quarter cost the Giants…big time.
The Giants were large underdogs entering their Week 8 road matchup with the Chiefs Monday night.
The oddsmakers believed Kansas City could win by two possessions.
And while that didn’t end up being the case, the Giants still came up just short, largely in part due to the late-game penalties they committed.
The Significant Blunders
The score was knotted at 17 late in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs took over, looking for a go-ahead touchdown or at least a field goal to go up by three.
That’s when star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had struggled for much of the night, threw a crucial interception to Giants cornerback Darnay Holmes on a 2nd-and-20 play.
It was Mahomes’ second pick of the night…until it wasn’t.
An offsides penalty on Giants edge rusher Oshane Ximines negated everything, and the Chiefs ended up with a 2nd-and-15 opportunity thereafter.
And then, the Giants defense, a unit that held its own in Arrowhead, made two crucial mistakes. One, the unit allowed Travis Kelce to find space for a 14-yard catch-and-run, and two, linebacker Tae Crowder committed a facemask penalty that led to KC tacking on an extra 15 yards to the Giants’ 47.
Six plays later, the Chiefs were in position for a 34-yard Harrison Butker field goal to take the 20-17 lead.
On the following drive (the Giants’ final chance for points with zero timeouts), the Chiefs brought the pressure and sacked Daniel Jones twice, including once on fourth down to essentially conclude the matchup.
The Overlying Importance of All This
Penalties are part of the game, sure. But remember, Joe Judge is big on discipline. It’s why players must take laps after mistakes in practice — in order to simulate the consequence of a penalty.
You would think this level of discipline would prevent the Giants from making the bone-crushing, spine-tingling, skin-crawling mistakes, especially late in the game.
But that hasn’t been the case.
Back in Week 2, an offsides call on Dexter Lawrence negated a missed Washington field goal to win the game. On the subsequent attempt, the Football Team knocked it through for the victory.
And now in Week 8, the aforementioned pair of late-game penalties killed the Giants in the fourth quarter, and partly took a massive victory away from them.
Follow Ryan Honey on Twitter: @RyanHoneyESNY
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