The story of this New York Giants season may well be that they couldn’t hold a fourth-quarter lead.
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Tom Coughlin made a fateful fourth-quarter decision to go on fourth-and-goal while ahead.
That buzz was never more apparent than when Fitzpatrick led his Jets, who were considered the road team for the game, down the field on a 10-play, 71-yard game-tying drive that culminated with a Brandon Marshall nine-yard touchdown reception with just 27 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the game at 20-20.
Beckham got the hosts into field goal range, but Brown, who had not missed so far this season, saw his 48-yard attempt drift wide of the left post, handing the Jets the win. But instead of being happy with an easy field goal that would have put them up 23-10, the Giants went for it on fourth-and-2, and Manning was intercepted.
The Giants will get the ball to start the second half. And then they weren’t. The Giants should air the ball out this week if they hope to defeat the Jets and keep their playoff hopes alive.
“There was extra intensity because we needed it and they needed it”, said Jets head coach Todd Bowles. “During the season, that’s the mark of a good team, so we finally got to that point”. Fitzpatrick finished 36 for 50 for 390 yards, while Marshall had 12 catches for 131 yards. Skrine allows 67 percent of passes against him and OBJ is coming off his fourth straight 100-yard game.
Fitzpatrick combined with Bilal Powell on a 25-yard screen pass for the Jets’ other touchdown. With the Giants stopping running back Chris Ivory (10 carries for 47 yards), and with the Jets trailing in the second half, the Jets took to the air.
Odell Beckham just doesn’t stop: Full-extension, one-handed 22-yard catch. “We didn’t have the right connections, time and time again, in the fourth quarter with the game on the line”.
The Giants grabbed a 7-3 lead at the top of the second quarter on Dwayne Harris’ 80-yard punt return for a touchdown.
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Powell’s touchdown catch tied the game at 10, but Beckham found a seam and scored on his 72-yard catch and run, celebrating with a mock hurdle race across the back of the end zone that ended his arms extended to the crowd.
