Tommy DeVito made just his fourth career start as the Giants' quarterback on Monday night. But the undrafted rookie fully looked the part, leading New York to a 24-22 comeback victory to upset Jordan Love and the Packers. It wasn't a perfect night for the G-Men, who trailed at multiple points in Week 14's prime-time affair, but it was a successful one, giving Big Blue its third straight win.
How on Earth did New York pull off the "W," entering as touchdown underdogs in its own stadium? Here are some immediate takeaways from the game, which drops Green Bay to 6-7 in the NFC wild-card race:
Have you heard of the quarterback named Tommy DeVito? In his fourth straight start, the fan-favorite rookie turned in the best performance of his young career, controlling the ball, threading the needle on a late touchdown throw and adding 70+ yards as a scrambler. Brian Daboll's run-heavy attack got Saquon Barkley and Wan'Dale Robinson involved as well, and the latter showed impressive physicality working against a Packers secondary missing Jaire Alexander. Wink Martindale's defensive front helped seal the deal, hitting Jordan Love eight times and forcing the QB into two turnovers.
Matt LaFleur dialed up some nice Jayden Reed carries early, but otherwise, his offense came back to Earth, with Jordan Love averaging under six yards per attempt and A.J. Dillon, starting in place of an injured Aaron Jones, struggling to find space. LaFleur's creativity went a bit overboard in key situations, too, such as on a botched two-point end-around. The even bigger culprit, however, might be Joe Barry's defense, which allowed the Giants to score on three of their final five drives. Despite New York's iffy O-line, which was missing right tackle Evan Neal, Barry's front totaled just two QB hits and didn't sack DeVito once. Anders Carlson's missed field goal didn't help, either.
The Packers had lost their halftime lead by late in the third, but down 21-13, they drove the ball deep into Giants territory to open the final quarter. On third-and-long, however, Azeez Ojulari and Dexter Lawrence split a sack of Jordan Love to force a Green Bay field goal try, and Anders Carlson missed from 45 yards out. Instead of cutting the Giants' lead to five, the Packers gave the ball right back to New York. And while the Giants punted on their ensuing possession, later surrendering the lead altogether, their final TD series sealed the victory. Carlson's miss didn't just represent the sloppy night for the Packers; it literally cost the team in the end.
Give it to DeVito, who couldn't have fired a better pass on his TD to Isaiah Hodgins late in the third:
The Giants (5-8), suddenly back on the fringe of the playoff picture, will hit the road in Week 15 to take on the Saints (6-7), who just beat the Panthers but have an ailing Derek Carr under center. The Packers (6-7), meanwhile, will return to Lambeau to host the Buccaneers (6-7), who survived the Falcons in an NFC South battle on Sunday.
Via the CBS Sports HQ Research department, Tommy DeVito:
Packers fall to 6-7 and find themselves part of a pack of about 612 teams in the NFC that have 6 wins. Their remaining schedule is home against the Bucs, at Carolina, at Minnesota, and home against the Bears.
Giants improve to 5-8 and move down the draft order a bit. They finish the season with games at New Orleans, at Philadelphia, home against the Rams, and home against the Eagles.
3 straight wins for the Giants. DeVito played the best game of his career so far.
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It'll all come down to a Randy Bullock kick from about 35 or 36 yards.
Wan'Dale has 6 catches for 79 yards and 2 carries for 36 yards. He's been terrific.
And there goals Wan'Dale again. Real nice toss by DeVito.
Giants are up close to the 50-yard line and now probably need 15-20 yards to get into the deep part of field goal range. DeVito taking the free undernath stuff.
Well, Malik Heath definitely made that catch. Looks like a TD to me. What a play. And kudos to the official for somehow seeing that Heat crossed the goal line.
If that remains an incomplete pass, it's the third big play of the night by Jason Pinnock. Let's see what happens on review. Nobody knows what a catch is, so this can really go either way.
Doubs couldn't get the second foot (or knee or elbow) down on that pass. But the Packers come back on the next play with a rub route and get the first down.
They just showed an on-screen graphic, that was only Saquon's third career lost fumble on over 1,400 touches.
And there goes another... but he appears to have dropped the ball going to the ground. Nobody touched him. And because he dove instead of sliding, that's gonna be a fumble. Wow.
Best run of the night BY FAR for Saquon. He was averaging 2.1 yards per carry before breaking off that 17-yarder.
That is a heck of a play by Deonte Banks on the deep ball to Romeo Doubs. Stayed in phase with the coverage and got his hand in there at the last possible second. Great job.
Another big gainer over the middle for Green Bay. Rookie TE Tucker Kraft up the seam this time. Good protection and a nice throw.
No DeVito heroics on this drive. Giants can't capitalize on the missed field goal and the Packers will get another chance to cut the lead or tie the game.
And they miss the field goal. Double yikes.
Really sub-optimal timeout usage from the Packers. They take one after an incomplete pass instead of just relaying the play in. The timeout is much more valuable to them the rest of the game than the 5 yards they would have lost. And then the OL just gets clobbered and gives up an immediate sack. Yikes.
That was the first real chunk gain over the middle that the Packers have found within the flow of their offense all night. Considering the offense is designed to create those plays, that's less than ideal, and a big reason why they are losing.
That is just Green Bay's second conversion of the night on third down. 2-9 now. Let's see if it helps sustain a drive.
LASER from DeVito. Best throw of the night.
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What a perfect pass from DeVito for the TD to Hodgins. Wow.
WAN'DALE!!!! Huge game for him. A little more than a year removed from the ACL tear now.
93 jumped that snap so quickly that he went by Matt Breida before the hand-off and gave up a big gain.
