Giants lose to the Dolphins 20-9

"I didn't know what to expect to see today with the Giants playing in Miami. Daniel Jones wasn't playing, so I didn't think the offense would be better. Backup quarterback Mike Glennon threw a few nice passes on his first two drives that went for first downs, up until the one he threw deep to Darius Slayton. Slayton took a hard hit trying to catch it, and the ball was intercepted at the Miami 3-yard line. With the Giants defense hanging tight for a Miami 3-and-out, and a 15 yard punt return by Pharoh Cooper, Glennon got the ball back at the Miami 37-yard line.
Kenny Golladay made two catches, and the second one went for 12 yards and a first down. That was it though, and soon Graham Gano was out there kicking a 39 yard field goal. The Giants had scored the first points of the game, but Miami came right back and scored one of their own. Then they scored a touchdown on their next possession. At the end of the half, Miami had a 10-3 lead.
Gano kicked another field goal after that, and I thought the Giants had a shot in the second half, watching the defense hold Miami scoreless in the whole third quarter, but the offense never showed up. They made only one first down on their next four possessions, while the Dolphins scored another touchdown. They missed a 52-yard field goal on their next turn, and then the Giants had to turn to Gano again for a 51-yarder, which he made. Gano's third field goal made it a one score game, with the Giants trailing 17-9.
That became 20-9 late in the fourth quarter, when Miami stretched their lead with another field goal. Saquon Barkley had two 11 yard catches on what became the Giants last drive of the game. It ended with Gano attempting a 56 yard field goal. The Giants defense held the Eagles to just 7 points last week for a win. That would have won the game for them again today, but teams can't do that week in and week out."

"The Giants needed a lot of things to go their way if they hoped to win this game. The odds were stacked against them, and especially so when it became clear that Daniel Jones would not be their starting quarterback. Jones was ruled out after suffering a neck strain in the 13-7 win over the Eagles. What the Giants did have going for them was another week of recovery time for Saquon Barkley, who hopefully could show some flashes of what he had been in the past. A ground game would have taken more of the load off of backup quarterback Mike Glennon, filling in for Jones.
Glennon did not see that in the first half. Barkley came up with one 10 yard run, but his other four carries totaled 7 yards. Devontae Booker was no better, with his three carries going for 4 yards. They were no help for Glennon, catching the ball four out of six times for a total 6 yards. Kenny Golladay did his best catching all three passes for 37 yards, and two first downs. Evan Engram had two first downs on two catches for 34 yards.
The other wide receivers, Pharoh Cooper and Darius Slayton, were each targeted three times. Cooper caught two and Slayton one. Overall in the half, Glennon was 13 of 18, and even that one interception he threw deep had Miami getting the ball at their own 3-yard line. The Giants defense had held Miami to just one touchdown and one field goal, so the score was just 10-3 going into the third quarter.
Both head coaches in this game, Joe Judge and Brian Flores, had worked under Bill Belichick, and you wondered which one would make the best adjustments after halftime as Belichick seems to do. The bad news was that Slayton had taken a hard hit on one of the plays, and Golladay was injured and was questionable to return. The offense looked worse as the game wore on. Golladay did return, but didn't catch another pass. Slayton caught only one more out of four. Engram ended up being the top receiver, with four catches for 61 yards. Glennon didn't throw any more interceptions, but he started taking sacks and looked less accurate. In this half, Glennon completed only 10 of his 26 passes. One thing for sure, Daniel Jones job is safe.
Barkley and Booker did better in the second half running and catching, but it wasn't enough to move the needle. There were no touchdowns, just three field goals, and the Giants took a 20-9 loss. Next up for the Giants is a direct flight to practice at the University of Arizona before heading out to Los Angeles for a game with the Chargers. Prior to the season, Judge had this planned for his team to better adjust to climate and time changes between the games with Miami and the Chargers."

Notes:
Giants scored a season low nine points.

Giants Graham Gano set the Giants record for most 50-yard field goals (6) made in a season.

Giants Graham Gano accounted for all nine of the team's points.

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