Giants unravel in historic fourth quarter collapse that could define their season
Photo courtesy of Joe Glorioso/All-Pro Reels/Flickr
For Giants Fans, a new dawn was upon the organization. The electric rookie duo of quarterback Jackson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo had changed the culture in East Rutherford. After a shellacking of the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football, the entire country watched as Dart and Skattebo combined for four touchdowns, instrumental in a statement win over the defending Super Bowl champions.
Coming into the following week's matchup against a formidable Denver Broncos squad, Giants fans had the luxury of a hope which we have rarely had in the past decade. Leading 26-8 late in the fourth quarter, victory was imminent until it was not. The Broncos stormed back to miraculously steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Here is how the Giants' catastrophic unraveling went down.
Interestingly enough, for a game between the 2-4 Giants and the 4-2 Broncos, tensions were unusually high in the lead-up. Broncos linebacker Jonathan Cooper did not mince words when asked about the young Giants quarterback: “He’s a young guy. He’s feelin’ himself a little bit. He’s out there running around. He’s got the chain on. He’s dancing. I feel like everybody needs something, you know.”
With all the pregame hubbub out of the way, it was finally time to play ball—something that Jackson Dart is always ready for, as he delivered the first blow of the game with a 44-yard touchdown strike to tight end Daniel Bellinger. 7-0 Giants, Dart was feeling himself early and the Giants were just getting started.
After a punt closed out the first quarter, the Giants began another impressive march down the field. Dart was poised and in rhythm, stringing together completions of 18, 13, and 29 yards on a drive. After a five-yard penalty stalled the drive in the red zone, it was Skattebo’s turn to make his mark on the game, as he turned an unassuming screen pass reception into a spectacular touchdown, making several Broncos miss along the way. Once again, Dart and Skattebo were the catalysts for New York’s offense. But a seemingly harmless missed extra point kept the score at 13-0, a miss that would come back to haunt them.
The score would remain knotted up at 13-0 well into the third quarter. New York’s defense was stifling as their vaunted pass rush was making it a miserable afternoon for Broncos quarterback Bo Nix and company. Building off of their defensive momentum, on the Giants’ second drive of the second half, they would score yet again. This time, it was second-year running back Tyrone Tracy who would scamper untouched for a 31-yard touchdown. The Giants were putting on a masterclass performance in back-to-back weeks. It was pure euphoria for a long malaise-stricken fanbase, but unfortunately for Giants fans, there was still another quarter to play.
The fourth quarter began with a bit of luck for Denver as wide receiver Troy Franklin would catch an improbable two-yard touchdown pass off a defensive deflection. The Broncos would add the two-point conversion to make it 19-8. There was no reason to panic though, because the Giants immediately answered with a fluke play of their own. After the ball ricocheted out of receiver Wandale Robinson's hands, tight end Theo Johnson was able to corral the ball mid-air and take it 41 yards to the house. The score was now 26-8, and any chance of a comeback seemed to be squashed, but somebody must have forgotten to tell that to the Broncos.
Denver’s fourth quarter onslaught would continue as they would find the endzone again. This time with a Bo Nix seven-yard touchdown run. Fortunately for the Giants, there were only five minutes left in the game. All they had to do was get a few first downs and run the clock out. Everything was going to plan, until Dart lofted a pass over the middle intended for Theo Johnson and got intercepted by Broncos linebacker Justin Stranad. It was Dart’s only blemish on an otherwise magnificent performance, but it would prove to be a grave mistake.
Denver would score two more touchdowns in rapid succession with Bo Nix finding Harvey for a score and then running it in himself. The score was now a shocking 30-26 in favor of Denver with a little less than two minutes left. The Giants were shellshocked, but there was still plenty of time on the clock. On the next drive, New York was aided by a pass interference call that put the ball on Denver’s one yard line. Dart would make the Broncos pay as he would lunge past the endzone on a designed run to make it 32-30. But newly appointed kicker Jude McAtamney, who had already missed one, pushed one left this time. These backbreaking misses left the door open for the Broncos.
Only needing a field goal to win with 37 seconds left in the game, Denver drove down the field with relative ease as they completed pass plays off 29 yards and 22. In range for a field goal, the Broncos turned to kicker Will Lutz who would drill a 39-yard field goal as time expired— an awe-inspiring triumph for Denver, and a cataclysmic collapse for the Giants.
It is hard to even put into words just how historic a collapse this was for the Giants, but this stat about sums it up: NFL teams had won 1,602 consecutive games when leading by 18 points or more in the final six minutes. Dart finished with 287 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Skattebo totaled 96 yards and a score. Their brilliance will sadly be overshadowed by a meltdown that will live in infamy. Who knows where the Giants go from here, but it’s hard to believe that it could be worse than week seven’s all-time collapse.