Giants get third straight win with walk-off field goal, jumble NFC playoff picture

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The New York Giants continued their unlikely late-season surge, as Randy Bullock kicked a game-winning field goal to cap a 24-22 win over the Green Bay Packers at MetLife Stadium.

Undrafted rookie quarterback Tommy DeVito led a 57-yard drive for the winner after the Packers (6-7) went ahead 22-21 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Malik Heath with 1:33 left. But the Giants (5-8) were undeterred and, after a third straight win, now sit a game back of the Packers and four other teams for the NFC’s final wild-card spot.

New York Giants

It’s impossible to ignore at this point: The Giants are in the NFC playoff race following their victory over the Packers at MetLife Stadium.

The Giants are one game back of five teams, including the Packers, after their third straight win, which came on a game-winning field goal by Bullock with no time remaining. They’re doing it with DeVito at quarterback and behind a defense that is forcing turnovers at an incredible rate. New York forced three turnovers again on Monday night. The Giants have now forced 12 turnovers in the past three games — all wins.

DeVito’s magical run included leading the Giants 57 yards on seven plays for the winning field goal. The undrafted rookie went 4-of-4 passing for 53 yards on the final drive.

Next week’s matchup in New Orleans now becomes meaningful for both teams in relation to the final playoff spot in the weak NFC.

QB breakdown: It wasn’t a perfect performance, but DeVito made enough big plays (especially in the second half) to win for the third time in four starts. DeVito finished 17-of-21 passing for 158 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran for 71 yards.

DeVito now has thrown seven touchdown passes to just one interception with no fumbles lost in his four starts. He’s taking care of the ball, making enough big plays and allowing the Giants to ride their defense.

“Tommy Cutlets,” the nickname he recently accepted, even got to throw up his trademark pinched fingers celebration when he hit Isaiah Hodgins with a perfect pass on the run for an 8-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to put the Giants up 21-13. Let the DeVito craze continue.

Troubling trend: Poor special teams play. It was a problem earlier this season, and it reared its ugly head on Monday night. The most costly mistake came on a punt return midway through the third quarter on a short kick. Returner Gunner Olszewski didn’t seem to alert his teammates of the short kick until it was too late, and it hit off the shoulder pad of Bobby McCain and was recovered deep in Giants territory. It eventually led to three free points for the Packers. These are the kind of mistakes the Giants need to avoid. They’ve made them too often this season.

Eye-popping Next Gen stat: 20.25 mph. That’s the speed that wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson hit on the handoff he took from running back Saquon Barkley out of the Wildcat for a 32-yard gain in the second quarter. It was the fastest speed Robinson has hit this season coming off a torn ACL as a rookie. That run set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Barkley on the very next play to make it 7-7 early in the second quarter. — Jordan Raanan

Next game: at Saints (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)

Green Bay Packers

The previous two games showed the Packers can beat anyone, even some of the best teams in the NFL in the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs.

Monday night showed they can still get beat by anyone, even a Giants team whose four wins entering this game had come against the Arizona Cardinals, New England Patriots and Washington Commanders (twice).

It’s why everyone who wanted to put the Packers in the playoffs right then and there after last week’s upset of Kansas City got them back to .500 at 6-6 should have realized what can happen over the final month of a season to a team that has so many young players who have never experienced a playoff push before.

Monday night’s loss dropped the Packers into a group of six teams at 6-7, and it dropped their playoff chances to 47%, according to ESPN Analytics. A win would have put their playoff chances at 76%. The schedule still works in their favor with only one team currently with a winning record (Minnesota at 7-6) left among their final four opponents.

Describe the game in two words: Unreal ending. The Giants looked like they had it won before Barkley fumbled at the end of a 33-yard gain into Packers territory with 3:34 to play. Then the Packers looked like they had it won when Love threw a 6-yard touchdown to Heath with 1:33 left. Then the Giants actually did win it with a field goal as time expired.

Troubling trend: Keisean Nixon‘s third-quarter fumble was the Packers’ seventh lost fumble on a punt return since Matt LaFleur became the Packers’ coach in 2019. That’s tied with the Titans for the second most in that span behind only the Chiefs (with eight). It was the Packers’ third turnover of the game. The only previous time they had three giveaways this season was the Week 5 loss at the Raiders, also on “Monday Night Football.”

Troubling trend II: The Packers still don’t have a 100-yard rusher or 100-yard receiver in a game this season. They’re one of only two teams that doesn’t (the Patriots are the other). According to Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time since 1934 that the Packers did not have an individual 100-yard rusher or receiver in their first 13 games.

Promising trend: Rookie Jayden Reed knows how to find the end zone. And it doesn’t matter if it’s as a ball carrier or a receiver. His 16-yard end-around for a score in the first quarter was his seventh touchdown of the season, tied with Bijan Robinson, Jordan Addison and Tank Dell for second among all rookies behind only Dolphins running back De’Von Achane (with nine). Reed (with two) and Deebo Samuel (five) are the only receivers in the league with multiple rushing touchdowns this season. — Rob Demovsky

Next game: vs. Buccaneers (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)

Source: www.espn.com