The New York Giants were humiliated on Monday night, losing 24-3 to the Giants. Quarterback Daniel Jones was bad, throwing two picks and losing a fumble, but getting sacked 11 times, he also didn’t have much of a chance.
And one play perfectly sums up why.
Trailing 21-3 in the fourth quarter, the Giants were in pass mode. With the team close to midfield, Jones threw his second interception of the night.
Quandre Diggs gets his first pick of the year!
📺: #SEAvsNYG on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/3ctCY8GbRh pic.twitter.com/Ko3KFDp4bZ— NFL (@NFL) October 3, 2023
Jones’ throw was rushed, as he was facing Derick Hall, Seattle’s hard-charging linebacker.
When a team is trailing big, its opponent knows to expect the pass. So the pass rushers are in full attack mode. As such, it’s hard to put too much blame on the offensive line when things like that happen. But this was different. And a closer look shows why.
Knowing the Seahawks were going to be aggressively rushing Jones, Darren Waller stayed into block. Hall was his man and Waller did a decent job — at least for a while. But when Evan Neal came and shoved Waller in the back, it simultaneously took Waller out of the play and freed Hall.
Some of you may be wondering why Neal wasn’t penalized. Most of you, though, have probably figured it out. Neal wasn’t penalized on the play because Neal, like Waller, plays for the Giants.
Evan Neal really blocked his own teammate in Darren Waller.
Embarrassing. This is part of why the Giants have the worst ranked OL in the league. pic.twitter.com/bh1SrPm4RQ
— Doug Rush (@TheDougRush) October 3, 2023
As one might expect, a right tackle shoving his own tight end away from a block drew some commentary.
I’ve never seen anything like this. What the hell was Evan Neal doing here??#NYGiants #NYG #Giants pic.twitter.com/mdAhei9wAv
— Anthony Rivardo (@Anthony_Rivardo) October 3, 2023
Giants fans, at least we can hang out hat on Evan Neal’s improvement. He absolutely smoked Darren Waller here pic.twitter.com/hyj63Yhoel
— James Eaton (@J_Eaton14) October 3, 2023
The Giants don't have an O-line at this point they have an O-no line https://t.co/sTYYn1cW0A
— Richard Romkee (@RRomkee) October 3, 2023
Film session might not be particularly kind to Neal.
[Doug Rush, Photo Credit: ESPN]
