A mistake by Tyrod Taylor before halftime probably cost the New York Giants a 9:14 victory at the Buffalo Bills in Week 6 of the NFL. The favorite woke up late, but still in time.
Giants @ Bills: At a glance
- Taylor’s decision to run through the middle before halftime without a timeout with little time left on the clock was probably the difference in the game in the end. That cost the Giants at least three points that would have been worth their weight in gold in the end.
- The Giants once again failed to score a touchdown before halftime, ending a historically long negative streak that is a new record for the franchise.
- Tyler Bass, Bills kicker, missed two field goal attempts in the game – they were his first misses of the entire season.
Giants @ Bills: The game report
The Giants made it exciting until the end and even had an untimed down at the very end thanks to a pass interference in the end zone, but the Bills defense held and the Bills won for the fourth time this season. In the end, however, you inevitably have to look back to the same place at the end of the first half, when the Giants were already at the Bills’ goal line after PI.
At that time, after two field goals by Graham Gano, New York was 6-0 with a chance to score again 14 seconds before halftime. Josh Allen had previously thrown an interception and initiated the situation. Without a timeout, the matter was clear: the Giants had to pass and would certainly have had two or three more attempts to reach the end zone. But quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was filling in for the injured Daniel Jones, decided to make a running play at the line. The inside handoff went to returner Saquon Barkley (93 YDS), who was stopped at the 1. The clock ran down and the guests remained without points. Points that were missing in the end.
The Giants defense was noticeably tough on the Bills over long stretches and forced two turnovers before halftime. A fumble by wide receiver Gabe Davis was followed by the guests’ first field goal, and a missed field goal from 52 yards was followed by the Giants’ second before halftime. The second half began with a Giants punt, after which the Bills went on a 17-play drive that lasted almost ten minutes and continued into the fourth quarter. At the end there was a three-yard screen to Deonte Harty for the Bills’ first lead of the game.
The Giants responded with another field goal from 29 yards, after which the Bills responded with another longer drive including a touchdown pass to Quintin Morris and took the lead again. As a result, the Giants were stopped on a fourth attempt, but Buffalo left the door ajar because Tyler Bass also missed his second field goal attempt from 53 yards. In the end, Taylor threw over Darren Waller, who was well covered by Taron Johnson, in the end zone.
New York Giants (1-5) @ Buffalo Bills (4-2)
Result: 9:14 (3:0, 3:0, 0:0, 3:14) BOXSCORE
Giants @ Bills: Key stats
- Tight end Quintin Morris’ touchdown was not only his first of the season, it was also his first target all season in his sixth game. Last year he had 8 receptions and also a touchdown.
- Before the Bills found their way into the end zone for the first time in the fourth quarter, a series of 60 game halves in a row ended with at least one point. This was their longest such streak in their history.
- The Giants, in turn, are the fourth team since 1950 to not score a touchdown before halftime in six games to start a season. Previously, this had only happened to the Buccaneers in 1976 and 1998 and the San Diego Chargers in 1998. In total, the Giants have now been waiting for an offensive touchdown for twelve quarters, the longest streak in franchise history.
The star of the game: Stefon Diggs (wide receiver, Bills)
One of the few Bills offensive players who showed normal form was Diggs, who had ten receptions for 100 yards and thus kept his team in the game time and time again when not much else was going to happen.
The flop of the game: Tyrod Taylor (quarterback, Bills)
In the end, his audible, which cost the Giants at least three points shortly before halftime, was the decisive scene in the game. As a result, a touchdown was necessary in the end, but it was not achieved.
The scene of the game
The scene of the game happened just before halftime when the Bills stopped Barkley in front of the goal line and then the Giants didn’t have time to start another play.