The Giants held on to win a wild one at MetLife Stadium, defeating the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 45-33 on Sunday afternoon.
Here are the key takeaways...
-The Giants came into the game holding the No. 1 overall pick, but the win will drop them back in the draft order. The good news for the Giants, as far as the draft goes, is that the Raiders and Jaguars also won on Sunday. At the time of publication, the Giants currently have the No. 3 pick, with the Patriots and Titans ahead of them.
The win also allowed the Giants to stay out of the history books, as a loss would have seen them become the first team to ever go 0-9 at home.
-Malik Nabers is special. All Giants fans know that. But the first-round pick was as good as ever on Sunday, finishing the day with seven catches, 171 yards, and two touchdowns. After scoring on a 31-yard WR screen for a TD in the first half, Nabers helped break open what was a back-and-forth second half with a 59-yard touchdown scamper, giving the Giants a nine-point lead at 35-26.
Nabers went over 1,000 yards and 100 catches on the season. Quite a year for the rookie from LSU.
-Drew Lock put together what was easily his best game as a Giant. While he relied heavily on Nabers, he also hit on touchdown passes to Darius Slayton and Wan'Dale Robinson, showing poise in the pocket and getting the ball out to his playmakers. Lock ended up going 17-of-23 for 309 yards and four touchdowns through the air. With the Giants leading by just two points in the final minutes, Lock did it himself, rushing in from five yards out to make it a nine-point game.
-Sunday was not a good day overall for the Giants' defense. Even with Dane Belton making a spectacular interception on the Colts' opening drive, Joe Flacco, Jonathan Taylor and company seemed to be able to do whatever they pleased against New York's defense. As a team, the Colts racked up 446 yards as a team, with Flacco throwing for 330 yards and a couple of touchdowns. But when they needed a big play late in the game, it was Dru Phillips coming up with the interception to all but ice the game. A Kayvon Thibodeaux strip-sack later in the fourth finally sealed the deal.
-On the opening kickoff of the second half, with the Giants up by eight, it was Ihmir Smith-Marsette going 100 yards untouched for the score. But as they did throughout the game, the Colts answered back with a long touchdown drive, capped off by a Taylor touchdown run to once again make it a one-score game.
-A big moment came early in the fourth quarter. Following a Flacco touchdown to Alec Pierce, the Colts went for two points to try to tie the game. A designed hook-and-ladder play should have worked, but Taylor dropped the pitch, and the unsuccessful try kept the Giants in the lead.
-Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a fairly modest game (73 total yards), but he also surpassed 1,000 scrimmage yards on the season. Tracy and Nabers became just the third rookie tandem ever to each hit that mark.