Mile Low City

Some losses are inevitable, others are preventable, and still others are reprehensible. Guess which one this was?

Through three quarters at Mile High Stadium, the New York Giants played the prefect road game. They led the Denver Broncos 19-0. Their defense had limited the Broncos to just 111 total yards of offense. While on the other side of the ball, Jaxson Dart threw two touchdown passes; the first one to a wide open Daniel Bellinger. It was the first touchdown Denver had allowed in the first quarter this season. All Big Blue had to do to secure a win was to continue to play aggressive on defense and move the ball on offense.

When Theo Johnson caught a deflected pass by Dart for a touchdown with 10:14 left in the fourth quarter to put New York up 26-8, it certainly looked to all the world that they were going to do just that. I mean, who blows an 18 point lead with 10 minutes to go, right? Even Broncos fans knew it was over; many of them started leaving the stadium at that point. They missed one helluva comeback.

Denver would score touchdowns on their next three possessions, one aided by a Dart interception, to take a four-point lead with 1:51 remaining in the game. To his credit, Dart led his team down the field and, thanks to a pass interference penalty on the Broncos near the gaol line, took it into the end zone to regain the lead for his team.

With 33 seconds left and New York ahead 32-30, the Broncos, with no timeouts left, took the ball all the way down to Giants 21 yard line, where Wil Lutz kicked a game-wining 39 yard field goal. The reason it was a game-winning and not a game-tying field goal is because Jude McAtamney missed the extra point on the Giants last touchdown drive that would've put them up by three. Then again, if McAtamney hadn't missed an earlier extra point, the Broncos would've needed a touchdown to win the game. In all, Denver scored 33 points in the fourth quarter, the most ever by a team that had been held scoreless through three. 

You can always tell when a team is in trouble: they start watching the clock instead of managing the game. The Giants, not wanting to lose, went into a shell; the Broncos, with nothing to lose, pulled out all the stops. I've watched Sean Payton teams over the years. Regardless of what the score is, there's a tenacity to them. They can be ahead by ten, they can be trailing by twenty, you'd never know it by the level of play on the field. He may have only one Super Bowl win to his credit, but he is a Hall of Fame coach, and his players all know what's expected of them.

Brian Daboll is no Sean Payton, that should be obvious. But as bad as Daboll has been over the last three seasons, his defensive coordinator Shane Bowen deserves the lions share of the blame for this latest abomination. His decision to rush only three on the Broncos last scoring drive was inexcusable. This is the second time this season that the Giants have lost a game in which they led with less than 40 seconds remaining in regulation. The first was against the Cowboys in Dallas in week two. New York lost that game in OT, 40-37.

As painful as that loss was, though, it pales in comparison to this one. According to Adam Schefter, since the 1970 merger between the NFL and AFL, only two teams have overcome a fourth-quarter deficit of 19 points or more to win a regular-season game: the Indianapolis Colts against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2003 (21 points) and the Broncos against the Giants yesterday.

I can't imagine what the players must be going through. For three quarters they played their hearts out. They were minutes away from what would've been back-to-back wins against playoff teams. Jaxson Dart went 15/33 for 283 yards, with three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Brian Burns had another dominating performance on defense, recording two sacks and two quarterback hits. He was visibly upset after the game, and deservedly so.

Yes, I know the old cliche that good teams find a way to win and bad teams find a way to lose, but it's not that simple with this team. The Giants are not the Jets, or the Miami Dolphins, or the Tennessee Titans. There is talent on this roster, more talent than their record would indicate. They should be 4-3 and in the thick of the playoff race; instead they're 2-5, and facing the very real prospect of going 2-6 after they lose to the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.

This was no self-inflicted wound, like we saw in New Orleans against the Saints; this shot came from the sidelines. Even if Daboll fires Bowen tomorrow, the damage has already been done. How do you recover from a loss like this?

The season is all but done, and once more, Giants fans will have to wait until next year to raise a banner of hope.

The Last Word on Giants' Draft

Dave Gettleman has a message for Giants' fans who are criticizing him for choosing Daniel Jones with the 6th overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft: "In three years we'll find out how crazy I am." With all due respect to Gettleman, I don't think it'll take three years.

I'll say it again, there's no excuse for picking Jones at 6. The suggestion by Gettleman that there were two teams that would've drafted Jones ahead of the Giants at 17 is absurd and simply not supported by the available evidence. Apart from the Giants, there were four teams that were looking for a quarterback. The Cardinals took Kyler Murray with the number 1 pick. The Broncos identified Drew Lock as their quarterback and, after swapping first round picks with the Steelers, took him at 42 (the second round). The Redskins were clearly interested in Dwayne Haskins, and when the Giants passed on him, took him at 15. And the Dolphins were so enamored of the current crop of QBs that they were in negotiations with the Cardinals to acquire Josh Rosen, last year's overall 10th pick. Spoiler alert: the Fish got the best QB not named Murray.

I'm well aware of the fact that Gil Brandt thinks Jones is the second coming of Peyton Manning. Know what? I was convinced my Acura ILX was just a cheaper version of a BMW 328. It isn't and it never will be. But at least it isn't a Toyota Tercel. Considering Brandt has been out of football for more than three decades, I'll rely on the expertise of professionals who realize that the league has moved on from the '80s.

The fact is Gettleman committed two cardinal sins: the first is he severely overvalued Jones. Not one team or analyst had him ranked in the top ten. Most had him pegged anywhere from a late first rounder to a late second rounder. The fact that Lock, who is considered a much better passer, went at 42 is proof that the league was not overly impressed with this year's class. But the second sin might be even worse. Gettleman appears to have been bidding against himself. Like a customer who talks himself into a buying a car that he fears won't be there if he waits, Gettleman pulled the trigger sooner than he needed to, and as a result, he lost out on an opportunity to draft arguably the second best player in the draft in order to grab a player who might not start for another two to three years; a player that would've still been there at 17, perhaps even at 37.

Astonishing. A man with, as he so "eloquently" put it, such an impressive resume, ostensibly panicked and, in the process, might very well have set his team back five years or more. Compare and contrast Gettleman's draft with that of Denver's John Elway. Elway had traded for Joe Flacco during the off season, yet still felt he needed to draft a quarterback. But rather than panic, he bided his time and, on his terms, got the player he wanted at the slot he was worth. That's how you draft in this league. The first round of the draft is typically reserved for players who can make an immediate and positive impact on your team, not for projects like Jones and situational players like Dexter Lawrence.

In 1979, the Giants drafted a little known quarterback from Morehead State named Phil Simms with the 7th overall pick. Those who attended the draft were quoted as saying, "Phil who?" Seven years later "Phil Who" led the Jints to victory in Super Bowl XXI. Dave Gettleman thinks he will be vindicated the same way then GM George Young eventually was.

There's just one small problem with Gettleman's logic. Young didn't pass on someone like Josh Allen when he chose Simms. Indeed, the Bears, picking 4th, drafted Dan Hampton, one of the best defensive ends to ever play the game, and part of that vaunted 1985 Super Bowl defense that led the league. Before his career is over, Allen could well eclipse Hampton, that's how good a player he is.

Think about that, Giants fans, when Daniel Jones makes his Giants debut and Allen is already a three-time all pro.

The Biggest Winners and Losers in the 2018 NFL Draft

So now that the 2018 NFL draft is over, it's time to see who the biggest winners and losers were. Keep in mind, you can never really know how these players will pan out, so all this is conjecture on my part.

First, the winners:

The Giants. They pick up the best talented player in the draft in the first round; then they pick up the 4th best offensive lineman in the second round; then they use both their third round picks to beef up their defensive front seven. Oh, and by the way, they landed a quality quarterback in the 4th round to possibly take over for Ei in two or three years. Dave Gettleman had himself one helluva good draft.

The Broncos. How's this for a scenario: your kid was hoping for a brand new bike for Christmas, but you couldn't afford to get him one. Then, miraculously, the bike shop owner calls you up and tells you that a customer who put a deposit on one couldn't come up with the balance and if you still want it, the bike is available at a lower price. You say thank you, rush down and swoop it up. That's what the Broncos did when the Browns, for some unknown reason, decided to pass on the best defensive player in the draft, Bradley Chubb. So now the Broncos will have Chubb AND Von Miller on the same defensive line. Just imagine what's going through the mind of every quarterback in the AFC West right now. Yum, yum, eat 'em up!

The Cardinals. Assuming they can squeeze Josh Rosen's ego back into his body, Arizona did pretty well in this draft. That's because in addition to picking Captain America in the 1st round, they got one of the better receivers in the draft in Christian Kirk in the 2nd round along with running back Chase Edmonds in the 4th.

The Patriots. Eschewing the best talent on the board rule, Bill Belichick decided to address needs and address them he did. Two cornerbacks, a running back, a linebacker and a potential replacement for Tom Brady. And all, except for the QB, are expected to battle for starting jobs this season. The rich do indeed get richer.

The Steelers. They snagged what many believe will be Ben Roethlisberger's replacement in Mason Rudolph in the 3rd round, when many thought he was a low 1st rounder; then landed a replacement for Martavis Bryant in James Washington. That's called taking care of business.

The Colts. If the mission was to keep Andrew Luck upright, mission accomplished. They got Quenton Nelson - the best offensive lineman available - in the 1st round; then added guard Braden Smith in the 2nd. They then used the two 2nd round picks they got from the Jets to address defensive needs, drafting a linebacker and a lineman. That's how you work the draft, not by trading up but by trading down. Nice job.

The Packers. They had one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year, so they used their first two picks in the draft to go after cornerbacks. Clearly somebody in the front office figured out that having to win games 38 to 35 was not a good recipe for success.

The Jaguars. They bolstered what was already one of the league's best defenses by adding defensive lineman Taven Bryan and safety Ronnie Harrison. Then they addressed a need by drafting receiver D.J. Clark. Tom Coughlin is turning out to be an even better talent evaluator than he was a head coach.


The Losers:

The Browns. Picture this: you have the two of the first four picks in the first round and not only don't you end up with the best offensive player, you don't even get the best defensive one. Okay, so maybe Baker Mayfield will turn out to be the next Drew Breese; or maybe he ends up being the next Todd Blackledge. Bottom line, if you're going to pass on Barkley for a QB, you should at least wind up with the best one, Sam Darnold. But even if you give John Dorsey the benefit of the doubt with Mayfield - maybe he knows something we don't - there's simply no excuse in the known universe for passing on Chubb. Now you know why Cleveland fans have a persecution complex. Well, at least they partially redeemed themselves by nabbing the second best running back in the draft whose last name, ironically, also happens to be Chubb.

The Jets. Yeah, I know Manish Mehta of the Daily Booze thinks the Giants "blew it" when they passed on Darnold, thus allowing the USC quarterback to fall into the Jets' lap. But here's the thing, Sparky, Gang Green could've had their guy with the 6th pick without having to sacrifice both their 2nd round picks to move up. Here's how. It was obvious the Browns were going to go for a quarterback with the number one pick. And the Giants were dead set on taking Barkley at number two. No way the Colts were going to take a QB at three and the Browns were going defense with the fourth pick. That means the only team that might've gone for a QB would've been the Broncos and we know what they did. So Darnold would've been sitting pretty at number six. And even if the Browns chose Darnold number one, the Jets would've landed Mayfield with the 6th pick. Either way they would've gotten a quality quarterback and still had both their 2nd round picks on the board. Trading up was totally unnecessary and cost the Jets a chance to fill some badly needed holes.

The Seahawks. Yes, it was touching that they drafted the one-handed twin brother of Shaquill Griffin in the 5th round, but most of their other picks had people scratching their heads.