Giants beat Packers on last-second field goal for third straight win
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
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
Aaron Rodgers, Jets to visit 49ers on MNF in Week 1
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Greeny exasperated after learning Jets open season on ‘Monday Night Football’ (1:53)
Aaron Rodgers’ comeback season will open in prime time, as the New York Jets will travel to the San Francisco 49ers to face the defending NFC champions Sept. 9 on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” it was announced Tuesday morning.
This marks the second straight season that Rodgers and the Jets will play a prime-time game in Week 1. His Jets debut last Sept. 11 turned into a season-altering disaster for the Jets, as the four-time MVP tore his left Achilles on the fourth snap and missed the remainder of the season.
It’s a fascinating quarterback matchup, as Rodgers squares off against Brock Purdy, the 2022 Mr. Irrelevant who has turned into one of the NFL’s biggest success stories. The 49ers are coming off a crushing defeat in Super Bowl LVIII, a 25-22 overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rodgers suffered his injury last season on a sack from then-Buffalo Bills pass-rusher Leonard Floyd. Against the 49ers, Rodgers likely will have to again keep an eye out for Floyd, who signed with San Francisco this offseason.
The Jets are coming off a 7-10 season that was marred by quarterback instability.
Rodgers has a 6-3 career mark against the 49ers. This is a homecoming of sorts for Rodgers, who grew up in Chico, California, and attended UC Berkeley. In 2005, Rodgers had thought there was a chance he’d be drafted first overall by the 49ers, but they opted for Alex Smith.
The two coaching staffs have strong ties. Jets coach Robert Saleh served as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator under Kyle Shanahan before taking the Jets job in 2021. Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich is a former 49ers linebacker whom the 49ers showed interest in hiring as their defensive coordinator after last season.
Falcons’ Kirk Cousins: Beef over Michael Penix Jr. not helpful
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McAfee: Cousins throwing at OTAs good sign for Falcons (2:03)
Kirk Cousins says he doesn’t believe it’s constructive to have hard feelings with his new team over its surprising draft pick.
Cousins, the productive veteran quarterback, signed a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in March. Last month, the team stunningly took a quarterback — Michael Penix Jr. of Washington — with the No. 8 overall pick in the draft.
Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney told ESPN’s Pete Thamel at the time that there was confusion and frustration coming from Cousins’ camp since the Falcons acquired his successor before he even put on an Atlanta helmet and the team didn’t do anything with its top-10 pick to improve for 2024.
Post-draft NFL Power Rankings: 1-32 poll, plus the most improved areas
Cousins spoke for the first time about the situation in an interview with the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast that published Tuesday. When asked if there was any beef with the Falcons over drafting Penix, Cousins said, “I don’t think there can be.”
“I don’t think it’s helpful. We’re trying to win a Super Bowl and it’s hard enough. It’s hard enough. Let’s all be on the same page and try and go win a Super Bowl.”
Cousins, 35, said three years ago that he was golfing on draft night when he played for the Vikings. Klint Kubiak, then the Vikings’ offensive coordinator, called him and told him that Minnesota might draft a quarterback. So, Cousins said he has “understood for a while” that teams are always thinking of succession plans.
“This isn’t like a foreign concept,” Cousins said. “There’s an awareness that this is the NFL, anything can happen.”
The Falcons start OTAs this week after rookie minicamp last week. Cousins’ 2023 season ended in Week 8 due to a torn right Achilles tendon. Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Friday that Cousins is able to be “pretty much full go” with everything the team is able to do at this point of the offseason program.
Cousins said he texted Penix, who took Washington to the national championship game this past season, on draft night. Cousins said he wanted Penix to have his number, so he can be a resource to the rookie QB.
“And then just congratulated him on an awesome college career,” Cousins said. “I lived it. It’s hard to do. And what he did is at the top of the top in terms of college success. So, just wanted to let him know that I have the utmost respect for what he’s done and we’re ready to get to work. And I’m
