New York Giants Week 2 Loss to Commanders in a Word: "Mismanaged"

The Giants brass thought they would be okay with kicker Graham Gano playing despite his groin injury, which developed Saturday morning before the game.

Sep 8, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano (9) on the field before the game against the Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Mismanaged.

That's about as brief an adjective we can come up with to describe the New York Giants' 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders.

The Giants brass was confident that kicker Graham Gano, who was placed on the team's injury report Saturday morning, would be okay for their Week 2 game.

According to , Gano went through his pregame warmups, sometimes . Then, on the opening kickoff, Gano was forced to chase down Commandres return specialist Austin Ekeler in a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that was called back due to a Commanders penalty.

The problem is that Gano, already dealing with a sore groin, injured his hamstring and was declared out for the remainder of the game. His immediate status is uncertain.

“I mean, anybody could get injured," Daboll said. "He was chasing the kickoff return; he pulled his hamstring. I’m not making excuses.”

While Daboll is correct in that no one can predict injuries from happening (see Andrew Thomas in Week 1 last year when he pulled a hamstring), it's fair to wonder if Gano's gait was in any way compromised when he had to chase after Ekeler and if so, did that affect his hamstring.

The Giants had Jude McAtameny on their practice squad, who could be brought up if there was concern about Gano. However, the team's trainers felt no need to do so.

Still, it's fair to wonder if the Giants should have gone a different route with the decision, given that it could be argued that Gano's absence cost them at least five points.

Daboll took ownership of the decision, which resulted in the Giants' offense having to play in four-down territory after that.

“[Jamie Gillan] missed the first one and we thought our chances were better going for it or going for two as the game went on. And how we were playing offensively, I felt good about our plays. We had one to Slay [Darius Slayton]; we had an opportunity there. A two-point. We had another one with [Tyrone] Tracy that covered the scramble. And then I went for it on fourth-and-three. It was fourth-and-three right at the end to [Malik] Nabers. A little undergo, and we just didn’t finish it off.'

The kicking situation was not the sole reason for the Giants' loss—the defense didn't do the team any favors—but it certainly was a significant one.

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