Most of John Harbaugh’s calls since taking over as the Giants’ head coach have worked perfectly, but he had some backfire Thursday night during their crushing loss to the Commanders.
That then led to Harbaugh fielding criticism for his questionable decisions in the 24-21 loss in which Big Blue failed to capitalize on a chance to create some more breathing room in the NFC East.
“Incredible job by John Harbaugh figuring out how to get out coached by Dan Quinn,” Bill Simmons wrote on X, referencing the Commanders’ head coach whose clock blunder allowed the last Giants-Washington game in Week 5 to end in a tie.
Early in the fourth quarter while trailing 17-14, Harbaugh opted to punt on a fourth-and-3 from the Commanders’ 46-yard line, and when Jordan Stout’s kick went into the end zone, it gave Washington the ball at the 20-yard line.
Washington subsequently turned the ball over when it couldn’t convert a fourth down, but with the Giants trailing by three, Harbaugh’s passive call extinguished a chance to either tie the game or take the lead.
Then, after the Giants got the ball back up by four with 2:15 left following a second straight Jayden Daniels interception, they ran the ball three consecutive times — despite Washington having three timeouts — and ended up punting on a fourth-and-5 from the Commanders’ 41-yard line.
Stout then shanked a 12-yard punt to set an ominous tone for the rest of the game, and Washington scored the game-winning touchdown on the following possession.
“Giants threw away 11 percentage points of win probability by @ben_bot_baldwin model, missed a chip shot field goal, produced a 13 yard punt trying to protect a lead late, and fumbled away a trip to the red zone,” ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wrote in an X post. “Can’t expect to win with that formula.”
Even with Harbaugh’s conservative approach to some drives, the Giants still had plenty of chances to emerge with a win and take the season series from the Commanders — as Dominic Zvada missed a 33-yard field goal, Malik Nabers fumbled in the red zone and J.J. McCarthy threw an interception on a second consecutive deep ball with the Giants trailing on their final drive.
“Zero blitzes and those are the routes that end up getting run,” Harbaugh said.
The Giants dropped to 5-3-1 following the loss and now begin a brutal stretch within their schedule, hosting the Jaguars next week before facing the Colts, 49ers and Seahawks.
