Mac Jones threw two first-half interceptions and was lifted for Bailey Zappe against the Giants and Zappe nearly did enough to send the game to overtime, but a missed field goal in the final seconds by Chad Ryland did New England in, as the Patriots fell 10-7 for their fourth-straight loss.
The Pats defense did a solid job shutting down the Tommy DeVito-led Giants offense, holding them to just 221 yards of offense, while all 10 of New York's points all came directly off of two New England turnovers. Once again this season it was the giveaways that did the most damage and both quarterbacks played a part.
Zappe helped the Patriots right away, with the team driving 60 yards over 11 plays for a touchdown to tie the game at 7. Mostly operating with a shorter passing game, he was 6-of-6 for 38 yards.
He finished the game 9-of-14 for 54 yards and an interception. He helped to engineer a potential game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter, but rookie kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining.
The game sat at 0-0 for the first 28 minutes, with both offenses struggling to move the ball with consistency. The Giants fumbled the ball away on their opening possession, when they were threatening to score, and Jones threw an interception on the Patriots' third drive of the game. Outside of that, the teams traded punts for much of the first half.
But that trend broke after Jones threw a second interception, this time made while he was under pressure by Isaiah Simmons. Bobby Ekereke intercepted the pass thrown directly at him and returned it 55 yards. The Giants then drove 26 yards on six plays, with Isaiah Hodgins making a 12-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown to score the first points of the game
The Giants took a 7-0 lead late in the first half when a 55-yard interception and return by linebacker Bobby Okereke set up a 12-yard, third-down touchdown pass from DeVito to Isaiah Hodgins.
The Giants squandered a scoring chance on the opening drive of the game. A 14-yard run by Saquon Barkley and a 29-yard pass from DeVito to Hyatt helped get New York to the Patriots 26. On second down, DeVito and receiver Wan'Dale Robinson botched a handoff and Jabill Peppers recovered, a lost fumble that was charged to DeVito.
Rookie cornerback Deonte Banks made his second interception of the season late in the first quarter for the Giants' first takeaway.
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