Giants Q&A: What caused that first-half melee vs. Commanders?
Giants safety Jason Pinnock is held back by Washington Commanders tight end John Bates from getting close to Commanders wide receiver Curtis Samuel, right, as a scuffle breaks out after a touchdown by Commanders quarterback Sam Howell during the first half of an NFL game Sunday in Landover, Md. Credit: Andrew Harnik
What started the melee before the half?
Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, running toward the end zone, got stuffed by Bobby Okereke and Deonte Banks. The play was ruled a touchdown, and it seemed as if no whistle was blown. So there may or may not have been an officiating error on the play.
Anyway, Howell kept running after being hit by Okereke and Banks, and Giants safety Xavier McKinney hit him with his shoulder. A scrum ensued. Perhaps Washington players thought the play was over and took exception to their quarterback being hit.
In the aftermath, two players were ejected for fighting, one on each team: Giants cornerback Cor’Dale Flott and Washington wide receiver Curtis Samuel.
How did Tommy DeVito play?
Well, despite being sacked nine times, he was smiling ear-to-ear after the game.
“He’s a tough guy,” coach Brian Daboll said. “When you have that many sacks, they aren’t all on the offensive line, I’ll tell you that right now.”
Saquon Barkley said after the game that he had a poor day in pass protection and will make a conscious effort to improve this week.
“[DeVito is] a tough-minded guy, instinctive. He’s an instinctive player, which is hard to coach,” Daboll said. “Even that first third down where he threw to [Darius] Slayton, if you [watch], he gave a little pump fake to open up the window.
“He’s played in 2 1⁄2 games, so there’s a lot of work that needs to be done, but he certainly has put the work in. When he was out on the look team at practice, you could see some of his instinctiveness [in terms of] throwing the ball on time, anticipation. And so I thought he’d be a good player to work with and give an opportunity to. There’s a lot of things he did good and a lot of things we can help him improve on.”
Said DeVito: “It’s electric. You work so hard to get a win. The last few weeks, we’ve fallen short. To be able to get one is a breath of fresh air. And back to the drawing board on Monday, but we’re going to enjoy it today.”
DeVito definitely has a believer in Okereke.
“I thought in the first quarter he came out and was pretty dynamic in the passing game,’’ Okereke said, “and that really sparked everything.”
How is Okereke feeling about the defense these days?
He said that on the sideline, the defensive players were preaching to “keep it simple and do your job.”
The Commanders had an edge in time of possession by almost 10 minutes, 34:51 to 25:09, but the Giants’ defense seemed exhilarated by the six turnovers they generated, including one on special teams.
“That helps us win games,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “Whenever we can get turnovers and bail the offense out, that increases our chances of winning, and that’s what we did.”
Okereke agreed. “Usually when you get six takeaways, you’re going to win,” he said. “On the sideline, we were preaching to do your job and keep it simple. When we came out for that last drive, we knew everybody was tired, but it was just a matter of everyone doing their job and we were going to come out with a win.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
