Giants' QB sneak calls symbolic of offensive mess of a season

MetLife Stadium had plenty of open gray seats in every direction, but the Giants fans who did attend Sunday’s 22-7 loss to Washington in the finale of another sour season drenched the air with loud boos after seeing the final two play calls in one second-quarter series.

With the Giants trailing 3-0, a Washington punt pinned them deep in their own territory. Their third-string quarterback was behind the center.

First-and-10 at the 3: Jake Fromm came up short on a short play-action pass to Eli Penny.

Second-and-10 at the 3: Penny got flagged for a false start.

Second-and-11 at the 2: Fromm received the call to run a sneak up the middle. Gain of 2.

Third-and-9 at the 4: Instead of letting Fromm try to throw for a first down, the Giants had him run another sneak up the middle. Gain of 1. Punting time. Cue the boos.

"I wanted to give ourselves room for the punt," said Joe Judge, who had seen Devontae Booker get tackled in the end zone for a safety in the 29-3 loss at Chicago the previous Sunday.

But this sequence against Washington seemed symbolic of the mess the offense was this season, especially in the final six games — all double-digit losses — after Daniel Jones went out with a neck injury. Judge named it No. 1 on the fix-it list for this 4-13 team.

"Obviously, we have to have better offensive production," Judge said. "So we go through the evaluation process and get into that . . . It wasn’t good enough."

The Giants averaged only 9.3 points in this stretch with Mike Glennon and Fromm at quarterback and 15.2 overall. They arrived for their last game ranked second-to-last in average scoring and yards, then managed only 177.

Fingers could be pointed everywhere, from play-calling — Jason Garrett got fired along the way — to line play, from quarterback and receiver play to Saquon Barkley’s difficulties after returning from ACL surgery and then suffering an ankle sprain.

Barkley rushed 11 times for only 30 yards Sunday and finished with 593 yards and 3.7 per carry. He averaged only 6.4 yards on 41 receptions.

"I probably expected a better season for myself," he said. "Just as an individual, you want to be better. For the team, you want to be better. But it just didn’t go that way."

There were plenty of other injuries, too.

Glennon suffered a wrist injury against Chicago, a game in which the Giants had minus-6 net passing yards.

So this was Fromm’s second start and third NFL appearance, all since being signed off the Bills’ practice squad on Dec. 1.

The former Georgia standout went 15-for-31 for 103 yards with a touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble on a sack. He ran five times for a team-leading 53 yards.

Two of the turnovers led to 10 points, including a pick-6. Fromm said he was late on the throw, which was intercepted by Washington’s Bobby McCain. He also didn’t reach the target on a few short throws.

"The NFL quarterback, you’ve got to hit those," Fromm said.

The touchdown pass, a 22-yarder to Darius Slayton in the fourth quarter, meant a lot to him.

"First touchdown in the league, that was great," Fromm said. "A dream come true."

But he then tossed an interception at the goal line on the final play, putting an end to a nightmare season.