The Giants Are Learning How To Win Ugly | After Further Review

You know what's dope about football? Sometimes you can play a beautiful game and win. And sometimes you gotta win ugly. The Giants, they went into Philadelphia on Sunday and didn't exactly put on an offensive masterclass. They had 88 yards in the first half. The run game went absolutely nowhere. J.J. McCarthy, he got beat up and left with a hip injury. Malik Nabers, he was frustrated. And yet, when the clock hit zero, the scoreboard read... Giants 19 Eagles 11. Their first win in Philadelphia since 2013. It had been 4750 days since the Giants last road win in the city of brotherly love and after further review this kind of victory might tell us more about this team than another blowout win ever could because the G-men they're starting to learn how to win when their best stuff isn't working. Now, let's be clear. The offense was not good at all early on. McCarthy, he was sacked five times before leaving the game. Devin Singletary finished with 31 yards on 21 carries. The Eagles, they were winning up front. The Giants couldn't get into any kind of rhythm in this one. So, what happens when your offense isn't carrying you? Well, somebody else has to do it. Enter Dominic Zodda. Remember, this is a rookie kicker who had missed Five of his previous nine field goal attempts before the bye week. Now, the Giants, they didn't panic because he went through a rough stretch. They actually stuck with him. And in Philly, the rookie came up huge, going four for four, including makes from 53 and 49 yards. 13 points from your kicker in a game where your offense scores. One touchdown. That's not a side note. That's how you win even when you're not playing your A game. And his special teams partner did his job too. Yes, we're doing this. We are talking about a kicker and a punter this week. Jordan Stout punted six times. Five of those were downed inside the 20. So even when the Giants didn't score, they kept making Philadelphia play on a long field. And then starting quarterback, he goes down. And if you're a fan of Big Blue. You had to be thinking, now what? So. This is where team depth stops being something that we can talk about in training camp and starts winning you games. That's exactly what happened here in week nine. James Winston, he comes in cold. Third and 15, completes it for 16. Fourth and one, converts the sneak. Then later, we see him escape pressure on this drive and he finds Darnell Mooney for a gain of 27. And then finally, to finish the drive, he hits Isaiah Likely for the five-yard touchdown. Here's Winston's numbers on the drive. Six of eight, 71 yards. One touchdown. The Giants' only touchdown of the afternoon. So, your starter goes down, and then your backup gives you exactly what you need. Then, McCarthy comes back and delivers what might actually be my favorite play of the game. And I'll be honest, my reason for liking this play has absolutely nothing to do with style points here, because if I'm keeping it a buck, it was not pretty at all. In the fourth quarter, here's the situation. 3rd and 10. Giants are up 5. McCarthy's hip clearly bothering him. The play breaks down and he uses his legs to take off for 11 yards and pick up the big blue first down. It's a drive that eventually becomes just 3 more points. So no, it wasn't a 60 yard touchdown and it damn sure won't be the first play on a highlight reel. But what I saw there was a winning play. And then... We've got to talk about the defense. Arvel Reese, he was wreaking havoc on the field. Again, three sacks. 12 tackles and a forced fumble for the rookie. Now, he delivered a strip sack, which came in 2.29 seconds, the fastest sack in the NFL this season. While his other two sacks, they came blitzing from inside linebacker. Now, we've already talked this season about what Reese can become for this defense, and Sunday was definitely more evidence of his ceiling. But I don't think that he's the whole story here. The story is that every time something went wrong for the Giants, well, somebody else stepped up. McCarthy, he gets hurt. Winston leads the touchdown drive. The offense, they can't finish enough drives. Zavada makes four field goals. You got a punt? Well, Stout, he keeps pinning Philly deep. And on the final play of the game, Denard Wilson, he doesn't sit back and pray on a Hail Mary. The Giants send six. Darius Alexander gets home, and it's a wrap. Game over. After the game, John Harbaugh called it not perfect football, but winning football. And I think that's exactly right. Because after further review, this Giants team is starting to show something that doesn't always appear in a box score. They don't need the same guy to save them every week. They don't need the offense to score 30 points. They don't need McCarthy to throw for 300 yards because sometimes the defense has to carry you. Sometimes your backup quarterback has to make a drive. Sometimes your kicker has to be perfect. And sometimes your punter, yes, your punter has to flip the field. And sometimes you just have to find a way to get out of Philly with a win.