Giants’ Special Teams Collapse Highlights Deeper Issues in Seventh Straight Loss
It’s been a rough stretch for the New York Giants, and Monday night’s 33-15 loss to the New England Patriots didn’t do anything to ease the pressure. On a night when the offense sputtered and the defense couldn’t contain a surging Patriots squad, it was the special teams unit that delivered the most head-scratching moment of the evening.
Midway through the second quarter, with the Giants trailing by 10 and desperately needing points to stay in the game, kicker Younghoe Koo lined up for a 47-yard field goal. What followed was a scene straight out of a blooper reel.
Koo’s plant foot hit the turf awkwardly, his kicking motion stalled, and the ball was never touched. Instead, it slipped loose.
Holder Jamie Gillan tried to salvage the play, but Patriots defensive lineman Jeremiah Pharms was all over it, bringing Gillan down for a 13-yard loss.
Koo, who joined the Giants in September after being released by Atlanta, pointed to the cold conditions as a factor in the miscue.
“I was approaching the ball and, cold weather, the ball kind of slipped out at the bottom so it was moving,” Koo explained on Wednesday. “I wasn’t able to kick through the ball. The ball was moving when I was driving to it, so I just pulled up on it.”
To his credit, Koo didn’t shift blame to his holder, saying Gillan did his job under tough conditions.
“Jamie did a good job of catching it and putting it back,” Koo added. “But at that point, it was too late.”
Unfortunately for the Giants, that wasn’t the only special teams lapse of the night. In the second half, return man Gunner Olszewski was met hard by Patriots defenders Marte Mapu and Christian Elliss on a kickoff return. The ball came loose, New England recovered at the Giants’ 27-yard line, and Andy Borregales tacked on a field goal to extend the Patriots’ lead.
Special teams breakdowns like these don’t just cost points - they deflate momentum and morale. And for a team already in a tailspin, they underscore just how far things have unraveled.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka, now 0-3 since stepping in, didn’t try to sugarcoat what he saw from his team.
“Today wasn’t our best effort,” Kafka said postgame.
That might be putting it mildly. Monday marked the Giants’ seventh straight loss, and while Koo’s miss and Olszewski’s fumble were glaring, they were far from the only issues. The offense failed to sustain drives, the defense struggled to get off the field, and the Patriots - now winners of 10 straight - looked like the more composed, confident squad in all three phases.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart made his return for New England after missing two weeks with a concussion, and while he wasn’t perfect, he didn’t need to be. The Giants did more than enough to beat themselves.
Both teams now head into their bye week, but the vibes couldn’t be more different. For the Patriots, it’s a chance to rest and reload for a playoff push. For the Giants, it’s a moment to regroup, reflect, and try to figure out how to stop the bleeding - because right now, nothing is working.