The Giants don’t need Isaiah Likely to hit a 66-yard touchdown every week. They need the kind of night that came with the other eight catches.
That long score against Washington is the play everyone will replay from Thursday, and for good reason. With 8:13 left, J.J.
McCarthy stood in against pressure, got the ball out, and Likely did the rest, turning it into a 66-yard touchdown that put New York ahead 21-17 in a game the Giants would eventually lose 24-21. John Harbaugh called the throw against the blitz “crazy good.”
It was. It took both pieces: a quarterback willing to let it rip and a tight end who could make the defense pay.
But the touchdown is only part of the case for making Likely a bigger piece of the offense when Jacksonville comes to MetLife on November 22.
Strip away the score, and Likely still finished with eight catches for 61 yards. Four days earlier in Philadelphia, he had five receptions for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Thursday also marked the first time since Jeremy Shockey in 2007 that a Giants tight end posted 125 receiving yards and a touchdown in the same game. That’s a neat stat.
The more useful takeaway is how often Likely was available and how the Giants can keep finding him.
One way is to build early-down concepts that give McCarthy a clean answer even when the defense isn’t bringing extra pressure. Move an outside receiver across the formation and let Likely settle underneath if the linebackers sink.
If a linebacker steps toward the run fake and nobody fills the space behind him, that’s the window. It gives the quarterback a place to go with the ball without waiting forever for a deeper route to clear.
There’s another wrinkle Harbaugh can use from the same look. If protection needs help, Likely can chip and then release into the flat.
That turns the play into a shorter throw, but it also gives McCarthy a real checkdown instead of forcing him to hold the ball while the outside routes develop. If the defense widens to account for the tight end, the ball can go somewhere else.
The point isn’t piling up targets for their own sake. It’s making the defense treat a player like a receiver instead of leaving him to function as a blocker until after the snap has already changed.
Timing matters, too. There’s a big difference between calling that kind of pass on first down and reaching for it on third-and-eight.
On first down, the defense has to honor the run, and McCarthy can take the easy five yards. On third-and-eight, that same catch can feel like a punt.
The Giants should keep the aggressive shot in the mix, but they also need the easier throw that keeps the offense out of bad spots.
Two division games don’t tell you everything about how Jacksonville will line up or which throws will be there. Still, Likely should be part of the early down-and-distance plan.
New York doesn’t need him to turn every catch into a highlight. It needs more drives where the quarterback can take the simple completion and keep moving.
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