A Game of Fourth and Inches in the First Half of Giants-Falcons

On the next possession, Atlanta had fourth and inches again at the Giants 40. Perhaps spooked by the last failure, or perhaps relying on the Giants only having one first down at the time, Mike Smith punted and traded the great opportunity to get in scoring range for 25 yards. The Giants then took that drive and marched down the field, keyed by an Eli Manning scramble to get it going, then a Brandon Jacobs 34 yard run.

Tom Coughlin faced a short yardage decision on that drive. The Giants were stopped twice at the Atlanta 6, setting up 4th and maybe two inches. Coughlin (appropriately) went, not swayed by the failures. Brandon Jacobs got it on second effort, and on the next play, Manning hit Hakeem Nicks for the only touchdown.

A final short yardage play also served a key role in the half’s ending. On second down, Eli Manning hit Nicks with a pass that was caught a yard past the first down line, then pushed back. The official spotted the ball short, but it looked like it was still close to the line despite the bad spot. There was confusion. The Giants did not call a timeout even though they had some remaining. The referee did not stop play to measure. The replay official did not seek a review from a pretty clear bad spot. Eli Manning threw incomplete on the third down and inches that should not have been, and the Giants punted it back.

[photo via @CJZero]