As he often does, Steelers pass rusher TJ Watt made a game-changing play in the fourth quarter on Monday night, outrunning Giants right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, knocking the ball out of Daniel Jones' hand and pouncing on the fumble. And it raises an important question: Why did the Giants stop Elumunor one-on-one with Watt in that situation?
The answer is that Jones messed up, failing to signal tight end Theo Johnson to move to the other side of the line and help Eluemunor with Watt.
Giants head coach Daboll said after the game that Elyumunor was supposed to get help from a chip block on Watt, but a miscommunication led to a false pass protection call. Daboll said Jones was supposed to call for Johnson to shift to the other side of the formation to help Watt, but Jones never made the call.
“He should have been cut down,” Daboll said. “DJ was looking at coverage, communication, but Jermaine was hoping for a chip. , , , We had a shift to tight end to get to Watt and we didn't get the shift. , , , To be honest, DJ feels very bad. I don't know if he owns it or not. He came here to say he owned it, it was a change that was with the play, he was kind of surveying the coverage, deciding what he wanted to do, and we got it. No change found.
Jones owned it.
“I need to shift, Theo needs to shift,” Jones said. “I was watching the coverage, I didn't chip him, Jermaine was expecting a chip and he didn't get it, so it was my fault.”
This is the kind of mistake the Giants can't make from their franchise quarterback, and it's sure to renew calls for the Giants to now make a decision moving forward.