The Green Bay Packers scored a touchdown with just over a minute and a half remaining to take a 22-21 lead, sparking a celebration with what appeared to be an improbable victory. But Tommy DeVito outplayed Jordan Love.
Green Bay allowed DeVito too much time, and the New York Giants won 24-22 on a 37-yard field goal by Randy Bullock on the final play.
DeVito Shine in New York
Saquon Barkley was running free late in the fourth quarter when he stumbled, fell and lost the ball without being knocked down. After a 33-yard gain to the Green Bay 19, Barkley lost just the fourth fumble of his career.
Packers corner Carrington Valentine returned it 50 yards to the Giants' 36 with 3:34 minutes remaining to give Green Bay a chance for a miracle comeback.
Nine plays later, Malik Heath scored his first career touchdown on an 8-yard toss from Love to give the Packers their first lead since a 10-7 halftime break.
DeVito, now with a 3-1 record as a starter, completed 17 of 21 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. His rushing was just as important, if not more so. DeVito had just 83 yards on 21 carries in his career before rushing for 71 yards on 10 attempts.
Barkley had 20 carries for 86 yards and two touchdowns, in addition to catching three passes for 15 yards. Wan'Dale Robinson also had a big night with two carries for 36 yards and six receptions for 79 yards.
Love completed 25 of 39 passes for 218 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also lost a fumble as did Packers' clearing runner Keisean Nixon.
In his fourth consecutive start, the fan-favorite rookie had the best performance of his short career, controlling the ball, threading the needle on a late touchdown throw and totaling more than 70 yards as a runner.
Brian Daboll's run-centric attack involved Saquon Barkley and Wan'Dale Robinson, and the latter showed impressive determination working against a Packers secondary defense without Jaire Alexander.
Wink Martindale's defensive line helped seal the deal, hitting Jordan Love eight times and forcing the quarterback into two turnovers.
Last night was fun 😎 pic.twitter.com/X4gMEZ0TYK
- New York Giants (@Giants) December 12, 2023
The Key to Green Bay's Defeat
The Packers fell to 6-7, hurting their hopes of winning the NFC North, and the Giants won their third straight game to move to 5-8.
Matt LaFleur called some nice plays by Jayden Reed early on, but otherwise, his offense came back to earth, with Jordan Love averaging less than six yards per attempt and A.J. Dillon, who started in place of an injured Aaron Jones, struggling to find space.
LaFleur's creativity got a little out of control in key situations, such as a botched two-point attempt. However, the even bigger culprit might be Joe Barry's defense, which allowed the Giants to score on three of their last five series.
Despite New York's questionable offensive line, which was without right tackle Evan Neal, Barry's front totaled just two hits on the quarterback and didn't bring DeVito down once. Anders Carlson's missed field goal attempt didn't help either.
The Packers lost their lead late in the third quarter, but, down 21-13, took the ball deep into Giants territory to open the final quarter.
On third-and-long, however, Azeez Ojulari and Dexter Lawrence shared a Jordan Love catch to force a Green Bay field goal attempt, and Anders Carlson missed from 45 yards out.
Instead of cutting the Giants' lead to five, the Packers gave the ball right back to New York. And although the Giants cleared on their next possession, later surrendering the lead altogether, their final touchdown series sealed the victory.
Carlson's fumble didn't just represent the Packers' sloppy night. It literally cost the team the game in the end.