Biggest Takeaways from New York Giants' Week 13 Loss

The S.S. Coughlin became the S.O.S. Coughlin as the New York Giants took another potentially fatal blow to its season, losing a 23-20 game in overtime to the Jets.

The loss drops the 5-7 Giants down to third place in a division that is surprisingly still very much up for grabs.

It was more of the same old story from the Giants, who have hurt themselves with the self-inflicted wounds all season.  

The sad part is that at this point, if the potential of winning the division still hasn’t registered with some of these players, who keep making the same mistakes over and over, it’s probably never going to happen, at least this year.

Regardless, there’s always a new thing or two that we seem to learn every week with this team, so let’s get right into it.

OL Bobby Hart Belongs on the Field

Peter Morgan/Associated Press

The last time the Giants had a seventh-round draft pick who showed he could be relevant was in 2007. It was some guy by the name of Ahmad Bradshaw.

Well, it took eight years, but it looks like the Giants might have found themselves another seventh-round gem in offensive lineman Bobby Hart, who this week got the start at right tackle in place of Marshall Newhouse (inactive/back), and who turned in a pretty impressive game for a rookie.

“I haven’t seen the tape, but Hart did a respectable job, I’m sure,” head coach Tom Coughlin said after the game.

“He went out there and battled, he’s been in a lot of big games as a young player, he’s only going to get better. We had to obviously go to him and we did and I think he certainly held his own.”

Whether Hart battled hard enough to keep Newhouse on the bench remains to be seen, but still, how refreshing is it to think that next year, the Giants offensive line could very well consist of four draft picks?

K Josh Brown Is Human

Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

After making a franchise-record 29 field-goal attempts, it was becoming more and more obvious that kicker Josh Brown was due for a miss.

Unfortunately for the Giants he did indeed miss, and at the worst possible time. He sent a 48-yard overtime attempt wide left, his first true miss since Nov. 30, 2014 at Jacksonville (he also had a blocked field goal on a 29-yard attempt against St. Louis).

“Yeah, just a bad hit,” Brown said after the game.

“I just have to keep my head down, look through the ball and there’s nothing else I can do about it. I have to keep striking the same ball. I had made everything; kicking well. I just have to hit that ball like I do every other one.”

Too late.

LB Jonathan Casillas Is a Solid, Under-the-Radar Player

Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

The Giants are many years removed from having a great linebacker unit, but one guy at the position who has really been a solid contributor all season is Jonathan Casillas, one of the free-agent signings last offseason.

This week, Casillas led the Giants with seven tackles, all solo, which based on the Giants stats for tackles, moves him to second place on the team in total tackles with 58, just behind team leader Landon Collins.   

According to Pro Football Focus, he entered Week 13 tied with Devon Kennard for most stops (19) made by the Giants’ outside linebackers.  That’s not too bad for a guy who isn’t a starter but who has shown that he can play like one.

DE Jason Pierre-Paul's Wrapped Right Hand Is Indeed Making a Difference

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

This past week, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was listed on the injury report, the reason being his right hand was sore.

In response to that, Pierre-Paul played this week with a thicker club-like wrapping on his permanently damaged right hand, a wrapping that unlike the oven mitt he wore in previous weeks, didn’t seem to have a thumb.

While Pierre-Paul came up with six tackles, two tackles for a loss and two quarterback hits, he has yet to get a sack, and it looks more and more like his bandaged right hand is the reason why.

On one play in which he got close to Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, he brushed his wrapped up right hand against Fitzpatrick’s jersey, but because he was unable to grab him, the quarterback slipped away.

Perhaps in time Pierre-Paul won’t need any protection on his right hand, but it sure does look as though not being able to grab with his dominant hand is a little more of an issue that he thought it might be.

Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn Is a Genius

Uncredited/Associated Press

Do not adjust your computer monitors because you read that slide title correctly.

Yes, the embattled special teams coordinator, whom Giants fans have expressed a strong desire to see fired, came up with a genius plan on punt returns that actually worked to the Giants’ benefit.

That plan was to put receiver Odell Beckham Jr. back deep, along with Dwayne Harris, on punt returns, and it was that plan that, in part, resulted in Harris’ 80-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter.

By putting Beckham back there, the Jets devoted three players to covering him, figuring that Harris and Beckham might crisscross to where Beckham would field the punt. Instead, Harris fielded it and while the three Jets were busy trying to surround Beckham, Harris was off to the races behind some stellar blocking.

Once the Jets were burned on that tactic, they made sure to punt the ball out of bounds the rest of the way. Still, it was a clever move by Quinn, who has shown, at least this year, that he’s as good a special teams coach as there is so long as he has decent players with the want-to with which to work. 

Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football, the Journal Inquirer and Sports Xchange. All quotes and information were obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced.

Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.