PITTSBURGH — The Giants once again showed a national television audience what they do best. When the lights come on, they wilt. When things get tough, they capitulate. When the final tally is added up, they have lost.
So it went on another fruitless and at times embarrassing “Monday Night Football” showcase for a team that is growing tiresome in its inability to get out of its own way. This time, they were in it until a third quarter meltdown and then flirted with a comeback before succumbing to their sad identity, allowing the Steelers to beat them, 26-18, at Acrisure Stadium.
The offense was a penalty-laden mess, new starting left tackle Chris Hubbard did not exactly build a wall, second-year cornerback Deonte Banks got benched after yet another bad-look deal on the field and Daniel Jones once again could not get his team across the goal line often enough.
The Giants (2-6) remain alone in last place in the NFC East after their third consecutive defeat. This time, they did bust out with a few big plays — pass completions of 43 and 39 yards to Darius Slayton, a 45-yard touchdown run by rookie running back Tyrone Tracy — but too many missteps led to not enough points.
It got ugly when Banks, the 2023 first-round pick, was benched in the second quarter after head coach Brian Daboll grew irate after Banks failed to bring down running back Najee Harris right in front of the Giants’ bench.
The Giants were hanging in, tied 9-9 at halftime and battling on defense into the third quarter, getting no help from an offense that was struggling under the heat of the Steelers rush. A tug-of-war affair was tilted toward the Steelers when Calvin Austin III took a punt by Matt Haack and made the Giants look silly on a 73-yard return for a touchdown. Four players — Nick McCloud, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Patrick Johnson and Darius Muasau — had a shot at Austin and all four came up empty. That put the Steelers up 16-9.
After a feeble three-and-out on offense, the Giants on defense finally caved in, as Russell Wilson lobbed one of his moon balls to Austin, who beat rookie Dru Phillips for a 29-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
The Giants were in a 23-13 hole, but before the dirt was shoveled completely over them, Tracy scored to make it 23-15 with 11:07 left. That was promising. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt was clown-like. The Giants wanted a quick pass to Malik Nabers on the left side, with a wall of blockers lined up in front of him. At the snap, no one on the blocking line moved, allowing Alex Highsmith to race in untouched to nail Nabers as the ball came his way. Jones saw that mental gaffe and threw his arms up in disgust.
Greg Joseph’s fourth field goal pulled the Giants within 26-18 with 5:06 to go. One play later, Micah McFadden forced a fumble from Russell Wilson that Bobby Okereke recovered on the Pittsburgh 37-yard line. The Giants had a chance. But not for long. T.J. Watt sped around Jermaine Eluemunor to nail Jones for a sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery to give the ball back to the Steelers with 2:29 remaining.
The Giants got the ball back a final time on their 7-yard line with 1:53 to go. They got to the Steelers’ 35-yard line before Jones’ pass sailed and was intercepted by Beanie Bishop Jr. with 34 seconds to go. Jones was 24 for 38 for 261 yards and one interception and one lost fumble.
Once again, the Steelers (6-2) displayed their dominance and perfection in this exact scenario. They are 15-0 playing at Arisure Stadium on “Monday Night Football.” The last time they lost a home game on Monday night was Oct. 14, 1991, when the Giants beat them at Three Rivers Stadium.
The Giants continued their ineptitude on this night of the week, losing for the ninth time in their last 10 games playing under the spotlight on Monday night.
Jones is 1-16 in games played in primetime. He is akin to a vehicle venturing out in the evening without headlights.
The Giants won the opening coin toss, opted to defer and the Steelers scored on their opening drive to go ahead, 3-0. The Giants countered with a crisp first drive that featured a 43-yard bomb off play action, with Slayton getting one step on cornerback Donte Jackson and Jones making the deep throw down the middle of the field. It was the first play for the Giants that gained more than 15 yards since the victory in Seattle in Week 5. That trip into the red zone came up short — a delay of game penalty did not help — and Joseph’s 29-yard field goal made it 3-3.
Back-to-back plays of 29 yards (Wilson to tight end Darnell Washington) and 26 yards (Najee Harris run) gave the Steelers a first and goal. The Giants made a stand, with Isaiah Simmons deflecting away a Wilson pass, and Chris Boswell’s second field goal made it 6-3.
Back came the Giants with a scoring drive that was fairly ugly, considering three offensive linemen (Jon Runyan Jr., Chris Hubbard and Greg Van Roten) were hit with penalties. A roughing the passer call on Highsmith and a fourth down pickup (Jones to Nabers) allowed the Giants to come away with Joseph’s 39-yard field goal to tie it up again.
It did not stay tied and the Giants lost, again.