Giants Lose Opener to Steelers 26-16

The New York Giants 2020 season got off to a rough start on Monday night following its 26-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Things got off to a good start when the Giants’ special teams unit forced a fumble on a punt return in the first quarter, giving it the ball on the Steelers’ three yard line. However, the Giants would fail to take advantage of the turnover and only came away with three points. The Steelers would add a field goal as well to tie the game at three after the first quarter.

Daniel Jones would connect with Darius Slayton for a 41 yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Giants a 10-3 lead. Unfortunately, that is where things sort of fell apart for the Giants. After a defensive stop, Jones threw an interception to TJ Watt. As a result, Ben Roethlisberger would find JuJu Smith-Schuster for a 10 yard touchdown to make it a 10-9 game after the missed extra point. Roethlisberger would find James Washington for a 13 yard touchdown late in the second to give the Steelers a 16-10 lead going into the half.

In the third quarter, the Giants drove the ball down to the Pittsburgh four yard line. On the 19th play of the drive, Jones tried to escape pressure and threw a floating pass into the end zone that was then intercepted by Cam Heyward. The Steelers added another field goal in the fourth, making it a 19-10 game. Any momentum for the Giants seemed to be taken away at that point.

The main story in this one was the Giants failure to run the ball. The tough Steelers defense held Saquon Barkley to just 6 yards on 15 carries. He added 60 yards in the receiving game, however. Bud Dupree and company were a nightmare all night for the Giants offensive line, finishing with three sacks.

New York’s defense played well, despite giving up 26 points. They were able to get pressure on Roethlisberger throughout the night, and finished with two sacks by Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. Blake Martinez finished with a team-leading 12 tackles.

Jones finished with 279 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Slayton led the receivers with 102 yards on six receptions and two touchdowns.

The Steelers got exactly what it needed out of the returning Roethlisberger. ‘Big Ben’ finished the night with 224 yards and three touchdowns. Pittsburgh’s ground attack was led by Benny Snell Jr, who finished with 104 yards on just 16 carries. JuJu Smith-Schuster finished with 69 yards on six receptions and two touchdowns on the night.

The Giants (0-1) will travel to Chicago for a matchup with the Bears (1-0) on Sunday.

(Photo: Seth Wenig/AP)