LANDOVER, Md. -- It is apparently not enough for the New York Giants to simply lose. They seem inclined to find new and unique ways to earn an "L" and deliver another shot to the fan base's midsection.
Take Thursday night against the Washington Football Team. The Giants (0-2) let that one slip away on multiple occasions to backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke, with the final dagger being when Dexter Lawrence was flagged for offside on a field goal attempt that missed wide right with no time remaining.
Of course, Dustin Hopkins wasn't going to miss again, and the Giants, the NFL's worst team since the start of 2017, lost 30-29 and fell to 0-2 for the fifth straight season. Oh, the pain.
"Yeah, it was a pretty tough one," wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. "You give it your all, you fight and it comes down to the tail end. See that first one miss and you see those flags, not a fun feeling at all."
But somewhat familiar. The list of excruciating losses over those five seasons is getting extensive.
The offside game: That's what Thursday's game will be remembered for most. But, wait, there was more. Wide receiver Darius Slayton also dropped a wide-open deep touchdown -- a catch he "100% expects to make" -- and the Giants also had a long Daniel Jones touchdown run negated by a questionable holding call on wide receiver C.J. Board. Just a game they should have won three different times.
The Evan Engram drop: It was the worst loss from a tough 2020 season -- for the Giants and Engram. The tight end dropped a deep pass down the left sideline with a little more than two minutes remaining. "I just didn't make the play," Engram said afterward. Nope, he didn't. Philadelphia got the ball and drove down the field for the winning score in a 22-21 victory on a Thursday night. Sound familiar?
Andy Dalton!: This one kind of flies under the radar, but the Giants allowed Dalton in 2020 to fly down the field in 52 seconds to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a chip-shot field goal for an October win. That's right, Andy Dalton. This came in relief of Dak Prescott, who suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle earlier in the game.
The fatal field goal I: This was Week 3 of the 2017 season. Jake Elliott broke the Giants' hearts with a 61-yard field goal as time expired. This was a gut punch that dropped the Giants to 0-3. Their season was pretty much over at that point in September.
The fatal field goal II: Again a ridiculously long kick beat the Giants. This was their current kicker demoralizing his future team at the final whistle of a 2018 game in Carolina. Graham Gano, then with the Carolina Panthers, nailed a 63-yard field goal with no time remaining to send the Giants to yet another brutal loss. It tied for the second-longest kick in NFL history at the time.
The ugly finale: It was Week 17 of the 2018 season and the game meant nothing, but it was another preposterous loss for the Giants. Apropos for this franchise at this point. Dallas rallied twice in the final 10 minutes, scoring the winning touchdown with just over a minute remaining on an overturned call for a Cole Beasley score that was followed by a 2-point conversion. Blake Jarwin had three touchdown catches in that game. Yes, the same Blake Jarwin who had never scored a touchdown prior to that game.