PITTSBURGH — Frustration spilled out on the Giants’ sideline Monday night, with star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence screaming at some of the Giants’ defensive backs after a Steelers second-quarter offensive drive.
Pittsburgh’s George Pickens touchdown catch, which was being reviewed when the Giants’ altercation occurred, eventually was ruled incomplete by the NFL office. And the Steelers were forced to kick a field goal.
But Giants safety Jason Pinnock eventually walked down to the defensive line’s bench and shook hands with Lawrence and Rakeem Nunez-Roches. And when Brian Daboll’s defense came onto the field for its next series, second-year corner Deonte Banks stayed on the sideline.
He would remain there for the rest of the game.
Joe Schoen’s 2023 first-round pick was replaced by Greg Stroman, a practice squad player logging his first snaps of the season. And it wasn’t difficult to connect the dots.
Daboll even yelled and gestured at Banks on the same drive for not properly staying square on a Najee Harris leap over the corner’s head.
“I’m a passionate guy, and I just said we’ve got to play harder,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got to stop that play. That play shouldn’t have happened. It shouldn’t have come down to a decision [by the officials]. And I just said we’ve got to play harder.”
Daboll had refused to bench Banks for the start of Monday night’s game despite the second-year corner quitting or loafing on two different plays the past four weeks, including last Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now Lawrence was policing the sideline himself. And the result was some accountability, which is what this last-place team needs as badly as anything but wins.
Lawrence admitted he specifically took issue with Banks on that Pickens play.
“He could have competed better on that TD pass,” the defensive tackle said.
Banks said he was told that “they took me out because I missed tackles.”
Asked if he understood the decision, he said: “I just played football. If that’s what they wanted to do, that’s what they did.”
Lawrence’s tense exchange with his teammates and Banks’ ensuing benching were more signs of a frustrated team during Monday’s 26-18 prime time loss, which dropped the Giants to 2-6 as a bottom-three club in the 16-team NFC.
“This team needs to grow up,” edge rusher Brian Burns. “It comes down to being super detailed in your job.”
Right guard Greg Van Roten addressed the team postgame and assured everyone that the Giants are a good team, but they need to improve the “small things,” because those mistakes — like their 11 penalties — are what’s beating them in the end.
A Steelers 73-yard punt return by Calvin Austin III broke the game open with 4:38 remaining in the third quarter, putting Pittsburgh up 16-9. That came after a terrible Giants offensive drive had backed them up to 4th and 17 on their own 19-yard line.
Daboll’s next offensive series was another three-and-out. Then Russell Wilson stuck the dagger in the Giants with a 29-yard TD pass to Austin against corner Dru Phillips for a 23-9 Pittsburgh lead with 13:16 to play.
Giants rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. narrowed the Steelers’ advantage to 23-15 with a 45-yard touchdown run at the 11:07 mark of the fourth. But a two-point conversion screen pass to Malik Nabers went unblocked and failed.
And Daniel Jones was irate, pumping his fist, screaming and furious as he stormed toward the sideline, angrier than he’s ever been in a Giants uniform.
“We just didn’t execute it right,” Jones said. “It’s frustrating, very frustrating. We hurt ourselves a lot tonight, and that’s the most frustrating part about it. We’ve got to be more detailed, starting with me. Some of the good stuff that happened was negated by those mistakes.”
Jones made it the full four quarters at quarterback after being benched in last week’s loss to Philly, when Drew Lock entered with 11:26 remaining in the fourth. But Jones’ career record in night games fell to 1-16.
“I always play with an edge,” he added. “I don’t always show it the same, but I think I always play that way. Maybe I showed it a little bit differently tonight, but that doesn’t change my approach and how I play. Just frustrated, frustrated with coming up short again. Nobody really cares that we’re frustrated. It’s what are we going to do from here and fix the issues. I certainly look at myself first.”
Linebackers Micah McFadden and Bobby Okereke forced a huge Wilson fumble at the Steelers’ 37-yard line late in the fourth quarter to seemingly give the Giants some life. The offense took over with 4:34 remaining, trailing only 26-18.
But Daboll left right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor alone on Steelers pass rusher TJ Watt, and Watt burnt him around the edge to strip-sack Jones and take the ball right back.
Daboll then surprisingly revealed postgame at his press conference that Jones was at fault for not shifting a tight end over to chip block Watt and help Eluemunor. Jones backed that up when he stepped to the microphone.
“I needed to shift Theo [Johnson],” Jones said. “I was looking at the coverage and didn’t shift him. Jermaine expected a chip, he didn’t have it, so it’s my fault.”
The Giants’ defense then gave the Steelers a first-down by having 12 players on the field.
They still earned one last gasp, with 1:53 remaining from their own 7-yard line, when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin punted on 4th and 2 at the Giants’ 43 and opted to force New York to go the length of the field. But Jones overthrew running back Devin Singletary and was intercepted by Steelers corner Beanie Bishop Jr. to seal the game.
The Steelers (6-2) completed a prime time sweep of the New York football teams, including a 37-15 demolition of the Jets the week before.
The Giants now slump home with two games remaining before their bye: a Week 9 division visit from the first-place Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium, and a Week 10 intercontinental game against the Carolina Panthers in Munich, Germany.
The Nov. 5 trade deadline awaits two days after the Giants play Washington, and wide receiver Darius Slayton and edge rusher Azeez Ojulari are two of the top candidates to be off-loaded if Schoen decides to go that route.
Monday night, the Giants took the game into halftime tied, 9-9, on six combined field goals between the two teams in a low-scoring, bend-but-don’t-break battle.
Emotions started running high early in the second quarter.
Daboll erupted on the officials after the Giants were whistled for five penalties on the same drive to one for the Steelers’ defense.
The Giants coach thought Nabers had been interfered with on an end zone shot that he caught but with one foot out of bounds. The incompletion resulted in Greg Joseph’s second field goal of the day and a 6-6 tie with 12:39 remaining in the first half.
Pittsburgh’s next drive led to Lawrence’s sideline outburst, a third Chris Boswell field goal for a 9-6 Steelers lead at the 8:12 mark and Banks’ eventual benching.
And Jones’ second deep pass to Slayton of the first half, this one for 36 yards, set up Joseph’s third field goal of the game with 21 seconds remaining to send the game tied into the half.
The Steelers had taken a 6-3 lead into the second quarter after both teams’ offenses moved the ball well in the game’s opening few drives. Pittsburgh averaged 9.0 yards per play on two scoring drives in the first quarter while the Giants averaged 7.5 through
The Steelers went no-huddle and mowed down the field on the game’s opening possession, but a Broderick Jones facemask on the Giants’ Armon Watts negated a Wilson touchdown pass to a wide-open Pickens. And Pittsburgh settled for a 31-yard Boswell field goal and a 3-0 lead with 10:19 left in the first quarter.
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