Younghoe Koo’s botched field goal attempt headlines Giants’ night to forget on special teams

Special teams has been an adventure for the Giants all season, and the unit had a first half to forget during Monday night’s 33-15 loss to the Patriots.

After the Patriots put three on the board on the opening drive of the game, New York’s offense went three-and-out before allowing Marcus Jones to take a punt 96 yards to the house to quickly make it a 10-0 ballgame.

The Giants were able to weather the storm and appeared to settle in early in the second.

Jaxson Dart capped off a strong drive by connecting with Darius Slayton for a 30-yard TD to get them on the board, then the defense responded by forcing a quick three-and-out.

The rookie QB drove the offense down the field again, and New York was ready to put more points on the board, but Younghoe Koo pulled up on a 47-yard field goal attempt, and instead it resulted in a turnover on downs with punter Jamie Gillan being 'sacked' on the play.

“As I was driving to it, the bottom of the ball was slipping, so I pulled up on it,” Koo said of the hold by New York's punter.

“It was just a tough bounce right there,” interim head coach Mike Kafka added.

Tough bounce or not, it ended up costing the Giants even more points, as the Patriots went and scored a touchdown, then Gunner Olszewski was walloped and fumbled the ensuing kickoff, backing the defense up deep in their own territory. (Olszewski exited the game after the play and was ruled out with a concussion.)

New England added another field goal to make it a 27-7 ballgame.

Add up those costly mistakes, and that is a 13-point swing in favor of the Patriots.

Certainly a night to forget for Michael Ghobrial and his unit, though, Kafka put the blame on the team as a whole after they suffered their seventh consecutive loss.

“It just wasn’t a great team effort,” the interim coach said. “All three phases of the game, everyone has to step up, everyone has to clean up their part of the game -- it’s never just one phase, it’s never just one player, we all have to do a better job.”