After the Giants’ 33-25 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Christmas Day which included a second-half comeback attempt and a Hail Mary that had a chance to send the game into overtime, head coach Brian Daboll explained his decision to bench Tommy DeVito at halftime in favor of Tyrod Taylor.
“Just tried to spark the team,” he said. “I don’t really have anything else to add to that. Just did it to try to spark the team.”
While it was special teams and the defense who made big plays in the third quarter to pull New York out of a 20-3 halftime hole, Taylor also helped his cause and chipped in with a 69-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton in the fourth quarter that brought Big Blue back to within five after the Eagles widened their lead once again earlier in the quarter.
Taylor finished the night 7-for-16 for 133 passing yards, a touchdown, an interception (on the final throw of the game) and 21 yards on the ground on two rush attempts. It was a solid performance from the veteran QB who hasn’t played much this season even with Daniel Jones out due to his own injuries and circumstances.
“I treat each and every day as if I’m the starter,” he said. “…At the end of the day it wasn’t a winning performance so that’s what I grade myself on… I think I was able to go out there and create some plays, but it’s a team sport and ultimately we failed at the ultimate goal which is to win.”
As for DeVito, who was 9-for-16 with 55 yards before getting pulled, he knows why Daboll and the Giants made the decision.
“I understand, it’s a business,” he said. “We weren’t doing great on offense in the first half, I’m not sure what the numbers were, but we weren’t scoring enough points so a change was made. Tried to get a spark and that was that.”
DeVito added: “It’s just a constant reminder that it’s a business. They’re always gonna try and find someone to replace you, whatever it is, but at the same time, it is a business, it’s your job. I respect it, there’s no feelings one way or another. I was hoping Ty[rod] was gonna go out there and ball and we win the game. It’s nothing more than that.”
The decision to move away from DeVito shouldn’t have come as a complete shock as the Giants looked bad on offense last week, too, in their 24-6 loss against the New Orleans Saints. In fact, before the benching, Big Blue had gone seven consecutive quarters – including the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers – without scoring a touchdown.
Now the question is, who will be the starting quarterback for the Giants next week, especially now that the team is officially eliminated from playoff contention? It’s a question no one seems to have an answer to yet and speaks to the bigger problem in New York.
“We’ll talk about that this week,” Daboll said.
No matter who the starter is, DeVito said he’s going to keep his routine the same this week. Still, after getting benched he admitted that “as a competitor it hurts, but at the same time it’s a business.”
“It’s just work to me,” the rookie said. “I just go out and try to enjoy it every single day. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again you never know which snap is your last so I try to go out and make the most out of every snap that I’m out there. I’m appreciative of every snap that I’ve had and just try to keep moving forward.”
With two games remaining in the season, Big Blue’s next opponent is a home matchup against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. They end the regular season against the Eagles, who now have a five-game win streak against them, on Sunday, Jan. 7.
“Obviously we’re out of the playoffs, but there’s still two more games to play,” Taylor said. “We have to learn from this game, we’ll see these guys in two weeks. Come back out for these next two weeks and play our best ball.”