MINNEAPOLIS — As the Giants rallied in Minnesota for their first sustained drive, Daniel Bellinger hauled in a 16-yard pass from quarterback Daniel Jones and attempted an extra yard.
Vikings rookie linebacker Brian Asamoah came from behind, ripped the ball out of Bellinger’s hands and made a deft grab at the Minnesota 24. The Vikings went the other way and kicked a field goal.
The ball continued to slip out of Giants players’ hands during a 27-24 loss to the Vikings, who won after Greg Joseph hit a 61-yard field goal as time expired Saturday. With Seattle and Detroit losing, New York missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot.
“I just think we need to make plays when we need them,” Bellinger said. “For me personally, it’s just a matter of keeping it under lock and key, and just stepping it up when you have to.”
Multiple receivers failed to complete passes from Jones, who was 30-of-42 for 334 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Richie James had a couple of downs, including one on third-and-five midway through the fourth quarter that led to a 55-yard field goal by Graham Gano, his third of the game.
“I love Graham and it’s basically an automatic three, but we’ve got to find a way to try to get six in those situations,” said Saquon Barkley, who had 14 carries for 84 yards and a touchdown to put the Giants in position to tie the game. score with the 2-point conversion with 2:01 left. “We put ourselves in a position to win the game and we just made too many mistakes and it caught up with us.”
Jones also fumbled in the first quarter, but it was recovered for New York by Evan Neal. After the Giants took a 13-10 lead in the third, the Giants also made a potentially big defensive play when Cor’Dale Fleet appeared to intercept Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Re-review showed that Fleet did not maintain control of the ball when it hit the turf.
Another interception in the second quarter was overturned due to an interference penalty. New York also gave up a blocked punt and committed seven penalties for 63 yards.
“We didn’t play a clean game,” Julianne Love said. “That’s what the games are all about lately. Two turnovers, blocked punt, penalty, missed interception; all of which led to the loss of this game.”
Isaiah Hodgins, who caught eight times for 89 yards, lamented the offense’s mistakes and said he apologized to the defensive players after the game.
“I said after the game, ‘I think we killed ourselves,'” Hodgins said. “I tried to go up to some of the defensive players and just tell them it was a great effort on their part. It was at our expense and we apologize for that. Just some turnovers, penalties just kind of killing themselves when we got there, some third downs that we could have made and turned some field goals into touchdowns. So we just have to clean up some of those things.”
