The New York Giants fell to 2-7 on the season with their 34-24 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9.
The Giants had their chances to put a scare into their opponents, but simply could not make the plays to keep the game closer.
As always, there are pivotal plays in every contest that swing the momentum one way or the other, and unfortunately, the Giants were on the wrong side of that momentum all afternoon.
Let’s take a look at three plays that led to the Week 9 loss.
San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during a week 9 game between New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. / Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The officials did not do the Giants any favors in this game, as they did in Week 8, and the 49ers’ offensive coaching staff took advantage.
After the Giants went on a 10-play, 64-yard touchdown drive to open the game, the 49ers worked the ball down the field for their first drive. It was 3rd-and-3 on the 5-yard line.
The 49ers were lined up in a tight, trips formation with the Giants in man coverage. On the snap, all three receivers ran inside with Jujuan Jennings running directly into the Giants’ middle linebacker Bobby Okereke.
While the receivers ran inside, running back Christian McCaffrey ran outside from out of the backfield, where Mac Jones was able to throw him the ball for an easy touchdown.
Okereke was supposed to guard Jones, but was illegally picked. The reason this play was illegal is that Jennings made no attempt to avoid contact, and he was running with the intent to pick, rather than running a route.
Knowing this was the goal, bringing the other two receivers tight and running them across in the same direction caused confusion, masking the true intention: to pick off Okereke.
While it was a clever design, the officials should have noticed it, and the coverage should have been adjusted based on the defensive coordinator’s formation, who should have predicted some type of pick play since every team does it.
Ultimately, this should have been called a penalty; the touchdown should have been nullified, and the 49ers backed up to the 15-yard line. That’s likely to produce a field goal instead of a touchdown.
New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
The entire first half was the 49ers’ offense running the ball and getting off quick passes. It neutralized the Giants’ pass rush effectiveness. The ball was simply gone before they could get to Jones.
With time running down in the first half, the 49ers were forced to push the ball deeper, which required Jones to hold the ball a little bit longer.
That was all the time outside linebacker Brian Burns needed to get to Jones, reach his long arms out, and strip the football, which was then popped up in the air, where rookie edge Abdul Carter was able to jump up and snatch the ball out of the air.
The Giants’ offense sputtered; they only ran 14 plays over their last four possessions. This turnover was a chance to put points on the board and close the 10-point gap.
The offense was given possession on the 49ers’ 27-yard line. They tried to slip a run play in to catch the defense off guard. A good try, but San Francisco was ready for it.
Second down was a poorly thrown football behind running back Tyrone Tracy, and third down was a really low throw to Theo Johnson, who just dropped his previous attempt at a catch on third down of the last series.
While the offense continued to struggle, at least they left themselves a very manageable field goal by Graham Gano. He unfortunately pulled it wide left, and the score remained the same after a great opportunity to close the scoring gap was wasted.
The 49ers received the kick to start the second half, and they were able to add a field goal.
Conservatively, that was a six-point swing, which made the score 20-7 instead of 20-10 or possibly 20-14.
Nov 2, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Brian Robinson Jr. (3) scores a touchdown as New York Giants cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse (35) defends during the second half at MetLife Stadium. / Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
After heavy doses of McCaffrey all day, the 49ers gave the Giants a fixin’ of 230-pound Brian Robinson’s downhill running style.
It was less than a quarter into the fourth quarter, and the game was 20-10. The Giants were in striking distance, but now they needed a stop.
They knew the 49ers were trying to run the ball and bleed out the clock. They ran the ball seven times to set them up with 1st-and-10 on the New York 18-yard line.
They gave the ball to Robinson, who ran off-guard to the Giants’ left. He burst through the line, steamrolled Deonte Banks, and ran untouched into the end zone.
Banks’s going head-to-head with a back who outweighs him by 30 pounds might not have been the wisest development; however, the real problem was the run fit by safety Dane Belton.
When he read that it was a run and attacked forward, his position suggested there was only one defender outside of Banks. However, inside, there were many teammates.
Belton fit with his outside shoulder, leaving his inside arm free, but that is where all the help was.
He essentially left Banks on an island, and Robinson treated him like roadkill.
If Belton had taken on the Jennings block with his inside shoulder, it would have given him a chance to help Banks and likely forced Robinson back inside, where the other defenders were pursuing.
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