Cleveland Browns' Malcolm Smith (56) breaks up a pass to Giants' Nick Gates (65) from Riley Dixon (9) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
For most of this season the Giants have had a very simple philosophy.
They’ve tried to hang around in games, stay close enough to their opponents to boil the contests down to key fourth-quarter plays, and attempt to take advantage of those late turning points. There were times when that thinking worked, and plenty of times, especially early on, when they were burned by it.