As Zak DeOssie recalls, it was a “terrible ending’’ for a very specific reason: “Everything that could go wrong went wrong.’’
But, DeOssie added, “I wouldn’t necessarily call it shocking.’’
That is not the majority opinion.
“It was a shock to everybody,’’ Tom Quinn, the Giants’ special-teams coordinator, told The Post on Thursday after practice. “We kind of created those last year for ourselves.’’
Creating such mayhem drove the Giants into the darkness of a second consecutive 6-10 season, darkness that for now has brightened with the season-starting 20-19 victory over the Cowboys. Up next are the Saints in the home opener, which blows in the ill wind reminder of last year’s historic, hysterical loss in New Orleans.
It was a game that had everything, as long as you do not include defense in your definition of everything. There were 101 points, 1,030 total yards, 840 passing yards, 64 first downs and an NFL record 13 touchdown passes.
Such pyrotechnics should have pointed the teams to overtime, where the coin toss would have decided if Eli Manning or Drew Brees would get the ball in their hands and, most likely, quickly ended the proceedings with another assault into the end zone.
It never got to OT, sadly for the Giants, because of a ghastly series of events — starting with a breakdown that allowed a 24-yard punt return to Marcus Murphy, who then lost possession when Craig Dahl forced a fumble. The ball was recovered by Willie Snead, and that is where things got crazy.
Snead, with a stiff-arm, stuck his finger through the facemask of punter Brad Wing as Wing was attempting to make the tackle. Wing’s hand got up into Snead’s facemask. Two fouls, but only one flagged. The 15-yard penalty on Wing allowed Kai Forbath to nail a 50-yard field goal for the winning points as time expired to stamp official Saints 52, Giants 49.
“Yeah, I remember very well how the game ended, it was unfortunate, we were on the wrong side of it,’’ Wing told The Post. “My first [penalty] and hopefully last. I just thought it should have been offsetting because his hand was in mine, too.
“That was a crazy game.’’
Crazy, yes, but not unprecedented with it comes to special team hijinks spelling delight or doom.
Can you imagine the uproar if Terrance Williams did what he was coached to do — get the heck out of bounds — on the final, fateful play last week and sonic-boom-legged kicker Dan Bailey drilled a 62-yard field goal and the Giants lost 22-20? That the Giants on special teams did not execute in the closing moments would have become a headline instead of a footnote. With 1:12 remaining, punting from the Dallas 37-yard line, the plan was for Wing to do what he does best — place the ball inside the 20-yard line.
“He didn’t have a lot of space to deal with,’’ Quinn said. “He’s got to try to hit it 27 yards and get the fair catch at the 10-yard line. It went right into the end zone.’’
Ben McAdoo calls Wing his “sniper’’ for situations such as this. But Wing never got to take a clear shot. DeOssie’s snap was not one of his better ones — it sailed high and to the right — and Wing had to move his feet and reach up to get the ball. With the Cowboys desperate and playing for the block, Wing got the punt away as quickly as possible and sent it into the end zone for a touchback. The lost yardage did not come back to bite the Giants, but it certainly could have.
“It wasn’t the worst snap we’ve had,’’ Wing said. “We all have a job and we’re all striving for perfection. The ball is in my hands, I got to do better with a better kick.’’
DeOssie, a 10-year veteran and special-teams captain, knew the poor punt was triggered by his own failing.
“I was not happy with the snap,’’ he said. “The ball was in my hands, it’s my job to put it on his hip. Sometimes it doesn’t work out that way but teammates pick each other up. That’s our job, too.’’
These little things add up. No one has to tell this to the Jets — who in their opener had a field goal blocked and an extra point missed, four valuable points missed in a one-point loss to the Bengals. No one has to remind the Cardinals of this, as their chance to pull out a victory against the Patriots was ruined by a bad snap, shaky hold and missed 47-yard field-goal attempt at the final gun.
“They’re all close games, there’s no such thing as resting easy,’’ Quinn said.
“Every game nowadays seems to come down to the last minute and that’s what we get paid to do as specialists,’’ DeOssie said. “Our job might be mundane or whatever but that fourth-quarter snap, hold, kick or punt or whatever, that’s what we get paid to do.’’
The Giants are 1-0 despite less-than-ideal, late-game, special-teams execution. It is not a recommended formula.