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PHILADELPHIA – A glass slipper that was already showing some cracks completely shattered on Christmas Day.
Undrafted quarterback Tommy DeVito, who rose to fame as something of a Cinderella story in winning three of his first four starts for the Giants, was benched in favor of Tyrod Taylor after an ineffective first half in Big Blue’s 33-25 loss to the Eagles on Monday at Lincoln Financial Field.
One week after head coach Brian Daboll seemed to definitively name the 25-year-old as the team’s starter, there was DeVito on the bench for the second half after completing just nine of 16 passes for only 55 yards and leading the offense to just 101 total yards over the first 30 minutes, with his team seemingly hopelessly trailing 20-3 heading to the locker rooms.
Curiously, that declaration came after the Giants’ 24-6 loss in New Orleans to the Saints last week, with Daboll saying “he’s earned it” when pressed on why he named him QB1 immediately after the loss.
“I’m not going to make a week-to-week change,” he said at the time. “He’s earned it. It’s not always going to be perfect, but he’s earned the opportunity to play.”
That lasted one half.
Monday night, in a somewhat terse and short post-game presser, a visibly frustrated Daboll wasn’t quite as willing to discuss the play at the position.
“Just trying to spark the team,” he said of the change. “I don’t really have anything else to add to that.”
Taylor – who lost the job to DeVito after injuring his ribs earlier in the season not long after taking over for Daniel Jones after he suffered a season-ending ACL injury – came in and sparked the offense immediately, taking advantage of getting the ball at the Eagles’ 14-yard-line after Boston Scott’s fumble of the second half-opening kickoff was recovered by Isaiah Simmons.
Taylor led the Giants on a quick three-play drive that culminated with a Saquon Barkley touchdown run to cut the deficit to 20-10 and kept it going with both his arms and his legs on ensuing possessions, showing a level of mobility needed against a stout Philly defense that DeVito simply does not have.
The journeyman backup kept fighting, even after D’Andre Swift’s early fourth quarter touchdown run seemed to once again put the game out of reach even after Adoree Jackson’s stunning interception of Jalen Hurts that was returned for a touchdown. With 5:22 left in regulation, Taylor fired a perfectly thrown ball down the left sideline to Darius Slayton, who did the rest on a 69-yard touchdown reception to make it a 30-25 game.
After a late drive with a chance to potentially tie the game was unsuccessful, he finished the contest having completed seven of his 16 passes for 133 yards, that one touchdown and an interception on the last play of the game, as well as 21 yards on the ground on two carries.
It was, ultimately, still too little, too late, but the question now becomes who will be under center for the last two weeks of the regular season. The Giants host the Los Angeles Rams on New Year’s Eve, and close out the year one week later at home against the Eagles.
Both games are now meaningless with Big Blue now having been officially eliminated from postseason contention with the loss. Taylor, a free agent after this season, will either get two more opportunities to showcase himself to teams – perhaps including the Giants – or it’ll be a chance for DeVito to show he can stick as the team’s backup next season.
Asked what his takeaways were from an experience like he went through on Monday, DeVito seemed to acknowledge that his fairy tale story isn’t guaranteed a happy ending.
“It’s just a constant reminder that it’s a business,” he said. “They’re always going to try to find someone to replace you whatever it is…but there’s no feelings one way or another, I was hoping Ty was going to go out there and ball.”
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