New York Giants: Sterling Shepard, standouts from Week 7 vs. Falcons

On Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the New York Giants fell to the Atlanta Falcons. Were there any bright spots for Pat Shurmur’s club?

A season ago, the New York Giants followed up an 11-5 finish and playoff appearance in 2016 with a 3-13 showing — setting a franchise record for losses in a season. There would be plenty of changes, some that began late in 2017 with the dismissal of general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Ben McAdoo. Enter new GM David Gettleman and the hiring of Pat Shurmur.

But despite numerous changes to the roster this offseason, the team has had a rough go of it. The Giants brought a 1-5 record into this Monday night tilt with the Atlanta Falcons. After a quiet first quarter for both teams, things would get interesting — most notably in the fourth quarter — but it still added up to a fourth straight loss for Eli Manning and company, 23-20.

There was indeed some bizarre decision-making late in the game by the Giants. Down 20-6 in the fourth quarter, the team got a two-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Saquon Barkley with 4:47 to play. But Shurmur opted to go for two points when a PAT would have narrowed the lead to seven points. New York failed and still trailed by eight.

In the closing minute of the game and then trailing by 11 points (23-12), Big Blue made their way down field. But with time an element, Manning twice tried to punch the ball in himself from the one-yard and came up short. A one-yard flip to Odell Beckham Jr. on third down and then a two-point conversion by Barkley on the ground brought the Giants within three. But there were only five seconds remaining on the clock and an onside kick attempt failed.

So were there any standouts for Shurmur’s team in the three-point setback?