New York Giants defensive back Isaiah Simmons leaped over the line, splitting two offensive linemen, and managed to get hit feet down and then propel himself back in the air to block a Jason Myers kick.
Game.
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It was an incredibly athletic display by Simmons, who called his shot days before the Giants even took off for the West Coast.
“I said today I was going to block a punt or field goal, one of the two. I didn’t know which one, But it was going to be one of them,” Simmons told reporters after the game.
If the Bryce Ford-Wheaton scoop-and-score looked too clean, it’s because that was predicted as well. He was in the precise spot he was supposed to be in knowing Simmons was about to block the attempt.
“I said, be prepared to scoop because it’s getting blocked. See that ball off wherever it hits, just see it off. I promise it’s getting blocked. So just be ready to scoop,” Simmons said. “He was more than ready to scoop from what I’ve seen I’m happy for BFW. Good for him.”
“We didn’t even practice Isaiah jumping over, we just knew he was capable of doing it. Big shout out to him,” Ford-Wheaton said.
The perfectly executed play wasn’t even in the Giants’ playbook until Tuesday of last week. That’s when special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial approached head coach Brian Daboll with the idea and the two settled on Simmons as the perfect player to pull it off.
“I think it was Tuesday Ghobi brought that play up to me. You know, he talked about who he thought would be a good candidate to do the jump. Isaiah came to mind. He executed perfectly,” Daboll said.
“There is risk-reward, because if you get a penalty then it’s first down for the offense. I thought Ghobi did a good job setting up the rush. Called it at the perfect time. Then, you know, Isaiah is over there before the play practicing get-offs and what he’s doing, so he was prepared to go. We had Dexter (Lawrence) in there. Well-executed play. Critical situation.”
Some questioned whether or not there should have been penalties called on Lawrence and Rakeem Nuñez-Roches for using leverage on the back of offensive linemen, but the league confirmed there had been no infraction. Not only did the offensive linemen dive, but both Lawrence and Nacho kept their hands on the nameplates as opposed to the neck or helmet.
On the most important play of the game, the Giants did literally everything to perfection.
