Tiki Barber sounded like he had had enough as he broke down the Giants’ disastrous 33-32 loss to the Broncos on Sunday night. The Giants legend was apoplectic over the team’s play-calling decision that led rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart to throw an interception with less than five minutes remaining, while Big Blue held onto a 26-16 lead over Denver.
Barber, discussing that critical drive on the postgame show on WFAN, argued that all the Giants needed to do during that possession was to force the Broncos to use their timeouts and avoid making any errors that would give Denver the ball back.
“It’s third-and-4 or 5, and Sean Payton has used two of those timeouts. On that third down, the only play that you call—and I don’t know if this is Mike Kafka trying to be cute, I don’t know if this is Brian Daboll trying to be aggressive, I don’t know if this is Jaxson Dart trying to be a hero,” Barber said. “The only thing you do on that play is run the ball so that you force the Denver Broncos to use a third timeout.”
Barber further explained that by forcing the Broncos to use their final timeout, New York would have forced Denver to drive the field without any timeouts, with the clock running down. At that point, the Giants held a two-possession lead.
“This game was lost, and you heard me scream it, as soon as they decided to put the ball in a rookie’s hand,” Barber added. “This is why I always distrust rookies in moments like these—because they make stupid rookie decisions, like throwing the ball over the middle of the field on a simulated blitz, when the linebacker is actually dropping into coverage, and you don’t see him. You think you have a big play, but you don’t.”
“This is on the play call. Period. The only thing you do is force the Denver Broncos to use three timeouts, keep the clock running, and punt the ball away. It’s an excusable play call, and I don’t understand it in any capacity.”
Despite the costly interception, Jaxson Dart finished the game with 15 completions for 283 passing yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also made up for the error with a 1-yard touchdown run.
However, the Giants’ defense surrendered 33 points in the fourth quarter, allowing the Broncos to hand them one of the toughest losses of the year.
https://nypost.com/2025/10/20/sports/tiki-barber-crushes-giants-for-excusable-play-call-in-loss-to-broncos/
