I've always wondered what it must feel like for injured players who are forced to sit at home and watch their crappy teams. Do they suffer as much as the rest of us? Do they get mad and pissed? Do they look out their window at the sunny day they could be enjoying and ask themselves, "What the hell am I doing with my life?"
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, currently laid up with a torn ACL, brought us an answer to those questions on Sunday: Yeah, kinda. Shortly after the Giants' 34-27 overtime loss to the Lions, Nabers posted and then deleted the following thoughts:
Sometimes I think they b makin us lose on purpose," he wrote. "Cause it's no way, bro you throw the ball instead of running it to make em burn 2 timeouts?? then you dnt kick the field goal?? Then they have to go down and score!!! Football common sense!!!! Am I missing something?
We can safely assume that Nabers was talking about a sequence of plays late in the fourth quarter, when the Giants had the ball and failed to extend their three-point lead. With 3:19 left in the game the Giants were facing a first-and-goal at the Lions' four-yard line. A two-yard run by Tyrone Tracy forced the Lions to burn a timeout. Jameis Winston threw incomplete on the next play, keeping the game clock at 3:11. The Giants ran it again on third down, but this time Tracy lost four yards and the Lions called another timeout. Interim head coach Mike Kafka was then presented with a choice: Kick a short field goal to take a six-point lead, or go for the touchdown and try to win the game right there. Kafka decided to be bold, and was rewarded with a turnover on downs. The Lions proceeded to march down the field and kick the game-tying field goal with 28 seconds left.
Football minds can disagree on whether it was wise for Kafka to forgo the points in an effort to get his 2–9 team a feel-good win, but nobody can blame Nabers for feeling a little punchy after watching that game. The Giants had a 17–7 lead in the second quarter, allowed the Lions to cut it to 20–17 in the third, and then seemingly regained control of the game with a hilarious, thrilling fourth-quarter touchdown that was the result of a trick play that Winston finished with a 33-yard catch and run into the end zone.
The Jameis Winston experience, summed up in one play.
— Dianna Russini (@diannarussini.bsky.social) 2025-11-23T20:30:11.939Z
The Giants then gave up a 49-yard touchdown run to Jahmyr Gibbs, and then of course Winston threw a horrible interception on the first play of the Giants' next drive. Once the game got to overtime, Gibbs killed them again with a 69-yard touchdown on the Lions' first play from scrimmage. Winston then drove his team all the way down to the Lions' 27-yard line, but ended the game by taking a sack on fourth down. Winston completed 50 percent of his passes, Gibbs finished with 264 total yards and three touchdowns on 26 touches, and the Giants are have now lost an NFL-record-tying five games in which they held a double-digit lead. Malik, you may be on to something. They may in fact b makin you lose on purpose.
