The Giants lost to Washington on a yard they couldn't get, not on McCarthy's last throw

Everybody's going to replay J.J. McCarthy's last throw from Thursday night. Go ahead. It was a bad throw at the worst possible time. But the Giants didn't lose to Washington on that interception. They lost it about three minutes earlier, on a yard they couldn't get, and then they lost it again on three more they couldn't get.

I spent my whole career on the offensive line, so maybe I'm biased. But a team with a fourth-quarter lead gets one job, and it's the only job I ever really had. You move the pile and keep the ball away from the other quarterback.

New York had that chance twice. McCarthy hit Isaiah Likely for a 66-yard touchdown with 8:13 left to go up 21-17. Then Jayden Daniels threw his first interception of the season to Jevon Holland, and the Giants got the ball back at their own 2 with 5:27 to play. Cam Skattebo ran for 5, then 4. On third-and-1, Jameis Winston went up the middle on a sneak. It was ruled a first down, Dan Quinn challenged, and the replay put him back where he started. The play-by-play shows a delay of game on fourth down and a punt.

Washington gave it right back. Daniels threw his second pick on a fourth-and-2 after Washington lost a yard on third-and-1 (so no, the Commanders didn't exactly run the ball like the 1970s either). New York took over at the Washington 46 with 2:15 left. Skattebo got 5 and 2. On third-and-3, McCarthy ran left and lost 2. The Giants punted, the punt went 12 yards, and Washington had the ball at its own 29 with plenty of time.

That's six snaps with the lead and the game in your hands, 14 yards, two punts. Deatrich Wise told the AP the reason Winston didn't get that yard was simple: "Because I stopped him." I've been on the wrong end of that sentence. It's the worst feeling in football, worse than any sack, because everybody in the stadium knew what you were doing and you still couldn't do it.

The counterpoint is real. A pass interference call put Washington in range, Daniels hit Stefon Diggs from 32 yards with 57 seconds left, and McCarthy still had a shot after that. He went deep for Malik Nabers and Rasul Douglas caught it. McCarthy said afterward it's easy to second-guess the final two passes, and he's right that people will. Dominic Zvada missed a 33-yarder in the first quarter, too, and that's three points they didn't have when it mattered.

I'll take all of that. I still keep coming back to the yard. McCarthy threw for a career-high 293 in his first home start for the Giants. A quarterback shouldn't have to win a game twice. The Giants are 5-3-1 and still lead the NFC East, but they just handed Washington the tiebreaker, and John Harbaugh called it one that got away. It didn't get away. It got stuffed at the 11.

If I'm coaching that line, Monday's film session doesn't start with the interception. It starts with third-and-1, and it runs it back until somebody in the room says it out loud.

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