Tailgaters reveled earlier than the return of Tommy DeVito.
Followers all through the MetLife Stadium parking zone cooked rooster cutlets on transportable grills hours forward of the Giants’ 1 p.m. kickoff towards the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Some got here decked out in DeVito jerseys. Others wore shirts studying “Tommy Cutlets.”
Kevin Wallen (c.), pictured along with his household, made rooster cutlets for Sunday’s tailgate earlier than the Giants’ Week 12 matchup towards the Buccaneers. (Photograph by Peter Sblendorio/NY Day by day Information)
One household even flew an Italian flag in a nod to DeVito’s — and their — Italian heritage.
“We’re native New Jerseyans,” mentioned Caroline Cantow, 27, from Mahwah, N.J. “We’ve been Giants fans forever. I think Tommy brings a real spark to the team. He’s from our area. We’re really happy to support him.”
Caroline Cantow (r.) and her household at MetLife Stadium parking zone earlier than the Giants’ Week 12 matchup towards the Buccaneers. (Photograph by Peter Sblendorio/NY Day by day Information)
However the good vibes didn’t final lengthy.
The Giants failed to attain till the fourth quarter Sunday of their first sport since changing Daniel Jones with DeVito at quarterback, struggling a humbling 30-7 loss to the Buccaneers to fall to 2-9 this season.
DeVito accomplished 21-of-31 passes for 189 yards and not using a landing or turnover. He added 32 dashing yards on seven carries.
He was sacked 4 occasions and repeatedly took large hits, together with one within the fourth quarter that left him writhing in ache and briefly brought about him to go away the sport.
DeVito acquired a loud ovation earlier than his first offensive snap, however these hopeful cheers turned to pissed off boos by the point the second-year quarterback took a knee to finish the primary half with the Giants down, 23-0.
That kneel down instantly adopted a 10-yard dashing landing by Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who celebrated by mocking DeVito’s pinched-finger celebration — and doing it with each palms.
DeVito took three sacks on the Giants’ first 4 drives and accomplished solely 3-of-5 passes for 31 yards earlier than halftime.
Malik Nabers, the Giants’ electrical rookie broad receiver and the focus of their offense, didn’t obtain a goal within the first half.
The DeVito-led offense lastly confirmed indicators of life on the primary drive of the third quarter, when three completions to Nabers helped lead the Giants to Tampa Bay’s five-yard line.
However on 1st and Aim — with DeVito lined up broad proper — operating again Tyrone Tracy took a direct snap and misplaced a fumble, extinguishing the scoring alternative.
Down 30-0, DeVito later led the Giants on a 13-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard dashing landing by Devin Singletary on the 11:28 mark of the fourth quarter.
However that was it for the Giants offense.
The lopsided loss was hardly the end result the Giants desired once they made the swap to DeVito, whom head coach Brian Daboll had hoped would replicate the “spark” he offered final 12 months when pressed into obligation.
The Giants benched Jones on Monday, then agreed to launch their onetime franchise quarterback after he was relegated to fourth-string obligation throughout Wednesday’s apply. Jones’ contract included a $23 million harm assure for 2025 that will have triggered had he been unable to go a bodily in March.
However relatively than begin Drew Lock, who operated as Jones’ backup all season, the Giants turned to DeVito in a shock transfer.
“We’ve been with Tommy here for a little bit,” Daboll mentioned Monday. “He’s done a nice job throughout practices here, but also you have something to lean on by going back and watching him operate some of our stuff from last year. This is no indication on Drew whatsoever. He’s been excellent for us. It was more about what I felt Tommy gave us.”
DeVito, 26, emerged as an unlikely fan favourite final season, going 3-3 as an undrafted rookie in six begins after Jones suffered a season-ending ACL tear.
Followers dubbed him “Tommy Cutlets” in a reference to his Italian roots and to a revelation that he lived along with his dad and mom in Cedar Grove, N.J., and loved consuming his mom’s rooster cutlets.
However on Sunday, the Giants didn’t cook dinner up almost sufficient offense beneath DeVito. They entered the sport averaging an NFL-worst 15.6 factors per sport however didn’t even rating half that quantity towards Tampa Bay.
It was a tough begin to the second act of DeVito-mania.
