EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- On the biggest play of Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Eli Manning saw the matchup he wanted and never looked anywhere else. The New York Giants quarterback saw that cornerback Phillip Gaines had single coverage on wide receiver Roger Lewis Jr. and at that moment decided he would go that way with his pass.
Manning was rewarded when Lewis beat Gaines for a 34-yard gain to the Chiefs’ 2 on fourth-and-5 in overtime. Two plays later, the Giants kicked a field goal to beat the Chiefs 12-9.
Gaines was the latest player to get a trial for the Chiefs as they desperately search for help at cornerback in passing situations beyond starters Marcus Peters and Steven Nelson. In fact, the Chiefs were circling back to Gaines on Sunday. He hadn’t played much in recent games after being their third corner early in the season.
Whether that third cornerback is Gaines, Terrance Mitchell or Kenneth Acker, opposing quarterbacks have picked on him, often with the results they desire.
"I think it’s like anything," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said last week about giving so many corners a look in games. "We’re trying to improve at as many positions as we can. We thought Acker had done a good job at practice. He’s obviously played for us before so we tried to look at him and see if we can get him going a little bit and improve it. He did a good job, he’s still got areas that he needs to improve. Mitchell is still in the picture, Phillip Gaines is still in the picture. All those guys are in the picture.
"We as coaches are trying to evaluate that as close as we can [and] a lot goes into that. You’ve got to be dependable. You’ve got to be available. All those things that go into that."
The Chiefs and Gaines held up well through regulation. The Giants’ two scores in regulation, a touchdown and a field goal, came on short fields after Kansas City turnovers.
But Gaines broke down on the game’s biggest play.
Gaines declined to answer questions after the game, leaving safety Ron Parker to speak for him.
"As a defense, any time you hold somebody to nine points, you did a great job," Parker said. "We’ve just got to do a better job on offense and on special teams to get more points on the board.
"But in overtime, we just fell apart. We got caught sleeping. They called a good play on that last fourth down and they just beat our coverage. We were in a bad defense, I think. I don’t want to say bad, but we could have been in a better situation."