Isaiah Simmons has been an extremely versatile defender throughout his pro career, but up until this season he hasn’t spent much time contributing on special teams.
The youngster has found himself without much of a role in the Giants‘ defense this year, but when special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial drew up a potential field goal block earlier this week, he knew Simmons would be his secret weapon.
The team had been practicing the newly installed play throughout the week, so head coach Brian Daboll was looking to test it out in game action during Big Blue’s meeting with the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon.
Ghobrial was waiting for the right opportunity to unleash his masterpiece, and that finally came, as Seattle sent out Jason Myers to attempt a game-tying 47-yard field goal with just seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Lining up to the left of the long snapper, Simmons perfectly timed the snap before leaping over RG Laken Tomlinson and cleanly blocking the kick, which fell to the turf and was returned by WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton for a game-sealing touchdown.
“I wanted to run that play so bad because I knew I was going to block it,” Simmons told Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “I’m not normally on the field during field goal blocks, but I said today I was going to block a punt or a field goal. I didn’t know which one, but it was going to be one of them.”
Shortly after his late-game heroics, Simmons received the game ball from Daboll in the locker room.
While the former first-round pick hasn’t been happy with his non-role on defense after re-signing with the club this offseason, he was thrilled to finally be able to come through for the team when his name was called.
“Everyone knows the season isn’t going how I wanted,” he said. “It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to make a huge play for the team, and I think that’s the craziest play I’ve ever made. Just being able to go out there and win the game for the team — shoot, it felt good.”
Rookie first-round pick Malik Nabers was also pumped for his locker mate as he watched from home while he continues recovering from a concussion suffered last week against the Cowboys.
