It didn’t take long for Jake Kubas to fit right in with the rest of the mistake-prone Giants.
Making his NFL debut on a shorthanded offensive line, the undrafted rookie committed a penalty and missed a block that essentially cost the Giants six fourth-quarter points on two field-goal attempts Sunday in a 14-11 loss to the Saints at MetLife Stadium.
The Giants had plenty of penalties — including one that erased a punt-return touchdown — dropped passes and missed tackles to go around, but Kubas was flagged for unnecessary roughness when he caught a leaping Payton Turner on his shoulder and the two big men tumbled to the ground.
The penalty erased Graham Gano’s 48-yard field goal (that would’ve turned an 11-point deficit into a one-score game) and instead forced the Giants to punt.
“I think they said I grabbed legs when he jumped up in the air,” Kubas said. “I was just trying to block him as physically as possible and finish the play. Turns out it was a penalty. I was just trying to keep his hands down from blocking that kick.”
Gano called it “very, very hard to believe” that the ball was still in the air when the flag was thrown, meaning it wasn’t a dead-ball foul that would’ve counted the points.
“These guys are rushing down the middle of him, and he’s just trying to finish,” head coach Brian Daboll said, clearly disagreeing with the call. “And they called a penalty.”
Perhaps sensing that Kubas might be a little hesitant on his next field-goal snap, Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi — one of the NFL’s best special teams coordinators — targeted Kubas when the Giants lined up for the would-be game-tying 35-yarder with 11 seconds remaining.
“We changed up a little bit of our technique based on some of the stuff they were doing with their rushes,” Daboll said.
Nathan Shepherd immediately shoved Kubas to the ground at the snap and Bryan Bresee jumped over Kubas’ back for a clear path to block the kick.
It was similar to a play that the Giants used to block a last-minute field goal in their last win — Oct. 6 against the Seahawks.
“They kind of pushed down on the top of my shoulder pads,” Kubas said. “He’s a good athlete. I have to be better.”
Kubas made the Giants roster out of training camp but hadn’t been used until Sunday, when Jon Runyan Jr. was injured.
“When that’s executed as well as they did, it’s hard to stop,” Gano said. “I don’t think you can blame our guys at all on that. I feel like I did hit a good kick. It was still elevating when he blocked it.”
It was part of a roller-coaster day for the Giants’ special teams, which stopped a fake punt and blocked a field goal.
But cornerback Greg Stroman Jr. was penalized for holding to take Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s 56-yard punt-return touchdown off the board.
“I’m just fighting, out there giving it my all,” Stroman said. “Ref saw it as me holding. Nothing I can do. Things like that happen. Tough day.”
