Bonus Post for October 7, 2026

by John Delach

Goal Line Stand

John Delach

October 2026

Last Sunday, October 4th, I attended the Giants home game against the Arizona Cardinals with my son, Michael and his two sons, Drew and Matt.

I am going to keep this piece simple and ignore the ride to and from Long Island to New Jersey, the comradery, the good food, drink, the conversations at our tailgate, the weather, and our trek into and out of the stadium.

I am going to ignore the back and forth scoring that occurred during 95% of the contest and concentrate on the last 5% of this game.

Please note that I can’t identify almost all of the names of the players who participated in the action. Also, my timing is close, but less than accurate.

As this scene opens, the Giants have just committed a pass interference penalty giving the Cardinals a first down, eight yards from the Giants goal line at our end of the field giving the four of us a bird’s eye view of Big Blue’s goal line stand.

The Giants are winning by six points meaning the Cardinals must score a touchdown to tie the game and a single extra point to win the game. They only have eight seconds left on the clock with no time outs left.

The Cardinals decide not to call for a running play because, if the runner fails to score, time will run out before they can run another play.

The entire crowd is standing. And completely engaged hoping our team prevails:

First down: The Cardinal QB throws a ball toward his receiver in the end zone that the Giants defender breaks up for an incompletion and no flags.

Second down: See the First down above.

Third down: See the First and Second down above.

Fourth down: Four seconds left, cornerback Banks picks off the pass and returns it 102 yards for a touchdown as time runs out…and no flags!

Mike, Matt, Drew and I were crushing each other, jumping, stomping and shoving in ecstasy. Our buddy Jeff jumped on our pile joining us in our celebration of one of our Giants biggest goal line stands of all times.

What a hell of a win, and a win is a win, is a win!

Go Giants.