New York Giants kicker Jude McAtamney held his hands up after two missed extra points proved decisive in the team’s narrow defeat to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

The Derry native who had been filling in since starter Graham Gano went down with a groin injury in Week 3, endured a difficult afternoon as the Giants fell short in dramatic fashion.

It was a historic comeback for the Broncos, who scored all of their 33 points in the fourth quarter. According to ESPN, “before Sunday, teams had lost 1,602 consecutive games when trailing by at least 18 points with six minutes to play”.

Giants fans are pointing fingers at a lot of people this morning for the defeat, and McAtamney is one of them.

McAtamney’s first miss came early after New York’s second touchdown of the day, keeping the lead at 13-0 rather than 14-0. His second and most damaging mistake arrived in the closing moments of the game. With the Giants reclaiming the lead late in the fourth quarter, his extra point drifted wide, leaving the scoreline vulnerable. That miss proved costly, as Denver drove downfield and won the game with a routine field goal.

Should McAtamney have converted that extra point, the Giants would have led 33-30, meaning the Broncos’ final kick would have only sent the game to overtime rather than ending it.

MISSED EXTRA POINT

2-PT GAME

CBS | @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/A9F153tmeO

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) October 19, 2025

Recommended

Afterwards, the 25-year-old from Swatragh didn’t shy away from criticism.

“Got to make the kicks. Not going to shy away from that. I’ll take full responsibility.”

– Jude McAtamney pic.twitter.com/ucwXxtl7iW

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) October 20, 2025

“It’s on me, ” McAtamney told reporters ” I missed vital points at vital times today”.

He dismissed any suggestion of a bad snap or hold putting the mistakes down to poor execution on his part.

“I looked up and saw it go wide right. I was as shocked as everyone else,” he added.

McAtamney’s story is one of the more remarkable in the NFL. Growing up in Derry, he played Gaelic football before developing an interest in American football in 2020. Teaching himself to kick, he began training with local punters before earning a move to the United States to pursue a college career.

He started at Division II Chowan University in North Carolina before transferring to Rutgers. where he became the Scarlet Knights’ placekicker in 2022 and handled kick-off duties the following year. Subsequently the Giants signed him through the NFL’s international Player Pathway Program in 2024, giving him a route into professional football.

Sunday marked McAtamney’s fourth appearance of the season. Before the game, he had converted both of his field goal attempts and seven of eight extra points, but the pair of misses in Denver could test the team’s patience as they await Gano’s return.

For McAtamney, the performance was a harsh reminder of how fine the margins van be at the top level but also a moment of accountability for a player still writing one of the most unconventional stories in the NFL.