Most Glaring Statistics the New York Giants Offense Needs to Improve to Win Week 1

Here's a look at the most glaring year-end offensive stats from 2020 the Giants will probably want to reverse in 2021.

At the end of the day, the New York Giants simply need to find a way to score more points than whoever it is they're facing to win--that much is a given if you consider that last season, 11 out of the 14 playoff teams averaged at least 25 points during the regular season.

But there are statistical categories in which the Giants offense struggled last year to keep pace with the rest of the league that, if they can show improvement in, will undoubtedly help the league's 31st ranked offense jump into at least the top half of the NFL this season.

Third Down Conversion Percentage

It goes without saying that extended drives usually lead to points. But when it came to third-down completions, the Giants last year (36.36% conversion rate, 29th in the league) fell way below the league average (41.64%) on third down.

There were a few factors that went into that. According to Football Outsiders, the first would be that the Giants finished ranked 15th in the league in three-and-out drives.

Then there are drive-killing penalties, of which the Giants had 31 on offense last year according to official league stats, the second-most in the league behind the Arizona Cardinals (34), and dropped passes (30) that also contribute to drives not hitting pay dirt.

The Giants offense might very well turn out to be explosive once all the playmakers return to full strength, but until such time, they obviously can't be hurting themselves with stupid mistakes.

Better Red Zone Production

It's very simple. While better than no points, field goals are not going to cut it in the red zone if a team's goal is to win a game.

And last year, the league's 31st ranked scoring offense found that to be very much the case as it converted its red zone scoring opportunities into touchdowns on just 46.34% of the time (29th), which was nowhere near the league-wide 61.20% success rate.

The good news for the Giants is that the addition of tight end Kyle Rudolph should help get the offense from inside the 20-yard line into the end zone. Rudolph has 40 red-zone touchdown receptions out of his 48 career touchdowns (83.3 percent) and figures to be a top red-zone target for the Giants.

Improved Passing

Whether they're passing short or long doesn't necessarily matter as much as completing the pass attempts and moving the chains. And last year, the Giants didn't do a very good job of that, averaging 12.2 incomplete passes per game (17th in the league). But not all of those incompletions were necessarily on the quarterbacks.

The Giants' receiving targets--wideouts, running backs, and tight ends combined--posted 30 dropped passes or roughly 1.87 drops per game. They also finished with a 41.1 percent contested catch rate (37 out of 90 contested pass attempts).

It also didn't help that the Giants' quarterbacks were sacked on average 3.1 times per game or that the Giants' offense averaged 11.1 passing first downs last year, tied for the 21st lowest average with the Eagles.

The additions of Kenny Golladay and Rudolph and the return of Barkley to a lineup that will include Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard should all help with more passes being completed this year as the Giants seek a balanced offense. 

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