New York Giants Report Card: A Glass Half Full

It wasn't a win but the loss to the Steelers was a good litmus test to see where the Giants are as a team. And there were enough positives to take from this game.

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. But for the New York Giants, their Week 1 loss felt nothing like the losses that those who religiously follow the team have become accustomed to.

For one, the Giants showed some grittiness and fight in their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that could be in the discussion for a Super Bowl berth according to some national prognosticators.

The Giants played the Steelers tight well into the second quarter of the game, even managing to hold a slim one-point lead until the defensive backfield coverage broke down (more on that in a moment).

And even when the Steelers did take the lead for good with seven seconds remaining in the half, it wasn’t the insurmountable advantage that many thought it would be.

“I’ll just tell you right now that I’m proud of how this team fought for 60 minutes,” head coach Joe Judge said after the game. “I wanted to see a team that played together for 60 minutes and fought regardless of score, circumstance, or situation, and I saw that. I’m proud of how our guys played.”

That’s a good start, but as Judge also added, they need to start improving on the things they did (and continue) to do wrong that cost them games, like the missed assignments, the turnovers (two interceptions), and not beating the man in front of them.

The 26-16 loss wasn’t a surprise, but how it came about certainly was, and our weekly grades reflect that, so let’s get into it.

Rushing Offense: F

Might as well get the worst of the units out of the way first. The Giants finished with 29 yards on 20 carries, and even worse yet, Saquon Barkley recorded just six yards on 15 carries. But that wasn’t all on Barkley, even though he took his share of the blame.

Barkley was hit 11 times at or behind the line of scrimmage, and the Giants suffered eight tackles of a loss of yardage. I’m not telling you anything new when I say that’s not acceptable. And sure, you can say, “Well, this is a new offensive line working together for the first time,” but whatever happened to beating the man in front of you, which is the very basis of football?

Also worth noting is that several Barkley’s handoffs appeared to be of the slow-developing variety. Against a fast defense, you can’t just cannot expect to win many of those battles. Barkley has the speed to beat defenders, but he needs the up-tempo plays to do it.

Passing Offense: C+

People will knock Daniel Jones for his decision to try to make a play from the Steelers 4-yard line, an ill-advised decision, no doubt. But in Jones’ defense, that’s a quality that a young Eli Manning used to exhibit, which is that gunslinger mentality of taking chances and the consequences that came with them.

With that said, Jones was spot on when given the time to throw the ball—see his two touchdown passes to Darius Slayton as examples. Jones also did a solid job of recognizing and beating blitzes. But with all that said, the passing offense is more than just the quarterback; it includes the protection, and here is where the grade gets dragged down.

The Giants allowed three sacks and eight quarterback hits. Jones also wasn’t helped by the three dropped passes by his receiving targets either. If the Giants can clean all that up for Week 2, Jones’ “pedestrian” looking numbers will improve significantly.

Run Defense: B+

The Giants did a good job swarming the Steelers, holding all but Bennie Snell to under 10 yards rushing apiece. As for Snell, who thanks to a 30-yard run that inflated his final total to 113 yards on 19 carries, that was due to a breakdown at the second level in which it looked like a defender didn't get off a block. Otherwise, the Giants did a good job of filling gaps and collapsing running lanes for the Steelers to exploit.

In looking at the linebackers' total tackles, it's important to remember that not all tackles are created equal. If a linebacker has a dozen tackles and 10 of those 12 are five or more yards down the field, that's not as good of a game as the numbers suggest.

With that said, Blake Martinez had a very solid Giants debut. Unofficially, I had him down for ten tackles made within five yards of the line of scrimmage and of those, two at or behind the line of scrimmage. That's what you want to see from your linebackers, folks.

One other point about the run defense was the participation by the defensive backs, who did their part. Per league statistics, Corey Ballentine, Logan Ryan, James Bradberry, and Julian Love each contributed two tackles in the run game apiece, those tackles being made underneath instead of beyond the second level, a positive development.

Pass Defense: C

The numbers and the initial eye test might warrant an even lower grade. Still, if there was one significant and encouraging takeaway, you didn't see multiple coverage breakdowns such as in years past that left receivers so wide open that you were left wondering what the heck the coaches and players were thinking.

The Giants ran a combination of man and zone to figure out a possible comfort level for a still-young group of defensive backs. It had mixed success.

The zone coverage also needs to be tightened up slightly as the Giants can't keep leaving vast swaths of the field wide open for opposing receivers to exploit.

Special Teams: B+

It’s official, folks. Jabrill Peppers, whose participation on special teams used to make me nervous given how valuable he is, is indeed the right way to go.

Peppers the punt returner was explosive, decisive and, to my eyes, looked to be the best punt returner the Giants have had back there since the days of Dwayne Harris in his prime. Peppers finished with three returns for 39 yards, a 13.0 average. Yeah, I’ll take that any week.

Riley Dixon continued in midseason form, nailing three of his punts inside the 20. His punt coverage team did a fine job of limiting Diontae Johnson to just three returns for 13 yards—it doesn’t get much better than that. By the way, their swarming caused Johnson to take his eye off the ball for a split second, resulting in a muff that the Giants recovered on the Steelers’ 3-yard line. Again, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Graham Gano was mostly solid with the kicking—he hit his lone field goal and all his PATs, but the kickoff coverage unit did allow one return for 33 yards, which knocks the overall grade down a bit. Still, another solid showing by the special teams.

Coaching: B+

Judge and his assistants never promised a Super Bowl contender, but they did vow to field a competitive team, a tough team, and a smart team. (The Super Bowl contender will hopefully come in time, but remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.)

Both Jason Garrett and Patrick Graham lived up to expectations as far as creativity and certain looks, though, as previously noted above, Garrett's decision to call some slow-developing rushing plays against a fast Steelers defense is a headscratcher.

There was enough good to take out of this loss, but a lot of work still needs to be done. Overall, it's certainly fair to say the Giants are headed in the right direction.