New York Giants Week 9 Report Card: "No Defense" of These Grades

The New York Giants fell to the Washington Commanders 27-22.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) hands the ball off to New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) during a game between the New York Giants and the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. / Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Grading the New York Giants’ 27-22 loss to the Washington Commanders.

C+. . . Offense. W9-WAS

For a change, the offense wasn’t the Giants' biggest problem. New York scored 22 points, which was the second-highest output of the season, and after a slow start, in which they were down 21-7 at the half, they went on to outscore the Commanders 15-6 in the second half.

As anticipated, the Giants leaned heavily on the running game, finishing with 164 net yards rushing after racking up 142 yards in the first half. They were also good on third down, covering 6 of 11 (54.4%), and averaged 5.5 yards per play.

They weren’t so good in the passing game, where they had -8 net yards passing after one half of play despite Daniel Jones having thrown one touchdown. They allowed two sacks. How many times did the receivers neglect to run to the sticks? (Answer: too many in this one.) 

W9-WAS-D. F . . . Defense

If anyone finds the Giants' pass rush, please let defensive coordinator Shane Bowen know. The pass rush, which had been so hot of late, definitely cooled down to the point of posting just two hits and zero sacks against Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels. There were also just two pass breakups of Daniels’ 22 pass attempts. 

Deonte Banks continues to show every week that he is not a No. 1 shutdown cornerback. Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin each had bad misses during the Commanders' scoring drive that cumulated in Terry McLaurin’s second touchdown catch toward the end of the first half, and the Giants couldn’t get a stop when they needed it. 

. . Special Teams. W9-ST. B

Other than Tomon Fox committing another penalty (his second game in a row with a costly infraction) and a poor punt by Matt Haack on his first one, which went 32 yards, the special teams were solid. Kick returner Eric Gray averaged 26 yards per return and had a long of 29 yards. Rookie kicker Jude McAtamney hit a 31-yard field goal and an extra point. Again, not much to cringe over.

Coaching. W9-C. D. .

The good news is there weren’t any funky plays on the 2-point conversions, but the bad news is that head coach Brian Daboll seems too reliant on analytics to where it’s driving the bulk of his decisions. 

The latest example saw the Giants twice go for a 2-point conversion (and fail), the first time doing so down by two scores when in that spot (fourth quarter, 9:25 left), it becomes more critical to get the easy points, especially if your offense isn’t exactly a juggernaut.  

Did anyone else wonder why, on the Commanders’ final drive of the game, after Washington gained one yard on 1st-and-10 with 2:48 left, the Giants didn’t call a timeout to stop the clock when they still would have had the two-minute warning and two other timeouts to use? Who knows? Maybe they would have gotten a stop and the ball back for the offense. 

RELATED: . Fans REact. Giant Fans React to Disappointing 27-22 Loss to Washington on Social Media. dark

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