The Good, the Great and the Ugly from the New York Giants Week 1 Loss

What were some of the encouraging takeaways from the Giants' Week 1 loss to Denver that they might be able to spring forward against Washington? And what do they need to fix? Gene Clemons breaks it all down.

Week 1 of the New York Giants' 2021 season is in the books, and while it was not the result the Giants hoped for, it offered some insight, some of which was good and some of which showed just how far the Giants have to go.

Offensively, the game was a tough test for an offensive line that looked disjointed all preseason. There were also questions about what the backfield would look like as Saquon Barkley acclimated back into the fold, which receiving targets would deliver, and if quarterback Daniel Jones was finally over the hump and on a path toward that growth we have been waiting to see.

Defensively, we knew from last year that the Giants defense can cover (even if they didn't always show that Sunday against the Broncos). Still, there were questions about whether the run defense would suffer after losing Dalvin Tomlinson in free agency and if they could finally get consistent pressure on the quarterback.

Some of those questions were answered in Week 1, and some were not. So in this edition of the good, the great, and the ugly, let's identify what we can get excited about and what is still very much a concern after one week.

The Good: Saquon Barkley is back.

There was no way to tell what running back Saquon Barkley would look like going into this first game. But at the end of the day, it didn’t matter what type of production he gave in this first game back, as the fact that he played and made it through the game without a setback is a big win.

Barkley demonstrated that he still has balance, lateral quickness, and burst. On this run to the left, right guard Will Hernandez is supposed to pull and kick out the defensive end. That means center Nick Gates has to down block a 3-technique which is a difficult job but normal for centers in the NFL. 

Unfortunately, he barely got a hand on the 3-tech, and the defender is right in Barkley’s face before he has the opportunity to get going. Barkley quickly adjusted by sidestepping to his left and exploding past the would-be tackle for a loss, picking up five yards on the play. 

Showing that ability to adjust means that he has trust in his knee. The burst proves that he still possesses his explosiveness. And that's a very positive sign.

On the first play of the Giants' second drive, there was a toss to the short side of the field. A play like this is meant to catch the defense off guard, but the Broncos sniffed it out. 

Barkley showed patience as his blockers got out in front of him, and he waited for a lane to open up. When he got a defender diving at his leg, he was able to use that superior balance of his to pull his leg away and fight for a tough four to five yards on the play. 

Again, if there was any doubt about Barkley's knee strength, this play was yet another reinforcement that Barkley has complete trust in his surgically repaired right knee.

On the first Giants' drive of the third quarter, the run play is split zone left. Barkley did a great job of getting the handoff and attacking vertically instead of horizontally, which you see many backs do in a zone scheme. 

This gave him a three-way go; he could have punched it left inside, bounced left outside, or cut back right off tight end Kyle Rudolph’s block. Because he attacked vertically, he noticed the defensive end on his left side tried to "backdoor" (go behind) the block of left guard Ben Bredeson.

Barkley was able to use that slightly undisciplined move to attack that gap and pick up about five yards.

The Great: Sterling Shepard in the Intermediate Area

So far this year, Shepard is getting the chance to work in areas more suitable to his skills this season thanks to the team having added other legitimate receiving options around him.

One of Shepard's best places to be is in the intermediate area, where he effortlessly finds holes in a zone or works one-on-one against safeties. In Week 1, he found much success in this area, leaving one to believe that this is most likely how he will be deployed this season.

In this first clip, Shepard was the outside receiver condensed down a few yards past the right hash.

The corner to his side played seven yards off (outside leverage), and the safety closest to him played 15 yards off. Shepard pressed vertical and then worked across the field. 

Jones found the receiver close to the left sideline, and Shepard was able to pluck the ball out of the air, keep himself in bounds, and sprint down the sideline for the Giants' first touchdown of the season.

In this next clip, Shepard lined up as the third receiver in a tight bunch set. The defense was in man-to-man coverage, and the safety, who lined up 12 yards off the ball when it was snapped, had coverage against Shepard. 

Shepard delayed off the line of scrimmage and then exploded on a 5-yard out route at the sticks before the safety had time to close the distance. Shepard was then able to turn the corner and make the safety miss the initial tackle attempt while picking up a couple more yards before he was brought down.

In this final clip, Shepard was lined up outside to the right on the numbers. The corner was playing five yards off, and the free safety was playing 14 yards away and a couple of yards outside the right hash. 

You can see the safety creep over the top and corner giving up the inside by alignment on the snap. Shepard pushed vertical and broke the route off at 15 yards, where Jones's perfect pass was caught before Shepard was wrapped up by the safety.

His ability to push vertically makes a defense respect his deep ball potential, allowing him to break that route off and create space for completion.

The Ugly: Fourth Down Defense

As more teams embrace analytics, we see increased fourth-down conversion attempts. Defenses must stand firm on fourth down because it can mean ideal starting field position for their offense, not to mention the psychological boost it sends to an entire team that successfully defends their end zone and shut the opponent off the scoreboard.

The Broncos went for it on fourth down three times, and they converted all three into first downs to extend scoring drives that led to a field goal and two touchdowns.

This first clip is 4th-and-7 on the Giants' 37-yard line late in the first quarter, with the game still scoreless. The Broncos were lined up in a 2x1 set with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in the shotgun. 

The Giants initially rush five men, with middle linebacker Blake Martinez blitzing. However, he stops at the line of scrimmage to pick up the running back coming out of the backfield. This gave Bridgewater more time to survey the field, and he eventually found a receiver downfield for a 15-yard pickup as the Broncos would cap that drive with a field goal.

This next clip shows a 4th-and-2 on the Giants 49-yard line with 48 seconds remaining in the first half and the Giants up 7-3. 

The Broncos were in an empty set with Bridgewater in the shotgun. The Giants decided to play coverage instead of bringing pressure. Martinez opened to the right instead of dropping to the middle hole, and Bridgewater was able to throw in the empty area to get the first down. Three plays later, the Broncos scored a touchdown.

In this final clip, the Broncos, who won the opening kickoff but deferred, put together a 15-play drive to start the third quarter. On 4th-and-1 from the 4-yard line, the Giants have a chance to get off the field without surrendering any points.

The Broncos were in a tight bunch set, and Bridgewater was in the shotgun. Once the ball was snapped, the Broncos faked the zone, but safety Xavier McKinney was not fooled. He closed in on Bridgewater, but in an attempt to not get juked, he failed to settle his feet. This allowed Bridgewater just enough time to find his tight end for the touchdown.

Final Thoughts

It was great to see Barkley back out on the field, and his involvement will only increase as the weeks pass. Hopefully, Shepard’s performance is not a one-off, and this is the type of production this team can regularly expect, as it will benefit the offense, especially as Rudolph and Golladay, both of whom missed a large chunk of training camp, find a comfort level working with Jones in this offense.

Although the defense did some good things, crucial moments like fourth down and in the red zone are where they need to produce better results. 

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