New York Giants Week 2 Report Card: Oh-and-2

Grading the New York Giants 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Sep 15, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll stands on the sideline in the second half against the Washington Commanders at Commanders Field. / Luke Johnson-Imagn Images

The grades are in for the New York Giants' 21-18 loss to the Washington Commanders.

Sep 15, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers (1) stiff arms Washington Commanders safety Quan Martin (20) in the second half at Commanders Field. / Luke Johnson-Imagn Images

Offense

The Giants offense–and yes, that includes quarterback Daniel Jones–was better this week.; that’s the good news. The even better news is that rookie receiver Malik Nabers continues to prove he’s the real deal and that the offensive line delivered a much better performance in pass protection (one sack, two quarterback hits) and run blocking (129 yards in 22 carries, 5.9 average). 

That said, not having a functional kicker put undue strain on an offense, which was forced to play the game in four-down territory. And it wasn’t always pretty. Nabers, who probably would have been a candidate for NFC Offensive POTW honors, caught 10 of 18 balls for 127 yards and one touchdown. 

Still, his final pass target went through his hands–that coming on fourth down inside of field goal territory, which the Giants just weren’t going to attempt– that ripped his heart out. A lost fumble by running back Devin Singletary led to one of the Commanders' seven field goals on the day. 

Getting back to Jones, he was much better–good enough to where talk about him needing to be benched is likely going to be on hold until at least Week 5, depending on how these next two games go. His stat line–16 of 28 for 178 yards–doesn’t look impressive, but there were a couple of drops in there, and Jones recorded his first two-touchdown game in nearly one year.  

Grade: B-

New York Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Defense

First, the good news. The red zone defense was stellar, holding the Commanders to field goals on six trips. Rookie Andru Phillips had a strong game–two weeks into the season, the surprise pick in this year’s draft has made us a believer. 

The bad news? Let’s start with third down. The Giants allowed the Commanders to convert seven of 14 third down attempts, five of which were for 10 yards or more. That can't happen. 

The Giants' run defense allowed the Commanders to average 6.1 yards on the ground, with 133 of the 215 rushing yards belonging to Brian Robinson Jr. That can’t happen either.  And 21 of the team’s tackles were made by the combination of Phillis and safety Jason Pinnock, which means the Commanders were getting past the second level of the defense. That can’t happen either. 

The Giants will need to wait another week for the pass-rushing duo of Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux to come alive. The two combined for seven tackles, two quarterback hits (both by Thibodeaux), and no sacks.

Grade: D

New York Giants place kicker Graham Gano. / Kevin R. Wexler - The Record / USA TODAY NETWORK

Special Teams

Austin Ekeler's opening kickoff return for a touchdown was called back on a penalty, but that set the tone for what ended up being a long day since that was the play on which Graham Gano strained his hamstring while trying to chase down Ekeler. 

Jamie Gillan was pressed into emergency place-kicking duties, but after hooking a PAT wide right, that was the end. Speaking of Gillan, he had two punts for 87 yards, a 43.5 average, but the net was 31.5. It's not great on the part of his coverage. The Giants had no punt returns this week, while their kickoff returns went for 26 yards on the day.

Grade: F

Giants head coach Brian Daboll. / Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

Coaching

How many more times will it take for this coaching staff to stop leaving things to chance and hoping for the best regarding injuries to their specialists? They did so last year with Graham Gano when it was revealed before the Jets game that he would need surgery on his knee. 

They did it again last week with punt returner Gunner Olszewski, who had looked gimpy in practice leading up to the home opener and who ended up straining his groin again. And they did it again this week with Gano, who showed up on the injury report the day before the game with a groin issue. 

Yes, injuries can happen randomly, but we will be left wondering if Gano having to chase down Austin Ekeler on the opening kickoff saw him compromising his gait, which led to the hamstring strain. Defensively, Shane Bowen might not care for the “bend but don’t break” label on his defense, but that’s what he has right now. 

Grade: F

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