New York Giants Week 8 Report Card: Sloppy

The grades are in on yet another New York Giants disapointing loss.

Oct 28, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

The grades are in for the New York Giants' 26-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

WK8 Offense. C-. . . Offense

In a word, sloppy. Of the 11 penalties called (tied for second most in the league, by the way, with Seattle), nine were on the offense, and six of those nine were pre-snap. That shouldn’t be happening at any point in the season, let alone the midway point. 

There were dropped passes–four of them–including one on a third-down conversion attempt by Malik Nabers, who had two of the four drops this week, by the way. That shouldn’t be happening at this point in the season either. 

The saving grace though was that for the most part, the skill position players–most notably running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr and receiver Darius Slayton, both of whom finished with 100+ yards–did more than enough to help the team win. 

But how much longer can head coach Brian Daboll stand there and say with a straight face that quarterback Daniel Jones, who throws with ZERO anticipation, who screwed up a key protection call that led to T.J. Watt’s strip sack and fumble recovery, and who threw the game-sealing interception just to name a few, continue to say Jones gives this team its best chance to win? 

• MORE: Giants Notebook: Tyrone Tracy, Jr. Injury Update, Deonte Banks, and More from Another Miserable Loss
  

C. . . Defense. NYG-D - W8

The run defense continues to be a major problem for this Giants unit, which this week yielded 167 yards on the ground, 122 of those yards coming in the first half. Pittsburgh averaged 5.4 yards per carry, making quarterback Russell Wilson’s life easier with many short-yardage situations on second and third downs. Najee Harris alone finished with 114 yards on 19 carries, an impressive 6.0 yards per carry.

The pass defense managed to get four sacks against Wilson, with Azeez Ojulari leading the way with two on the night as his big season continued. The defense added eight quarterback hits to its total, but the interception column remained empty, while the pass breakup column showed a measly two.

Bobby Okereke had his most productive game of the season, finishing with a team-leading 14 tackles and half a sack. He was also involved with the forced fumble (along with Micah McFadden) and a fumble recovery against Russell Wilson. 

Holding an offense to 19 points (the other seven were given up by special teams) should have been good enough to win this game. 

But that run defense? Woof!

• MORE: New York Giants Fans React on Social Media to 26-18 Loss to Steelers

NYG-ST W8. D. . . Special Teams

Greg Joseph hit all four field goal attempts, including two of 44 and 48 yards. Ihmir Smith-Marsette appears to be settling into his role as a kickoff returner, running one back 47 yards for the long of the night. 

But as far as the rest of the unit was concerned, blech! Calvin Austin returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown that began when punter Matt Haack outkicked his coverage, and ended with four missed tackles along the way. 

Speaking of punt returns, Smith-Marsette had no chance to do anything, thanks to a lack of support from the other ten guys. He finished with one return for a paltry two yards and fair-caught two others. 

• MORE: Giants Appear to Bench Deonte Banks After Another Lackluster Effort

NYG-COACH-W8. C-. . . Coaching

To have as many pre-snap penalties on offense as the Giants had at this point in the season is simply inexcusable. That two-point conversion play looked interesting but proved to be a disaster–it was almost as though they didn’t practice it enough, though you can also point to the lack of execution. 

Kudos to Daboll for benching Deonte Banks for another lackluster effort. He probably should have done so for the entire game, but he gave the young man the benefit of the doubt, and now Banks has to earn back his stripes and trust from the coaches. 

An underrated but genius clock management move by Daboll came when he purposely put 12 men on the field on defense on a 2nd-and-3 with 2:47 remaining to give the Steelers a first down. He then used two timeouts to force a punt and ensure that the Giants offense got the ball back for the offense with two minutes remaining. 

And that run defense? We said it before but will say it again: “Woof!”

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