First & 10: Ten thoughts ahead of the Giants' Week 4 game vs. Washington
1. At the start of the season, a lot of people (myself included) thought the Giants defensive secondary would be a strength of the team.
That has not been the case through three games. According to Pro Football Focus, cornerbacks Janoris Jenkins (140.2) and DeAndre Baker (157.1) are ranked 77th and 84th respectively in NFL rating (out of 84 eligible cornerbacks who have taken at least 50% of their team’s coverage snaps).
They have also combined to allow five of the defense’s eight passing touchdowns, and neither has yet to record an interception.
Things aren’t much better with the starting safeties, Antoine Bethea and Jabrill Peppers. Bethea has a 158.3 NFL rating and Peppers, who isn’t dropped into coverage as much, a 77.7 rating. They have combined to allow one touchdown and have not recorded an interception either.
Bethea, according to NFL Inside Edge, has missed eight tackles since week 13 of 2018, tying him for most among NFL defensive backs in NFL.
Perhaps the most alarming development, at least from the outside looking in, is the communication, which seemed so on-point in the spring and summer, hasn’t quite been as stable in games.
Against Dallas in Week 1, for example, guys were looking and pointing at each thereafter big plays ensued due to busted coverage, and while that has improved a little, the unit has a long way to go.
So what’s behind the issues? Is it a lack of aggression or perhaps a little too much indecisiveness?
“I don’t think it’s that because I think we come out with the right intention—aggressive, ready to go,” Peppers said.
“Either I don’t know the word for it, or I just don’t know how to put it into words, but that’s just what it is. We’ve just got to get out of that habit. That’s hard to do in the National Football League, is keep playing from behind.
“Especially now we’ve got a rookie quarterback, we’ve got to try to give him the greatest field position possible, don’t let him go out there with a 10-point, 14-point deficit. Just come out there the way we’re supposed to and keep games close in the first half, and then come out like we do in the second half, and I think things will start going our way.”
It better, especially since after Washington, the Giants will face two very tough defenses in Minnesota (15.7 points) and New England (5.7 points), who are ranked first and fourth respectively in average points allowed per game through Week 3.
2. I’ve never really been a fan of a mobile quarterback for one primary reason: durability.
Quarterbacks who extend plays with their legs might be exciting to watch and might enable an offensive coordinator to open up the playbook in ways an immobile quarterback cannot, but the added risk that comes with a mobile quarterback taking a shot from a mobile defender is very real.
Hopefully, the Giants never have to worry about this and Jones can enjoy the same type of durability and longevity that Eli Manning enjoyed in his career.
With that said, if this is indeed Manning’s final year with the team (and it would appear to be so), one of the top priorities for this team in the off-season should be making sure it has a solid backup quarterback who can step in there just in case.
3. I’ve always liked Wayne Gallman’s running style, and while the circumstances behind his elevation to the starting lineup are not what anyone wanted to see happen, I am glad he’s going to get an opportunity with Saquon Barkley sidelined to carry the load.
Now in no way, shape or form am I comparing Gallman to Barkley, the latter being a generational talent. But I’ve always thought Gallman was underrated and underappreciated for what he’s brought to the table.
In three seasons, Gallman has averaged 4.0 yards per carry, has 11 long-runs of 10+ yards, and has averaged 2.54 yards after contact. He’s also rushed for 29 first downs.
Let’s put those numbers into context with the number of career carries (169) Gallman has had so far.
Approximately 17.1% of his carries have gone for first downs and long runs of 10+ yards. And according to Inside Edge, Gallman has this season averaged 1.8 yards after contact per carry (12 carries) in the red zone since week 13 of 2018, which is the third-best of 31 qualified NFL running backs and which exceeds the league average of 0.9 yards after contact.
If there is one glaring blemish on Gallman’s record, it’s been his ball security. He recorded five fumbles in his firsts two seasons.
Fumbling the ball is a sure-fire way to earn a permanent seat on the bench, but so far in just seven rushing attempts this year, Gallman appears to have that under control.
If that problem pops up again, though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Giants look to go in a different direction for however much longer Barkley is sidelined.
4. Remember when the Giants special teams unit used to languish at or near the bottom of the league in almost every category?
Those days are long gone. The Giants kickoff unit has allowed just one out of 23 kickoffs to be returned.
They are ranked first in punt returns, averaging 15.8 yards per return. They are third in net punting average (45.5) and have allowed opponents just 15 return yards on 14 punts.
That’s some impressive work by an underrated unit that is so critical in securing field position.
“Guys just play hard,” special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said when asked what’s been behind the special teams play. “During the week, obviously we watch the opponent. Just the way we go about our coverage units, period. We take a very serious attitude when it comes to it.”
So what's been the core philosophy McGaughey adopted with the Giants special teams?
“We give them the freedom just to play and play fast,” he said. “We don’t give them a whole lot of responsibilities. They understand leverage and lanes and all that stuff.
"But at the end of the day, it’s about playing hard and playing fast. When you give guys, schematically, a lot to think about, it slows them down. But when you take away that cloud, they get a chance to shine. We just focus on just playing fast.”
And that’s been more than enough to turn around a unit that for years was a joke.
5. In taking a closer look at how the Giants have brought quarterback Daniel Jones along, there’s been a trend.
Head coach Pat Shurmur, who of course is the head of Jones’ development, has been pretty much giving the young man stuff that he is comfortable with and which he ran in college at Duke, which has allowed Jones to adjust to the up-tempo speed of the NFL gradually.
One of the many things that come to mind has been the number of times the Giants asked Jones to work under center. In college, Jones played a majority of his snaps from out of the shotgun.
Although he took a number of snaps from under center in training camp, when it came time to his first NFL start, Shurmur had the rookie working under center on 11.1% of his dropbacks.
And speaking of Jones, one of the things he did well in college was face defensive pressure.
According to the Pro Football Focus 2019 Draft Guide, Jones had adjusted completion rates of 58.3% against pressure and 68% when blitzed.
That experience served him well in his starting debut last week when he was pressured on 28.9% of plays last week (third highest of 32 qualified quarterbacks).
Thus far, Jones’ adjusted completion rate has been 85.7% when under pressure and 87.5% when blitzed.
6. Over the last two weeks, we’ve seen the Giants defensive pass rush show signs of a heartbeat.
This weekend, however, that pass rush should be at full throttle against a Washington offensive line that is in a state of disarray.
Left tackle Trent Williams is holding out, starting center Chase Roullier won’t play due to a knee injury, and right guard Brandon Scherff is questionable with an ankle injury.
Old friend Ereck Flowers, who made the switch from left tackle to left guard, has allowed just five pressures in three games so far, and only one of them coming last week to a very good Bears defense.
And the duo of left tackle Donald Penn and right tackle Morgan Moses have combined for eight penalties for 55 yards with four of those eight penalties stalling Washington scoring drives.
Thus far, edge rushers Markus Golden and Lorenzo Carter share the team lead in total pressures with ten apiece, according to Pro Football Focus, with Golden having notched a team-leading three sacks for minus 13.5 yards.
Meanwhile of the guys up front, only Dexter Lawrence and Olsen Pierre have dented the stat sheet under sacks, each having recorded one sack in three games, and Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill, the latter whom who finished second on the team in sacks last year, currently seeking their first sacks of the new season.
If there was ever a time for those guys to get in on the fun, this week would seem to be it.
7. Remember how there were some questions regarding why the Giants decided not to place receiver Darius Slayton on IR after the season started to free up a roster spot?
Last week’s game should have answered that question but in case it didn’t, the Giants felt good about getting Slayton back before the eight-week period they would have had to wait to elapse had they decided to put the rookie receiver on IR with the intention of designating him for return.
Their confidence in Slayton’s rehab efforts was rewarded as the rookie provided a glimpse of what he offers the offense, which is the speed to slice off the top of the defense.
According to NextGen Stats, Slayton averaged 2.29 yards to separate from the nearest defender at the time the ball was released and 2.45 yards of separation when he made the catch in his small sample size. As he gets more opportunities, it will be interesting to see how much, if any, those figures increase.
8. Speaking of taking the top off of the defense, tight end Evan Engram topped speeds of 20.84 mph during his 75-yard touchdown catch-and-run last week.
That speed was the sixth-fastest mark in Week 3 games for any offensive skill position player.
“Yeah, he’s done a great job,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said of Engram.
“Speed is very valuable on a football team, and Evan’s got it. I’ve only been here a little over a year with him, but you can see his confidence grow just with time on the field and time in our system. He’s versatile (and) he’s getting better in the run game with his blocking.”
A significant reason for Engram’s big game was that the Bucs, unlike the Bills, chose not to jam Engram when he was coming off the line. Afforded a free release, Engram made them pay with his second 100-yard receiving game of the season (six receptions for 113 yards).
It will be interesting to see if future opponents decide to jam Engram at the line the way the Bills did in holding him to 48 yards on six receptions and if they do if Engram responds better than he did when the Bills jammed him.
9. So if you’re the Giants, how exactly do you pick up the pieces knowing that you’re going to be without Saquon Barkley for the next several weeks?
You keep on going, and you take what the defense gives you.
Well, duh, right? But let’s look at an example of why this simple approach can work using last week’s game to illustrate.
In the first half of the game, the Giants rushing offense managed 33 yards on 12 carries but finished with 72 yards while only rushing seven more times despite not having Barkley in the second half.
What was the key? The Giants took advantage of the Bucs’ efforts to crash down on them using their edge rushers, and the Giants responded by sending their runs to the outside, where the edge rushers had vacated.
This is not to suggest that a Giants offense sans Barkley is a good thing. It is not.
But with a little creativity and good awareness, the running game should still be able to function for this team.
10. Both the Giants and Washington have each scored 63 points, yet one team (the Giants) is 1-2, and the other is winless.
If you look at offensive stats for both teams (below), you’ll see a lot of similarities.
What’s been the difference for the Giants?
The run game. New York has 352 net yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns while Washington has 144 net yards rushing and one rushing touchdown.
Again, you don’t replace a Saquon Barkley in your lineup. Instead, you look to find ways to absorb the production each was capable of generating by deploying others.
In the case of Barkley, Wayne Gallman, as previously noted, is going to get the bulk of those snaps. But don’t discount the possibility of seeing even more runs by quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones holds two of the Giants’ four rushing touchdowns and whose 33 rushing yards in one game should continue to rise and should, will, barring anything unexpected, end up topping Eli Manning’s season-high 80 rushing yards on 29 carries set in 2005.
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