New York Giants Week 16 Report Card: They Tried
The New York Giants put up a more valiant fight in their quest to end a 10-game road losing streak against the Philadelphia Eagles, but their effort came up short. Here are the grades behind their 33-25 loss to the Eagles on Christmas Day.
Offense: C-
The magic wore off for Tommy DeVito, who missed some early throws and who seemed reluctant to take shots down the field, shots that Tyrod Taylor later tried and succeeded with. DeVito’s receivers weren’t exactly clutch, but neither was his accuracy. And it’s probably fair to wonder if DeVito missed a looming Haason Reddick who eventually came in unblocked on a 4th-and-1 to drop running back Saquon Barkley for a four-yard loss on what was the Giants best drive at the time (second quarter). The Giants also struggled (again) with third down, going 4 of 14 on third down after going 1 of 8 in the first half. The pass protection was better than the previous week, but how Reddick ran free on two plays is a headscratcher.
Defense: C
The good news is that Boston Scott, the noted Giants killer, helped the Giants this time when he ran into his man on a kickoff. The even better news is that cornerback Adoree' Jackson recorded his first career pick 6, and it was a gorgeous play that went for 69 yards and gave the Giant some much-needed momentum.
The bad news? There were too many missed tackles, as the tackling fundamentals seemed to go out the window, and it looked like defenders were more interested in stripping the ball away rather than practicing fundamentals. Even worse is that the Eagles were 8 of 15 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth down thanks to the Tush Push. Is it that hard for defenders to get low like the Eagles' offensive linemen and to send someone at the shover like the Seahawks did? And what happened on that 3rd-and-20 when Jalen Hurts connected with receiver A.J. Brown for 32 of his 80 receiving yards?
Special Teams: B-
Jamie Gillan, ailing with a left groin strain that left him limited last week in practice, looked like a guy who was ailing. His first two punts were line drives to Britain Covey, arguably the best returner in the league. On the loner one, Dane Belton looked like he was going for the ball instead of worrying about wrapping up Covey. Thanks to Covey’s returns, the Eagles got two short fields on which to work and converted them into scores. Covey finished with 22.0 yards per return on three returns.] which will likely knock the Giants punt coverage team from No. 2 in the league. And as already noted, Boston Scott helped the Giants when he ran into his own man and fumbled away a ball that Isaiah Simmons bounced on at the Eagles’ 14-yard line. Mason Crosby, who looked shaky in warmups, hit his lone field goal attempt, a 52-yarder.
Coaching: B-
Daboll did what he had to do when switching quarterbacks, proving once and for all that tanking is not on his mind and never has been, even though the postseason isn’t in play for this team. If you don’t buy that, how about Daboll’s decision to go for it on fourth down five times (they converted three of those times)?
Wink Martindale included a healthy dose of pressure packages but didn’t yield the desired fruit. Overall, the Giants showed some spunk this week in the game the players and coaches wanted.
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