New York Giants Week 13 Report Card: Unsatisfactory

Grading the New York Giants' 20-20 tie against the Washington Commanders

The good news is that the New York Giants (7-5-1) didn't lose a critical NFC East game against the Washington Commanders.

The bad news is they didn't win it either, battling to a 20-20 tie with a Commanders (7-4-1) team that continues to nip at their heels in the division standings and the Wild Card playoff race. The Giants badly lost the time of possession battle, 41:11 to 28:49, with five of their 13 drives ending in three plays or less.

What hurts the most in this blown opportunity is the Giants had the lead but couldn't hold it. This is the second week in a row the Giants couldn't couldn't protect a lead, and that doesn't bode well for their playoff hopes--if they even make it that far.

Washington, who has a Week 14 bye, will now have two weeks to focus on correcting and adjusting their game plan against the Giants. New York will face the Philadelphia Eagles, who have been the runaway contenders for the 2022 NFC East crown.

Here are the grades from this week's disappointing showing.

Offense: D

This one had more bad than good, starting with the three points the Giants spotted on the first drive when quarterback Daniel Jones fumbled the ball on a rushing attempt.

Right guard Mark Glowinski, trying to push through a bad back that landed him on the injury report Saturday, gave up a big sack on a second down that knocked the Giants out of field goal range. A poorly executed screen to Saquon Barkley on a 3rd-and-long gained one yard.

Darius Slayton, who finished as the leading receiver (6 catches, 90 yards), had a gorgeous 55-yard reception in which he spun away from the defender. But then, later in the game, he was wide open but had an ugly drop.

Center Jon Feliciano's taunting penalty might very well have been the turning point in this game as that knocked the Giants out of field goal range, a score they really could have used to make it a two-score game and potentially avoid overtime.

Yes, it was a ticky-tack call as it didn't appear that Feliciano was taunting a Commanders player, but as head coach Brian Daboll said after the game, they should have never been in that situation, to begin with.

The running game seemed to rebound somewhat, with 134 rushing yards on 30 carries and Jones leading the way with 12 carries for 71 yards. And speaking of Jones and Barkley, there was another miscommunication on a key 3rd-and-2 play in which Barkley and Richie James collided.

The offense couldn't cash in on a missed field goal which gave them the ball at their 42-yard line. On that drive, the Giants managed just minus-five yards of offense, one of four drives in the game where the Giants failed to move the ball.

And how is it possible that Saquon Barkley ran the ball just seven times in the game's final 30 minutes, gaining only three yards?

Defense: C

This week was a mixed bag. A missed tackle by Fabian Moreau led to Washington's first touchdown of the game, and then, later on, a defensive holding call on third down gave the Commanders a fresh set of downs.

The Commanders predictably went after Zyon Gilbert, playing in his first NFL game, whenever possible, and they struck gold when Jahan Dotson beat him for a 28-yard touchdown catch to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.

The Giants held running back Brian Robinson to 96 yards on 21 carries, but the Commanders still managed 165 yards on the ground despite the Giants' attempts to try and force Washington to beat them with Taylor Heinicke's arm.

The pass rush got a jolt with the return of Azeez Ojulari, who had one of the team's five sacks and two of its ten quarterback hits. Speaking of sacks, Dexter Lawerence came through with a big sack which pushed an unsuccessful Washington field goal attempt back to 52 yards. Jihad Ward came through with a sack and forced fumble, and Kayvon Thibodeaux also contributed to the sack parade.

The Commanders predictably went after Zyon Gilbert, playing in his first NFL game, whenever possible, and they struck gold when Jahan Dotson beat him for a 28-yard touchdown catch to tie the game late in the fourth quarter.

Special Teams: B+

Graham Gano hit field goals of 48 and 53 yards and executed a beautiful kickoff that allowed his coverage team to pin the Commanders at the 3-yard line.

Unfortunately, Gano's potential 58-yard game-winning field goal attempt fell way short of the crossbar--not so much his fault as the offense couldn't get any closer to making things a little easier. (Gano's career-long, for those wondering, is 63 yards which he hit in 2018.) After the game, Gano said his range given the conditions from that end of the field, was 53.

Mostly a strong showing by punter Jamie Gillan, who finished with a 46.3 average and put three of his punts inside the 20, but he had a 31-yard punt in the overtime period that went out of bounds and gave Washington great starting field position at the 33-yard line.

The kickoff coverage team held Washington to 13.5 return yards on two returns. The punt coverage team held Washington to a 6.5-yard average. Richie James handled the punt return duty without any hiccups.

Coaching: C

Two main head-scratchers in this one. The first was the series at the end of the first half when they didn't try at least one deep shot into the end zone before time expired and endedup settling for three points.

The second was the decision on 4th-and-3 in overtime to punt despite being on the Commanders' 45-yard line. It's as if the early season aggressiveness shown by Brian Daboll on the offensive side of the ball just wasn't there this week for whatever the reason. 

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