New York Giants Week 15 Report Card: Offensive Showing

Coach Gene Clemons has this week's Giants grades following their 21-6 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants' hope for making the postseason went out the window as they added injury to insult in their 21-6 loss to the Cowboys. The performance was disappointing because it was the first time the team had a chance to make full-game adjustments against a division opponent.

The defense was stout after a poor performance last week, but once again, the offense looked disjointed and not explosive at all.

Let's take a look at the grades for New York.

Rushing Offense: C+

The Giants rushed well for the third week in a row. But again, it was not about to be the stabilizing force for an offense that has a serious identity crisis.

Devontae Booker and Saquon Barkley combined for 124 yards on 23 carries, but neither could find the end zone. Booker (8 carries, 74 yards) outperformed Barkley (15 carries, 60 yards) in the game.

Even without his 31-yard run, Booker he averaged six yards per carry on his other seven carries, and he seems to have a little more explosiveness through the hole.

Barkley is still bothered by his sprained ankle from Week 5 and has tried to gut it out, but moving forward, the Giants must consider splitting the carries between the two if they're to get this offense going.

Passing Offense: F

There was nothing good about the New York Giants passing offense. There was not a lot of separation on routes from receivers or tight ends. They also lost Sterling Shepard for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles suffered with about 3:31 left in the game, an awful blow for the longest-tenured Giants player.

The biggest issue for the Giants was that the quarterback play was unacceptable. A veteran guy like Mike Glennon, who has started so many games in this league, should be able to stabilize an offense when called on.

However, week in and week out, he has been unable to deliver passes to receivers on target or make proper reads to get rid of the ball without it being compromised. When he was relieved on the last Giants drive of the game by Jake Fromm, Fromm ended up completing 50 percent of his passes despite facing a defense that had taken its foot off the gas pedal. 

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Rushing Defense: B

In their first matchup against the Cowboys, the Giants gave up 201 yards on the ground and ten first downs via the rush. This time, they gave up 152 yards and ten first downs on the ground, a marked improvement.

Still, while they gave up nine first downs on the ground, the Dallas backfield duo of Ezekiel Elliot and Tony Pollard only compiled 125 yards on 30 carries. The Giants run defense surrendered one touchdown on the ground early in the game when they needed to defend a short field thanks to a Glennon interception, but other than that, they played winning football.

Passing Defense: B+

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott carved up the defense in their first matchup this season, throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns. In this game, he threw the ball more (28 of 37), completed a higher percentage, and yet only threw for 217 yards and a touchdown.

The Giants secondary was able to keep receiver CeeDee Lamb under control this game. He only had 50 yards this game, and neither he nor any other receiver could beat the Giants secondary deep. Lamb also had a couple of dropped passes.

The Giants pass defense--which, by the way, was depleted in the secondary thanks to the COVID-19 deactivations--were also able to limit the effectiveness of passing to the running backs out of the backfield.

Tight end Dalton Schultz was the only receiver to find the end zone, which came late in the third quarter. The pass rush was able to get Prescott on the ground three times. Lorenzo Carter had his best game with two of the team's three sacks and three quarterback hits.

Special Teams: A

Graham Gano continues to be one of the best kickers in the NFL. He added two more field goals to his tally and has been the most consistent offensive weapon for the Giants.

Punter Riley Dixon averaged over 50 yards on each of his two punts, and there was no punt return yardage. The return and coverage squads didn't get an opportunity to be a factor as, again, the kicking and the coverage were solid.

Coaching: C

The defensive game plan by Patrick Graham was on point and a great bounce back after last week's poor showing. That bend-but-don't-break style was on full display. The run defense was able to keep the Cowboys backs from exploding, and the Giants held the Cowboys to just two of five in the red zone. 

The secondary kept the receivers in front of them, and the pass rush got to the quarterback three times. A team that amassed over 500 yards of offense the first time they met this season only totaled 328 yards in this game. That's a great job by the defense to close the gaps that the Cowboys, who, by the way, had a full arsenal of skill position players at their disposal, were able to exploit in the first game.

The offensive game plan continues to be confusing. There's no identity and no clear direction. The plays don't build off one another, and it's just a mess when combined with the execution issues.

The most disturbing thing is that everything seems complicated. There's nothing that schemes open or is just an automatic yards gainer for the Giants. They have still not found a way to unlock Barkley's talents like other offenses with dynamic backs. '

Even with the injuries, there's still a good amount of capable receivers that have not figured out how to get the ball in their hands. Their inability to put the ball in the end zone has cost them more than one game and costs them a chance at a win over the Cowboys. 

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