What the Giants' Week 14 Snap Counts Reveal

The Giants did a few things differently on offense than what they had done in half the games played during their winning streak.

The Giants snap counts don’t begin to tell us how ugly their showing against the Arizona Cardinals was. Still, if you saw or followed the game at any point, you know that this loss was as close to a total team breakdown—execution and coaching—as this team has seen since Week 3’s blowout loss to the 49ers.

What I found particularly interesting about the Giants personnel deployment is that they moved away from what had worked so well for them on offense the last few weeks, specifically the use of the heavy packages, and tried to beat the Cardinals with the passing game.

Part of this thinking could be tied into Daniel Jones not being able to run as he continued his recovery from a hamstring strain. (If Jones wasn't at full strength to run, which forced them to alter the game plan, then starting him makes even less sense.)

But I digress. The drop in snaps for tight ends Levine Toilolo, and Kaden Smith and fullback Eli Penny indicate that the Giants went away from their heavy package. And while I realize that every opponent presents a different set of challenges, I was surprised that the Giants didn’t adjust after seeing what the Cardinals were doing to slow down the run and take away the passing game.

Some additional thoughts on the snap counts…

--Safety Xavier McKinney saw most of his snaps in the slot, as expected, with Darnay Holmes out. Per PFF, McKinney played in the slot on 17 snaps.

--OLB Carter Coughlin took a season-high 64 snaps, according to the gamebook’s count. Coughlin spent most of his snaps as the outside linebacker, with the right side favored just a little bit more than the left. Coughlin had seven tackles, including one for a loss.

--ILB Blake Martinez did a good job gutting out his back ailment. Martinez, who is usually on the field for every snap, took 74 of the 79 defensive snaps, sacrificing his body for his team.

--DE Niko Lalos saw a slight drop in his snaps. Last week, he played in 26; this week, he played in 17. The Giants have been lining Lalos up primarily at left defensive end.

--Wil Hernandez only played in 11 snaps this week—a season-low—but I was curious to see how those broke down. Hernandez was in for seven pass-block snaps and four run-block snaps this week. 

Hernandez has played in 315 pass-block snaps this year and has allowed 24 pressures. Lemieux, a rookie with a tremendous upside, has played in 202 pass-block snaps and has allowed 19 pressures. 

In trying to decipher if there is a rhyme or reason to the left guard rotation (where it’s evident that Lemieux has replaced Hernandez as the starter), Hernandez holds his own against the pass a little better than the developing Lemieux is telling.

OFFENSE: 49

RG Kevin Zeitler 49; C Nick Gates 49; LT Andrew Thomas 49; WR Darius Slayton 47; QB Daniel Jones 44; TE Evan Engram 42; WR Sterling Shepard 39; LT Cam Fleming 38; G Shane Lemieux 38; WR Golden Tate 28; RB Wayne Gallman 27; TE Kaden Smith 23; RB Dion Lewis 16; OT Matt Peart 11; LG Will Hernandez 11; TE Levine Toilolo; RB Alfred Morris 6; QB Colt McCoy 5; WR Austin Mack 4; FB Eli Penny 2; WR CJ Board 1.

DEFENSE: 79

CB Isaac Yiadom 79; CB James Bradberry 79; SS Jabrill Peppers 79; FS Logan Ryan 79; ILB Blake Martinez 74; OLB Carter Coughlin 64; DT Leonard Williams 56; FS Julian Love 45; LB Tae Crowder 45; DE Dexter Lawrence 43; DB Xavier McKinney 38; DE Jabaal Sheard 32; NT Austin Johnson 23; DT BJ Hill 21; SS Montre Hartage 19; DE Niko Lalos 17; LB David Mayo 15; OLB Cam Brown 9; ILB Devante Downs 5.

SPECIAL TEAMS

SS Nate Ebner 27; OLB Cam Brown 27; ILB Devante Downs 21; FB Eli Penny 21; SS Montre Hartage 19; TE Levine Toilolo 16; TE Kaden Smith 15; DE Niko Lalos 15; ILB David Mayo 14; FS Julian Love 12; WR CJ Board 11; DE Dexter Lawrence II 11; DT Leonard Williams 10; DB Jarran Williams 10; CB Isaac Yiadom 10; CB James Bradberry 9; LS Casey Kreiter 9; P Riley Dixon 9; CB Brandon Williams 8; NT Dalvin Tomlinson 7; ILB Tae Crowder 7; WR Austin Mack 7; RB Dion Lewis 6; SS Jabrill Peppers 6; DT BJ Hill 6; NT Austin Johnson 4; K Graham Gano 3; OLB Carter Coughlin 2; RG Kevin Zeitler 1; C Nick Gates 1; LT Andrew Thomas 1; RT Cam Fleming 1; LG Shane Lemieux 1.