Apathy overtook the New York Giants’ fan base after a 17-7 loss to the Bengals in Week 6. The emotion after Sunday’s 28-3 loss to the Eagles was disgust. Here’s a final look at the ugly loss to Saquon Barkley’s new team:
Deep disappointment
The big emphasis for the Giants’ passing offense during training camp was throwing deep. That makes their inability to produce explosive plays more damning.
Advertisement
The Giants’ longest play from scrimmage against the Bengals gained 15 yards. Things actually got worse against the Eagles, with a long play of 14 yards. The Giants have 13 pass plays that have gained 20 or more yards, which ranks 28th in the league.
Quarterback Daniel Jones has five completions on passes that have traveled 20-plus yards in the air this season, which is 25th-most in the league. His 22.7 completion percentage (5-of-22) on passes over 20 yards also ranks 25th. Jones is attempting 20-plus yard passes on 9.2 percent of his attempts, which ranks 21st.
Here's the recording of today's live room/therapy session: https://t.co/UFLyBG9loi https://t.co/ffNpzT3bTr
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 21, 2024
There is no evidence Jones can deliver the explosive plays Brian Daboll has identified as essential. In fact, there’s a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
Since throwing deep on 11.8% of his passes as a rookie in 2019, Jones’ aggression has been in steady decline: 8.9% in 2020, 7.5 percent in 2021, 5.9% in 2022 and 6.9% in 2023.
When asked why he has confidence Jones can suddenly create explosive plays, Daboll didn’t point to anything related to the QB.
“We have some guys around that I think can create explosive plays,” Daboll said.
It seemed like Daboll had reached his breaking point when he benched Jones with 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss. But Daboll committed to Jones as the starting quarterback “going forward” immediately after the game.
Daboll affirmed his commitment to Jones as the starter on Monday.
“I think he gives us the best chance,” Daboll said.
That may be true, which speaks volumes about the quarterback room assembled by general manager Joe Schoen this offseason. Backup Drew Lock didn’t inspire confidence during his fourth-quarter cameo, completing 3-of-8 passes for six yards. Tommy DeVito is the No. 3 quarterback after going 3-3 in six starts last season.
Advertisement
Daboll said Jones will take all the first-team reps in practice this week, as usual. Daboll said he was merely trying to “create a spark” when he benched Jones, and emphasized that the offensive problems extend beyond the quarterback.
Still, now that he has pulled Jones from a game, Daboll can’t unring that bell. What happens if the offense struggles in the Giants’ next game on the road in prime time against a Steelers defense that ranks second in the league in points allowed?
Unless Jones shows drastic improvement in generating explosive plays, Sunday’s benching likely won’t be the last of the season.
No one looks good here
Many aspects of the NFL game are too complicated for the average fan to grasp. But a season-ticket holder in section 300 can see when a player isn’t giving effort. Ownership can see it, too.
GO DEEPERGiants CB Deonte Banks in crosshairs for lackluster effort yet againThat’s why Daboll needs to get through to second-year cornerback Deonte Banks that loafing won’t be tolerated. It was so egregious when Banks jogged after Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb on a 55-yard touchdown in Week 4 that defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson publicly called out the lack of hustle. Daboll didn’t comment on the play publicly.
Henderson said he delivered a message that the play was unacceptable, and he hoped it was received. It clearly was not because Banks demonstrated a shocking lack of effort as Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts scrambled for 16 yards on a third-and-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.
It’s not clear if Daboll saw the play live, as he may have been with the quarterbacks preparing Lock to enter the game. So that could have explained his muted response immediately after the game.
But when asked Monday if he had anything to say to a disgusted fan base, Daboll reiterated that the matter was addressed privately.
“We’ll continue to address it, and we’ll make sure it’s better,” Daboll said.
Advertisement
Daboll strives to keep everything in-house, and that’s an understandable approach to limiting controversy. But it doesn’t appear Banks got the message when his lack of hustle was addressed the first time.
Daboll had better get through to Banks and the rest of the roster because questionable effort on the field is the type of thing that will raise serious questions about the coaching staff with ownership.
Winning time?
The Giants have made a habit of overvaluing meaningless wins late in lost seasons. They did it when Pat Shurmur went 4-4 after a 1-7 start in 2018 and when Joe Judge went 5-3 after a 1-7 start in 2020. The Giants’ 4-3 finish after starting 2-8 last season was used as a rallying cry for Daboll’s ability to keep the locker room engaged. With this season on the brink at 2-5, it’s time for Daboll to string together some wins while it still matters.
The fact is the Giants haven’t been a competitive team under Daboll despite his 17-23-1 overall record and a playoff appearance in 2022. The Giants -197 point differential since the start of the 2022 season is the third-worst in the league during that stretch.
Blowouts like Sunday’s have been far too common under Daboll. The Giants have lost seven games by at least 20 points during the past three seasons, which is tied for the second-most over that stretch. Four of those losses have come against division opponents, which doesn’t even include the 38-7 rout by the Eagles in the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs.
GO DEEPERNFL QB stock report, Week 8: Russell Wilson dazzles in debut; Patrick Mahomes still No. 1?‘I was open’
Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers had a frustrating return to the lineup after missing two games with a concussion. The dynamic rookie made four catches for 41 yards on eight targets. He was held without a catch in the second half.
“Watch the target tape,” Nabers told reporters. “I was open.”
That’s an honest assessment that Daboll confirmed on Monday. But Nabers’ frustration is another issue for Daboll to monitor if the season continues in this direction and the first-round pick’s production dips.
Advertisement
It was well-documented on “Hard Knocks” that the Giants had concerns about how Nabers would handle not being targeted. And Nabers’ body language after not getting the ball on some routes on Sunday showed more frustration than his postgame comments.
There were no issues before the concussion when Nabers was leading the league in targets and setting rookie records for production. Daboll said he hopes players are frustrated after a loss like Sunday when asked about Nabers’ comments. But frustration over not getting the ball could boil over, especially with the coaching staff’s confidence in Jones clearly eroding.
Limited impact
Giants slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson is fifth in the league with 43 receptions, yet he’s 45th in the league with 303 receiving yards, and his 7.0 yards per catch average ranks 124th. He had six catches for just 23 yards on Sunday.
Robinson is obviously a limited player at this stage in this offense. But if he’s going to get so many targets for so few yards, he needs to become more reliable. Robinson’s 64.2 percent catch rate ranks 116th in the league despite an average depth of target of 4.3 yards, which is tied for 148th. He had another third-down drop on Sunday.
GO DEEPERNFL Power Rankings Week 8: Separating early contenders from pretenders; NFC North rulesTrouble without Thomas
Daboll wouldn’t commit to sticking with Josh Ezeudu at left tackle. Ezeudu allowed third-down sacks to kill two of the Giants’ first three drives in his first start in place of Andrew Thomas, who is out for the season with a foot injury.
Ezeudu settled down after the rough start, but the Giants devoted extra help to the left side with tight ends and running backs chipping or staying in to block. It’s impossible to quantify how that impacted the rest of the line, which had its worst game. The Giants surrendered eight sacks on Sunday after allowing 14 in their first six games.
You get a sack, and you get a sack, and you get a sack❗️ pic.twitter.com/sOgHsSXT0h
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 21, 2024
The Eagles don’t have a formidable pass rush. They entered Sunday with just 11 sacks in their first five games. They only blitzed Jones on 20 percent of his dropbacks, but they still dominated up front.
Switching Jermaine Eluemunor from right tackle to left tackle is the alternative to giving Ezeudu another start. Eluemunor made that switch for three starts during the past two seasons when Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller was injured. Eluemunor has said his preference is to remain on the right side.
If Eluemunor moves to the left side, Ezeudu, Evan Neal and Chris Hubbard are the options at right tackle. The Giants signed Hubbard, who has made 58 starts in 11 seasons, off of the 49ers practice squad last week. Hubbard has mostly played right tackle during his career.
GO DEEPERWhat every NFL team should do at the trade deadline: Buy, sell or stand pat?It doesn’t seem like Neal is part of the equation. Even when Daboll pulled many starters in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Neal didn’t get off the bench. If starting him at right tackle was a consideration, it would make sense to give him some low-stakes reps in garbage time to shake off rust after missing so much time with an ankle injury.
Advertisement
Though protecting the quarterback’s blind side is essential, this probably isn’t the week to move Eluemunor because the Giants face Pittsburgh on Monday night. Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt, who has led the NFL in sacks in three of the past four seasons, lines up exclusively across from the right tackle.
Back to reality
It turns out the Giants’ improved run defense was a mirage. The Giants got torched on the ground in the first two games of the season and then went through a stretch against four pass-happy opponents.
Saquon Barkley is at it again.
📺: #PHIvsNYG on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/iGCd9x3WWo— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
The Giants were shredded when they faced an Eagles offense committed to the run. Led by Barkley’s 176 yards on 17 carries, the Eagles racked up 269 rushing yards on 45 carries. That was the most rushing yards allowed by the Giants since 2014. The Giants are allowing 5.4 yards per carry, which is tied for the most in the league.
The run defense was bad at every level, but safety Jason Pinnock had a particularly rough day. He twice took bad angles and/or missed tackles that allowed Barkley to break long runs.
The Eagles’ offensive success was mostly the result of three long Barkley runs and a 41-yard touchdown pass to AJ Brown on fourth-and-3 in the second quarter. The Eagles scored 28 points despite going 1-for-13 on third down.
WHAT A THROW. WHAT A CATCH. 🎯@jalenhurts 🤝 @1kalwaysopen_ pic.twitter.com/KqM2fAbZ5k
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 20, 2024
The Brown touchdown was the result of another questionable play call in a critical spot. Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen has been excellent, but his ill-advised blitz combined with man coverage on third-and-18 paved the way for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to scramble 47 yards for a touchdown in Week 6. Leaving McCloud alone with Brown on fourth down was a head-scratching decision, and the Giants paid the price.
That was McCloud’s first snap of the game at corner in place of Cor’Dale Flott, who left with a groin injury. Flott has been playing well, but soft tissue injuries have been a recurring issue during his career.
Scoop City Newsletter
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
(Photo: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)
Dan Duggan is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the New York Giants. He previously covered the Giants for two years for The Star-Ledger. He has also worked for the Boston Herald. Follow Dan on Twitter @DDuggan21