Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Giants Week 15 Report Card | Solid All-Around Showing
Yes, it was the Dolphins. And yes, the game didn’t mean anything—the Giants still hold the No. 2 overall pick in the draft despite their 36-20 win Sunday.
But the Giants’ win not only served as a proper send of to Eli Manning, their storied franchise quarterback, but it also reminded this young Giants team that had been stuck in the funk of a nine-game losing streak what it’s like to win games.
Is it too little too late? For this season, yes. But if they can somehow bottle the euphoria felt after the victory and use that to close the 2019 season with two more wins which would match last year’s total, then that counts for something.
Offense: B+
Unlike last week, the Giants offensive got hot as the game went on. Manning went 12 of 14 in the second half, as the Giants scored 29 points in the second half, their highest total after halftime since Dec. 9, 2012, when they scored 31 points in a 52-27 triumph against New Orleans.
None of that would have been possible were it not for receiver Sterling Shepard and running back Saquon Barkley having their most productive days of the year.
Shepard posted season-high totals of nine catches for 111 yards, his reception total one shy of his career-high (10 vs. New Orleans on Sept. 30, 2018).
Barkley rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, his career-high in a four-quarter game.
His rushing yardage total was his second-highest of the season; he ran for 120 yards in Dallas.
Defense: B
The good news is the Dolphins really didn’t really test the Giants’ young defensive secondary, but when they did, it wasn’t as disastrous as one might have expected. Even better is the Giants did a decent job against the run, not allowing any Dolphins running back to rush for more than 46 yards.
With that said, the Dolphins often hurt themselves with dropped passes (at least three in this game) and a red-zone turnover. But if you want more reasons to like the Giants defensive performance, New York managed 11 hits against quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and broke up nine passes, which is right up there with the best collective performances of this beleaguered unit this season.
They also held Miami to 23% on third-downs (3 of 13) and shut them out on two red-zone attempts.
Special Teams: B
Other than for the missed PAT by Aldrick Rosas after Buck Allen’s 1-yard touchdown run and allowing a 30-yard kickoff return, which Rosas had to stop, the special teams unit delivered another excellent performance. Riley Dixon and the punt coverage team allowed ZERO return yards, and thanks to Cody Core’s alert play of letting a Dixon punt roll deep in Dolphins territory, that helped set up the third-quarter safety.
Coaching: B
We’ve been ripping this group all year and rightfully so. But this week, credit Pat Shurmur and company for finally making some adjustments that needed to be made on both sides of the ball. Offensively, the Giants kept the tight ends in to help the offensive line, which contributed to a cleaner pocket for Eli Manning.
Defensively, it wasn’t perfect, but there were no egregious moments that made you want to pull out your hair that an infusion of younger and better talent won’t fix next season. The big thing that stood out in a good way was the defensive backs played more man-to-man coverage, and that seemed to make a difference.
