Three Unexpected Things That Doomed the 2023 Giants Season
Things did not go as planned for the New York Giants in 2023.
Okay, that’s a pretty significant understatement for how the year has gone for the Giants. The hype for the team was as high as it’s been in recent memory--we'd have to go back to the 2017 off-season following their 11-5 finish in 2016.
Much as was the case then, the expectation was that the Giants would parlay their 2022 playoff win into a winning 2023 season and consistent playoff contention going forward. Instead, things quickly went sideways, starting with an embarrassing 40-0 punch in the mouth delivered by the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1.
That game served as a microcosm for how the 2023 season would unfold en route to their current 4-8 record. That game against Dallas saw injuries, schematic issues on both sides of the ball, personnel issues, and problems with execution. It was as though the Giants weren't fully prepared for whatever might come their way, and when the plans fell apart, they looked like they were trying to fly by the seat of their pants, which rarely works.
The result? The perfect storm of misery that is the 2023 Giants season. Let's take a closer look.
Injuries
The Giants took a lot of calculated risks to use their playoff win over the Minnesota Vikings as a springboard for 2023. But each of those risks promptly blew up in their faces, and injury was a prime catalyst.
The Giants’ list of significant injuries this year is daunting and would be tough for any team to overcome. And it just wasn't the number of injuries--it was to whom the injuries happened and the number of games--often multiple--that it cost the affected players.
General manager Joe Schoen noted that the trio of quarterback Daniel Jones (neck/ACL), running back Saquon Barkley (ankle), and tight end Darren Waller (hamstring) ended up playing around 40 snaps together. We can safely say that's NOT what the Giants had in mind.
Losing left tackle Andrew Thomas (hamstring) was a major blow to the offensive line and a catalyst for multiple combinations to ensue, including the plugging in of Joshua Ezeudu, who, as a Giant, had never practiced at tackle until about ten days before the start of the season and "straight off the couch" Justin Pugh, whose earlier career confirmed that he is not a tackle.
Speaking about the offensive line, the unit was also without Ben Bredeson (concussion), center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), and Evan Neal (ankle) for multiple games. Even their depth--Ezeudu (Toe/IR), Matt PEart (shoulder/IR), and J.C. Hasssenauer (triceps/IR) was wiped out.
Currently, the Giants are on their third quarterback in Tommy DeVito, though there is talk that Tyrod Taylor (ribs) may be ready to return from IR.
The defensive side of the ball fared a little bit better. The team was without outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (hamstring) for multiple games. The same is true for cornerback Adoree Jackson (concussion)- his loss forced the Giants to rely on a very young corps of defensive backs to underpin Wink Martindale’s aggressive blitz schemes.
Defensive lineman Dexter Lawerence missed the Week 12 game with a hamstring issue, so we'll need to see if he's able to return.
Getting back to our point about injuries and depth, no one should, for example, expect the reserve players to play up to the level of Thomas, but the constant reshuffling of the offensive line, due in part to injuries and in part to performance-related issues which we'll get to in a moment, doomed this unit.
It’s one of those things that is fairly obvious but also bears repeating: Not only are starters often just better than depth players, but they have skill sets that are often integral to how a team intends to play.
We’ve seen glimpses of how the Giants wanted to play this season with a vertical passing attack and using Waller and Barkley as mismatches. However, those schemes were difficult to implement as intended with the turmoil along the offensive line and injuries to the skill position players.
Personnel
The injuries not only conspired to make it difficult (or even impossible) for the Giants to function as they originally planned, but they also exposed how thin the roster is and amplified some off-season personnel choices that were headscratchers.
For instance, the Giants kept Matt Peart over Tyre Phillips. That decision was defensible in a vacuum, thanks to Phillips’ injuries in camp and the preseason. However, both players are known quantities, and the Giants saw Phillips start adequately for them when Evan Neal was injured a year ago.
Meanwhile, Peart has only proven to be injury-prone and unreliable at offensive tackle. His play during the preseason raised questions about the Giants’ depth on the offensive line, and those concerns were quickly vindicated.
Likewise, the decision to double down on Darren Waller’s skill set with Lawrence Cager as the third tight end made sense, given Waller’s importance to the offense. However, the decision not to carry another “classic” tight end to directly back up Daniel Bellinger was confusing. Bellinger's knee injury, which forced him to miss several games, meant that Waller was forced to play a traditional tight-end role, denying the team the dynamic aspects of his skill set in favor of blocking.
On the other side of the ball, the Giants neglected to add much depth at outside linebackers behind Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari.
Thibodeaux may be having a breakout season with 11.5 sacks through 12 weeks, but the Giants only have a paltry 21 sacks total – the fourth fewest in the NFL. It was hoped that the duo of Thibodeaux and Ojulari would develop into dynamic bookends who could generate pressure on both ends of the offensive line. Not only would that help set off Martindale's blitz schemes, but it would also allow the Giants to pressure effectively without sending extra rushers.
That went out the window when Ojulari injured his hamstring, and the Giants were left with Jihad Ward and Carlos “Boogie” Basham behind Ojulari. While Ward and Basham are big, powerful defensive linemen, neither is much of a natural pass rusher, lacking the natural burst and bend to consistently threaten NFL offensive linemen or disrupt modern offenses.
The Giants were also forced to rely on the young cornerback trio of Deonte Banks, Tre Hawkins III, and Cor’Dale Flott for much of the year. The two rookies and second-year players all have considerable upside and have flashed it throughout the year.
But they’re still young players who are adjusting to the NFL, where the game is faster, with more sophisticated offensive concepts, and greater restrictions from the rules than they were used to at the collegiate level. It had predictable results, with some impressive plays from the youngsters and the defense being gashed by more efficient offenses.
Schemes
Before going any further, this needs to be said: Every scheme has a counter, and no scheme is unbeatable.
Every offense has concepts designed to attack and defeat every common defensive scheme, while every defense has play designs to counter every common offensive concept and blocking scheme.
In the Giants’ case, they had different issues on defense and offense. Let's start with the defensive side of the ball. The biggest problem was that the defense was heavily dependent on the scheme to succeed. That doesn’t mean that the players are bad, per se. Rather, when the opposing offense could counter Martindale's scheme's exotic and aggressive nature, it broke beyond repair.
The type of defense Martindale calls can be very effective, but it is very talent-intensive if it's to be executed at its highest level. It needs corners who can live on islands with receivers and take them out of the game.
It also needs versatile safeties that can rotate coverages or blitz and front seven players who can execute zone drops, loops, and stunts. That caliber of player is understandably hard to come by and generally requires a lot of investment.
We saw the Giants’ defense frustrate slower, less efficient offenses like the Commanders, Jets, and Patriots. However, faster, more efficient offenses like the 49ers, Dolphins, and Cowboys tore through the Giants’ defense like buzzsaws. Where Martindale's coverage rotations and blitz schemes could confound lesser offenses, the Giants couldn’t generate pressure quickly enough to disrupt the better offenses in the NFL.
The exception was the Buffalo Bills, where the Giants almost abandoned their blitz-heavy ways and played much more two-deep coverage. The Bills weren’t ready for that particular chess move, and quarterback Josh Allen struggled to cope with explosive plays taken away from him.
The offensive side of the ball is, perhaps, an even more complicated question.
The Giants fielded the NFL’s most risk-averse and conservative offense in 2022. They played mistake-free football, capitalized on opponents’ mistakes, and were often able to do just enough to come away with the win in the fourth quarter.
Their offense was built around short passes on RPOs or quick one to two-read route concepts, Daniel Jones scrambling, and the running game. The Giants’ passing game was largely read from short to deep, and the team frequently abandoned the pass in the fourth quarter.
That style of offense was molded around what Jones liked and executed well, and it was enough to get them to the playoffs. However, there was also a stark difference between how they played against bad defenses like the Vikings, Texans, and Colts versus how they fared against the Eagles, Cowboys, and Ravens.
The Giants sought to add a much-needed explosive element to their offense with the additions of Waller, Parris Campbell, and Jalin Hyatt. The coaching staff also added more explosive plays into the playbook, some of which we’ve seen on occasion this year. That’s a necessary addition and a great decision in principle, but it blew up in their faces like so many of the Giants’ calculated risks.
Part of the problem is that Jones has always had issues with pocket presence and navigating reads down the field. He’s improved since his rookie year, but Jones still fails to feel pressure, doesn't "feel" free rushers, and struggles to identify defenders down the field. The shuffling and reshuffling around him compounded those issues due to injuries and depth issues.
As a result, the Giants resorted to the comfortable foundation of their offense so they could try to regain (or just gain) traction. However, the foundation of the offense is known now, and that conservative attack was very predictable for fast, well-coached defenses.
That was displayed from the Giants’ third drive of the season after a blocked kick was returned for a touchdown, and they were forced to punt on their second drive. Jones dropped back to pass to Saquon Barkley, who leaked out to the flat after initially appearing to block.
Dallas knew exactly what was coming. Trevon Diggs broke on the ball before Jones even finished his throwing motion. The result was a big hit on Barkley, the ball popping up, and Daron Bland getting his first pick-6 of the season.
We got our first glimpse of how the offense was supposed to function in the second half of Week 2 when the Giants used play-action to enable vertical passes. That led to a furious 31-point comeback, but that proved unsustainable against better defenses than what was fielded by the Arizona Cardinals.
Both Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito have executed the vertical aspect of the Giants’ offense to some level of success as starters--Taylor due to his experience, while DeVito has simply been willing to take incredible abuse behind the line of scrimmage while waiting for routes to get open.
Final Thoughts
The Giants’ offense isn’t bad in principle, but they have work to do for it to blossom in 2024. They will need to continue to improve the offensive line, adjust the offensive skill positions, and move on from players who aren’t contributing.
The front office and coaching staff might also have to seriously look at quarterback in the upcoming draft if Jones’ limitations keep him from consistently or effectively executing the type of offense the team wants to run.
As for the rest of this season, can the Giants make changes over their bye week to salvage their 2023 season, which, believe it or not, they are still alive for a playoff berth?
To a large extent, they are who they are at this point. They’ll likely get healthier over the bye week, with Thomas and Barkley getting more separation between themselves and their early-season injuries.
They might get Waller back healthy, and Lawrence could use the time to return from the hamstring injury that kept him out against the Patriots. Neal will likely return at some point soon – though whether he provides an upgrade over Phillips remains to be seen.
Likewise, we might see some schematic adjustments, which we already have to a certain extent. There was always an expectation that the Giants would field a more explosive offense in 2023 than the risk-averse game they played in 2022.
We’ve finally seen glimpses of what the offense was intended to be with Taylor's and DeVito’s willingness to throw the ball vertically. But while the coaching staff can tweak game plans and play calls, they won’t be able to tear everything down and make dramatic changes over one week. They’ll likely continue to adjust to DeVito’s likes and skillset, and he’ll continue to build his rapport with the rest of the offense.
The Giants may finish the 2023 season on a relatively positive note. They should be able to compete with the Packers, Saints, and Rams – at least on paper. But while those teams all carry a 5-6 record (as of this writing), they’re still stronger than the Patriots and Commanders.
The real solution for the team will be honest self-scouting and then enacting a plan to address their issues for 2024 and beyond. The Giants can fix their problems and be a much stronger team next year, but they’ll need to accurately identify them first.
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