Giants-Washington Football Team Season Finale: By the Numbers
Even the darkest and most terrifying horror movies tend to have one recurring theme: At the conclusion, the characters involved survive that which is troubling them and find the light at the end of the tunnel where they can move on with their lives.
For the New York Giants and their exhausted and frustrated fanbase, both parties can now breathe a collective sigh of relief that the 2021 season–Big Blue’s latest display of mortifying football–has come to an end.
Playing in a cold and mostly barren MetLife Stadium Sunday for their 2021 regular-season finale, the Giants gave the remnants of their once-proud fanbase one last miserable offensive performance.
There were questionable coaching decisions, turnovers, and an apparent lack of effort by individual players at certain points of the contest, all culminating in a measly 177 yards of total offense and a humiliating 22-7 loss to the Washington Football Team.
Now, the time has come to witness extensive change within the organization, including which personnel will get the chance to move forward into next year. The expectation for much of this season has been general manager Dave Gettleman will retire following a four-year 19-46 record and an inability to correct the long-standing issues within the Giants offensive line.
Gettleman might not be alone in packing his bags after a disappointing stay.
It remains to be seen what team co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch do about head coach Joe Judge. A few weeks ago, all indications pointed to Judge (10-23 record as a coach) earning a third year with the Giants, barring a complete collapse by the team in the final weeks of the season.
Sure enough, the Giants did collapse in the final six weeks of the season en route to a 4-13, tying them with the 2017 team for the franchise’s most losses in a single season.
All the answers will come eventually, but what we do know is there is one last regular-season “By the Numbers” analysis to account for, so let's ddive into the numbers and stat lines that highlighted the Giants’ dismal season finale.
Six Straight Losses of 10 or More
All season long, the Giants have been racking up team and NFL records in several categories, with most, if not all, of them holding a negative connotation. Of course, there’s the ever-growing streak for points allowed in the final two minutes of either half, in which the Giants ended the year with a 79-0 deficit after Washington scored a field goal to lead at the break 6-0.
On Sunday, they added one more record to their miserable resume as the final whistle sounded.
With the 15-point margin of defeat and the series sweep by Washington, the Giants earned their sixth-consecutive loss by ten or more points this season, the Giants’ longest single-season streak in franchise history, according to FOX Sports.
The Giants offense has made it fairly easy for them to accomplish the lowly feat in the final weeks of the season. Since Week 12, a 13-7 win over the Eagles (and their last win of the season), they’ve been outscored 163-56, with four of those games seeing the Giants score less than 10 points.
Not only have the Giants struggled to score in those games, but they’ve also failed to reach the end zone more than any other team in the NFL. Before Week 18, the Giants held the league’s worst red-zone conversion rate at 45.5 percent (a number that’s gone as low as 41.9 percent this year) and had scored a touchdown on just one of their 35 possessions.
Nothing is more telling of the Giants’ scoring woes than the fact that kicker Graham Gano finished the year as the team’s leading scorer (104 points). With the conservative approach on offense and their tendency to stall anytime they sniff the opponent’s 20-yard line, Gano has found himself having to be the Giants’ savior to prevent them from losing several games with a goose egg on the scoreboard.
Head coach Joe Judge proclaimed in his postgame press conference that one of the team’s top priorities this offseason is improving the offensive production so that they don’t become that team that has to blast a ball through the uprights from 50 yards deep to score points. If he is still the head coach of the Giants next season, he plans on tackling that objective head-on.
“I don’t think it takes much thinking to go ahead and list the offensive production as an obvious thing we’ve got to correct immediately around here,” he said.
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Jake Fromm’s Second Start
Following last Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears, the Giants learned that quarterback Mike Glennon suffered a wrist injury that ended his year a week premature of the season finale.
With Glennon joining Daniel Jones (neck) on the injured list, the Giants were left to start Jake Fromm, still relatively wet behind the ears, at quarterback for the second time in three weeks.
After throwing the rookie to the wolves in Philadelphia in Week 16 with an estimated 60 percent of the offensive playbook under his belt, the Georgia product’s second chance at leading the Giants offense was no more mesmerizing than his career debut.
Facing a stout Washington defense that allowed just 83 net passing yards on the afternoon, Fromm went 15 of 31 for 103 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He also finished with 53 rushing yards (on five carries) to lead the Giants.
In a contest that was merely an exchange of defensive blows for the entire first half, Fromm gave his best effort to try to lead the Giants through meaningful drives, but their season-long deficiencies were too much for the young quarterback to handle.
Behind repetitively atrocious blocking by the offensive line, Fromm and the Giants' offense struggled to move the ball anywhere in the first 30 minutes of competition. Four of their first five possessions were thwarted after three plays and no more than seven yards, contributing to a total offensive output of 48 yards at halftime.
Converting on third-and fourth-downs failure on numerous occasions, as the Giants found success only six times on 17 third-down attempts and twice on four fourth-down gambles.
The Giants offense never made Washington’s defense fear for a second that they were going to make the big, game-altering play. None of Fromm’s receiving weapons managed to scrape more than 30 yards of production, and their other two ball carriers not named Fromm—running backs Saquon Barkley and Devontae Booker—paired for just 44 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving.
It took the Giants until the 11:24 mark of the fourth quarter to finally catch Ron Rivera’s defense off guard. Trailing two scores and already having moved the ball 13 plays for 47 yards, Fromm took a deep shot for 22 yards and connected with receiver Darius Slayton in the end zone for the Giants' lone score of the day, Fromm's first career NFL passing touchdown.
Slayton finished with two catches for 29 yards to lead all receivers, his first touchdown since Week 2 when the Giants lost to Washington as the visitors.
To put the icing on top of another frustrating performance for Fromm, whenever it felt like they had something going or an opportunity to make a play, Washington's defensive pressure foiled it. Fromm was sacked three times for a total of 20 yards, and one of his costly interceptions resulted in a 30-yard pick-six by corner Bobby McCain, who finished with two interceptions.
It’s unfair to judge Fromm on his two starts based on the circumstances presented to him. At least he knows he handled it with class and integrity, and the future simply rests in improving his game from this year’s faults.
Antonio Gibson’s 1,000-Yard season
There’s been a notable trend developing in our postgame “numbers” analyses over the last few weeks, and that is that one section has been dedicated to a deserving stat from a player on the opposing team.
Last Sunday, it was Bears linebacker Robert Quinn who set the new Chicago Bears record for sacks in a single season, breaking former Super Bowl MVP Richard Dent’s record of 17.5 set in 1984 with his 18th takedown.
This week, Washington running back Antonio Gibson gets his moment in the enemy spotlight.
In his fourth career meeting with the Giants, Gibson ran the ball with authority to supercharge the Washington rushing attack that dominated the defense for a whopping 226 yards.
The 2020 third-round draft pick led all Washington rushers with 21 carries for a season-high 146 yards and a touchdown. He also averaged 7 yards per carry and had a long of 27 yards.
However, the moment that mattered for Gibson came in the fourth quarter when the running back surpassed an important milestone in his young career.
At the 9:24 mark of the final frame, with Washington leading 12-7, Gibson took a handoff from quarterback Taylor Heinicke and began his burst towards the left of his offensive line.
Cutting back and redirecting himself as he crossed the midfield NFL logo, the patience of Gibson found him an open running lane, and he took it for a nice run of 17 yards down to the Giants 29-yard line for the first down. With that rush, Gibson earned his first 1,000 yard rushing season.
One of the biggest critiques of Gibson’s game for most of this season has been cutback ability, something that has limited him from having a more impactful year from Washington’s backfield.
Yet, against the Giants' defensive front approaching exhaustion from trying to keep the team within a competitive reach, he showed that his ability to change direction has been a weapon hiding in his ball-carrying arsenal.
To make the day a little sweeter, Washington capped off their eight-play, 72-yard drive with Gibson scampering 18 yards into the end zone for the touchdown. The score was the 21st of Gibson’s career, helping him break Alfred Morris’s franchise record for touchdowns in his first two seasons.
Kenny Golladay: Zero Touchdowns
Among the many disappointments to come out of the Giants 2021 season, few are as shocking as the inaugural campaign from wide receiver Kenny Golladay.
The 2017 third-round pick of the Detroit Lions made a name for himself with back-to-back Pro Bowl-caliber seasons in the Motor City. In 2018 and 2019 (in which he did earn a Pro Bowl berth), Golladay became one of the league’s best deep-ball threats by securing consecutive 1,000-yard receiving efforts and notching a combined 16 touchdowns.
Injuries cut short his 2020 season, allowing him to play in just five games and record significantly lower numbers. However, the two emphatic years still made Golladay a valuable piece to any team’s roster once the receiver hit the free-agent market last offseason.
The Giants at least thought so, as they outbid their competitors, and handed Golladay a hefty 4-year, $72 million deal in March 2021.
Early expectations were for Golladay to become the team’s No. 1 receiving weapon and immediately impact the offense by giving quarterback Daniel Jones a viable option to throw to downfield and along the sidelines. High offensive production and a touchdown scoring threat were what the Giants envisioned for the partnership.
Since the signing, Golladay has had one of his worst seasons as a five-year professional.
He began by missing much of training camp due to a hamstring injury, which immediately compromised his chemistry with Jones.
Then, in Week 5, a 44-20 loss to the Cowboys, Golladay went down with a knee injury that caused him to miss four more games, the receiver not returning until Week 9.
Even when Golladay was on the field, he was never a real threat in the Giants' offense. Whether it was Jones, Glennon, or Fromm behind center, nobody could find the 6’4” receiver in the open field and cash in on his length and contested catch ability.
The Giants offense made attempts to get Golladay involved, yet similar results still occurred with a mix of lame production, and frequent dropped passes when the ball came in his direction.
Put all together, and the outcome was Golladay having only three games (out of 14 played) with four or more receptions and five with 50 or more receiving yards. His best performance of the year came in Week 4, the Giants' 27-21 overtime win against the Saints.
In that game, Golladay amassed six receptions for 116 yards. After that game, Golladay averaged around two receptions, 26 yards receiving, and 10.5 yards per catch.
The woeful outings continued Sunday as Golladay looked to end things on a strong note before entering an offseason full of much-needed work.
Playing with a Giants offense that got nothing going all afternoon, Golladay finished with three receptions on five targets for 22 yards and an average of 7.3 yards per. His biggest failure of the game—and ultimately the season— became the inability to find a way into the end zone.
By not having his hands involved in the team’s scoring for another weekend, Golladay ended his first season as a Giant with zero touchdowns.
He becomes one of six Giants receivers with at least six games played to hold a goose egg in the six-point category. It’s a disparaging number that will taint his first go-around with the Giants and leaves him searching for answers in the offseason.
"A lot goes into it,” Golladay said,
Whatever the reason, Golladay must figure out how to juice his production, ditch the scoring cobwebs and become the No. 1 receiving threat the Giants had hoped for him to be when they gave him his contract.
Even in his rookie season (11 games played), Golladay managed to score three touchdowns on fewer targets (48 compared to 76 this year) and receptions (28 compared to 37) in what amounted to 477 yards of production.
Surprisingly, Golladay finished the year as the Giants lead receiver with the aforementioned 37 catches for 521 yards and an average of 37.2 yards per contest.
Yet, he knows the team’s focus will be on improving the offense production from its dismal year, including upping the ante from the unacceptable numbers he left Week 18 with.
“Not good enough on my part," he said last week. "I expect more.”
So does everyone else, Kenny.
The Two Questionable QB Sneaks
Both Giants fans and the media have found a lot to criticize Joe Judge for in his second season, and one of their chief complaints has been the coach’s decision-making.
The beleaguered Judge has often fallen into the trap of burning valuable timeouts early in the half for one reason or another, leading to his team having to outrace the clock in the final minutes of a game to sneak in belated offensive production, even though the game was often out of reach.
Another area of dispute revolves around Judge’s conservative approach, particularly on fourth downs, where he’s been prone to select playing the field game rather than taking a risk or two in what has been for some time a lost season.
Then, there was a string of two questionable play calls Sunday that sent the lingering supporters at MetLife Stadium through the roof.
Late in the second quarter with Washington, up 3-0, they punted the ball and pinned the Giants deep in their own territory.
Taking over at their own 3-yard line with about five minutes left in the half, the Giants had to at least get themselves some breathing room for a likely punt to prevent Washington from having a favorable field position to score again before the break.
The Giants didn’t help themselves right away by having an incomplete pass to Elijah Penny and a subsequent false start penalty by the fullback. Suddenly, it was 2nd-and-11 from the 2-yard line, leaving Judge to have to pull from his bag of tricks to prevent the complete offensive disaster–punting from the back of the end zone.
Unfortunately, the cards drawn by the magician did not amuse the audience.
On 3rd-and-9, the Giants loaded up the backfield with two rushers and receiver behind Jake Fromm and had the quarterback push the ball up the gut for a gain of just two yards. The play call befuddled the Giants fans strong enough to stick around by that point in the game, sending them into an audible roar of booing from the upper decks.
Clearly unbothered by the poor reception, Judge told Fromm to run it back on fourth down. The second attempt resulted in a smaller gain of one yard, and the Giants ended up punting.
Judge was asked about his thought process going into the two play calls, and he explained that the move was all about giving space to the special teams unit and avoiding another terrible mishap like the one in Chicago that saw the Giants give up a safety to the Bears after being pinned at the start of their possession.
“Ultimately, we were backed up. I wanted to get some room, so we were going to push it forward," Judge explained after the game. "I wasn’t going to live through what happened last week in Chicago (when the Giants were dinged for a safety).
"We’re going to give ourselves room for the punt. We did that, made room for the punt, protected it. We covered well, and we played the field position game I wanted to play and held them on the next drive.”
If it gives any solace to upset Giants fans, Judge said they likely won’t have to see those formations called much in the future.
“Do we want to go ahead and do that every time we’re backed up? No. But that was a situation within the day that we were in, and I wanted to make sure that the things we had issues with last week in Chicago were not going to repeat itself.”
A promise for smarter play calling from the sidelines is certainly something positive Judge could have said. Still, there’s no guarantee that the boatload of coaching mishaps this season, including this one, will allow him to fulfill his word next year.
That decision now lies in ownership’s hands.
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