New York Giants Week 12 Report Card: Yep, We'll Take It

The Giants won their second straight game over the Philadelphia Eagles thanks to a stellar defensive effort.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Nov 29, 2021 8:00 AM EST

On a day where the New York Giants honored Hall of Fame defensive end Michael Strahan by retiring his No. 92 jersey, the defense delivered a strong enough performance to make up for yet another sputtering offensive showing.

Let's dive into the grades.

Rushing Offense: D

New offensive play-caller, same results. The Giants finished with 70 rushing yards on 27 carries and many runs in between the tackles, which went nowhere. Did the coaches perhaps forget to consult the scouting report, which would have told them the Eagles are difficult to run against when you try to attack them between the tackles? Saquon Barkley had his requisite big run that went for 32 yards but otherwise managed eight yards on 12 carries, which, while not all his doing, he does need to take his share of the blame for not putting his shoulder down and trying to move the pile. The Giants allowed six tackles for a loss this week--not good.

Passing Offense: D

The good news is there were no turnovers. Otherwise, despite a few minor tweaks being made, the passing offense looked as dull as it did when Jason Garrett called the plays. Daniel Jones finished 19 of 30 for 202 yards and one touchdown and was sacked only once, but three red-zone passes to Kenny Golladay came up empty, and Golladay only managed to haul in three of his seven pass targets for 50 yards.

Run Defense: B

Sure, the Eagles ran for 200+ yards again as an offense --208 yards, to be precise. But other than their lone scoring drive where they were gashing the Giants run defense on the ground, the Giants did a respectable job to keep the Eagles in check. They even clipped the wings of Boston Scott, who has been a thorn in their side. Scott's touchdown was nullified due to a penalty, and the Giants were able to force a fumble against Scott in the fourth quarter that snuffed out another Eagles scoring drive.

Passing Defense: A

The Eagles got a little too cute with their game plan, deciding to let quarterback Jalen Hurts be a quarterback rather than a runner. That didn't quite work out as the Giants made it their mission to disrupt Hurts every chance they got, forcing three errant throws that Giants defenders picked off. Hurts finished with a passer rating of 17.5, going 14 of 31 for 129 yards, no touchdowns, and three interceptions. Solid job by rookie Aaron Robinson, who stepped up after the Giants lost Adoree' Jackson and Darnay Holmes to injury.

Special Teams: B

Graham Gano had another miss, this one from 51 yards, and Riley Dixon delivered a clunker of a punt on his final attempt, a punt that set the Eagles up on their 41-yard line with plenty of time to drive down the field for a game-winner. Thank goodness for the defense which shut the Birds down. Not much in the return game on this one, as Pharoh Cooper had one punt return opportunity for nine yards and one kickoff return for 22-yards. The coverage teams were solid, holding the Eagles to 18 yards per kickoff return and 4.5 yards in punt returns.

Coaching: B+

The switch to Freddie Kitchens as the play-caller didn't change the final output--points, red zone, third down, etc.--as the offense struggled to score and, at times, move the ball. Patrick Graham rolled out a strong game plan after the Bucs humiliated his defense last week. Graham schemed to take DeVonta Smith out of the equation by bracketing him, and the result was the receiver caught two of his four pass targets for 22 yards.