New York Giants Week 14 Report Card: Solid

The grades are in for the New York Giants’ 24-22 Week 14 win over the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

Offense: B

The legend of "Tommy Cutlets" continues to grow, and oh, what a story this undrafted rookie free agent is authoring. Initially destined to spend his first NFL season developing on the practice squad, Cedar Grove’s own Tommy DeVito was thrown into the pool's deep end following injuries to Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor and left to sink or swim.

The scrappy DeVito chose to swim, and currently, he’s enjoying a three-game winning streak, the latest of which came against a potential playoff team in the Packers. DeVito not only authored his first come-from-behind victory but also completed 80 percent of his pass attempts (17 of 21) for 158 yards and one touchdown.

He also ran for 71 yards on ten carries, delivered yet another pristine ball security game, and avoided being sacked, the first time this year a Giants quarterback was not sacked at least once.

New York was three-of-four in the red zone and two-of-two in goal-to-go efficiency, always positive developments. Ater a sluggish start to the running game, the Giants ended dup getting on track, finishing with 209 net yards on the ground.

The 32-yard strike to Wan’Dale Robinson set the table for Randy Bullock’s game-winning field goal, and the paying customers who donned blue left very happy. And good for Isaiah Hodgins, who has been something of an afterthought this year, for coming up with a big 8-yard touchdown catch toward the edge of the end zone.

The rest of the offense had its moments, both good and bad. A rare lost fumble by Saquon Barkley looked like it might doom the Giants’ slim playoff hopes after the running back tripped and lost the handle on the ball.

The Giants had some issues converting on short yardage thanks to a penalty against Sean Harlow that turned a 3rd-and-1 into a 3rd-and-long that went nowhere. And the Giants only managed to convert 30 percent of their third-down attempts. It wasn’t perfect, but in the end, the Giants almost doubled their season scoring output in this one, and they did get the win, so we’ll take it.

Defense: B

Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale’s unit picked up where it left off before the bye with more relentless and physical play aimed at frustrating young quarterbacks. Packers quarterback Jordan Love hadn’t thrown an interception in his three games before meeting the Giants, but New York, who has been on a tear of late with forcing turnovers, got him to throw one to safety Jason Pinnock.

Running back A.J. Dillon only managed 53 yards on 15 carries, barely impacting the game. Kayvon Thibodeaux recorded his third straight game with at least a half-sack, while fellow outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who has mostly been invisible this season, came up with a half-sack of his own.

That said, the defense had some hiccups, such as on a 35-yard catch by Dillon in which Pinnock was fooled and a 43-yard catch by tight end Tucker Kraft in the fourth quarter when the middle of the field was wide open.

The Giants also looked unorganized on Jayden Reed’s 16-yard touchdown, which broke the scoreless deadlock in the first quarter, and Cor’Dale Flott was called for pass interference on a drive that led to a Packers field goal. There were also a few missed tackles in the batch, and it's always a curious sight when your team's leading tackler is a cornerback (Deonte Banks, 2 total tackles), but the defense prevailed.

Special Teams: C

The good? Randy Bullock’s 37-yard game-winning field goal and Darnay Holmes’s force of a muffed punt recovered by the Giants. Also, throw in the toughness shown by returner Gunner Olszewski, who was whacked hard and looked seriously hurt, only to shake it off and finish the game.

Jamie Gillan had another solid week of punting, as his coverage team limited the Packers to two returns for seven yards. And outside linebacker Benton Whitley, who has taken snaps from Boogie Basham, made the big recovery on the muffed punt.

The bad? Bobby McCain failed to get out of the way of a live ball during a punt that hit him and was recovered by the Packers despite a teammate yelling, “Fire!” Bullock was wide right on a 48-yard field goal in the first half, which looked like it might be the difference in the game for a while as the clock began to wind down.

And what on earth was Lawrence Cager thinking on the Packers kickoff near the end of the first half? The ball was well on its way to going out of bounds, and all Cager, who stood by guarding the ball from being recovered by the Packers, had to do was put one foot out of bounds so that if he made contact with the ball, it would have been a Packers penalty. Instead, the ball hit him in bounds before squirting over to the sideline. While the brain blip didn’t impact the game negatively, that’s a case of needing to play smarter.

Coaching: A

It wasn't that long ago that this Giants team was being left for dead by those who began dreaming of a top-two draft pick in April. But Brian Daboll and his staff had other ideas. They stuck to their famed "processes" and kept the locker room together.

They seemingly have weathered some storms brought about the losing. With the win over the Packers, a team that no one can say is in the same category as the struggling Commanders or Patriots, this scrappy Giants team is now one game out of the playoff hunt with at least two winnable games on deck, including this coming weekend against the New Orleans Saints.

It's not quite on the same level as last year's job, but credit goes to the coaching staff for banding together, getting guys ready to play, and getting the most out of what they have.

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