New York Giants Week 17 Report Card: What Was That?
This Giants team is frustrating because you see a defense with an identity and an apparent belief in their system.
You also see an offense that doesn’t have an identity and continues to struggle to understand its role on the team.
This leaves one with significant questions, the primary being how there can be some redeeming qualities on this 2021 Giants team, yet you're still left with feelings of despair and hopelessness.
Let’s look at the grades from the 29-3 embarrassing loss to the Bears and see if we can't make sense out of things.
Rushing Offense: B+
This is the best the rushing offense has looked all season. More specifically, this is the best Saquon Barkley has looked running the ball.
It was not one long run that buoyed his performance--his longest run was 10 yards. But he managed to put forth his first 100-yard performance since 2019.
On an offense that looks hopelessly lost and in need of being completely blown up, this was a good sign. It was also the first time that Barkley outperformed backup Devontae Booker in a while.
Barkley rushed for 102 yards on 21 carries, and Booker added 46 yards on 18 carries. The run game is the only positive that can be pulled from this offense over the second half of the season. It gives fans hope that with a healthy offseason, Barkley could return to the form that made him one of the most explosive and productive backs in the NFL over his first two seasons in the league.
Passing Offense: F
This is the worst passing performance that the Giants have ever produced. They wanted to limit how much Mike Glennon had the ball in his hands, but even in the small number of times he was asked to have the ball, both he and the pass protection were ineffective.
On the first play of the game, the Giants went empty, and still, the Bears came crashing into the backfield. Instead of finding the hot, Glennon stood there almost perplexed looking and was hit hard, losing the handle on the ball, the turnover setting up the Bears' first score of the day.
After four straight runs (including a direct snap to Barkley) on their next possession, Glennon was given a chance to throw again. He tried to throw the ball to Kenny Golladay across the middle and was intercepted. That turnover set up another Bears score, and within the first minute or so of the game, the Bears had been spotted a 14-0 lead they never relinquished.
The game was essentially over after that, but Glennon and the passing offense would throw another interception, and the pass protection would surrender three more sacks.
At the end of the day, Glennon completed four passes. Only two went for 12 yards, and the other two passes thrown to Booker totaled zero yards. Twenty-four total passing yards and minus ten net passing yards made last week's pitiful showing against Philadelphia look like a great day.
New York Giants Week 17 Game Coverage
Rushing Defense: B+
The defense held David Montgomery and the Bear rushing offense to less than four yards per carry; Montgomery’s 64 yards on 22 carries is well below his usual output.
The Bears only amassed 87 yards on 27 carries. Montgomery reached the end zone twice on two-yard rushes, but he did not have any explosive rushes against a defense that has given up explosive runs in previous games this season.
Leonard Williams continued to be a dominant force, setting the defense's pace against the run as he finished with eight total tackles. Austin Johnson also came through with six total tackles. Linebackers Lorenzo Carter and Jaylon Smith were also disruptors in the run game and tallied five solo tackles.
When your team's linebackers and defensive linemen finish as the leading tacklers of the day, which was the case this week for the Giants, that usually means you've had a good showing.
Passing Defense: A
The defense performed very well against the pass. The pass rush only made it home twice. Smith recorded his first sack of the season and first with the Giants. Carter recorded the other sack, and the defense as a whole hit the quarterback five times.
The defensive backs were very sticky on the Bears receivers, as none of them could eclipse 70 yards, and the only receiver going over 40 yards was Darnell Mooney (69 yards).
The back half of the Giants defense was also able to limit the explosive plays that the Bears offense made through the air, and most importantly, nobody gave up big play touchdowns, and the defense was able to take the ball away twice.
Tae Crowder intercepted a gadget play where Montgomery tried to throw a pass. The other interception came on a deep ball across the middle where James Bradberry was able to pick off Dalton.
Special Teams: B-
That misjudged kickoff return by Pharoh Cooper was a killer as it led to a Bears score. Also, Keion Crossen had a penalty that didn't help matters.
Other than those two huge gaffes, one could say that the punt team performed well. Riley Dixon averaged 39 yards on his four punts and pinned one inside the 20-yard line. The punt coverage team stuff the one return opportunity the bears had.
The kickoff coverage team also did a great job corralling the returners on their two coverage attempts. Kicker Graham Gano added another field goal (38 yards) to his season total.
Coaching: D
In weeks past, you could take the defensive grades and offensive grades and average them for the coaching grade, but that doesn’t fly this week. The offensive choices and in-game decisions were so poor that it crippled any chance the team had of winning.
Congratulations to the defense and their coaching staff as they continue to hold things down for the team. Even after continuing to be put in the worst situations imaginable, they have not thrown in the towel, and they continue to fight.
The offense is an entirely different story. The decision to start Mike Glennon was silly at best. You know what you have in Glennon, but do you know what you have in Jake Fromm after just one start and one garbage-time series before that?
We have seen plenty of young quarterbacks struggle in a game that goes on to improve when given the opportunity. If Fromm struggled again, they could always go back to Glennon, so why not just throw caution to the wind and see if Fromm is a potential keeper?
We liked how the coaches sought to lean on the running game on offense, as with Glennon behind center, that made sense. It also helped that Barkley was running well.
While this might sound weird since we've been calling for Booker to get more touches--and we did so only because there was no hot hand--in this case, Barkley quickly established himself as the hot hand, and we would have been fine had the team stuck with him. It is almost as though the coaching staff doesn't believe in the concept of riding the hot hand at the position.
And why would this team ever go empty? Any time you see the Giants go empty, you can almost predict something bad is about to happen. It is not a strength for the offensive line, and they don’t have enough healthy, quality receivers to make it worth it.
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