Takeaways from New York Giants' 20-12 Win vs. Chicago

The Giants are 3-1 to start the season. Who'd have thunk it?

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Oct 3, 2022 11:28 AM EDT

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The New York Giants stand 3-1 after the first month of the 2022 season, a mark that many who predicted this Giants team wouldn't win more than four games probably didn't see coming.

What's even more impressive about the record so far is that the Giants have endured injuries at key positions, and they're functioning without a stellar group of receivers. Yet, every game they've played, they've been in it until the end, their lone loss (against Dallas) being a seven-point difference.

How is this possible? Simple: Coaching.

Brian Daboll, a first-year NFL head coach, might come across as a laid-back dude who, much like y our neighbor, is someone you wouldn't mind having a cold beer with on a hot summer afternoon. But behind that demeanor is an intense personality who leaves nothing to chance and who, much like his one-time boss Bill Belichick, makes sure every I is dotted, every T is crossed.

That personality type usually makes the best coaches because football can be unpredictable. For example, who among us saw the Giants losing not one, but both quarterbacks in the Giants' 20-12 win over the Chicago Bears?

So what did Daboll do when that happened? Well, what he didn't do was blink or panic. He didn't call for consecutive kneel-downs to bring up a punting situation. He simply went into his playbook and pulled out some Wildcat plays that, since arriving in East Rutherford and working with the players, the coaching staff decided to toss into their bag of tricks.

Running back Saquon Barkley, who at that point had himself quite the day as a rusher, stepped in as the Wildcat quarterback, taking the snaps from center. On the first, he ran for four yards behind the left guard. On the second, he handed it off to fellow running back Matt Breida, who picked up one yard.

The yardage might not seem like a lot, but it was enough to get kicker Graham Gano closer on a successful field goal attempt that ended up being 43 yards.

“I felt like I was a little kid in the backyard playing football,” Barkley gushed after the game about his unexpected role.

Credit to Daboll for showing the confidence in the players to get it done and continue moving the chains despite holding a 17-12 lead at the point where starting quarterback Daniel Jones suffered an ankle injury and Tyrod Taylor suffered a concussion.

“I just think that’s what you do in a leadership position,” Daboll said after the game when asked about his adapting on the fly. “You don’t panic. You try to stay composed. You try to give people a plan that they can go out and execute and believe in when they need to do it.”

That's what good coaches do, and that's why the Giants, despite the injuries, performance issues, salary cap woes, etc., are currently sitting here with a 3-1 record.

Here are a few additional thoughts and takeaways...

1. The Giants notched their third with of the season on October 2. That's the earliest they've done, just beating the 2014 season when their third win came on October 5.

What was particularly satisfying about this win is that the Giants did it by overcoming adversity. Between the injuries piling up left and right, the question marks surrounding the receivers group (which turned out to be a non-factor given the game plan), and any lingering concerns about the run defense, head coach Brian Daboll's scrappy group got it done.

And how did the Giants, who wore their legacy uniforms this week, a nod to the great teams of the 1980s, get it done? Right, by pounding the rock, much like their predecessors used to do.

The Giants, owners of the 25th ranked run defense, held the league's No. 2 ranked rushing offense entering this week's game to 149 yards on 32 carries, with no one rush exceeding 16 yards. Oh, and the Giants easily took advantage of the league's 30th-ranked run defense.

The Giants' 262 yards was their highest rushing yardage since they ran for 308 yards vs. Carolina on December 21, 2008. The Giants’ 44 rushing attempts was their highest total since they had 44 in Washington on December 31, 2017 (260 yards).

And their 6.0 average yards per carry was their highest total with at least that many carries since December 23, 2007, when they averaged 6.1 yards (289 yards on 47 attempts) at Buffalo.

2. In case it wasn't clear, the Giants are the hands-down winners in the Odell Beckham Jr trade with Cleveland after the 2018 season.

Sure, safety Jabrill Peppers, obtained in that trade, is no longer with the team. And yes, the jury is still out on Oshane Ximines, the player selected with the third-round the Browns sent the Giants in the deal who seems to have found his footing after an injury-filled second season and being banned to the inactive list last year by the previous coaching staff.

But is there any question that defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence has made that deal well worth it for the Giants? Lawrence, drafted with the No. 17 overall pick in that draft, entered this week's game with 11 tackles and tied for the lead in quarterback hits (4) with Ximines.

Lawerence posted a dominating performance against the Bears in which he recorded two of the Giants' five sacks and logged five tackles. The two sacks marked a new career-high for the defensive lineman, who now leads the Giants' defense in sacks.

Lawrence credited the group effort for the pass rush success. "Honestly, just rushing as a group. Keeping (Bears quarterback Justin Fields) in the pocket--he had a lot of yards kind of escaping through little gaps and things like that. So, our plan was just to condense the pocket on him. He was holding the ball for us, and we got him."

They sure did, and Lawrence led the way.

3. How far have the Giants receivers fallen, you ask? David Sills was the first of the receivers to record a reception with 44 seconds left in the first half. (SIlls had a 17-yard reception earlier int he second quarter wiped out by a penalty.)

That's right, three different Giants receivers-- Sills, Kenny Golladay, and Richie James--were targeted in the first half of play (one pass target apiece), yet only Sills came down with a reception that counted.

Head coach Brian Daboll mentioned that the run=heavy display we saw Sunday was part of the game plan, but I have to believe that if the Giants had gotten better performances from their receivers, they might have thrown more balls to that position group.

What's sad is that at the start of camp, this group looked to be so deep. These days, not so much so, as receiver has quickly shot to the top of the to-do list for general manager Joe Schoen to address in the off-season.

4. For all the bashing people have done of inside linebacker Tae Crowder, the man deserves some props this morning, given how he rebounded from a forgettable showing against Dallas on Monday night.

Crowder finished with a team-leading 11 tackles that included a sack and several well-timed and effective inside blitzes. He was often in the right place at the right time with his run-game fills. The coaches wisely dialed back some of Crowder's coverage responsibilities as he still doesn't always do a good job of sniffing out screens or taking the proper depth on his drops, but give credit where it's due.

Crowder's 11 tackles, by the way, were close to the line of scrimmage rather than several yards downfield. It was as strong as a performance as he's had this season, and he, along with teammate Dexter Lawrence II, deserves a deferensive gameball.

5. Another guy who deserves mad props (even though he's gotten them more often than Crowder) is left tackle Andrew Thomas. If Thomas remains healthy and doesn't get Pro Bowl and All-Pro consideration this year, something is very wrong.

Thomas held Bears edge rusher Robert Quinn (1 assisted tackle) to just one quarterback hit on the day, but his run blocking was a work of art on display. Thomas was sealing with power while also getting movement on drive blocks and blocking down on the Bears inside guys.

At the second level, Thomas did a stellar job of picking off linebackers who came at him. An offensive lineman rarely wins "NFC Offensive Player of the Week," and the voters will likely consider Barkley's performance more. Still, Thomas played another lights-out game manning the quarterback's blindside.

6. A few thoughts on some of the snap counts. At receiver, Richie James saw his snaps drop on offense to a season-low 21. That's less than what Kenny Golladay (27) received before his knee injury. But James had the highest pass targets (3) among the receivers.

Meanwhile, David Sills (41) and Darius Slayton (39) led the way among the Giants receivers for the highest snap counts. Both had two pass targets as the Giants put more emphasis on the running game this week.

Because the Giants went run-heavy--they ran a lot of 12- and 13-personnel-- their tight ends saw their most snaps of the season. Chris Myarick finished with 41 snaps, Daniel Bellinger with 39, and Tanner Hudson with 37 snaps.

Defensively, Dexter Lawrence continues his strong season by being available to fill multiple roles. Lawrence was on the field this weekend for a whopping 94 percent of the snaps, right behind Tae Crowder and Xavier McKinney, who never left the field. Credit to Lawrence for working on his conditioning to ensure his availability for as many snaps as needed.