Vikings Manhandle Undermanned Giants, 28-10

No running game and a makeshift group of linebackers made for a very bad combination for the Giants, who fall back down to earth.

East Rutherford, N.J. -- If the Giants were looking to use this weekend's game as a barometer for how far they've come since changing quarterbacks, the answer is not very.

New York was outmuscled on both offense and defense by a Vikings team that seemed to do whatever it wanted at will.

On offense, rookie quarterback Daniel Jones was pounded by a swarming defense that logged eight hits and 4.0 sacks in holding Jones and the Giants to just 211 net yards of offense.

The Giants' defense was even worse, allowing 490 net yards, including 279 net yards passing to a Vikings offense that had been struggling of late. Quarterback Kirk Cousins, who last week was thought to be at the root of receiver Adam Thielen's frustration.

Cousins made up for it by continually targeting him in the passing game. Thielen responded by catching seven out of his eight pass targets for 130 yards and two touchdowns, both coming on a crossing route as the Giants undermanned linebacker unit missing three starters had no answers for the shallow crossing routes.

The also had no answers for the Vikings running game, which finished with 211 rushing yards, 132 of those coming from Dalvin Cook, who ran the ball 21 times.

The Giants lost running back Wayne Gallman to a concussion in the first quarter.

The Giants finished with 64 yards on 20 carries, relying on rookie Jon Hilliman who rushed for 20 yards on nine carries and fullback Eli Penny, who had 15 yards on three carries.

The Giants won't have much time to make corrections after this one as they'll have to pack up and head to New England for a Thursday night game against the Patriots.

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