New York Giants Week 2 Hits & Misses
The Giants’ late comeback attempt fell short against the Chicago Bears, as New York fell to 0-2 to start the year for the eighth time in the last nine seasons and the fourth season in a row.
When a team loses, obviously, no one played well enough to earn a merit badge, but with that said, there were some performances worth applauding, and then there were some in which the players involved would probably just as soon forget about.
The Good:
CB James Bradberry
James Bradberry delivered four tackles and four pass deflections, one of which resulted in a turnover for fellow defensive back Julian Love. He also picked off a pass that set the Giants up with decent field position.
Bradberry looked like a lockdown corner, particularly against Bears receiver Allen Robinson. In six pass targets in which Bradberry was assigned to cover Robinson, the receiver only caught one for 14 yards.
One of those pass targets saw Bradberry rip the ball out of Robinson's grasp for the turnover, capping a solid overall day by the Giants No. 1 cornerback.
TE Evan Engram
Coming off a rough first game in which he couldn't do anything right, tight end Evan Engram bounced back six receptions for 65 yards.
It wasn't a perfect showing--Engram slipped on a route, the pass by Daniel Jones ending up being picked off. But he did come up with some clutch catches, including two significant third-down conversions.
When receiver Sterling Shepard left the game with a toe injury, Engram moved to the slot, a position that seems to fit him like a hand in glove.
He caught two out of three passes from the slot for 30 yards, making him the most productive yards wise of the Giants slot receivers in Week 2.
Edge Lorenzo Carter
For the second straight week, outside linebacker Lorenzo Carter had a strong outing, racking up his first sack of 2020 and four additional tackles, including a tackle for a loss.
Carter is playing fundamentally sound football under defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, doing a good job of setting the edge and disrupting the pocket consistently.
The third-year edge rusher is starting to look like the player he was expected to blossom into a season ago and has been an early bright spot thus far on defense.
The Not-so Good:
CB Corey Ballentine
Second-year cornerback Corey Ballentine had a rough first half allowing a 15-yard touchdown grab to rookie receiver Darnell Mooney.
To be fair, Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was given all day to throw by the Giants’ defense, which allowed Mooney to get open, but that Ballentine couldn't hold his coverage was a problem.
Ballentine also yielded an 18-yard reception to tight end, Jimmy Graham. He finished with a 158.3 rating in Week 2.
Ballentine, who started at right cornerback the last two games, likely appears headed for a reduced role moving forward. That he only saw 29 of the team's 65 snaps on defense, yielding the way to Logan Ryan and Isaac Yiadom could very well be a sign of things to come.
QB Daniel Jones
Quarterback Daniel Jones did not have an easy assignment on Sunday after star running back Saquon Barkley suffered a torn ACL in the second quarter, and Sterling Shepard was ruled out with a toe injury.
To be fair, Jones had a mixed bag of a showing. That fumble on the strip-sack occurred when his first option was taken away down the field, though Jones needs to stop patting the ball as removing that other hand from the ball for even a split second leaves the ball susceptible to a turnover, which is what happened in this case.
Jones also missed Shepard on a simple in-cut on a 3rd-and-5, forcing a punt, and on the interception to Engram in which the tight end slipped, Jones was guilty of trying to force the ball into a tight window.
Jones didn't exactly have a clean pocket, and give him credit for coming darn near close to leading a fourth-quarter comeback. Unfortunately, he just ran out of time.
WR Darius Slayton
It's still early in the year, but worth noting is that Darius Slayton has two dropped balls in two games (out of 14 pass targets) after having three drops all of last year in 14 games. Just something to keep an eye on.
Speaking of drops, his drop this week came on a third-down play inside the Giants’ 20-yard line forcing the Giants to settle for a field goal.
And for what it's worth, after logging an impressive 116.7 rating last week, that number fell back down to earth to a pedestrian 66.7 rating. This week, Slaytonwas covered by four different defensive backs and not really standing out against any of them in what was a quiet game for the second-year man.
WR Golden Tate
Putting Tate in this category might be a little unfair considering it was his first game back from a hamstring that sidelined him for multiple weeks, but like Jones, Tate had a mixed bag.
He only managed seven yards after the catch of his 47 yards receiving. Again, it's fair to wonder if the hamstring, while good enough for him to play, was still a bit of an issue.
On the last play of the third quarter, Tate caught a slant route over the middle, where he's been fearless. That was a good reception for the veteran receiver.
In the fourth quarter, he snagged a ball thrown underneath and tried to get to the first down marker, but he was stopped two yards short, again there being a question if his hamstring affected his explosiveness.
The offensive pass interference call at the end of the game was a legitimate one, and a penalty committed that we're not so sure needed to be committed.
