New York Giants Progress Defined, Game Balls, An Encouraging Statistic and Some Leftovers from Week 5

“We’re making progress.”

We hear head coach Joe Judge say it every day, yet when the dust settles on game day, the scoreboard says otherwise.

So I went there. I asked Judge to define what he considers progress, and here’s what he said:

For me, it’s all video evidence. You can show someone a clip of what they did several games ago and a clip of what they’re doing yesterday on the same play, same technique, same type of matchup, and they can see the visual success of what they’re having. Maybe it’s something they did earlier in the week at practice that you had to correct, and it shows up in the game, and they do it well. It’s maybe something that they do well at practice, and they make a mistake in the game.

You have to show them where’s the disconnect? Why are we not executing this correctly, and how do we clean this up? Stats are a large part of the game for different reasons. But for me, if you get lost too much in the numbers, you could lose sight of what the real football is.

Unfortunately for Judge and the Giants, video progress doesn’t quite do much to quell the growing cries of outrage of the fan base who have suffered through nearly a decade of lousy football.

But with Judge and this coaching staff, there is reason to believe that’s coming, even if it’s not always evident on the field. For one, Judge and his staff are doing things I can’t ever remember previous Giants coaching staffs doing.

Like what, you ask?

The biggest thing is they’re not accepting the status quo. Whereas coaching staffs in the past might stick with an underperforming player until it was too late, this staff seems to be unafraid to swap out players who show they’re unable to get the job done. See Corey Ballentine and Isaac Yiadom at cornerback, Devante Downs at inside linebacker, and Julian Love at safety.

At the same time, Judge and his staff, based on their video evidence, know when to exercise patience with individual players. The best example of that would be quarterback Daniel Jones, who, per PFF, has been under pressure 97 times so for this season and who has thrown two of his interceptions as a result of that pressure.

Yes, Jones holds the ball too long at times, and yes, he still doesn’t appear to be seeing the entire field as well as he could. However, many of his struggles seem to be related to circumstances going on around him, including still learning the intricacies of this offense and how to adjust when things break down, which is probably why he’s getting a little more leeway than some.

Another thing Judge isn’t afraid of doing is casting aside a player’s pedigree. He’s said countless times that he doesn’t care where a player was drafted or what kind of contract he has; if the results aren’t there, the player is going to the bench.

That’s a stark change from years past where if a player was a draft pick, he was on scholarship regarding his roster spot, no matter how he played. (See Ereck Flowers as the most famous of the examples, and more recently, Julian Love, who didn't take any snaps on defense last week.)

Lastly, Judge’s willingness to play young players is something that Tom Coughlin famously had an aversion to when he was here. Judge’s philosophy has been simple: If you perform during practice, you’ll get game day snaps. See Matt Peart and Shane Lemieux as examples.

It’s a simple yet novel approach. And although it hasn’t yielded the desired results (yet), as hard as this might be to accept given the on-going string of Bad Blue Football, Judge has had to start from scratch with getting this team on the right track.

With that said, there’s a lot of football still to be played, and at some point, that video evidence that Judge’s trained eye is seeing on tape and during the practices that are closed to the media will have to find its way to gamedays. Pat Shurmur and Ben McAdoo, both of whom say their tenures go down in flames, both used to talk constantly about the progress made behind the scenes.

That will only get a coach so far. At some point, that progress needs to show up on Sundays. But for now, don’t expect Judge to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Game ball: Offense – WR Darius Slayton

After having a quiet start to the season in which at times he almost appeared to be an afterthought, Slayton saw a huge jump in his pass targets, a season-high 11.

He caught one of those passes for 129 yards, the second-highest yardage total of his young career. There weren’t any touchdowns in the batch—Daniel Jones didn’t throw any—but Slayton’s breakout game in this offense certainly is deserving of a more significant role down the line.

Game ball: Defense – CB James Bradberry

In the grand scheme of things, the Cowboys have far too many receivers who are borderline No. 1 types if not established No. 1s. But credit Bradberry for turning in another fine game, this time going mostly against Amari Cooper, who is a No. 1 receiver.

Cooper was targeted four times, three of which were against Bradberry, and of his two receptions, only one for eight yards game against the Giants' top cornerback, who helped make Cooper a non-factor.

Quote to Note

“Definitely disappointed. Definitely pissed off. We fought our butts off [Sunday] and didn’t come up on the winning end. Yeah, we’re pissed off and we’re hungry. We’re going to get right back to work and try to go get one. “ – Tight End Evan Engram

Final Thoughts

1. I’m still not sure what to make of quarterback Daniel Jones as I can't quite tell exactly how much of his issues are of his doing and how much are a result of his protection.

When I see Jones not looking at the entire field or missing wide-open receivers further down the field, is that a matter of Jones simply not looking, the play call, or the pressure?

Speaking of pressure, this last weekend, Jones was under pressure on 19 of 35 dropbacks (54%), per PFF. How exactly is a young quarterback who is supposed to function under that kind of pressure in a new system?

2. The Giants ended up targeting tight end Evan Engram twice in this game, and he caught one of those balls for 16 yards. I don’t know if that’s how it just worked out or if there is another reason behind it, e.g., two dropped passes this season and being the intended target on three of Daniel Jones’ interceptions.

It might have even been the result of Slayton being the hot hand this week, for all we know. Whatever the reason, it remains somewhat surprising at how underutilized Engram is in the passing game—he’s been targeted 31 times in five games and has 18 receptions.

Given all that, remember the Giants picked up the option year in Engram’s rookie contract. Again, I don’t know the reason behind Engram’s usage or lack thereof on pass routes.

But right now, while I understand why the Giants exercised Engram’s option year (it secures his services for at least one more season, which would make him easier to trade if they desire to do so), I can’t say I feel good about the decision to carry that type of contract on next year’s cap.

3. I’m not sure if this counts as "progress" in the eyes of those who read this, but the Giants have now led their opponent in time of possession the last two weeks. Both times they came within a whisper of winning the game.

So what? Well, if you’re of the “glass-half-full” school of thought, you could say that despite whatever deficiencies still exist on this roster—and there are plenty—that with a bounce here, one less penalty there, the Giants could have easily been 2-3 by now.

I know, “woulda coulda shoulda didn’t.” I say that all the time. Since the Giants got their collective backsides kicked by the 49ers B-team in Week 3, there has been an uptick in the competitive level.

They also haven’t given up, and they haven’t quit, even when circumstances might have tempted them to do so otherwise.

4. With each passing loss, the cries from the Giants' fan base to fire general manager Dave Gettleman grow louder. But for those of you hoping that John Mara dumps Gettleman during the season, I don’t see that happening during the season.

First, firing people in-season is not how the Mara and Tisch families usually work. Yes, I know they fired Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese before the season ended. If I were a betting woman, I'd guess that move was expedited by what I always viewed as an intentional “miscommunication” by the coaching staff regarding the plans at the time at quarterback.

Gettleman? He hasn’t been perfect—not even close, and he’ll probably be the first to admit to that. And there’s no question that his seat is heating up, nor should he be given a pass for what's transpired since he came back--no one with the organization should.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the Mara and Tisch families, they’ll look for reasons to keep someone rather than be quick to fire them.

John Mara, remember, refused to attach a win total to this season, saying he needed to see progress. That progress, hard as it might seem, has come in drips in drabs starting with the previous point made, and continuing with the play of the defense, the uptick in the special teams performance, and some flashes here and there on offense.

There are still problems that need to be solved. The offensive line isn’t solidified, and as such, the quarterback looks skittish. This team never replaced Odell Beckham Jr, a legitimate No. 1 receiver. They still don't have a long-term answer at the second cornerback and the offensive line right now still looks like an unmolded lump of clay.

Still, football is a team sport, and I suspect ownership won’t be as quick to fire a general manager if baby steps are being made under this coaching staff, which there appears to be.

Up Next

The Giants (0-5) return home to host the Washington Football Team (1-4), who is also struggling. The Giants open up as a 3-point favorite at home, the first time in a while the Giants have been favored by the oddsmakers.

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