New York Giants Week 5 Report Card: Really, Really Bad

Grading the New York Giants 31-16 loss to the Miami Dolphins

Offense: F

For a prime example of what the New York Giants offense should look like, take a gander at the Miami Dolphins, who racked up a whopping 524 yards and 31 points in only 24:01 of possession time. Chunk plays and staying out of third down were key for Miami's offense, which continues to operate at a historic pace.

The Giants? The offense has been a major disaster between their offensive line doubling as human turnstiles and their quarterback holding onto the ball too long. New York averaged 3.9 yards per play, which ain't get a lot done. They converted five of 17 third down attempts (29.4 percent), which won't get much done either.

Giants Shredded By Miami, 31-16

They were tackled for a loss on four plays, and that makeshift offensive line, which was on its fifth starting combination in as many weeks, allowed seven more sacks on top of the 11 it gave up last week. Add to that the fact that on one of the sacks, quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a neck injury, which, based on his postgame press conference, sounds similar to what cost him six games at the end of 2021, and this team's offense is a mess.

The saddest thing about this offense's historically bad performance thus far is that there appears to be no relief. The offensive line is beyond repair. The explosiveness we saw in the preseason has lacked (receiver Jalin Hyatt didn't get a single pass target this week). The running game is non-existent, and the coaching staff appears to have no answers on how to cover up the gaping holes on this side of the ball.

Daniel Jones Opens Up About His Neck Injury

Defense: D

Yes, the unit accounted for 10 of the team's 16 points--the Pick 6 by safety Jason Pinnock and then the interception by Bobby Okereke that set up a Graham Gano field goal. But this unit also gave up far too many chunk plays en route to allowing a whopping 524 yards of offense to the Dolphins.

The run defense continues to be a major issue--this week, it allowed 222 yards on the ground, an average of 9.7 yards per carry! Long runs of 76 and 23 yards were nestled in the batch, which simply cannot happen.

Bad angles were taken, and miscommunication among the players continued. And really, outside of Kayvon Thibodeaux, Okereke, and maybe Isaiah Simmons, who brought it series after series on the defense?

Special Teams: B

Other than for Graham Gano's missed 55-yard field goal that sailed wide left--the kick appeared rushed--this unit had a solid showing. Punter Jamie Gillan was solid, as his punts and the coverage efforts yielded zero return yards by the Dolphins. The Giants didn't get any punt return yards either and only had one kickoff return (out of five), which went for 20 yards, but you certainly can't say this unit cost this team the game.

Coaching: F

A year ago, this staff could do no wrong. Now? What exactly is it doing at practice and in meetings? The offensive line looks like a major mess, no matter what combination of veterans/youngsters they field. The quarterback remains a one-read signal caller who can't function when his first read is gone.

They don't even bother to get Jalin Hyatt involved for whatever reason, and the problems we've been seeing since Week 1 are STILL occurring. Again, what is this staff doing besides what head coach Brian Daboll has probably said now scores of times, "not a good enough job"?

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