New York Giants Week 16: Not Good Enough

The New York Giants were supposed to be the bullies, the team that punched you in the mouth for 60 minutes, that represented the grittiness of the tri-state area, and the group that was committed to playing smart, tough, and fundamentally sound football.

But in two seasons under head coach Joe Judge, the Giants have looked more like a team that comes swinging with all it has at a bigger bully only to be held off by a stiff-arm as the bully reads a comic book while waiting for the Giants to tire out and go away.

For the second season, the Giants are going away all right. Fresh off a 34-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in which the offense, battered and bruised, but still with a fair amount of playmakers at its disposal, averaged 2.6 yards per play, 3.1 average rushing yards per attempt, and 2.3 yards per pass play.

No, those aren't typos, folks. That is the production the Giants offense generated on Sunday against an Eagles team that they initially had battled to a 3-3 halftime tie before letting Philadelphia blow the doors open in the second half.

"It’s not good enough. Point blank. I’m not going to make excuses and try to church it up," said head coach Joe Judge after the dust began to settle from the latest implosion.

"The reality is this – you play to win the game. You coach to win the game and to give the players an opportunity and a chance. While there are things in every game that you say are positive which you can build on and there are individual or unit performances where you say, ‘Okay this is what we’re looking for.’ Collectively it’s not good enough. So we have to do better next week.”

It's the same old song from Judge and his players, who stand there every week before the media trying to reconcile why they offense can't score, why there continue to be breakdowns at the worst possible times, such as a couple of poor punts on special teams or a 46-yard pass reception by receiver Devonta Smith.

And every week, all we're told is how well the team is practicing, how hard it is working and how dialed in the players are.

So what is it then? Why is this Giants team that is so dialed in and focused unable to compete on a level with other NFL teams?

The biggest reason is the very same reason why the entire program needs to be blown up and started from scratch. It's become a patchwork mess where the patches do not complement each other and at times clash.

Take, for instance, the offensive system. Weeks back, the feeling was that Jason Garrett was the problem because he wasn't getting the high-priced receivers involved as much as he should be, so he was sent packing.

What's happened since? Freddie Kitchens, Judge's hand-picked play-caller, has struggled with the same problem.

The Giants targeted their running backs nine times this week, and the trio of Barkley, Devontae Booker, and Eli Penny caught all nine of their combined targets. The tight ends were targeted eight times and caught five of those passes.

The receivers? They were targeted 25 times and combined to catch nine of those targets. And of those 25 targets, Toney had two receptions and Golladay zero when the game was still in reach?

Yeah, that seems to be money well spent this year, doesn’t it?

The offensive line? We know the sad story of that unit. And the running game? Why do the coaches continue to give a hobbled Saquon Barkley, who finished with a 2.1 yards per carry average this week (32 yards on 15 carries) over a healthier and more effective Devontae Booker, who averaged 4.5 yards a carry (27 yards on six rushes) is a mystery for the ages.

This poor showing by the Giants isn't all a result of injuries--part of it is, but not all. It's the coaching and the inability to string together play calls that make any kind of sense or that build off of one another.

The failures of this offense take their toll on a defensive unit that's not playing all that badly but which is human and ultimately does tire out when it's forced to be out there on the field for lengthy drives.

And it's the failure of the team's ownership, which according to a report by ESPN, is leaning toward bringing Judge and quarterback back next year even though general manager Dave Gettleman is expected to retire.

It's a mess from top to bottom, and barring further implosion of this team--not that it should have to come to that given how much the team has already imploded--Giants fans who have sat through nearly a decade of lousy football are potentially looking at at least another year or two or more of the same.

Some more thoughts...

1. There are many things the Giants have to change next year as an organization, and it’s hard to prioritize them all. But one thing that has quickly risen up the charts is how they approach the backup quarterback position.

I’ve mentioned before that the Giants, in declining to re-sign Colt McCoy, took a financial shortcut by which they got away with paying Mike Glennon a lot less than they had paid McCoy the year prior.

In retrospect, that was a huge mistake considering they have a starter in Daniel Jones who has yet to make it through a full season. And given those odds, it was likely just a matter of time before Jones would end up missing a significant chunk of a season.

We're seeing now what happens with subpar quarterback play. It takes a team out of any hope of sticking to a game plan or establishing a rhythm. Opponents can hone in on the running game by loading the box if a quarterback's accuracy is less than 50 percent (and yes, the receiving targets were getting open at times), and it thus becomes a struggle to move the chains.

The Giants, as of right now, don't have any cap space to add a quality veteran quarterback. But you can be certain that once they start scraping money together, a veteran is going to be high on the list.

2. Remember that touchdown play by Eagles receivers Devonta Smith that was double reviewed? Here is the official explanation by Walt Anderson, the supervisor in the New York location.

It was just a communication lapse on our part. We originally were seeing a heel down. So, the original communication between the replay booth and the referee was that it looked like it was going to be an expedited review. And I know the referees are trying to make those announcements quickly.

By the time we could say there are additional angles, he had already made that announcement. And then we said, no, we’re going to stop play and look at this because we had multiple angles relative to was it a continuous step. By rule, if the toe comes down first and then the heel comes down in one continuous step, then it’s out of bounds. But if there’s any kind of a drag with the toe, then that toe drag gets credit for the second step, in this case.”

Now that we all know, we can sleep tonight.

3. How easy was it for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and the offense? The Giants' top four tacklers were all from the defensive secondary--Julian Love (6 tackles), Logan Ryan (six tackles), Xavier McKinney (six tackles), and Jarren Williams (5 tackles).

When you see a team's leading tacklers all coming from the secondary, that means the opponent is getting some decent yardage per play, and that's not a good thing.

New York's offense struggles once again to sustain any drives.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) throws the ball as head coach Joe Judge looks on during OTA practice at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Friday, June 4, 2021, in East Rutherford. — Giants to Reportedly Retain Joe Judge, Daniel Jones -- But Should They? :: Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Changes are coming to the Giants organization--but but doesn't sound like it's the changes everyone is hoping for.

4. I admire Saquon Barkley for trying to gut out an ankle injury, but clearly, he’s suffering to the point where his production is a problem.

Entering this game, Barkley averaged 2.84 yards of contact per attempt, which is a career-low for him (not counting 2020, in which he only played in five quarters of action).

At the height of his career, Barkley, per Pro Football Focus, averaged 3.34 yards of contact per attempt, and that average has dropped every year since, as have the number of missed tackles he’s forced (40 as a rookie, 15 this season).

Next year will be a big one for Barkley to prove he is the same player who dazzled as a rookie—if he’s on the roster.

5. Want a few more numbers to chew on?

The Giants didn’t crack 100 yards until 10 minutes were left.
They averaged 2.6 yards per play.
Seven out of their 13 possessions consisted of three plays or less, and they averaged 2.3 yards per pass attempt—and they did all this despite winning the time of possession (barely) 30:52 to 29:08.
They finished with 182 net yards on offense.
They had just one trip (out of 13 drives) to the red zone (and converted that one red-zone attempt--hey, it's something!)
They have now been outscored 112-46 in their last four games and 55-16 in their last two.

Maybe things turn around next year, but until then, we still have two more weeks of this bad football to slog through.

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