Giants Offense Grades: Winston, Nabers and Likely Rally in 27-27 Tie vs. Washington

Jameis Winston threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns in the rain, but it wasn’t enough as the New York Giants escaped from Northwest Stadium with a 27-27 overtime tie against the Washington Commanders.

The Giants’ offense played a tale of two halves, managing just 77 net yards in the first half before the coaches shifted to a more drop-back approach after the break, which produced 240 net yards in the second half of regulation.

The second half also saw some of the Giants’ playmakers who had been nonfactors in the first 30 minutes come alive. Those included tight end Isaiah Likely, who contributed two touchdowns to help the Giants erase a 14-point deficit, and receiver Malik Nabers, who delivered the game-tying score with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter.

The Giants’ ground game remains an enigma, finishing with just 3.7 yards per carry as Washington committed to shutting down the run and forcing Winston to beat the Commanders through the air in sloppy, rainy conditions.

It wasn’t the win the Giants were hoping for, but the tie does increase their lead in the division to 1.5 games, a better outcome than a loss would have been.

Here is how each offensive player graded out against the Commanders, from the quarterbacks through the offensive line.

Quarterback

Jameis Winston

Winston has been this team’s starting quarterback for three weeks now, and each game has been a “weather” game. His offense has scored 12, 30, and 27 points. He should be 3-0 if not for Cam Skattebo’s backbreaking fumble.

After a slow start, Winston’s arm came alive, as he threw three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also threw for 326 yards on a day better suited for ducks.

After a very sluggish first half, in which the offense lost most every battle at the line of scrimmage, Winston came out on fire in the second half, and he did it without a running game.

Talk about clutch: all three of his touchdown throws came in that second half, the final one with 1:43 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game 27-27.

Admittedly, Winston contributed to the early-game mess with poor pocket awareness that led to the game’s two sacks. After his sack/fumble at the end of the first half, when he should have fallen on the ball instead of trying to pick it up, Winston wasn’t sacked a single time.

In the second half, the Giants seemed more aligned with what the Commanders’ defense was doing, and Winston started getting the ball out of his hands more quickly.

As for the deep ball, New York completed three of 11 attempts in that area. Until the deep ball plays a bigger role on offense, defenses will keep attacking the line of scrimmage and mucking up the running game.

J.J. McCarthy

All of McCarthy’s half-dozen snaps were gadget plays, and one drew a facemask penalty on Washington. His two runs went for two yards.

His lone pass was a receiver screen on which he showed off his fast release and strong arm; the completion to Nabers went for 14 yards, but an illegal shift nullified it.

It was interesting how the coaches forced him into the QB rotation so quickly. The coming weeks might be even more interesting, but only if Winston struggles.

Running Backs

Cam Skattebo

It looked like Skattebo was running in place throughout a first half in which he had 12 yards on six carries and nothing through the air.

On the first possession of the second half, he had runs of 7 and 4 yards, his two longest runs of the day to that point. He also threw a couple of positive pass blocks, an area that needed to improve.

He didn’t get a single touch on that big third-quarter drive. In fact, he didn’t come alive until the second overtime series.

His 19-yard run on 3rd-and-2 on a wide toss was a nice change of pace, given how Washington had been packing it in between the tackles all game long.

Runs of 9 and 5 yards set up the offense at the two-minute warning, but on the very next snap, Skattebo allowed the ball to get punched out of his grasp for the backbreaking turnover. It was a great play by the defense, but his third fumble in five games should be setting off alarms in the Giants’ coaching room.

A lack of speed at the position is another big red flag this organization needs to address in the offseason.

Najee Harris

Harris looked just as sluggish as the starter early on as the O-line could not sustain its blocks. Harris managed only nine yards on five carries and five yards on one reception in his rotation role.

The second half was a passing man’s paradise, which limited Harris’s playing time, and he was barely utilized throughout the fourth quarter and overtime.

Tyrone Tracy

Tracy also did not get much going from scrimmage this week, finishing with six yards on three carries. But his two catches for 25 yards should be a harbinger of things to come.

The Giants need a third-down back, and Tracy should have the job. For the last two weeks, his pass-blocking has been superb.

His fourth-down, 21-yard checkdown scamper was one of the second half’s bigger plays. It remains to be seen whether that will be enough for Tracy to start getting most of his snaps on passing downs.

Receivers

Malik Nabers

It’s impressive that Nabers has topped 100 receiving yards the last two weeks, in bad weather no less. And yet people, or more specifically Nabers himself, are saying he doesn’t look like himself yet.

Yes, he’s returning from knee surgery, but he's really picked it up over the last two weeks, with 112 yards on six receptions last week and 121 yards on 11 receptions this week.

He scored a touchdown each week, including a clutch, deep middle route this week that tied the game at 27-27 late in the fourth quarter.

Nabers couldn’t get to one deep ball, and people are still waiting to see more explosiveness. He’s “killing it” in the intermediate areas, with his longest catch a 28-yarder in overtime that set up the offense for the game-winning field goal that never came.

He also had earlier receptions of 14, 16, 18, and 20 yards as he did what most secondaries do these days: keep things in front of them and allow intermediate catches.

The Giants’ WR1 has played a big role in the last two games, and it boggles the mind to think there could be more.

Malachi Fields

One part of this offense that is crying for attention is the ability this big rookie brings to the field. All he does is catch everything thrown his way, much like Likely catches everything in sight.

Fields didn’t get his first target until early in the third quarter, when he made a defender miss and took it for 13 yards, gaining five after contact and setting up a 3rd-and-2.

On the fourth-quarter game-tying drive, Fields took a 7-yard catch past the marker for a huge first down. These were his only two targets on the day.

His efficiency is off the charts. Since he’s on the field so much for his blocking, you would think the coaches and his quarterback might start looking his way a bit more.

As for his blocking, Fields needs to be more aware of the heavy pressure opposing corners put on the Giants’ running game and get a piece of his man, since those edge defenders are really in attack mode out there.

Darnell Mooney

This veteran received a healthy seven targets, more than half of them deep, but he caught only the two short ones for 7 yards each.

A third catch came on a gadget play from McCarthy, an actual 5-yard loss, but Mooney was poked in the face on the play and had to leave the game for a handful of plays.

He did drop a pass on a subsequent broken play, with the ball behind him in the wet conditions. Mooney returned after leaving and finished the game.

Tight Ends

Isaiah Likely

It felt like Likely caught about 20 balls out there, but his actual numbers were 11 receptions for 94 yards and two scores. After struggling to get in tune with Winston, this week was the first game in which the two looked in sync.

Once again, he didn’t drop a single pass, even though Likely had his fair share of lunging and low pass targets to execute in the pouring rain. He truly does have amazing hands.

He defeated Washington’s coverage most of the day in every way possible. His two touchdowns came from 3 yards out on a 3rd-and-goal in the back of the end zone and on a 4th-and-8, 16-yard catch-and-run, with the ball punched out just as Likely broke the plane for the score.

This offense’s two-headed monster of Nabers and Likely has now been established. Now it’s time to spread the ball around to some of the other skill players.

Chris Manhertz

Getting a smattering of snaps on running downs, Manhertz was one of many Giants blockers who couldn’t consistently sustain their run blocks.

Theo Johnson

Getting reintroduced to the offense after last week’s huge (and difficult) touchdown catch, Johnson caught two of his three targets (no drops) for a healthy 35 yards.

Both plays came in the fourth quarter with the defense focusing on that two-headed monster. The second catch, the 14-yarder, was tougher, as the quarterback got the ball out of his hand quickly while Johnson was still turning his head.

Johnson did well to latch onto the throw, which was also slightly behind him. His blocking was average, but these two catches were big.

Patrick Ricard

Getting his typical workload, Ricard had a few big wins in the run game, but there were too many losses in the pit behind where he attacked the second level.

Offensive Line

Andrew Thomas

Struggling again with his run-blocking (Thomas has been battling a painful groin injury), the starting left tackle landed a handful of robust hits, but most of those efforts didn’t register.

Thomas’s pass-blocking was very good all game until late, when he really struggled to handle Washington’s edge pass rushers.

He didn’t allow any sacks, but there was certainly leakage.

Of note, on Skattebo’s 5-yard run on 3rd-and-3 at the two-minute warning of overtime, Thomas threw his best run block of the day.

Jermaine Eluemunor

Pitching another shutout with another superb pass-blocking game, Eluemunor was as bad as any of his mates with his run-blocking.

It was a tough day to scheme against a Commanders defense that is much more vulnerable through the air, but the bad weather kept the Giants banging their heads against the run-defense wall Washington built all game long.

Eluemunor suffered a calf injury on one of McCarthy’s madcap runs around end midway through the third quarter, forcing the tough-as-nails tackle out for the rest of the game. The Giants will need an update on his status.

Jon Runyan

Struggling mightily in the run game, per usual, Runyan was also pushed back into the pocket on another handful of solo pass blocks.

There wasn’t a single defining positive or negative moment in his game, but his struggle to sustain blocks in the running game remains a big problem.

Francis Mauigoa

Another growing problem along the O-line is the leaks sprouting up in this rookie’s game.

He began the season surprisingly sharp, but the last three weeks (notably, all bad-weather games) seem to have taken away his confidence.

He allowed a sack that was called back by a defensive holding penalty, and Washington’s blitzing scheme seemed to slow his reaction time.

It’s a lot to expect a rookie to step right in and play at a high level, so some struggles are to be expected. They aren’t huge issues, but his responsibilities may need to be simplified.

Bryan Hudson

Two weeks into his starting role at center, Hudson remains a clean blocker who needs to run a cleaner ground-game operation. He has also faced two defenses focused on stopping the Giants’ running game, so it’s a big ask.

The coaches need to loosen up these defenses with some downfield incursions, but until they start stretching the field, it’s going to keep being a struggle for this offense to run the ball.

Two big pluses in Hudson’s game are hard to ignore. His pass-blocking has been and continues to be superb. Nobody is pushing him around, and he has shown more than enough agility and awareness to stay with interior passing-down attacks.

This week’s plethora of blitzes showed a handful of leaks, none of which came through Hudson, but the line calls may need cleaning up. Still, just two sacks on 56 dropbacks is a pretty good day. In fact, both sacks came off blitzes.

Another big plus in Hudson’s game is his ability to get to the second level and clean up; he rarely fails to get his man.

The drive-blocking isn’t quite something to write home about yet, but Hudson rarely ends up on the ground, sticking his nose into every scrum.

He was this unit’s best blocker, and has been since he took over the starting job.

Marcus Mbow

Stepping in for the injured Eluemunor midway through the third quarter, Mbow committed one false start and struggled a bit blocking his edge on pass plays, but overall he was a plus performer.

Stepping into a difficult role in a frantic second half and overtime, Mbow played 46 snaps and did not allow a sack. He led the pull on Skattebo’s big 19-yard run out wide on 3rd-and-2, perhaps the offense’s biggest play in overtime.

Using Mbow’s excellent mobility was a smart coaching call. He also did well to stay between his man and his quarterback.

Aaron Stinnie

Stepping in as a blocking tight end on a handful of snaps, Stinnie was called for a false start on one of them, but otherwise his time on the field was uneventful.

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