Giants Offense Week 12 Review: Good Enough Except for Those "Other Guys"

The New York Giants offense had itself a day in Week 112 against the Detroit Lions, all without receiver Malik Nabers, running back Cam Skattebo, and quarterback Jaxson Dart.

So without those guys, and behind the strong play of the offensive line, which has been a strength this season, the Giants finished with 517 net yards of offense, a new season high, and 27 points.

It all should have been good enough for a win, but alas, the defense, which we’ll get to in a separate breakdown. But let’s dive in on the offensive side of the ball in what was a very strong showing against an equally strong Lions defense.

Quarterback

Jameis Winston

What a big-time, gutsy, entertaining performance from the Giants’ backup, who was the team’s best player and, just like last week, came up a bit short at the end of a very competitive game against a playoff-level opponent, this time in enemy territory.

Without the detriment of last week’s difficult wind conditions, Winston enjoyed throwing in the dome, and he came out winging it right from the start and never stopped.

His one careless play with the ball (last week, there were a bushel full of them) turned into a diving fourth-quarter interception. For once, the defense stiffened and forced a punt, so no harm.

Winston was chucking it all over the ballyard, his downfield proclivities matching up with the game plan, which attacked Detroit’s intermediate areas mercilessly.

Big plays were the order of the day, with 10 Winston connections going for over 23 yards. That’s a month’s worth of production in the old Giants days, but this year’s offense has been different.

The play-calling has been better, especially the last two weeks under interim head coach Mike Kafka, but the quarterback play has also been better, including Winston’s.

His numbers: 18-of-36 for 366 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and only one sack (on the game’s final play) reflected Winston constantly passing up short targets for downfield ones.

This week’s showing was a big-play offense, something we aren’t accustomed to seeing around these parts. And we haven’t even discussed the best play from today’s game, the flea-flicker on which Winston was the primary target.

The play fooled the Lions, leaving Winston isolated on a trailing linebacker. Winston did a great job adjusting to the late-arriving ball, then side-stepping the linebacker to take it into the end zone from 33 yards out for the big fourth quarter score and a 10-point lead that his defense once again could not protect.

Still, this play was as fun as it gets in this league, and Winston was right in the middle of it.

There were some negatives to his game. Winston was only careless with the ball that one time today, but it burned him; last week, he was extremely lucky, today, he was unlucky.

Despite all the big plays, he had a handful of big downfield misses. Once inside the 10-yard line, Winston becomes much easier to defend.

His big 17-play drive that consumed most of the fourth quarter petered out at the Detroit 6-yard line; he missed tight end Theo Johnson twice to turn the ball over on downs, which gave the Lions the chance to tie it up, which they did.

Winston’s lack of mobility is a hindrance in these situations. He remains a pocket passer, and boy did he stand tall in the pocket, but the importance of mobility in today’s NFL remains huge.

It needs to be said that practically every 2025 Giants loss lies on the defense’s shoulders. The offense has played well enough to win most every game, including this week.

In his two 2025 starts, Winston deserved a much better fate both times.

Running Backs

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) and linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad (96) stop New York Giants running back Devin Singletary (26) during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Tyrone Tracy

Getting the majority of the snaps and touches once again in the offense’s current two-headed rotation, Tracy put together another workmanlike performance (20 carries for 62 yards on the ground, and a scintillating three catches for 68 yards through the air).

The receiving numbers are deceiving since 42 of them came on a blown Lions coverage that handed Tracy the entire right side of the field to exploit.

Instead of accelerating towards the end zone, Tracy had us screaming when he decided to lope through the open field, as if he were looking for a place to sit down and rest.

This play screamed for more yardage than the 42 it gained, and opened our eyes wide to the reality that Tracy is a limited back who will never scare a defense (unlike the Lions’ guy, who went for 219 yards).

Tracy ran it up there between the tackles all day long, his best run going for just 11 yards. He broke a handful of second-half tackles, but for the most part, he remains a bit too easy to defend. His pass-blocking was reliable.

Devin Singletary

Once again, the better pass blocker, we thought Singletary was also the more reliable runner from scrimmage. Like Tracy, he’s also not going to scare any defenses, but he runs with a bit more power and urgency.

The veteran went 14-47 on the ground (a long of 13) and several tough first downs. Alas, Singletary wasn’t targeted once in the passing game, but his pass-blocking was superb.

Receivers

Wan’Dale Robinson

Employing his downfield route-running masterfully, the Giants coaches really challenged Robinson to make some tough catches and absorb some hits.

He rose to that challenge most of the day, even though he came up short with a couple of tough drops against contact, an interception that he had a chance to knock away, and a deep corner route that he was late with his break that fell incomplete.

Other than those few misses, Robinson had a career-best 156 receiving yards on nine catches that included a handful of tough catches and lots of targets (14).

The key to Robinson’s game was his precise route-running, which was always quick and alert. He was on the same page as his quarterback, exploiting the open intermediate spaces that were there for the taking.

Robinson’s lone touchdown came on a 39-yard flea-flicker. His first five catches went for 39, 12, 40, 15, and 26–oh, and by the way, there was not a button hook in the bunch.

We fully support using Robinson on these intermediate routes, rather than over-reliance on the “button hook” in his first three years.

Robinson did tail off in the second half and OT as all the hits seemed to take their toll, but overall, he and his quarterback really gashed this good Lions D most of the way.

Darius Slayton

Returning from a hamstring injury. Slayton caught his only ball on the offense’s first snap from scrimmage. It was a shallow reverse route that the Lions ignored, Slayton going for 23 yards before finding the safety of the sideline.

His only other target came on a deep go route that Slayton decided to cut short; his tight coverage discouraged him from having to fight for anything over the top that wasn’t going to come easily.

The throw bounded away in open territory that was left unthreatened thanks to Slayton’s decision not to attack the play.

Isaiah Hodgins

Last week’s revelation was a contributor once again with two catches, both of them big plays.

Hodgins ran a precise deep crosser in the back of the end zone, and his quarterback attacked it similarly. The touchdown catch by Hodgins, just inside the back line, from 12 yards out, gave the Giants an early 17-7 lead.

This play came on 3rd-&-8 from the Lions ’ 12-yard line and showed how much the coaches trusted Hodgins to make the clutch play.

His only other catch came on an out-and-up route that his quarterback had to throw early, practically floating it out there up for grabs and trusting his big wideout to make a play.

Hodgins did just that, making the proper adjustment and hauling in the throw for 30 big yards, this play also coming on a 3rd-and-long. All this player does is make big plays.

Hodgins did have the second-most targets in his group (6), so it was a bit disappointing that he only came down with 2 of them, but they were both big plays, and he did not have any drops.

Gunner Olszewski

The coaches didn’t run Olszewski out there very often, but like Hodgins, all he seems to do is make big plays.

He not only drew a big pass interference call on a go route for 24 yards, but he also made a heads-up play on the flea flicker when penetration disrupted Olszewski with the ball in his hands.

He immediately avoided the defender, then aggressively went north-south, but at the last moment, he saw Winston with the advantage in space and just threw it up to him.

Winston adjusted to Olszewski’s short throw and took it in from there, but this play doesn’t happen with Olszewski’s quick-thinking under duress.

Tight Ends

Theo Johnson

Continuing his weekly growth to legit starting tight end in this league, the more we see Johnson play, the more he reminds us of Mark Bavaro in style.

Once again, Johnson caught everything with his hands away from his body, including several tough catches along the sideline against contact. He caught 3 of 5 targets; the two misses came in goal-to-goal situations, neither on Johnson.

Like Robinson, Johnson is becoming a downfield target; no more chintzy down-and-outs for him. He caught one for 24 yards on a 2nd-and-10.

On a 3rd-and-6, he drew a pass interference call while running a deep corner route. On a 3rd-and-17, he got himself open on a broken play and hauled in a 39-yarder.

There was also a 14-yarder in overtime. Every week, we leave the game with a growing sense that Johnson needs to see the ball more often. He’s looking that good.

Daniel Bellinger

Playing one of his more desultory receiving games, Bellinger failed to come down with either of his two targets, and they were both catchable.

On his first chance, he exited the pocket late and had a clear path up the seam, but the pass was a bit beyond his reach.

He did not adjust well to this throw, showing a serious lack of athleticism; he had a ton of space to exploit, too.

On a second-half intermediate route, he had to go down low for a ball that hit him in the hands, but the tight coverage helped to knock the ball out of his grasp. Bellinger’s blocking was positionally solid throughout.

Chris Manhertz

Getting a bit more playing time with the interim head coach, who is more committed to the running game, Manhertz got about 20 snaps and was physical and efficient with nearly every one.

However, on one of the early goal-line runs, Manhertz passed up a block on his contain man to go to the second level and block a defensive back, while the contain man crashed down and made the tackle.

We couldn’t believe our eyes that this block-first, in-line veteran tight end would pass up the obvious assignment.

Offensive Line

Andrew Thomas

Tossing out another prime pass-blocking game, Thomas did allow one fourth-quarter pressure and one overtime pressure, neither resulting in a sack, and for the most part, he was swallowing up his man’s progress throughout the afternoon.

The Lions rarely bothered placing their best pass rusher across from Thomas, figuring it was a waste of resources.

As he did last week, Thomas was once again careless, getting called for a running-down hold at the second level; he’s got to be smarter than that.

Jermaine Eluemunor

Getting the tough assignment of DE Aiden Hutchinson, Eluemunor had his hands full all game long with Hutchinson, who made a bunch of little plays but few big ones until the game’s final snap when he worked his long way around Eluemunor, and the flat-footed Winston wasn’t quick enough to avoid his pursuit for the game’s only Lions sack.

Throughout, Eluemunor was very sharp off the snap and quick with his hands, staying with his pass block to the top of the tree, which was long enough for Winston to complete so many big plays.

Though Eluemunor was once again the O-line’s least effective run blocker, he earned his money this week in pass pro, where he was a positive performer.

He was also called for a fleeting hands-to-the-face foul that was rather cheap.

Jon Runyan

Continuing to play reliable and assignment-true, get-in-the-way football, Runyan’s pass-blocking was a positive today, while his run-blocking was often sloppy and ineffective.

Still, the veteran was where he was supposed to be most of the time, functioning on this efficient O-line as a cog in the machine rather than as its driver.

There is something to be said for reliability and consistency, two words that accurately describe Runyan’s game, even if he’s rarely making the definitive hit or the dominating pass block.

He’s been decent-to-solid across the board, and that’s been good enough on a unit that has been playing well every single week.

Greg Van Roten

Another veteran cog in the machine, Van Roten’s poor footwork constantly left him getting beaten across his face and clogging up the middle of the line on running downs.

Neither Van Roten’s solo nor his combo run-blocking was positive. And yet, like his fellow guard, he was a consistent performer when it came to assignments and blitz pickups.

In fact, Detroit’s early heavy reliance on the blitz to create pressure was picked apart by the Giants' offense, forcing the Lions to go to a vanilla 4-man front, which the Giants’ O-line ate up.

Van Roten was a better pass blocker than run blocker today, which is not something we say very often.

John Michael Schmitz

The O-line’s two tackles were their best players, but Schmitz’s play wasn’t far behind.

Every positive run between the tackles, and there were more than a handful of them, came behind an efficient Schmitz block.

In fact, we could find only a small handful of running-down snaps where Schmitz did not dominate his man.

Otherwise, he was moving his man and maintaining contact all game long, and is finally playing at a rather high level in his third year as the starter.

He was a bit susceptible to power on several pit blocks, but for the most part, he absorbed power well and stayed with it to the whistle.

Another positive performer, especially handling the Lions' stunts and blitzes, Schmitz’s O-line was one of the stars of today’s stirring offensive performance against a very good Lions defense.

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