Giants Offensive Player Grades: An Ugly But Effective Win Over the Titans

At the end of the day, the New York Giants' 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans is a win.

But what an ugly win it was. The Giants converted just 30.8% of their third-down attempts and were 0-for-2 in the red zone. They finished with 238 net yards, less than the Titans despite having one more play, and the Titans bested their 4.1 yards-per-play average.

But again, a win is a win, though that doesn't mean the Giants should be completely satisfied with how they got there. The minute they become complacent, they're really going to have problems. Thankfully, we don't think head coach John Harbaugh is going to rest on any laurels.

Now let's dive into the player grades.

Quarterback

Jameis Winston

In this week's difficult weather, after watching Winston nearly get intercepted on his first downfield throw and then struggle to execute simple down-and-out throws, it became obvious the coaches couldn't allow him to lose this game.

To their credit, they did not. As the old-school, conservative game plan unfolded, Winston made a handful of plays, but his most important contribution was not turning the ball over. It was the key to this ugly game.

In fact, Winston holding onto the ball and taking a sack (three on the day) was almost entirely the right thing to do.

Winston can't execute a short-passing game, as he's much too deliberate in delivering the ball. Though he made several plays outside the pocket, his best throw of the day was a third-quarter dart to Darnell Mooney to convert a third-and-long.

Winston also had two positive scramble plays, but otherwise, keeping things simple and safe was the way to go.

This wasn't the fast, clean track of a dome. This was a nor'easter-type game, the type of game this team is built to handle.

With Jaxson Dart gone for the season, this offense probably won't dominate anybody in the points column very often.

But it should be able to compete, as long as it plays within itself. It is a ball-control offense that will have to rely on Winston to stay patient and make the occasional play.

The passing game has weapons — Malik Nabers, Darnell Mooney, Isaiah Likely and Malachi Fields — but the running game will have to make hay.

As for Winston's numbers, factoring in the conditions, they were an ugly 14-of-22 for 118 yards.

Running Backs

Cam Skattebo

We thought it was significant that the coaches gave Skattebo all of the first-quarter snaps with no rotation in sight. This tells us that the coaches have realized he is their best back, so don't leave anything on the sideline with him.

He played his typically tough game, almost entirely with two hands over the ball, and played smart, realizing that putting the ball on the ground was the best way to lose this game.

Skattebo did have the ball punched out of his hands near the sideline while he was straight-arming someone, but it luckily bounced out of bounds. That's two lucky bounces for Skattebo in three games, for anyone tracking those things.

Skattebo also made a couple of smart plays, including streaking downfield on a broken play that became the offense's longest-yardage play: a 30-yard catch-and-run.

The gadget direct snap to Skattebo at the Titans' 5-yard line that ended up losing eight yards could have been a touchdown if Skattebo had cut it back inside, where there was blocking, but instead he broke it outside, where the Titans were en masse. We're sure he'd love to have that one back.

His pass-blocking remains hit-and-miss; he targeted an inside linebacker blitz but was over-aggressive and failed to square him up, resulting in pressure.

All told, Skattebo was a big part of the win with his toughness, second effort, ball security, and physicality—hallmarks of his game that show up every week. He finished with 20 carries for 60 yards (3.0 avg.) on the ground and three receptions for 40 yards (13.3 avg.) through the air.

Najee Harris

The offense experienced a jump-start when Harris entered the game in the second quarter.

He immediately reeled off runs of 6, 9, 4, and 6 yards, then busted one out wide for 11 yards down to the Titans' 5-yard line. Alas, the offense stalled.

Harris provided some more electricity when he re-entered the game in the second half with similar production — 15 yards on three carries.

We're not sure whether Harris blocked better than Skattebo or ran smarter, but this big-bodied veteran sure seemed to have more running room to exploit.

He looked much quicker than in the team's first two games, which is likely why the coaches deactivated Devin Singletary, seeing that Harris was ready to step up.

Harris' numbers were solid: nine carries for 52 yards (5.8 yards per carry).

Tyrone Tracy Jr.

This wasn't a good day to challenge Tracy's ball-security issues, but the coaches felt they needed to activate him.

His lone snap on offense came on a second-half third-and-2, with Tracy taking the toss and turning it upfield to get the first down.

Receivers

Sep 27, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Darnell Mooney (17) runs with the ball against the Tennessee Titans during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Malik Nabers

With this week's conditions, it was no surprise Nabers didn't have a productive receiving game: five catches for 26 yards on just six targets.

His most important play was shaking free of his coverage on a key third-quarter, third-and-10, slanting cross-field and (barely) getting the first down.

That Nabers had so much space to exploit but lacked the explosiveness to run away from his man was telling, as it showed he is still recovering from last year's serious knee surgery.

He looks spry and limber, but something is missing. No one knows when he'll get back all he had, but he remains the team's first option at wide receiver, even while working with a backup quarterback.

He made a key fourth-quarter catch for 12 yards, showing off his running ability and power by fighting through several tackles to get the first down.

Malachi Fields

Getting plenty of snaps again, the big rookie caught both his targets for 19 yards, showing reliable hands and solid routes, and blocked well enough to stay on the field.

Fields' blocking wasn't always productive, as he bypassed several in-line opportunities and instead moved into the secondary to do his thing there.

We can only assume these were his assignments, but we do enjoy seeing him throw his big body into the fray.

On the negative side, Fields in motion has a terrible feel for timing and executing a block while moving. He's got to work on that.

Darnell Mooney

Perhaps not good enough to be a team's primary receiver, Mooney is showing enough to be a reliable complementary target with his surprising speed and very reliable hands.

He took an early inside handoff for 10 yards on a second-and-9, knowing where the sticks were, having the speed to get there, and having the wherewithal to lower his shoulder to get that first down.

He showed great hands on a difficult low throw for an important second-half reception, then ran a good route to gain position on a deep in-cut route; this catch turned out to be Jameis Winston's best throw of the game, and it went for 13 yards.

Through three games, we haven't seen Mooney do anything wrong.

Odell Beckham Jr.

On Winston's early deep-middle throw that should have been intercepted, Beckham was the target, but he was not open. It didn't look like a very sharp route.

It was Beckham's lone target of the day, as he continues to be used in small doses.

Braxton Berrios

Getting just a couple of motion snaps out of the slot, Berrios got no targets on this week's wet, windy turf.

Tight Ends

New York Giants tight end Theo Johnson | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Isaiah Likely

He caught only two of his five targets for just 13 yards, and we thought one of those misses was a Likely drop. However, most of them were the result of his quarterback being unfamiliar with the tight end, as Winston and Likely currently aren't anywhere close to being on the same page.

Chris Manhertz

The Giants' veteran blocking tight end had a huge hand in opening up the edge for Najee Harris to exploit on his big wide run.

Manhertz held up to the physicality of most of his assignments and had one of his better blocking games as a Giant.

Theo Johnson

Getting fewer snaps than Manhertz, Johnson was physical and combative with his blocks but not always successful in keeping his edge contained from crashing down into the play.

After last week's big drop, we suspect Johnson won't see many targets in the passing game in the coming weeks.

Patrick Ricard

The quality of Ricard's blocking seems to depend on the motion he runs. In motion, Ricard seems to struggle to find a man to block amid the cross-blocking and chaos that results.

When he's a stationary lead blocker, he always seems to find his man in the hole and pummel him.

We realize that variety is the spice of life in any successful running game, but there's little more fun on this team than watching Ricard lead his back into the middle of the line.

Offensive Line

Andrew Thomas

Though the veteran's movements were noticeably stiff and, we'd say, he hobbled, Thomas toughed it out to not only play a solid game but to be one of the O-line's two best blockers.

Even hobbled, Thomas can still completely collapse his edge with power, which he did a handful of times this week.

His best moment came on Harris' big red zone toss to his side, when Thomas picked off not one but two Titans defensive backs, creating the space Harris exploited.

Thomas also had a strong pass-blocking game; we noted one stunt that beat him on the handoff, but otherwise his one-on-ones were sharp.

Jermaine Eluemunor

Struggling on his edge in the running game, Eluemunor was flagged for two holds, both coming on running plays and both legitimate.

Eluemunor struggled to sustain contact in run blocking. His footwork on these snaps rarely held up.

His pass-blocking, however, was much more efficient and mostly positive.

Jon Runyan Jr.

After getting flagged for one false start, we thought Runyan had a solid run-blocking game, but again his pass-blocking continues to spring holes.

His center-guard gap seems to be a constant point of attack for opposing stunts. A handful of these collapsed the front of the pocket with Runyan in recovery mode, which Giants quarterbacks don't need to see.

Francis Mauigoa

We thought the rookie was the O-line's best performer this week. His pass-blocking patience is what's surprising us; the kid rarely overextends or gets over-aggressive.

He's got light feet for his size, plus good arm extension and body balance. Nobody seems eager to bull-rush him, so he waits on his man and absorbs his power.

This patience is also a positive in handling stunts, as the kid is rarely out of position on these.

His run-blocking was a consistent positive as well, as the coaches kept the pulls in their pocket this week, keeping the big bodies between the tackles.

Of note, while everyone inside struggled with All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, Mauigoa never flinched and handled Simmons every time with aplomb.

John Michael Schmitz

Whenever Schmitz was isolated on Simmons, he was eaten up. Schmitz couldn't throw an NFL-quality block on the talented defensive tackle.

Fortunately, the Titans' defensive scheme moved Simmons into a variety of roles, which helped Schmitz survive his occasional mismatches.

Schmitz was flagged once for holding Simmons, and quite honestly, we were surprised that several more holds weren't called.

When Schmitz wasn't being overwhelmed by Simmons, he played a surprisingly uneventful game that kept things simple and contained between the tackles. He certainly wasn't a positive performer this week, but he also didn't collapse under the onslaught.

Schmitz is more of a survivor than a performer, with enough smarts and experience to be in the right place most of the time.

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