Patricia Traina, The Giants Maven
2019 Game 12: Player by Player Review Plus a Look at the Strategy and the Play Calling
“NEXT MAN UP”
by Chris Pflum
“Next man up!”
That's the all-too-familiar rallying cry of every football team which has had to deal with injuries.
This week it was the mantra of the New York Giants as they prepared to face the Green Bay Packers.
Over the last two weeks the Giants have lost important starters on both their offense and defense, most notably Evan Engram (foot), Golden Tate (concussion), Rhett Ellison (concussion), and Jabrill Peppers (back).
Injuries are never an excuse, but how a team responds to them can tell us a lot about that team.
It can tell us about their depth, how the team is built, how it is schemed, and how the players are coached.
And despite the one-sided loss to the Packers, the Giants' depth did provide them with a look at some of that unknown depth we’d like to highlight this week.
Tight End Kaden Smith Steps Up
Smith got the first touchdown of his NFL career last weekend in relief of Engram and Ellison.
While he didn't get into the endzone against the Packers, Smith showed improvement in the second extended action of his young career.
Smith isn't anything like the athlete that Engram is, but he has good size and good short area quickness for his size.
That allowed the Giants to insert him into their offense without making too many changes schematically. The Giants still played a high rate of 11-personnel looks, relying on Smith to be their primary tight end, and he responded by being their leading receiver.
It isn't an electrifying stat line, but Smith’s 6 receptions for 70 yards and team-leading 75 percent catch rate should be enough to give the Giants confident in their undrafted rookie.
There were, of course, times when it was obvious that Smith isn't Engram, such as when the Giants sent him on shallow crossing routes and he wasn't able to run away from coverage.
That sort of play isn't going to work as well with a tight end who runs a 4.9 second 40-yard dash as it will with one who runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash.
However, he did well to catch the ball cleanly, secure it, and pick up what yards he can. It is promising that on the tight end screen the Giants called toward the end of the game, we saw much better timing and execution by Smith and the rest of the offense than we saw on a similar play last week – frankly, that play was a mess.
Da'Mari Scott's Rough Afternoon
It came as a surprise when the Giants suddenly released receiver Bennie Fowler. While Fowler isn't a great receiver who will strike fear into secondaries, he has been a steady presence since being signed in the middle of 2018.
But it also didn't take long to figure out why he had been released, not with the injuries to receiver Golden Tate (concussion) and safety Jabrill Peppers (back).
The Giants didn't have another experienced and reliable punt returner with both Peppers and Tate side-lined.
Last game they lined Janoris Jenkins up as a returner when the Bears quickly substituted their punt team for their offense, and it didn't end well.
While the Giants have players who can be dynamic with the ball in their hands, fielding punts is a distinct skill set, requiring judgment and instincts that not every player has.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of Scott on the field in his intended role.
The Giants' defense struggled to get off the field against the Packers' offense and Green Bay was only forced to punt three times all game.
The Giants still tried to manufacture touches for Scott, most notably on one ill-fated rushing attempt.
When Jones lightly tossed the ball to Scott on a Jet Sweep, it was basically a run and an attempt to give Scott a chance to make something happen with the ball in his hands.
Or at least it would have been if Scott had been able to handle the ball cleanly. Perhaps his hands (or the ball) were slick, but Scott quickly bobbled the ball, very nearly losing it.
Fortunately for the Giants, Scott was able to fall corral the ball, as there was nothing between the Packers' defenders in position to recover the ball and the end zone but open field.
We don't know where Tate is in the concussion protocol, and considering it is his second concussion of the season, it wouldn't be a surprise if he missed another game.
It also wouldn't be a surprise to see Peppers miss another game as he recovers from a fractured vertebra. If so, Scott could get the chance to redeem himself against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Julian Love Gives the Giants Options in the Secondary
One of the questions coming in to the game was how the Giants would cope with the loss of Jabrill Peppers on defense.
We saw quite a bit of shuffling throughout the Giants' secondary, with Sam Beal and DeAndre Baker rotating in and out, and a robust rotation among the safeties.
Rookie corner-turned-safety Julian Love was a big part of that rotation and his play has to be encouraging to the Giants as one of the few true bright spots to come out of the game.
Love didn't get any splash plays like his interception last week, but he showed off the range and tackling ability you want to see from the safety position. He came up with seven total tackles (4 solo, 3 assisted tackles), as well as being credited with a forced fumble.
It can be difficult to tell how well safeties played in coverage from the television angle, so we won't be able to say definitively until the NFL releases the coaches tape, but at first blush it appears that Love was solid in coverage as well. Or at least as solid as can be when the defense gives up 7.4 yards per attempt, long passes of 43 and 25 yards, and four touchdown passes.
But Love's play was certainly good enough that moving Antoine Bethea to more of a “box” role and playing Love at free safety is a viable option.
That would allow the Giants to reduce the amount of field Bethea has to cover and play him in a role in which he excelled last year for the Arizona Cardinals.
Between Bethea and Michael Thomas, the Giants could be able to give Peppers time to return from what is a minor but painful injury in time to not have to play through pain.
Obviously, that wouldn't be what Peppers would prefer—this is the same young man who volunteered to stay an extra day at the NFL Scouting Combine to work out with the defensive backs after the NFL had him workout as a linebacker.
But at this point, the Giants should take advantage of the opportunity to get Love experience at what should be his position next year.
And if they can do so while minimizing the injury risk for another player expected to be a core contributor, that is difficult to argue against.
It's a pale thing at the moment, but the play of Love and Kaden Smith are bright spots that fans can look to after a bad loss.
QUARTERBACK
Daniel Jones: It continues to be “take the good with the bad” with this rookie.
There’s more good than bad, even if most of the good seems to come from making plays and throws on his own. Some of his throws made in cold, wet and snowy conditions, were just sick.
Jones answered a lot of questions about being able to play and throw the ball in the northeast. His three deep balls (two mattered, one was called back by a ridiculous procedure call that was just plain wrong and is called perhaps once in a thousand snaps in this league) were huge, big-time throws.
We can’t wait to see this kid with a new offense and some play-calling and blocking that will give him a chance to step into a few throws, because his toughness and tenacity while fighting through collapsing pockets is something to be admired.
Talk about toughness, Jones took it himself on two 4th-and-shorts, when the previous 3rd-&-shorts were stuffed, and got the first down both times with legitimately power finishes.
Back to his throwing, he made a couple of really good throws on the move to the sideline and is finally starting to know when to throw away balls in bad situations.
On the negative side, he made two ball-handling mistakes that blew up two possessions, and he threw three interceptions.
The first, early interception was a terrible read after eye-balling one lone receiver the entire play; Jones had tunnel vision on this one and made a really bad decision.
His two other interceptions came in the 4th quarter in trail mode where he started to force things a bit, trying to make a play. One throw got away from him, another was a fly pattern that was just a smidgen too long.
Back to the plus side. Jones did a great job with his ball security in the pocket and on the move, shrugging off pass rushers flying around his peripherals and keeping two hands on the ball until the very last moment.
After watching quarterbacks around the league continue to lose the ball on contact every week, we are heartened that Jones doesn’t “have a problem;” he’s just been banged around an awful lot, more than most.
Through three quarters, we barely noticed a single pass he threw that did not come with a solid hit to his body.
After one of his short yardage conversions he came up with a slight limp, apparently an ankle injury that’s not expected to limit him for the next game. He had it re-taped and returned to finish the game, looking a lot like his predecessor in the toughness category.
The interceptions hurt, but so did the restrictions of the game plan. He actually had a semblance of a running game but the coaches went away from it, per usual.
Jones and Saquon Barkley still can’t get together in rhythm in the passing game, which is a crime as Barkley should be such a weapon out of the backfield, but is not.
Ultimately, Jones continues to pass the eyeball test every week and that’s what really matters.
The Giants have themselves a player at the most crucial of positions. With experience he will help his teammates play better.
We’d love to see him with a northeast, power offense to manage but that can only come with time. We’ve seen enough of Jones in the shotgun.
We’d love to see him over center more often and playing a more conventional scheme that includes play action.
If in 2020 this organization brings back this head coach and the ineffective scheme that is very obviously holding Jones back, they’re crazy.
RUNNING BACKS
Saquon Barkley: There was marked improvement in practically every aspect of Barkley’s game this week, and that’s something to build on.
First and foremost, there was a lot more north-and-south out of Barkley’s touches, and that’s a big step forward.
He’s got to realize that he’s got to tough things out and get his nose dirty early, which invariably opens up the boundary spaces where he can look so electric.
He got outside once this week and it was like he was moving at another speed than everybody else. It was breath-taking.
Most of his runs stayed between the tackles, and they were for the most part productive (only 2-3 of his runs were blown up in the backfield by penetration this week, which is an improvement regarding his offensive line’s blocking).
We liked how he lowered his shoulders and played a physical, positive game. There was very little indecisive dancing out of him.
When he did hesitate, he invariably made poor or just plain wrong decisions. He finished up 19 of 83 (4.4 average) on the ground, and had another 32 yards on 3 catches, though that number was padded by a garbage-time 27-yard catch-and-run.
His total yardage of 110 is a nice feel-good stat but he still left some yards on the field with poor decision-making and his slow release into the flat several times.
On the plus side, his pass-blocking was sharp. If the improvement continues, he’s going to do enough to steal a game for his team down the stretch, and that’s the last thing this team needs.
Barkley has the explosiveness to ruin that plan, though his head coach’s inability to exploit his talent is a constant that’s there every week.
Buck Allen: This mid-season veteran pickup finally got his first offensive snap as a Giant this week—yes, it was only one—and he found himself the recipient of a 15-yard hit against a defensive player flag when he bled out of the backfield into his middle check-down pattern and was smacked down to the ground from behind by a linebacker, even though the ball went elsewhere.
It was an iffy call and the extent of Allen’s offensive snaps. His competition behind Saquon Barkley, Wayne Gallman, didn’t get a single snap this week.
Elijhaa Penny: Getting six snaps this week, Penny was actually handed the ball twice in short yardage.
One inside run fooled nobody and was stuffed in the backfield, but on his second inside run the coaches did in fact fool Green Bay and Penny had enough room to get two yards and the first down.
Penny was also on the field for a check down incompletion, and lead two of Barkley’s runs into the line for minimal yardage.
TIGHT ENDS
Kaden Smith: For the second week in a row, Smith has shown enough to look like he’s a full-time duty tight end in this league.
He catches everything—six more balls this week for 70 yards after five reliable catches last week—and he’s doing a very nice job sealing his edge with positioning and reliable hand technique.
Smith’s best catch came on a deep ball which he hauled in 32 yards downfield while absorbing a hit.
This kid is showing plenty of toughness, and his route-running is giving single coverage some problems.
He’s getting open, he’s reading coverages, he uses his body to shield when needed, and though he’s not a fast mover he seems to be a fast thinker without wasting motion while running his routes.
It’s a style that can play a long time in this league. The coaches already trust him.
Smith has rarely left the field these two weeks. The Giants may have stumbled onto something here. He is certainly making Rhett Ellison’s big contract redundant in 2020.
Scott Simonson: Getting 22 snaps as a second, blocking tight end this week, Simonson had a few impossible blocks to execute and did well on the blocks on which he had a chance.
Simonson was completely ignored in the passing game.
RECEIVERS
Darius Slayton: With Daniel Jones under pressure on the first offensive possession, Slayton ran an out pattern. He bobbled the pass but was able to get both feet in bounds for the first down catch.
Slayton went over the middle on a slant pass midway through the first quarter. On this third down play, he let the ball get to his body and the pass was knocked away.
They opted to go for it on 4th down and this time Slayton was able to come up with the first down grab against a soft zone.
Early in the second quarter, cornerback Kevin King had underneath coverage against Slayton and stepped in front of him for the easy interception.
Also in the second quarter, Slayton came up with a catch on an in route. He came back to the ball well and used his hands to make the grab.
Slayton got things going again early in the third quarter with a catch on an out pattern. He had to come back to the ball, so he ended a yard short of the first down.
Slayton continued his prowess by making a huge catch early in the third quarter as he caught the sideline pass in between the safety and the cornerback. However, the reception was nullified thanks to off-setting penalties.
Sterling Shepard: Shepard ran a nice route late in the first quarter as he came down with a touchdown pass on a double move against cornerback Kevin King. The route was good and the catch was just as good as he grabbed the ball just before it was able to hit the ground.
Jones tried to get Shepard in the end zone late in the second quarter. For some reason, there were two other receivers in the same area which resulted in their being too many defenders in the area.
Shepard had a quiet third quarter but came back with a catch over the middle early in the 4th quarter.
Cody Latimer: Latimer made a nice grab on a past pattern midway through the third quarter for 43 yards.
It was a very good route and catch as he was able to get inside the cornerback and the safety did not get over in time to help.
Da’Mari Scott: The first time he touched the ball was an attempted reverse early in the third quarter. The result was a fumbled exchange which resulted in a big loss on the play.
The very next play Jones forced the pass down the field, and it was intercepted.
Scott followed this up with an out pattern reception for a first down on the very next drive.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Nate Solder: Continuing his completely unacceptable job of protecting this team’s franchise quarterback’s blind side, Solder’s man lead the Packers with five quarterback hits plus at least a half dozen more legit pressures.
Solder was responsible this week for too many bruises on this youngster’s body, as well as some very lackluster run blocks that contributed very little to the team.
Solder once again graded out negatively with his inability to maintain any semblance of power or balance on his pass-blocking retreats, getting beaten on the inside as well as on the edge.
It’s a tough thing to watch, this sinfully-overpaid tackle who this organization is wedded to for at least one, likely two more years.
Mike Remmers: On the other edge, Remmers played his best pass-blocking game of the years as the Packers ran their best pass rusher against the Giants’ weakest blocker, Nate Solder.
This left Remmers with the weaker edge player and thus the much better performance.
We didn’t see much pressure at all from Remmers’ edge. His set-up was as sharp as ever, but he was able to somehow handle Green Bay’s edge presence this week, likely because of the lower competition that he faced.
The coaches should have given Solder the help that Remmers was periodically given.
Regardless, Remmers’ pass-blocking was a net positive this week. His run-blocking remains sub-par as he just can’t sustain any kind of contact, regularly giving up very hard closing contain because of his inability to stay with a block.
Will Hernandez: Early on, Hernandez had his hand on two inside pressures right up into his quarterback’s face.
Hernandez’s game has deteriorated a bit as the season has worn on. There’s a certain lack of focus in his game.
He’s getting beaten with an initial move and he’s not getting help from his center, on occasions where he seems to be expecting it.
His double-team run blocking remains a weapon that at least the coaches have recognized and are utilizing, but whomever he’s handing over the advantage (Halapio, Solder) on these blocks in having too much difficulty maintaining that position.
We saw a lone pull by Hernandez that was a positive, but the coaches continue to lock him into his inside gap and that’s where he stays.
We see so much potential in this big mobile kid’s game, but that mobility is being criminally under-utilized.
He’s still got to get better, especially coming out of the chute early on where most of his troubles occur.
Once Hernandez gets into the flow of the game he plays better. He played one of his better halves of the season throughout this week’s second half, but it was a case of too little too late.
Kevin Zeitler: This week’s best offensive line performer, we didn’t spot any one glitch in Zeitler’s overall game. He battled from start to finish and was sharp with his positioning and focus, anticipating and reacting to his man’s attack on nearly every single snap.
Even Zeitler’s run-blocking seemed more efficient this week. One of the two plus short-yardage quarterback sneaks came over Zeitler.
His pass-blocking was as sharp as it’s been. The offensive line in fact pitches a sack shutout this week but that didn’t mean their quarterback wasn’t going to need an ice bath.
Zeitler didn’t appear to be responsible for any of those hits as he kept himself between his man and his quarterback all day long. A plus performer all year, this week was one of Zeitler’s best games.
Jon Halapio: Continuing to come up short in so many ways, Halapio’s year-long failure to impress certainly has to move the organization to find a legit performer over the ball in 2020.
Halapio is certainly not the answer. His lack of communication with Will Hernandez on two early snaps nearly got the team’s two best skill players, Barkley and Jones, killed.
On the penetrations that blew up several of Barkley’s runs, Halapio had a hand in each and every one.
Whether it was a communication breakdown or just plain physical failures to hold his ground or slide to pick up a run blitzer, Halapio was coming up short all afternoon long.
Yes, there’s been too much edge pressure all year long, but the interior push and pressures have been just as big a problem, and continued to be this week.
We’re waiting for a clean game out of this entire unit, but we’re not counting on that coming anytime this year.
Even when playing at home, Halapio and his rookie quarterback are having trouble not giving the opposing defensive line a rhythm to anticipate the snap.
At home, a savvy center and his quarterback can always draw the occasional encroachment. Not this duo.
Besides all of his physical shortcomings, Halapio has not shown a sliver of the canniness that all centers need to have. At home, the center/ quarterback exchange should be an advantage, but it hasn’t been with this duo.
Nick Gates: Getting 4-6 short yardage snaps, Gates did his job on every one of them, handling the man over his nose with quick feet and more than enough physicality.
DEFENSIVE LINE
Leonard Williams: The Giants’ defensive line played a tough, alert game in the trenches and did a good job of mucking up Green Bay’s running game.
Alas, the way to beat this defense is through the air, which was the way the Packers did it, primarily because the defensive line couldn’t rush the passer to help out their beleaguered secondary.
Williams was the best pass rusher of the bunch, achieving his most success lining up inside. He got two hits on Aaron Rodgers and hurried passes that the great quarterback still found a way to complete.
Williams also made some plays against the run, showing plenty of hustle and grit from start to finish. He was a positive performer when playing inside.
The coaches put him at defensive end on a couple of snaps but he slipped in the wet conditions and just couldn’t get a decent jump off the snap.
His performance this week was a marked improvement from his largely invisible game last week. He faced a lot of double-teams on his pass rushes which calmed down his early impact on the game.
Dalvin Tomlinson: Continuing his fine second half of the season, Tomlinson consistently controlled his man and gap at the line of scrimmage worked his way into three tackles, each of them at the line of scrimmage, one of them in the backfield.
He got to the sideline on several occasions and moved well in space.
On his pass rushes Tomlinson regularly received solo blocking and could not burst through to collapse the pocket.
He did get close enough for a couple of nudges on Rodgers but Tomlinson came up short on the pass rush when they really needed him.
Dexter Lawrence: Drawing double-teams on the pass rush like Leonard Williams, Lawrence wasn’t able to get home attacking the pocket and was in fact knocked off his feet on a couple of them.
The kid did plenty of good in the pit, controlling the middle of the line and making an impact in short yardage, which he hasn’t been doing much this year but this week he stepped up that inside attack.
We still say it takes a couple of years for a young interior defensive lineman to reach his full potential in this league, as he invariably spends his first year reacting to the action, seeing new things every week.
By Year 2, he’s starting to get a feel for the flow of the action. It’s Year 3 that he tends to explode (see the jump in Dalvin Tomlinson’s game this year).
Lawrence is going through that feeling-out process this year, but at the same time he’s having an impact thanks mostly to that great power game of his.
Once he starts getting off the ball and really using those happy feet, we think he’s going to be something special.
He finished with three solo tackles this week despite all those double-teams.
B.J. Hill: Still managing to be acceptably productive despite his decreased playing time since the Williams acquisition, Hill managed to get his hand in on two tackles and did everything right on running downs.
He played with power, disengaged from contact well, and ran to the ball hard and with speed.
What he did not do was flash on any of his pass rushes. That’s a problem, when your defensive ends do not produce any real push.
Hill was easily and consistently stifled at the line of scrimmage, but his first honor against the run was a job well done.
EDGE RUSHERS
Markus Golden: Because the strength of the Packers’ offensive line is at tackle, their coaches were able to single up against the Giants’ outside linebackers and allow all their doubles to crash down on the inside.
Golden barely got a sniff of the pocket until one third quarter snap he was able to avoid a block and lay a legit hit on Aaron Rodgers, but the future Hall of Famer was not only able to get the ball off, but he completed it for a first down.
Golden may have had a quiet game on the pass rush, but he was all over the place chasing down runs and short passes, and effectively mucking up runs to his side of the field.
Golden totalled eight tackles on the day and each one of them was a legit, heavy, physical hit.
When he wasn’t finishing the deal, he was impacting plays that others finished.
Even when Golden’s pass rush isn’t getting home he still has more than enough game to impact the result.
Golden is a “trench” guy who can also get around the corner. He still lacks the explosion and bend of the great pass rushers.
He’s a good pass rusher who compiles stats with relentlessness and hustle. As we’ve said often, we’ll take him on our time any day but not at unreasonable numbers.
Lorenzo Carter: Playing the opposite side from Golden and getting even less pressure on the pocket—we’d put that at a big fat zero—the only real success Carter had this week was reacting so well to Rodgers’ naked bootlegs.
Each time, Carter stayed home and pressured Rodgers into getting rid of the ball quickly. Carter never got credit for a single quarterback hit on the stat sheet but he had 3-4 legit hurries, all on these plays.
The Packers stayed away from Carter most of the day which partly explains his quiet 1-tackle spot on the sheet.
It doesn’t excuse the total lack of edge pressure from Carter’s side of the field. His inability to turn the corner is stifling this defense.
The quarterback needs to feel some pressure from that blind side, but Carter is just not producing it. If the Giants retain this defensive set, we’re calling for a move to the inside where his skill set seems a better fit.
If the move is to a 4-3, then Carter could be a decent fit on the outside. Either way, we still think he’s a player on the rise but in a complementary role only.
He’s not a stud, but he would sure look better lining up alongside one.
Oshane Ximines: Still getting a limited amount of snaps—17 this week—Ximines was found by the Packers on one of those wide runs that the rookie still does not see coming.
On this play, he was easily guided inside and away from his contain, the run going for 11 much-too-easy yards thanks to Ximines’ disappearing act on this one play.
The kid managed one decent pass rush but he got caught up in the wash a few times and was mercifully removed from the game to lick his wounds.
OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS
Alec Ogletree: It may have looked like Ogletree had his best game in quite a while, and it’s probably true.
A big reason why was the coaches sending him on numerous blitzes and thus taking him out of the pass coverage role that he has shown himself to have absolutely has no interest in playing.
On the Packers’ first touchdown, Ogletree had the middle zone but he left it to chase a crosser, leaving a wide open receiver to sit down for several minutes where he was ignored, the easy touchdown resulting, primarily from Ogletree’s complete and utter inability to play the coverage position at an acceptable level.
It’s a much better idea for these coaches to just send Ogletree wildly attacking the line of scrimmage; it’s what he understands and does best.
Alas, he’s also the captain of a terrible defense and usually part and parcel of a pass defense that can’t get out of its own way.
Though none of Ogletree’s pass blitzes got home, a couple of his run blitzes crashed the middle of the line of scrimmage for negative losses. And so, he led the defense with nine total tackles in what seemed like a positive performance, but his losses in the passing game simply cannot be overlooked.
He is as much a disaster in coverage as are the many rookies playing behind him.
To top of another discouraging defensive performance, Ogletree put forth one of the worst body languages in the history of pro football when, on Green Bay’s final kneel-downs, he tucked his hands into his little hand-warmer and turned his entire body into one big pout, like this was the last place he wanted to be on a Sunday afternoon.
If the head coach somehow finds this acceptable then he’s no head coach in our book.
David Mayo: Playing this game the right way with constant intensity and attention to detail, this limited inside linebacker ran his way into five run-game tackles with his consistent brand of hard, physical attack.
There were plenty of plays that Mayo did not finish as he has trouble avoiding blocks, but his pass coverage ability, hindered by his average agility, is rarely attacked.
Mayo is usually given a one-note cover responsibility on passing downs, which he can execute without hesitation. It’s handling combo reaction roles in space that he breaks down, so give the coaches credit for not putting him in those situations.
Given his limited role, Mayo plays solid ball every week. Five tackles is solid production.
Deone Bucannon: Playing his quietest game as a Giant, Bucannon was barely on the field and when he was, the ball never found him until he was beaten on the Packers 1-yard touchdown pass when his coverage was late-reacting to a Green Bay tight end.
Otherwise, Bucannon had a very limited role except in short yardage, where he was exploited on the late touchdown pass.
Chris Peace: We were surprised to see No. 43 on the field playing some 4-5 snaps at outside linebacker in the first half, and sure enough the ball found him on a couple of snaps.
On an edge run he reacted well and played physical contain, having to deal with two blockers and helping to muck up the works. Nice play.
On an Aaron Rodgers naked bootleg he was a bit late re-directing from his inside slant and allowed Rodgers to get outside for an easy 15-yard run through the space Peace gave up.
We give Peace credit for hustling in pursuit, but he didn’t show enough make-up speed in the open field to close the distance.
We didn’t see Peace on any straight pass rushes, but his playing time certainly reflects the impact that he’s been making on the practice field.
Rewarding hard workers with playing time is a great way to get the most out of your youth, especially when you have so much of it as the Giants have. You don’t want your kids to get discouraged.
We can think of a few more kids that could see playing time.
We’d love to see Josiah Tauaefa get some snaps at inside linebacker. He’s one kid who’s making plays on special teams and deserves a reward.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
DeAndre Baker: It didn’t take long for the Packers to attack the Giants deep.
Wide receiver Allen Lazard ran a deep post on the first possession, starting first toward Janoris Jenkins then he over to the zone covered by Baker.
Lazard easily got behind Baker for the 43-yard catch. After this, Baker was not targeted often and was pretty good in coverage.
To cap off the first possession, Devante Adams went over the middle caught the ball at the goal line. He then got the ball over the goal line for the touchdown.
Bethea was too deep in coverage and the result was an easy pitch and catch for the touchdown.
Allen Lazard followed up his first big play with a touchdown grab late in the first quarter. This time it was 37 yards and he completely turned Bethea around on a post pattern.
We’re not sure if it was the call or a mental mistake by Bethea, but the number of breakdowns in the defensive secondary this late in the season have us concerned.
Bethea did a nice job giving Ballentine deep help on a pass to Adams late in the second quarter. He also did a nice job on the goal line late in the third quarter as he scraped the line of scrimmage and came up and tackled Aaron Jones in the backfield.
Janoris Jenkins: Jenkins provided really good coverage on a deep route in the end zone against Marquez Valdes-Scantling. On the play, he had inside possession the whole way giving Valdes-Scantling nowhere to go to try and get to the football.
On the negative side, a perfect pass breakup engineered by Corey Ballentine and Antoine Bethea on third down was nullified by a defensive holding call against Jenkins away from the play late in the second quarter.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Jamaal Williams ran over Jenkins on a first down play. One thing we don’t like about Jenkins’ play against the run is how he tends to wait for the ball carrier instead of attacking when he makes a tackle.
When you wait on a running back that is running hard like Williams there is a good chance you will be run over, and that’s exactly what happened on this play.
Corey Ballentine: The rookie had good coverage late in the second quarter as he got his hands up just in time to knock a pass away from Adams. This was good team effort as Bethea was giving help from behind.
Ballentine unfortunately ended up with a concussion and had to leave the game early. It’s his second concussion of the year, so we’ll see if how much time he ends up missing.
Julian Love: We really like what Love has brought to the defense. He plays a smart and aggressive game.
He came up strong to make a big hit on Aaron Jones late in the second quarter and did a nice job wrapping up and making a big hit.
Love made another nice play with an open field tackle on Williams as he catches a pass out of the flat. He then did a good job knocking the ball out of the hands of Adams after a catch, but the ball went out of bounds and the Giants were unable to capitalize.
On the first play of the fourth quarter Jones bounced the goal line run to the outside. Love was responsible for outside contain on the play. He got caught being a bit too far in, but he was held on the play resulting in the touchdown being nullified.
Sam Beal: Beal had good coverage against Devante Adams, but as most young corners often do, he got a little too grabby, and on this play, he drew a costly pass interference call in the middle of the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter as the Packers rushed to the line of scrimmage, it was clear that the Giants secondary was confused.
Instead of the Giants calling a timeout, as they should have done, they tried to straighten it out, but Aaron Rodgers, as usual, took full advantage as he found Adams in the end zone for the easy touchdown.
The Giants meanwhile ended up with 12 players on the field but it did not stop the touchdown.
Grant Haley: On 4th-and-10 late in the third quarter, it looked like Aaron Rodgers was about to be sacked. Just as he was going down, he threw the pass and completed it to Geronimo Allison for a first down.
Haley had good coverage on the play but Allison was able to get a step on him which was all Rodgers needed.
A few plays later on third down, Adams caught a quick out in front of Grant for a first down. Haley tried to apply press coverage at the line of scrimmage, but Adams was able to get a clean break and get the first down.
Haley continued to have a busy afternoon, especially in the second half after Ballentine left the game with a concussion.
Haley was up against Allison on third and short midway through the fourth quarter. Haley had tight coverage on the play, but Allison was able to slip free for the catch on the sideline.
On the same drive, Haley held Adams on a seam route. This was an obvious pass interference call that gave the Packers a first and goal on the 2-yard line.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Aldrick Rosas: It was certainly a big positive to see Rosas get back on his place-kicking track this week.
He had no trouble converting 27- and 47-yard field goals, the latter a rather difficult kick in this week’s tough conditions. He also converted one stress-free PAT.
The entire place-kicking operation was smooth this week, a nice improvement.
Rosas produced the lone kickoff touchback this week as the heavy ball and wet conditions limited distances from either end.
His kickoffs were consistently high, giving his coverage plenty of time to get downfield.
Rosas even made the tackle on the lone kickoff in which his coverage came up short, cutting down the returner at the ankles with a nice hit, though one on which he injured his shoulder.
Riley Dixon: Punting only once this week, the difficult conditions did not hinder Dixon in the least as he launched a high 47-yarder that was covered well, yielding just a 3-yard return.
Unsurprisingly, Dixon handled all of his place-kick snaps without incident.
Colin Holba: The Giants new deep snapper played a mistake-free game, getting his short and long snaps back with accuracy and good snap.
We thought his short snaps were better. His lone long snap didn’t have great snap and was a little bit high.
Holba also did not get downfield well at all, nothing like the downfield presence that Zak DeOssie (IR) regularly brought to the field for 13 top-shelf seasons.
DeOssie has two Super Bowl rings and the total respect of everyone who ever played alongside him. If this is indeed the last we’ll see of him as an active player, we can honestly say that he will be sorely missed and not easily replaced.
Da’Mari Scott: Getting the promotion from the practice squad to primarily handle punt returns, Scott surprisingly also got a handful of snaps at the receiver position on offense.
On returns, Scott was sure-handed and showed himself to be a good decision-maker in this week’s tough conditions.
He correctly allowed one punt to bounce inside the five, he fair-caught another worry-free, and tracked, secured and returned his lone returnable punt for eleven very nice north-south yards.
Scott has enough body and speed for the position and might be able to carve a special teams role in this league if he can also cover.
We were disappointed he wasn’t given a chance to run under a punt, but the coaches wanted to limit his all-important role to returns.
With his mistake-free performance this week, perhaps more responsibility will be sent his way. We hope so.
Michael Thomas: Making the hit of the day on a kickoff return, Thomas drove through his man and really sparked the group with his big hit.
Thomas was around the ball on almost every return and has never disappointed in his role as special teams captain. He’s what leadership is all about.
Cody Latimer: Getting the kickoff return job for the third week in a row, Latimer’s best quality is ball security.
Of his six returns this week, he absorbed a big hit on two of them and held onto the ball without problem. That is the benefit of having a bigger return man in this role. He can take a hit.
Alas, Latimer’s lack of speed and burst, and his lack of vision and aggressiveness, are all negatives that limit his effectiveness as he poses very little threat to the defense, who can attack him with wild abandon without much concern for contain.
Even if given a crease to exploit, it’s doubtful that Latimer would ever show the desire to attack it. He’s just not an aggressive player, very much in the mold of the long-departed Rueben Randle. Latimer just does not inspire confidence as a kickoff returner, but as far as being a ball security guy, he’s your man.
Josiah Tauaefa: Tauaefa impressed with his closing speed on his punt coverage tackle this week, his aggressive attack of the returner in space smacking the ball out of his hands.
Alas, the ball bounded harmlessly out of bounds. Good for Tauaefa and how his aggressive style impacted the game early.
Tauaefa has been making plays on specials for weeks now. He’s one of those kids whom we would like to see get some snaps on defense.
We like his aggressive style, his field sense, and his mobility. He’s always taking good angles to the ball, which is a part of it. We’d like to see what else he has.
There are youngsters earning playing time in practice and seeing some defensive snaps. We’re not sure why Tauaefa is not being given this chance, but he’s certainly impressing on specials.
Corey Ballantine: The rookie, so mercilessly attacked playing the slot on defense the last two weeks, made a big play on kickoff coverage when he made a nice solo tackle in space to bring down the returner.
We know Ballantine can play gunner well. His contributions on kickoff coverage are another feather in his cap.
It’s been a tough rookie year for this sixth-round draft choice from a very small school. He’s making the big leap with the requisite bumps in the road.
We like what we see from his mental makeup; he never stops working and always runs and plays hard. He’s legit, at the very least on specials.
We really want to see more of him on kickoff returns where he impressed a bit earlier in the season before his playing time was increased on defense.
But given his concussion, his second one this season, who knows if we’ve seen the last of him this year?
I ON STRATEGY
Offensively the Giants just could not do enough to keep pace with what the Packers were able to accomplish against the Giants defense.
The run blocking was a bit better this week as Saquon Barkley was able to rush for 83 yards on 19 carries.
To his credit, Barkley seemed more interested this week in staying in the hole and didn’t hesitate once he got to the line of scrimmage.
Barkley was targeted for seven pass plays but was only able to make three catches for 40 yards.
Now the bad news is we still did not see much of Barkley working down the field against a linebacker on pass routes.
Considering how effective Darrius Slayton at wide receiver and Kaden Smith at tight end, there should have been some room for Barkley to work down the field, so we don’t understand why this isn’t part of the game plan.
Daniel Jones threw three interceptions this week. Although he wasn’t sacked, there were seven quarterback hurries led by Za’Darius Smith, who had five working against Nate Solder.
Why not give the offensive line some help with the tight end? Chipping a pass rusher is one of the best ways to slow him down.
When under pressure Jones rushed some of his throws which led to the interception issues in this game.
The one consistent bright spot on the offense has been Slayton. Each week his route running gets better and he displayed very soft hands, not dropping any passes.
Also he is getting a lot of attention from the opposing defensive backs and he is still finding a way to consistently get open.
In a season that has not given us much to even look forward to, Slayton has been a pleasant development.
In the remaining games, we would like to see Jones work on more timing routes with these receivers and also look to throw the ball deep.
In Slayton, the Giants now have a receiver who can be a deep threat and they need to use him to stretch the field.
This should also open things up for the running game and, as we mentioned earlier, getting the ball to Barkley on mid-range routes out of the backfield.
Aaron Rodgers only threw for 243 yards, but receivers were open for much of the game against the Giants young secondary.
Unlike other weeks where teams tried to pick on one defensive back, this week Rodgers worked his magic against all Giant defenders.
The Giant defenders were very loose in coverage which prevented some big plays built allowed Rodgers to pick them apart.
We did like some things we saw from Julian Love at the safety position. He was active in his role at safety and came up strong on running plays.
The Giants were not able to muster any sacks or get any real pressure on Rodgers.
In fact, the Giants defensive front has not been able to get any push.
The decision was made not get blitz a lot of the linebackers in this one as Rodgers would then be able to just dump it off to the backs out of the backfield.
The problem is if you give Rodgers time to throw the ball he will eventually pick a defense apart which is what he did in this one.
Oddly it seemed that the Giants were in the game through three quarters—that’s what the scoreboard showed—but in reality, they never were as the defense did not show enough to make you think that they were going to stop the Packers offense.
With the weeks that remain, the Giants need to determine who on defense is keepers for next year.
Are there any linemen that are going to get a push at the quarterback? The linebackers continue to be non-descript with no one standing out.
Finally, the young defensive backfield will likely continue to make mistakes, but we would like to see if there is anyone that can play solid man to man coverage.
THE OFFICIAL REVIEW
The only thing that I think is worth commenting about this week is the questionable Personal Foul called on the Packers. As best I can determine, the call was for a blindside block by the defensive player.
A blindside block is defined as a foul if a player initiates a block when his path is toward or parallel to his own end line and makes forcible contact to his opponent with his helmet, forearm, or shoulder.
In virtually all instances, this foul is reserved for offensive players but the rule pertains to defensive players as well. Personally I thought the call was questionable at best.
Other than that, I had no problem with any of the calls against either team. In a game in foul weather, the tendency is to let the teams play as there is often some slipping and sliding going on that is beyond the control of the players.
Also, the field markings are often not sharp making calls on the sideline difficult. For the officials, it is challenging to work such a game and I thought that this week's crew did a good job.
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