Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
2019 Week 6: Player-by-Player Review
Wait, What Happened to the Giants Defense?
By Chris Pflum
If you told people Thursday morning that the Patriots would have 21 points at halftime, they probably wouldn't be too surprised.
What would probably have surprised people is any suggestion that the Giants would be able to keep the game as close, trailing by just one score at halftime.
That’s exactly what happened.
All season long the Giants have struggled to slow offenses down and get off the field when they needed to. That put pressure on an injured and struggling offense to try and win shootouts, something they just aren't equipped to do.
So how were the Giants able to hang so close with the Patriots? What had they done differently from previous weeks?
Schematically, the Giants didn't do anything radically different from what we have seen already this year.
That shouldn't be much of a surprise as it's Thursday Night Football, and teams just don't install new wrinkles on a short week.
Instead, there were two main differences in what we have seen from the Giants defense against New England compared to what we have seen previously this year.
The first is the presence of edge rusher Lorenzo Carter, who missed last week with a neck injury suffered in the Giants' Week 4 win over Washington.
Markus Golden leads the Giants in sacks, but Carter, from whom big things were expected, hasn't been a consistent threat as a pass rusher so far this year.
Carter's speed and length showed up against the Patriots.
The most obvious instance was Carter's strip-sack of Tom Brady, where his speed and power proved to be entirely too much for the tight end the Patriots assigned to block him.
Trying to block an edge rusher with a tight end seldom works out, and this time the tight end barely slowed Carter down on his way to Brady.
From there, the second-year player's length and agility came into play, as he easily turned the corner and knocked the ball loose as he ran past his blocker.
Then Golden jumped in, scooping the ball and running it into the endzone for the defense’s score.
Carter very nearly had a repeat performance later in the game when he once again blew past the Patriots blocker and into the backfield.
This time, he was just a fraction of a second late and his swiping hand just missed Brady's arm as the quarterback went through his motion.
Had the swipe landed on time and on target, the game might have turned out differently.
But that first sequence—Carter blowing past a tight end, stripping the ball, and then Golden scoring—encapsulates what the Giants did differently through the first three quarters.
They challenged the Patriots' offense, playing fast and physical as often as they could. But more importantly, they took advantage of the opportunities the Patriots afforded them.
All told, the Giants offense only scored seven offensive points, right in line with what the Patriots' defense has surrendered on the year.
However this game was tight and competitive going into the second half because the Patriots were far from perfect on offense, and unlike some previous games, the Giants capitalized.
The Patriots, in fact, seemed listless and flat to start the game, with Bill Belichick visibly frustrated following Markus Golden's touchdown.
That play came when Brady failed to show his usual preternatural pocket presence.
Just a few minutes earlier Brady flat-out missed Julian Edelman who was running wide-open down the field. That is a thing that just doesn't happen, particularly when Brady is unpressured.
But the Giants capitalized in a way they didn't against Dallas, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, or Minnesota, and Janoris Jenkins came up with the interception.
And while the Giants' injuries were well-covered during the game, the Patriots were dealing with injuries of their own, most notably to former Giants' tight end Matt LaCosse, and starting left tackle Isaiah Wynn. They were also missing receiver Phillip Dorsett and running back Rex Burkhead, and receiver Josh Gordon was injured during the game.
Rather than throttle down because they were playing some of the Patriots' back-ups, the Giants' played a fast and aggressive brand of defense. It started with their fourth-down stop on the Patriots' opening drive.
New England was moving the ball freely with the Giants seemingly feeling their offense out.
After their stand on third and fourth down, however, we saw the Giants' defense actively trying to take the momentum of the game.
They challenged receivers with tighter coverage, rotating defenders, and regularly showing (and bringing) pressure.
The Giants targeted old friend Marshall Newhouse at left tackle and Golden was able to breeze past him to secure an early sack of Brady.
The Giants didn't give up easy yardage through the air in the first half and the Patriots' offense was visibly uncomfortable—and the Giants capitalized and were able to make the game far more competitive than anyone thought it would be.
Unfortunately, the offense couldn't keep pace or possession of the football, and the Patriots were ultimately able to dominate the time of possession.
Half-way through the third quarter, we could see the Giants' defense begin to get tired and they were visibly gassed by the fourth quarter.
The Giants still aren't ready to compete with the better teams in the NFL thanks to their own injuries and the overall talent level of their roster.
Daniel Jones is still early in his maturation process and as they are waiting to get Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, Wayne Gallman, and Sterling Shepard back from the injured list.
But if the Giants' defense, and the defensive front, in particular, is able to bring this level of intensity every week, it should be counted as a strength upon which they can build.
QUARTERBACKS
Daniel Jones: Let’s give the rookie a bit of a pass for this week’s rather ugly offensive performance.
Without his top three playmakers, Jones had nobody that scared the Patriots, which sure made their jobs a lot easier.
Still, the rookie played like a bit of a rookie for the first time this year in his fourth NFL start
All three of Jones’ interceptions this week were the direct result of bad decisions. Decision-making had been a strength of Jones’ to date, but this week, against the league’s best defense (and going against a great secondary) Jones played right into the hands of the Patriots.
His first interception was forced into tight coverage, and one of his few balls this week that was off-target.
His second interception came when he held onto the ball too long, his max-protect finally breaking down and Jones allowing his throwaway to be deflected when a closing defender hit his hand. The deflection resulted in the turnover.
Finally, Jones misread a coverage and couldn’t have delivered this deep sideline throw any better into the hands of the waiting Pro Bowl corner, Stephon Gilmore.
It wasn’t all bad of course. Jones had his moments, particularly when hooking up with Golden Tate (6 catches for 102 yards), especially on the spectacular 64-yard hook-up down the ride sideline that Jones touch-passed perfectly into Tate’s hands.
Tate had failed Jones earlier by not fighting for a good throw in a tight window, and even this time, Tate bobbled the ball, but he hauled it in and finished it off for his rookie quarterback to bring the team life and seven points.
This was the first touchdown pass the Patriots vaunted pass defense allowed in 2019 and it was a pretty one.
More good news: Jones continued to throw the ball with great accuracy this week, except the Patriots’ defensive backs had a lot of coverage so Jones rarely saw an open receiver.
The coaches also max-protected maybe on a dozen snaps or so, which left Jones with only two receivers running patterns. These snaps didn’t succeed once, other than give Jones time to throw the ball out of bounds.
A quick note on the officiating: It seemed like a cleanly-called game, but we were dismayed that no consideration was given when Jones took a low hit late in the game by a blitzing defensive back that we thought was right in the direct line of the referee.
This hit was an ugly one, and to our eyes, it should be fined.
Jones’ numbers were predictably ugly this week: 15 of 31 for 161 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions.
He only absorbed one sack and that came on a naked bootleg when he was run out of bounds for a 1-yard loss. Chalk this one up to another learning experience for the rookie as he continues to grow into his position.
It wasn’t going to be all candy and roses, especially when so much of your supporting cast is sitting at home licking its wounds.
RUNNING BACKS
Jonathan Hilliman: Hilliman got the start this week and right off the bat, he came up big with a solid early blitz pickup to give his quarterback time to complete a 9-yard pass.
However, on his first touch of the night, the rookie made a poor read on a 2nd-and-1 for no gain. Eventually, the Giants had to punt.
On his next touch, Hilliman did the right thing—he put his head down and got the tough 3 yards.
Hilliman’s best first-half run came early in the second quarter when he squeezed out six yards through a small crease between the tackles, and then he finished off the subsequent run for four more tough inside yards and the first down.
Hilliman converted another 2nd-and-3 by showing an ability to move the pile a bit.
He came out tough in the third quarter by making a quick (and correct) read around the right edge for 10 yards and a first down.
However, the bloom fell off the rose as soon as he caught a screen pass, took a couple of little stutter steps and lost the ball on the tackle. The resulting recovery turned into six points for the Patriots, turning a 21-14 game into a 28-14 deficit.
The rookie has to realize what he is: a non-descript back whose calling card has to be physicality between the tackles and a reliable carrier of the ball.
He cannot be a negative to his own team. He’s put the ball on the ground twice already this year and once in preseason.
It’s not only costing his team dearly; he’s shortening his tenure in this league by leaps and bounds and resulted in his being waived the next day in favor of veteran Javorius “Buck” Allen.
Hilliman finished with 11 carries for 38 yards and 2 catches for minus-3 yards, and the fumble.
Elijhaa Penny: This physical young veteran should have been Hilliman’s mentor.
Penny knows exactly what he is, and he contributes smartly every time he’s been on the field this year.
Penny’s numbers weren’t any better—three carries for six yards and one catch for zero yards—but Penny made every correct read, held onto the ball, and blocked very efficiently every time he was asked.
We didn’t spot a single mistake out there by Penny, and that’s how you win football games: with reliable contributions made no matter how small.
TIGHT ENDS
Rhett Ellison: Getting the bulk of the starting tight end snaps this week, Ellison rarely left the field and contributed throughout.
His blocking was solid and efficient, one reason being the coaches weren’t matching him up against over-sized defensive ends but rather smaller linebackers.
He was a great waller of pursuit this week and even executed a handful of efficient pass blocks as well.
Ellison did catch 3 balls for 30 yards but was the ill-fated target on Daniel Jones’ third interception, coming when the score was just 21-14 and the offense was engineering a promising drive to start the second half.
Ellison will never be mistaken for a receiving tight end.
Kaden Smith: Getting perhaps 6-8 snaps in double-tight end, max-protect situations this week, Smith got to throw a fair share of blocks and seemed to survive all of these confrontations.
Smith has great height and a frame that seems capable of adding the 10-15 pounds he will to add in order to play in this league.
He doesn’t have great mobility or burst, but the size is something to work with.
He was a pass catcher in college, but he will need to prove he can hold up with his blocking.
We like what we saw in his fight level out there, conceding that he’s nowhere near ready for the NFL wars at his current size.
However, it is interesting that he got all of the double-tight end snaps in lieu of Garrett Dickerson and/or Nick Gates this week.
That tells us that the coaches see something in this youngster that perhaps can be developed.
This team will not take a step up in the competition level until it finds a lot more players. Perhaps Smith will be one of them.
RECEIVERS
Darius Slayton: Slayton got started right away on an out route for a nine-yard gain.
Late in the second quarter, he caught his second catch on an in route and proved to be the only receiver early on getting any separation.
The Giants tried to get Slayton on a deep route on the first play of the second quarter. Slayton did a solid job separating, but the pass was poorly thrown.
A much better pass was thrown to Slayton on 3rd-and-5 late in the third quarter. There was a very small window to throw the football and Jones found it.
On the same drive, he tried to go to Slayton again. This time it was tight coverage and the third-down play was stopped.
Jones went to Slayton on a deep route early in the fourth quarter. It appeared that Slayton could have made a play on the ball, but he seemed more concerned about the contact with the defender.
This was a rookie mistake; He needed to fight through the coverage and attempt to make the reception.
Golden Tate: On the last play of the first quarter Tate made a catch on a slant route for a first down. Tate was having a tough time getting separation this week, as he was working against Johnathan Jones early in the second quarter. He could not separate and probably could have made a move to give himself a better chance at catching the pass.
Tate made another grab on an in route in the middle of the second quarter. On this play, he got better separation. He got a step on Jones in the middle of the second quarter.
It was a good route but a much better pass that resulted in a 64-yard touchdown pass. Tate was not getting a lot of separation but did do a nice job of catching the ball in traffic.
On third and three early in the third quarter Golden worked himself free for a first down grab. Tate made a grab against Jones midway through the third quarter. Again, he could not get much separation and it was a short gain.
Tate came up with yet another catch in traffic midway through the fourth. It was very tough for the Giant receivers to get any separation.
Late in the game, Tate went deep over the middle for a first down grab. On the field, it appeared to be pass interference. It was not called, and the play was challenged, with the Giants losing yet another challenge.
Overall Tate missed not having Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram in action to take away some of the extra attention he was receiving
Hopefully he will have some of his cohorts back next week and hopefully Tate will find a way to get a step or two on the opposing defensive backs.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Nate Solder: Playing one of his better games of the year (oddly enough, coming after playing one of his worst games as a Giant just last week), Solder blocked his edge as well as he’s blocked it as a Giant.
Yes, he did yield a couple of late pressures, especially when the game was out of reach and the Giants had to throw on every down, but otherwise, Solder was much more reliable in his backpedal and balance, and it showed.
We never saw him collapse into panic mode once this week as he was quick to set up and thus able to react to whatever secondary moves his man threw his way.
Solder held up to both power and speed this week, a big step in the right direction, while his run-blocking was only on the average level but acceptable.
However, he’s been so inconsistent from week to week, we just don’t know what to expect.
Like a handful of other the high-priced vets (e.g. Ogletree, Jenkins), this team just doesn’t know what it’s getting out there from its leaders.
That’s a tough way to play winning football when your team leaders can’t be relied on.
Mike Remmers: On the other hand, the Giants right tackle has been the epitome of consistency this year.
Remmers has showed up every down, never misses an assignment, and regularly gets beaten with power on the pass rush and most every which way in the running game.
Remmers’ poor balance is his biggest challenge while trying to hold his edge on running plays, while his inability to play low gets him regularly pushed back into his quarterback’s lap in pass protection.
Remmers is a fighter and he never stops bringing his physical style of game, but the overall talent for the position is average at best.
On the plus side, the coaches rarely see the need to give Remmers any double-team help so the pressures he is allowing are apparently acceptable risks.
We sure would like to see the Giants franchise quarterback being able to step into more of his throws, but that’s not happening very often with Remmers pass-blocking one-on-one.
Will Hernandez: Once again the offense’s top blocker, we spotted only one quasi-pressure off of a Jaime Collins stunt allowed by Hernandez, who was still able to push Collins away from the pocket in the end. Otherwise, Hernandez’s pass-blocking was superb.
He also assisted Nate Solder on at least a half dozen passing downs, which is something he hasn’t been doing enough.
Hernandez only had two pulls to execute, and they were positives, while his run-blocking was mostly of the solo variety and very reliable.
The officials threw only one holding flag against Hernandez when he met a blitzing linebacker face up.
We’re not sure why this was a hold, as from the angle we saw, Hernandez got his hands inside his man’s framework and didn’t appear to grab a fistful of the jersey.
Kevin Zeitler: This sore-shouldered warrior was bounced around a bit out there this week, but he never stopped fighting and produced another positive effort, especially pass-blocking.
Yes, he got himself turned around once and allowed a hit on his quarterback, but other than this one negative he was his typical reliable self, mirroring his man and not allowing the front of his pocket to collapse.
Zeitler was less successful with his run-blocking—he’s just not playing with any power out there—but he remains a solid positional run blocker who always prevents penetration and always attacks the right guy.
He’s just not creating any space, but Zeitler remains very much a consistently reliable presence on this unit.
Jon Halapio: A couple of weeks ago, we anointed Halapio as the answer over the ball.
Ever since making that statement, we’ve seen a downturn in his play that really concerns us.
We’re seeing a slow-moving, slow-reacting, lead-footed big guy who cannot maneuver in small or large spaces, and who does not react well to the unexpected.
He simply cannot be asked to get to the second level to block linebackers, who regularly avoid his block and get in on tackles that he cannot prevent from happening when they come in space.
His power game has screeched to a halt, and his help-blocking on the pass block has also leveled off.
An early-season plus player, Halapio is just not playing fast out there, and we’re now referring to his mental approach.
He’s playing a slow-reacting game, and since he lacks the physical ability to recover when off-kilter, he’s too often reaching and/or failing to get a lick on anyone on too many snaps.
His great size is a plus but looking to the future we’d sure like to see a physical guy like Nick Gates get a chance to play over the ball eventually (the current backup at center Spencer Pulley is not a physical player and thus, to our thinking, not the answer).
We know Gates has the physicality, and who knows he may be just another Halapio, but the more we see Halapio play, the less we like what we’re seeing.
DEFENSIVE LINEMEN
B.J. Hill: Hill’s game continues to fall short of expectations. He played another too-invisible game, a vanilla game that’s just not taking advantage of his size and mobility.
The more we see the defense’s three up-front starters playing such a straight-up game, the more we want to scream.
There needs to be some slanting incorporated into the scheme so that these young, big athletes can get their feet moving and flash into the backfield and disrupt.
Right now they’re all playing their reads and they’re getting pushed around, and it has to be rough on the football psyche.
Hill got in on just two tackles this week, and we don’t recall him producing a single big or even notable play through six games!
He’s too big a talent to be wasted playing such an absorbing style. We really would like to see this defense play in attack mode more often, and get these kids flying around a bit.
We know, the problems at linebacker are likely preventing a more reckless but risky style, but Hill’s got to be better than what we’re seeing.
Dalvin Tomlinson: Tomlinson stood up an early double team and forced a fourth down for no gain, and then he got in on the tackle on fourth down to turn the ball over on downs.
We saw a handful of decent upfield pass rushes as well as the physical and active style that earned him his seven tackles on the stat sheet.
This week was how we want to see this defense’s nose tackle play—beating blocks to the punch, controlling solo blocks, and playing off of them to get in on the play.
Tomlinson was this team’s best pit defender this week, though all of his big plays came between the tackles.
Alas, Tomlinson was powerless to defend the Patriots’ short-yardage quarterback-sneaking this week, all of which worked right into the defense’s face.
With its big, physical youth we expect this defense to be much more of a force right up the gut, but this week the Patriots took it right into the teeth of the Giants’ front and they did it with an offensive line that’s not particularly big. That concerns us.
Dexter Lawrence: An early Lawrence power fill against the run stopped the bleeding early on, when the Patriots were threatening to run the Giants right out of the ballpark.
Lawrence righted that ship and played well from start to finish, once again giving the defense reliable, physical and hustling play.
Lawrence only managed two or three inside pressures and was walled off by solo blocking on too many running game snaps, but he still racked up another five tackles and he was seen running sideline to sideline on every snap he was on the field.
This rookie plays the most snaps on this defensive line and has quickly developed into an enforcer and a bit of a leader.
He’s just missing on getting his hands on some passes and he’s starting to draw double teams on passing downs.
Olsen Pierre: Pierre made a good hustle play at the 1-inch yard line to force the Patriots to earn a first-half touchdown on the ground (which they subsequently did).
Pierre got in on another tackle, but his pass-rushing continues to fail to get home. He got about 12-15 snaps this week and played aggressive ball without finding the ball.
Pierre suffered a concussion during the game, so he will be in the protocol for the immediate future.
R.J. McIntosh: When McIntosh got his two series this week (one in each half) the Patriots tried to target him a bit on the ground.
They got him on the first down but after that McIntosh was more than up to the task and held up well.
We would like to see him get more snaps earlier in the game on passing downs, particularly the ones that the coaches are giving to Olsen Pierre, but this week McIntosh didn’t get much of a chance to rush the passer and was rarely on the field.
That’s disappointing, as we have rather high hopes for this tall, physical player with untapped mobility.
EDGE RUSHERS
Markus Golden: Though Golden finished up with a measly three assists on the stat sheet, we beg to differ on his impact on this week’s game.
First, Golden put a real nice inside move on former Giant Marshall Newhouse for an early sack that led to Patriots punting on their second possession (somehow Golden only got credit for half a sack).
This disruptive snap forced the Patriots to pull in their offensive game plan for a while till things calmed down.
On the bad news front, Golden’s personal foul after a subsequent Giants interception was totally unnecessary and pushed his offense out of field goal territory, from which it could not recover.
That was a big mistake on a night where everybody needed to play mistake-free just to compete.
Golden made up for this mistake (and more) by picking up a loose ball off a sack and rumbling it into the end zone to tie up the game at 14.
Talk about yards-after-contact—Golden was initially hit at the 7-yard line on his return but he would not be denied, powering his way into the end zone with a spectacular stretch-and-leap to the goal line for the unmistakable score.
This will surely go down as one of the Giants' most exciting plays of the year.
Back to the bad news, Golden was not quite the bringer of outside pressure this week as he was neutralized by the Patriots right tackle Marcus Cannon all game long.
Golden played his best against the run when he crashed inside when his physicality comes to bear, but on the edge, he got pushed around a couple of times and it wasn’t pretty.
Lorenzo Carter: After a one-game injury-related absence (neck), Carter returned to the starting line-up and made his presence known late in the second quarter when he took advantage of a pass-blocking tight end matchup and blind-sided Tom Brady for the big strip-sack.
The loose ball was snatched up by Markus Golden who took it into the end zone to tie up the game.
Prior to that play, Carter seemed to be finding his footing and playing a positional game, as is his wont, but that play really seemed to inspire him.
Carter followed up his big play with a nice back-side contain tackle, and on several second-half passing downs he flashed around the edge and just missed getting his hand on quarterback Brady.
It was nice to see some flash around the edge from a Giants pass rusher.
Carter’s negatives still concern us, however.
He continues to get pushed around out there, specifically in short yardage at the goal line where a Patriots tight end easily pushed him out of the hole for the score.
Carter needs to give rookie Oshane Ximines some props for keeping the Patriots running attack away from his edge as the rookie is a beacon for opposing running games, this week included.
Carter finished with three tackles while producing the rare big play from this much-abused defense.
Oshane Ximines: It must be written in the NFL playbook: If Ximines is on the field, run the ball right at him.
The rookie has not yet learned a single trick to stop the bleeding, which included the Patriots little misdirection pass to running back James White that completely sucked Ximines inside as yet another back ran around his edge for a big gain.
Ximines has to eventually realize that the inside gap that he continues to over-commit to can be controlled with pursuit and team defense.
However, if you continue to give up the edge, there’s rarely enough pursuit to help close down all that space you’re handing over on a silver pattern.
Ximines’ pass rushes weren’t nearly as aggressive or successful this week. He seems to have hit a bit of a wall, and to our eyes needs to have his playing time better managed so he can catch his breath.
We don’t want to see a promising youngster getting discouraged out there, but he’s wearing a bullseye on his jersey and it’s drawing like flies to honey.
He had one lonely assist this week when he threw himself on a ball carrier’s ankle in pursuit. At the point of attack on his edge, he has been a disaster.
Tuzar Skipper: Getting just a handful of snaps at outside linebacker, Skipper saw every snap run away from him as he was easily walled off in contain.
His lone pass rush went nowhere. Regardless, we think this physical rookie needs some more playing time.
OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS
Alec Ogletree: We wish we could say that Ogletree’s return from two weeks of absence due to injury was a blessing for this defense, but his game was so up and down that we just don’t see his salary being worth it next year.
He will finish this year as the highly paid captain of a struggling defense, but this organization needs to move on.
Despite his play, Ogletree led the defense with 12 total tackles this week that included a sack as well as another hit on the quarterback off another well-executed blitz that ended a possession.
Ogletree never left the field and he looked healthy and active, and was around the ball more often than not, but we were not pleased with the times he took himself out of his gap responsibility with over-aggressive reads and was late arriving in coverage, allowing too-easy completions.
This defense needs smart leadership from their captain but what they’re getting is wild-eyed over-reactions and not enough lining people up and/or making smart plays.
For instance, on several snaps Ogletree needed to get Jabrill Peppers lined up and moving in the right direction—the signal-caller needs to see things he’s seen a hundred times before and help his guys see stuff too—but it doesn’t appear to be happening.
Ogletree is a playmaker. He’s got that aggressive, playmaking gene and some ability to make big plays.
But playing linebacker must also include smart playmaking and disciplined playmaking. Ogletree is a hell-bent playmaker. It is what he does best.
David Mayo: Getting another start (he sure looks like the starter the rest of the way), Mayo had a very slow start to this week’s game.
He allowed a back to leak out of the backfield unattached and thus gave up an early 19-yard gain.
On the very next snap, Mayo was a bit slow to read and fill on a run that went for another 21 yards. Ouch!
Mayo rebounded quickly and was a force the rest of the way. He made the stop on the Patriots’ opening drive 4th-and-1 that turned the ball over to the Giants.
On a second-quarter drive, on successive snaps, Mayo made a heavy hit against the run, and then tracked down a Patriots back on the edge for no gain on another run.
A little bit later, Mayo just missed finishing a tackle at the 1-inch line, getting a lick in but not having the angle or help to finish off the play that resulted in a touchdown.
Mayo seemed to be in the middle of everything, taking a bunch of good angles and making proper reads that helped contain the Patriots running game.
Mayo also got credit for half a sack when he cleaned up at the end of Markus Golden’s sack.
He had another good blitz, but his strength is playing the run. We really like the pop that Mayo brings to his tackles, but especially how well he knows his reads and honors them.
To these eyes, playing good off-ball linebacker means playing reliable team defense. Mayo always seems to be where he belongs, and he rarely over-reacts to things.
He tied for the team lead in tackles this week with 12, nearly every one of them against the run.
In coverage, he knows his reads but he’s not quick to react or very athletic out there in space. He’s very much a two-down linebacker, which is pretty much the job description.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Janoris Jenkins: On the first possession, Josh Gordon made a catch in front of Jenkins and easily picked up seven yards on a wide receiver screen as Jenkins was too far off in coverage.
Jenkins followed this by doing a nice job on an interception on a pass intended for Julian Edelman, a poorly thrown pass by Tom Brady.
Jenkins did a good job weaving his way down the field after the interception, but a late hit penalty by Markus Golden put the Giants out of initial field goal range.
On a corner route to Edelman, Jenkins was there to knock it away. It was an odd play on the ball as it seems like he could have stepped in front of the pass for the interception.
Late in the third quarter, Jenkins blatantly held Edelman, turning a fourth-down play into a first down. We’re not sure what Jenkins was thinking here as a stop meant a change of possession on downs; instead, the Patriots got a new life.
Edelman went deep on Jenkins late in the fourth quarter. Jenkins had inside help from Michael Thomas, but both players failed to cover him deep down the field which set up the final touchdown for the Patriots.
Michael Thomas: Late in the first quarter, Thomas was covering tight end Ryan Izzo. He did a solid job, but Tom Brady had way too much time to throw and connected with Izzo for a first down.
Two plays later, Thomas did a nice job covering Julian Edelman as he was right with him on an underneath route.
Thomas was supposed to give inside help on Edelman late in the fourth quarter. Thomas was not in position to make the play and this set up a New England touchdown.
DeAndre Baker: The rookie did a good job coming up on an out pattern to stop Jakobi Meyers. He showed good, tight coverage and made a nice tackle.
Overall Baker was better in this game and has continued to improve each week. He was much more aggressive coverage and came up strong on run defense.
Late in the fourth quarter, he had tight coverage against Edelman and forced an incomplete pass. We are really glad to see Baker starting to come into his own as an NFL corner after a rocky start.
Grant Haley: In man-to-man coverage against Meyers, Haley was right there but the pass was underthrown. However, Meyers was able to adjust to make the catch inside the 5-yard line.
On a wide receiver screen midway through the second quarter, Haley came in broke through the block and tackled Edelman at the line of scrimmage for no gain. This was a very aggressive play and solid tackle.
Meyers did come up with a grab against Haley late in the second quarter. Haley had decent coverage here, but give credit to his opponent for playing it better and making the grab.
Haley also did a solid job midway through the third quarter when he gave up his body to try and stop the screen pass. Unfortunately, Alec Ogletree missed a tackle giving New England the first down.
Antoine Bethea: In the middle of the second quarter, Julian Edelman caught a pass in front of Bethea, who gave way too much cushion.
Against zone coverage early in the fourth quarter, Gunner Olszewski found a huge gap in the coverage for the first down conversion against Bethea. Again, Bethea was too deep in coverage which created too much room in the middle of the field.
Speed continues to be a hindrance for Bethea, who hasn't shown thus far an ability to get around the field quick enough to give deep help.
Jabrill Peppers: Peppers did a poor job on an out pattern to James White late in the second quarter. He could have made the tackle before the first-down marker but instead he whiffed on the play which resulted in a Patriots' first down.
Peppers did a better job on White later on the same drive as he stopped him in his tracks for a limited gain. He came up strong on a running play against Sony Michel early in the third quarter.
Peppers has been doing a more solid job in run defense. On a sweep to White midway through the fourth quarter, Peppers did a great job stretching the play and then making the tackle behind the line of scrimmage.
This set up a fourth-and-long that the Patriots weren’t able to convert. We would still like to see Peppers make more of an impact in giving deep help to the corners.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Aldrick Rosas: Rosas’ opening kickoff into the wind was a line drive dead-center that only made it to the goal line and was returned for 28 yards.
We’re not sure what Rosas is doing out there in coverage, but he found himself in the middle of the gang tackle at the end of this play and lost his helmet.
It seems every time there’s a returnable kickoff out there, Rosas is getting banged around, and this isn’t something we want to see from one of the team’s few Pro Bowl level players.
Rosas’ two other kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, and he converted his only two extra points.
Rosas’ very quiet 2019 season continues. He ranks 26th in the league in points scored at his position because of the lack of placekicking opportunities he’s being given.
He’s only attempted 5 field goals (and has made 4). His longest field goal is from 36 yards, while his only miss of 48 yards came against the Bills in Week 2.
It’s an odd trend that will likely change as the season goes along, but this 2-4 team really needs to utilize all its best assets. There just aren’t that many to choose from. Rosas is one of them.
Riley Dixon: Dixon’s first punt was a fabulous 53-yarder that hit out of bounds for no return at the Patriots 20-yard line. This might have been his best punt of the year.
Early on, Dixon was contributing to the field position game that his team needed from him this week to compete. All was well.
His second punt was a solid pooch effort that was fair caught at the 12. Still all good.
Then disaster struck. Of all the areas to break down first in this week’s game, it was the Giants' best unit to date—its punt team—that failed spectacularly.
Punting from inside his own 20, Dixon’s third punt was blocked right up the middle. He didn’t seem to have a chance.
We didn’t see anything wrong with Dixon’s technique or quickness getting the ball off, except perhaps the punt came off his foot a bit low.
Regardless, disaster happened, and the Patriots were soon dancing in the end zone with a cheap 7-0 lead.
Dixon’s last punt of the half was downed at the Patriots’ 10.
In the second half, Dixon had his two poorest punts of the year, a 30-yarder and a 42-yarder, both of which gave New England good field position to exploit.
On a night where the defense played better but not well, and the offense was so undermanned, the special teams turned out to be as big a culprit as any unit, the first time they got out-played this year.
Zak DeOssie: Last week we wondered when one of DeOssie’s slow punt snaps was going to hurt this team (every other team’s punt snaps are rockets compared to DeOssie’s), and sure enough it happened this week.
Out of respect for the veteran, we doubt that anyone will point a finger at his slow snaps, but undoubtedly it contributed to the huge blocked punt that turned a competitive 0-0 first quarter into an early Giants 7-0 deficit.
Golden Tate: Tate made an ill-advised fair catch on his first punt return opportunity this week, wasting a good five yards of room to work with on a night where every opportunity needed to be taken advantage of.
Punt returning is one of the few areas where the Giants can legitimately say they have an advantage—rookie Corey Ballantine’s gunner play has been a revelation—but the Giants punt returners have not yet been able to do any damage.
Tate sure wasted this one, but he did well to come up on a short Patriots punt and fair-catch it at the 25 while tumbling to the ground, not allowing it to bounce which was smart.
Tate had only one other punt to field, but it was also fair caught, which is why when you get an opportunity to make a play out there, you need to jump at it.
Corey Ballantine: With 35 seconds left in the first half, we had no problem with Ballantine trying to make a play 8 yards deep out of the end zone.
The kid got the ball out to the 22—not great, but it was the right decision, by him and by the coaches that encouraged him at that point in the game to take a chance.
On the second-half kickoff, Ballantine had a better opportunity catching a kick at the goal line and taking it out but he made a bad read around the 20—he should have zigged when he actually zagged—and was tackled at the 22.
Ballantine once again was stellar blocking his gunner, getting some double-team help once again.
Last week it was Michael Thomas, this week it was fellow rookie Julian Love.
Antonio Hamilton: Playing left gunner, Hamilton made a nice catch of a high first half pooch punt, downing it easily at the 10-yard line.
David Mayo: Known as a special teams standout till now, the Giants starting inside linebacker (and leading tackler this week!) made a solid, disciplined tackle on the punt team’s lone coverage snap this week.
This 26-year-old sure looks like a core player for this team moving forward, as he contributes in several areas.
Nate Stupar: Sharing the blame on this week’s blocked punt, Stupar was pushed back into his punter’s lap on that critical second-quarter punt that was blocked, turning a scoreless battle into an early New England 7-0 lead.
Losing the special teams battle was not expected this week, but that’s what a special teams touchdown by the opponent will do.
Stupar just didn’t seem stout enough on this block, not meeting his man in the hole and allowing him to get a running start and leverage on him, powering Stupar right back into his punter’s lap.
And yet, with a higher punt, the block might have been avoided, but Riley Dixon was punting from deep in his own territory and needed to target distance with his kick, ergo the lower trajectory.
I ON STRATEGY
By Mike Iannaconi
In losing to the Patriots, the Giants defense played their best game of the season.
The game started a lot like the last one, with running back Sony Michel catching a ball in the flat against Giants man-to-man coverage and linebacker David Mayo being nowhere to be found despite the fact that he was responsible for the coverage.
After this miscue, Mayo turned it on. He did a superb job scraping and attacking the ball carrier.
By “scraping,” we mean working his way laterally form the linebacker position, keeping himself free from blocks then coming up and delivering the tackle.
That being said, the tackling overall was much better, though not perfect. We say “not perfect” because Jabrill Peppers missed a third-down tackle on running back James White which would have forced the Patriots to punt and instead resulted in a score that cemented the Patriots victory.
The defensive line also had its best outing. They were able to get persistent pressure on Tom Brady without having to blitz often. This is the key to trying to stop Brady.
They were able to collapse the pocket and as we have learned for many years the best way to pressure Brady is to get in his face and not allow him to step forward.
The effort of the defensive line and linebackers was the key to the defense's success.
The defensive backs were better but not perfect either. Going into the game, everyone was afraid that Patriots receivers would be running freely down the field.
This was the case at times, but often the coverage was tighter. The Giants were at their best when they were playing underneath man to man with deep coverage from the safeties.
The problem with the deep coverage from the safeties is they are often too deep in coverage which is causing too large of a gap in the intermediate zone in the middle of the field.
The other issue this season is we have yet to see them this season come over and give the appropriate deep coverage to the cornerbacks down the field.
The Giants offense was missing nearly all their weapons, and this made things very difficult.
The running game was really hampered as running back Jon Hilliman was not able to get much yardage and was not a threat as a receiver out of the backfield.
The tight end situation was also an issue without Evan Engram.
We have been waiting for quite some time for Rhett Ellison to have a breakout game but again this week he was unable to make any significant contribution on the receiving end.
If the Giants would have even just had Evan Engram in this one, it could have given some relief to a receiving group that was also shorthanded.
Golden Tate had a big first-half touchdown reception but really had a hard time getting any separation down the field.
The Patriots pass defense has been superb this season. When you combine a reduction in offensive weapons with a solid pass defense, you are left with an offense that will face difficulties.
Daniel Jones played well in this one as he continues to throw passes into very tight windows. His accuracy has been amazing but when you throw passes in tight windows you will also have your share of interceptions.
The receiver who continues to impress is Darius Slayton. He is the one Giant receiver who can stretch the field.
He was really the only receiver who was able to get any separation from the Patriots defensive backs in this one.
Slayton and Daniel Jones seem very comfortable with each other and this tandem should continue to have success as the season continues.
