Patricia Traina, The Maven NY Giants
Inside Football's 2019 Week 3 Game Review
FROM THE EDITOR
The Giants decision to end the Eli Manning era and begin the Daniel Jones one was a very bittersweet one for me personally.
Not only have I long been an Eli Manning supporter—it’s always been my opinion that the Giants did him wrong in the back nine of his career with their coaching and personnel decisions—but it was Manning’s play that for the majority of his 16-year career, brought joy to my father, Al.
My dad, for those who don’t know, began suffering from dementia in late 2016.
Over the last two months, the disease began to spiral out of control to where this bright spot in my life, the man who not only got me into Giants football but to whom my forthcoming book on the Giants is dedicated, began to deteriorate physically and mentally.
On Tuesday evening, hours after the announcement of the new era hit the airwaves, my dad was admitted to the emergency room where a hematoma was discovered in his brain.
He suffered a stroke the following day and to see him lying unresponsive in his hospice bed, his breathing shallow ripped out a piece of my heart.
My dad passed away on Thursday afternoon, just after lunch and with him that same piece of my heart that has been ripped out.
As I write this, we are about to lay him to rest on Wednesday. I’ve often thought about whether I could go on writing about the one thing—football—which I strongly associate with my dad, and after deliberating it, I decided to go on because that’s what he would have wanted.
I’ve always tried to give you all my very best in everything I do. I’m far from perfect and I hate making mistakes when it comes to my long-time subscriber family, but I am determined to keep honoring my dad’s memory for however long the Good Lord grants me time in this role.
I thank each and every one of you who reached out with words of support during this difficult time. –Patricia Traina
QUARTERBACKS
Daniel Jones: Remember what Andy Dufresne said in Shawshank Redemption?
“Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things …”
That’s what Jones’ performance did for this franchise. It gives it hope. The team, the fans, everybody involved.
We could run off the superlatives—accuracy, poise, toughness, mobility, maturity, competitive, decision-making, resiliency—and it wouldn’t be enough.
We like that last word best. To keep getting up and standing tall in the pocket when he was being bounced around like a piñata back there sure says something about this kid’s inner strength. It may be the most important quality, that inner grit.
He’s also got all the skills you want in a quarterback—his accuracy is something that will not be talked about a lot, but it’s huge—but it’s what the kid has beating inside his chest that makes him special.
He may not look the part much, like the previous starter at his position never looked the part, but it’s never about how you look, it’s how you perform.
How you perform under pressure. How you run a huddle, and how you lead men. Jones checked off every box on the list today that you can think up.
Want to nit-pick about the two fumbles? One was on him, the other on a blindside hit. It may be a career-long challenge, or it may not. Knowing the young man (only from a distance), one suspects he will put as much work into improving that part of his job as anything else.
He has come to the Giants very close to a finished product. Yes, we know it’s only one game, but you can look at all four of today’s touchdowns and see a major presence in each.
The accuracy showed up on the way he was hitting crossing patterns all day, capping it off with that picture-perfect strike to Evan Engram right in stride that became a 75-yard touchdown to start the second half and boy did that spark the entire team.
That’s what a playmaking quarterback can do for a team, he can make every player better. The team responded to him. The defense stepped up. His offense stood tall. He gives every player hope, and with hope you can be the best player you can be.
Jones’ other touchdown throw was a touch pass to a tightly-covered Sterling Shepherd at the far edge of the end zone, and it was a thing of beauty.
The two touchdowns he scored on the ground were both huge. On the first one he completely outran the defense on a fake handoff to Barkley, and the second one (giving the team the winning points) came on 4th-&-5 and took a ton of guts and a lot of smarts to take advantage of the gulf that opened up, scoring from 8 yards out to take that lead.
Of note were the number in the interception column (0) and the final stats: 23-36-333, 2 TD’s passing, 2 TD’s rushing.
In fact, Jones was the offense’s leading rusher today too (28 on 4 carries). He even converted a 2-point conversion, another perfectly-accurate pass to Shepherd.
The second half offense (even without Barkley) was a fun thing to watch. Jones brings this organization hope.
And he made it fun.
What more can a struggling fan base ask for? All of this coming in your first NFL start? C’mon, this ain’t a fairy tale story; this is real life. Daniel Jones is the real deal.
RUNNING BACKS
Saquon Barkley: Barkley had 10 yards on 8 carries, and 3 catches for another 27, before a second-quarter high ankle sprain finished his day.
The Bucs defense very obviously ganged up on Barkley early and often, run-blitzing the line of scrimmage and taking away all his space. Taking out your opponent’s best player is always a smart strategy.
The Giants coaches had no answer for this strategy, and the many hits that Barkley absorbed eventually took its toll.
As one might expect, Barkley’s yards from scrimmage of 37 yards was his worst production-wise day as a pro.
Our lone issue with Barkley’s own running strategy today was how he consistently cut off-tackle runs back inside into congestion. He had some opportunities to follow blocking around the edge, but he never once did it.
Barkley’s injury was diagnosed as a high ankle sprain (it came on a simple check down on the left edge and a hard, low, clean tackle). Count on a 4- to 8-week time frame for his return.
He will be missed, but let’s not overlook the fact that the offense ran a lot better after Barkley left the field.
Perhaps Tampa Bay didn’t adjust their defensive game plan till it was too late but losing Barkley may not be the catastrophic thing that many people will cry about.
Wayne Gallman: Getting most every one of Barkley’s snaps in his absence, Gallman was met with the same level of congestion on the ground that the starter did, and the results were similar--5 of 13 on the ground, and 1 target out of the backfield that fell incomplete.
Gallman got to do a bit of pass-blocking and he was solid enough, but the Bucs never really did release the hounds on the rookie as you might have expected them to do.
Elijhaa Penny: Getting just a handful of snaps today, Penny had one solid edge pass block that was productive but otherwise he didn’t get a whole lot to do.
With Barkley’s injury, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Penny running some one-back sets, if only to discourage defenses to blitz the rookie. Penny’s a very good blitz pickup back.
TIGHT ENDS
Evan Engram: If this is going to be Engram’s breakout season, then this was his breakout game. His 6-113 today included the play that really got his team back into the game.
Engram beat his man off the line of scrimmage and took off across the field. His quarterback hit him right in stride, and suddenly he was off to the races, taking off down the left sideline like he was shot out of a rocket.
Everyone knew that Engram had this type of speed; we just haven’t seen it exploited yet like it was this week.
Engram’s initial catch of the day turned into an 18-yarder when another pass hit him right in stride.
Engram returned the favor later on by going up to climb the ladder on a really difficult high ball, saving his pressured quarterback from disaster with this mercurial effort.
With Barkley out, Engram has to be the go-to guy for a while, so he will be met with more attention, which is just the way it goes in this league.
His quarterback will help him because the quarterback will extend plays and give Engram a chance to find space, where he is so very dangerous.
He was also pretty good with the short stuff, converting several first downs with his great nose for the marker.
Engram is still not an ideal in-line blocker, but he threw a heckuva block on Shephard’s end-around.
He can do a lot of damage in space, and that’s what this team is going to need for him moving forward. He certainly has all the tools to do it. He just has to keep doing it.
Rhett Ellison: This was not one of Ellison’s better days. His run blocking was a negative; on his lone pass block, he got pushed back into his quarterback’s lap, creating a sack.
He caught one ball for three yards and that’s was about it.
We suspect Ellison will be incorporated more into the offense as the coaches begin to scheme more mobility into their new quarterback’s game.
Oddly enough, we didn’t see a single naked bootleg in the game plan, which we would assume be a staple of the young quarterback’s game.
Ellison will be ignored by future defenses, which means he will be asked to step up and make plays in the passing game. It sure would be nice to get some better blocking efforts from him in the meantime.
Eric Tomlinson: Getting just a handful of snaps, Tomlinson did not hold up well and could not contain the edges he was attempting to seal on his snaps.
RECEIVERS
Sterling Shepard: Shepard returned from a one-week absence (concussion) and got involved straight away.
He caught an out route with a good amount of cushion. This pass was thrown well by Jones.
Jones then threw underneath to Shepard early in the second quarter, and the thing to take note here is how well he separated, something he wasn’t really doing in the first game.
Shepard went deep down the right sideline on a double move in the middle of the second quarter. Tampa was in a two-deep zone on the play and Shepard could not shake free.
As we have stated for quite some time, it is tough for Shepard to get separation on deep routes; he’s much better separating on the shorter to intermediate routes.
After the Engram touchdown, Shepard crossed the field and beat the man-to-man coverage for the 2-point conversion.
He also made a big catch for a touchdown in the middle of the third quarter. Shepard beat the tight coverage at the line of scrimmage and then burst into the corner and made the diving catch.
Shepard, one of the best route runners on the team, ran a perfect route right before the two-minute warning leaving him wide open on the left sideline. He then proceeded down the field to get inside the red zone.
Darius Slayton: The rookie’s debut was very promising. He ran a route deep down the right sideline early in the second quarter. He got a step on the defender but ran the route too close to the sideline giving Jones nowhere to throw the football.
Slayton got his first NFL catch late in the second quarter as he made a catch in traffic over the middle. Jones escaped from pressure and then sent the pass deep downfield to Slayton.
A perfectly thrown ball and a very good route gave the Giants the ball inside the five-yard line.
Slayton made another big catch late in the 4th quarter on a sideline route. He should have gotten out of bounds, but still, it was a big catch.
Russell Shepard: Shepard was wide open in the end zone in the middle of the third quarter.
This was one of the only miscues in Jones’ afternoon as he waited too long to throw the ball resulting in the pass falling incomplete.
Shepard sprained his foot, his availability for Week 4 vs. Washington up in the air.
Bennie Fowler: Fowler got into the act late in the 4th quarter as he caught an in route on the Giants final drive. A lot of Giants caught balls this week. We expect Fowler to continue to make contributions as things progress.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Nate Solder: After two extremely positive games to start the season, Solder took a huge step back, particularly with his pass blocking.
He seemed to spend the entire first half tripping over himself, that half’s lone sack coming on one of many flubbed pass-blocking assignments he was a party to, this one leading to a turnover.
This play was hardly Solder’s only negative as his man—usually defensive end Shaq Barrett—seemed to be hitting Jones on nearly every drop back.
Solder’s run-blocking wasn’t any better. In a word, his first half was a catastrophe.
Barrett continued to beat Solder like a drum, lining up exclusively over Solder’s nose since he was beating him like a drum, and since the coaches weren’t giving Solder even a whisper of double-team help.
It was a matchup that the Bucs won all game long, at least until the Giants final game-winning drive when Solder handled Barrett by himself throughout, finally giving his quarterback the time to make plays downfield.
Barrett finished with four sacks, including two forced fumbles. Only one of those four sacks could be blamed on anyone else but Solder losing one-on-one battles to a talented pass rusher.
After his disappointing performance, Solder is going to have a big bullseye on his back. Look for future defenses to line up their best pass rushers over him and see if he can hold up.
It’s the logical thing to do. Let’s see if the coaches factor in some of that double-team help to slow down the ever-present blindside pressure that nearly ruined Jones’ fairy tale ending.
Mike Remmers: Adding to the offense’s woes on the edges, Remmers couldn’t block a fly on any of the offense’s first-half running plays.
The Bucs were crashing their defensive end down inside of Remmers and he just couldn’t stop it.
The coaches didn’t help much with their inability to exploit the Bucs’ strategy of slanting in from the edges.
Even when Remmers did get initial positioning he rarely sustained it.
Remmers’ pass-blocking was better by comparison, but he also had his issues at times, getting pushed back into his quarterback’s lap on a half dozen or so snaps, which surprises us, as we predicted he would hold up well against the power rush. He has not.
Remmers also was the only offensive lineman to be called for a false start, as he tried to get off the snap too quickly.
The good news is that he looks healthy out there. The bad news is that Remmers may be nothing more than a fair-to-middling band-aid at a position that has been a problem for quite some time.
Will Hernandez: Both the offense’s guards had solid games from start to finish. Despite being surrounded by so many proven vets, we still consider Hernandez to be the best player of the bunch.
We’re still looking for that one play this week where Hernandez had his lunch handed to him. We never found it. Perhaps there might be a communication mishap or two that might help explain Solder’s catastrophic day, but we don’t think so.
Even when handling the occasional stunt, we thought Hernandez made all the right decisions, that it was his veteran partner out there who was struggling mightily to keep up with the Bucs’ athleticism.
Hernandez had no such problems. His pass blocking bordered on the superb. He executed a couple of pulls to near perfection.
His run blocking wasn’t quite explosive enough, but it was a positive.
Kevin Zeitler: Also playing an extremely efficient game, Zeitler has been dealing with a left shoulder issue but it sure did not manifest itself on the field this week as he was solid and reliably efficient in every aspect of his game.
Sure, the Bucs at times overwhelmed his gap with numbers which nobody is going to block, but overall, we thought his effort was a positive in a sea of troubles.
His pass-blocking, like his partner at guard, bordered on the superb. The run blocking was a problem that better teamwork and communication should address as the season rolls on.
Let’s not forget this unit still has a big learning curve to overcome. They all need to play faster and more crisply.
Jon Halapio: The third blocker who had a rough game out there in most respects, Halapio was not only beaten with quickness at times (not a surprise), but he was also jolted back on his heels on several occasions, which opened up space for the Bucs to exploit.
The Bucs have a nice active front and that’s not a good matchup for Halapio, who does not work well in space. He’s an in-line brawler, but even this week, his brawling never really took hold as the Bucs were just too quick out there.
We blame ourselves actually, as in last week’s report we stated rather demonstratively that the franchise had at least solved its problems over the ball. Not after this latest effort, it has not.
Halapio needs to bounce back another talented front (Washington). It’s another weekly challenge.
We still think he’s the answer, but he needs to be better than he was this week.
DEFENSIVE LINE
B.J. Hill: The defense’s second-half performance was night and day from their first-half doldrums, Hill among the group who stepped it up in that second half.
We like the size and talent of the starting three interior guys on this team, but until this defense gets some consistent playmaking from its linebacker corps, they’re going to be wasting that interior talent.
Hill’s lone solo tackle came when his linebackers forced the issue on the edge and created some congestion that he finished off by surfing the line of scrimmage with impressive power and agility.
It’s the type of play he should be making more often but just hasn’t been getting the opportunity since there’s so little force being applied by that second level.
That’s where this team needs to focus its efforts next year, on improving the edge linebackers as well as its interior ones. It will benefit Hill, who had another tackle against the run and hasn’t been getting enough credit for some of the stunts he’s been working with Markus Golden with some success, including this week.
Hill has a real powerful push to create edge pressure, giving Golden that inside gap to attack. It worked several times last week and it worked again.
Hill will never show up on the stat sheet on these stunts, but his big power presence off the snap is a big reason why they’re working so well.
Dalvin Tomlinson: We continue to see Tomlinson getting handled by solo blocking on running plays out there and are starting to wonder if he just doesn’t have the smarts or the quicks to be a point-of-attack guy on a good defense.
When he isn’t absorbing, he’s wrestling and rarely disengaging. We realize his job as a nose tackle is to hold his point and create congestion, but he’s not getting that job done.
There’s also more to the job than his read-and-react style. There’s got to be some attack in his game but he’s just not doing enough to control the center of the line.
He’s not even having to deal with double teams because single teams do the job against him.
Tomlinson did manage to get his first pocket pressure of the year in the fourth quarter, which was also when he recorded his lone tackle.
He did come up big in the red-zone defensive stand that forced Tampa Bay to settle for that late field goal, but it also came after the defense had been chewed up on the ground most of that possession.
Dexter Lawrence: The most dynamic of the three interior starters, Lawrence recorded his first sack as a pro and very nearly forced a turnover when a first-half pass rush hit the quarterback’s hand as he was throwing. It was initially ruled a fumble, but replay reversed it to the proper call, an incomplete pass.
Lawrence was throwing his body around out there once again as he’s playing the 3-4 defensive end position like it’s supposed to be played, with a bit of wild abandon and a whole lot of power and aggression.
Lawrence finished with just the two tackles on the stat sheet, but he was very active and physical, holding up to double-teams very well while attacking the Bucs line of scrimmage consistently.
Give this kid a couple more playmakers around him and he’s going to get lots more space to make plays that we think he is very capable of making.
Olsen Pierre: Getting most of his snaps on passing downs as an interior pass rusher, we’re just not seeing Pierre warranting as many snaps as he gets.
The good things he does is maintaining his feet and keeping himself in position to clean up what other players force.
Thus, he found himself around the ball on a couple of pocket pressures and did manage one tackle against the run.
We haven’t seen Pierre’s effectiveness at all against the run, while his pass-rush skills don’t seem particularly obvious to these eyes.
R.J. McIntosh: Of the backup defensive linemen, we continue to see a lot more out of McIntosh than we do from Pierre.
McIntosh continues to hold up very well to the physical stuff, holding his gap effectively with those long powerful arms, and standing up quite well to the double teams that are starting to try and beat him. They are not.
McIntosh still needs to show a bit more upfield attack and technique on his pass rushes as single blocking is handling him too often.
He did beat one of his pass blocks and burst into the pocket for a pressure, but he was side-stepped and unable to finish the play.
We will continue to beat the drum for more playing time for this kid, as we are a believer in his talent.
EDGE RUSHERS
Markus Golden: Golden really built on last week’s break-through with another active, physical effort that was rewarded on the stat sheet with two sacks (he should have had two last week but was robbed by the stat man).
Golden is no one-trick pony; in fact, he’s more of a physical rather than a speed rusher, but he’s got enough closing speed to finish plays, too.
One of his sacks came in pursuit, while his other was a solid, physical and relentless power thrust that worked his way to the quarterback for the sack.
All this guy needs is a little coverage in the secondary to force the quarterback to hold onto the ball and he’s got a chance. He’s been really good so fine with his stunts, his inside attack almost always getting up into the quarterback’s grille.
He was also a presence against the run at times, using his physicality to crash down on certain snaps and disrupt the middle, which he did.
He finished with five total tackles. What we also like about him is that he doesn’t run himself out of plays.
His physical style is a good way to contain his edge on the pass rush. He’s looked particularly active these last two weeks, which is a good sign that he’s on the road back to full health, and that would be a big boost for this defense.
Lorenzo Carter: Getting a lot of snaps and still not doing enough with them to our tastes, we’re becoming increasingly concerned that Carter is not going to be physical enough for this game.
We like his disciplined style. He’s smart enough, he’s aware, and he can play an all-around linebacker’s game. We just don’t think he’s a pass rusher and this defense is in desperate need of a pass rusher.
We suspect that he would make somebody a pretty darned good weakside linebacker—he’s a good blitzer for sure—but when asked to put his hand in the ground and beat an offensive tackle, he’s almost always gobbled up and stoned.
Against the run, he is honest with his contain but he’s far from physical enough to hold that edge.
This defense also needs more physicality on its edges and that’s not Carter’s game—it never was.
Still, he runs so well which he did to the tune of five total tackles and one hit on the quarterback, but we don’t see a starting-level backer in this defense.
He has some talents and a good motor and a great attitude, and when surrounded by more talent, he may be able to find a niche with this group.
Oshane Ximines: This rookie has already shown more of a pass rush presence in three games than Carter has in a year and three, and it’s mostly in how Ximines uses his hands.
When this kid is attacking his edge, he has a plan and it’s usually with a quick hand slap to open up some space around the edge.
We have yet to see him have any impact with an inside rush; it’s always around the edge where he seems to find space on a semi-regular basis.
He’s certainly not strong enough to hold up to the big boys he’s playing against, and his total lack of awareness with his contain has been brutalized for two successive weeks now by the opposing offenses, but the kid is getting a ton of snaps and he seems to have an alertness to his play that should translate into quick growth.
He did earn a sack this week when one of those quick hand-slaps opened up some wide space, though he had to fight through a rather obvious hold (uncalled) to track down the quarterback for the resounding hit and sack.
Ximines also finished with four total tackles, so he’s no one-trick pony. He made three of his tackles against the run where he’s got a good, strong arm extension and hand punch to control his blocker.
We sure think this kid has legit pass rush potential but we’re not sure he’ll ever be big enough to be anything more than a rotation guy out there. Time will tell.
Tuzar Skipper: Getting perhaps a half dozen snaps at the edge, Skipper brings the exact physical style and presence that we’re looking for on the edge.
On one running play, he completely stopped it up by stoning his blocker and making the tackle. It was an impressive power display—reminiscent of how Kareem Martin plays the position.
However, Skipper’s pass rushes were woefully inadequate, as he didn’t seem to have a plan and appeared exceedingly lumbering.
We haven’t yet seen him move in space yet but we’re not particularly optimistic.
His physical presence against a running team might be where his worth eventually lies.
We have always been a fan of physical football players, which is why we’ll be watching Skipper’s progress keenly.
OFF-BALL LINEBACKERS
Alec Ogletree: After a handful of madcap and at times productive blitzes, and a hit-and-miss performance in-line as well as in coverage, Ogletree pulled a hamstring while returning an apparent fumble that was eventually overturned by replay.
Thus, Ogletree’s long faux-fumble return was all for naught, and in fact, a negative as he never was able to return to the game.
The defense didn’t miss Ogletree’s leadership much as it played much better in the second half with Ogletree on the sideline.
He finished with a couple of tackles before leaving and just hasn’t been having the impact with the defense that he had last year.
He’s been over-reacting to play action quite often this year, and it’s been one of the defense’s myriad problems.
We haven’t been a big fan of some of his reads either, as he seems to be taking gambles that rarely pay off.
Ryan Connelly: Getting the start for the second week in a row, it sure looks like Connelly has settled into one of the two starting spots inside on this defense that is desperate for players filling the right gaps and being where they’re supposed to be.
With Connelly consistently either forcing the right play or knifing into the right gap, he seems to be the only person at the second level capable of making plays.
He finished with seven tackles, every single one of them against the run, half of them coming at or near the line of scrimmage thanks to his smart reads and forces.
Connelly’s smart and effective play was rewarded when a pass was thrown right into his middle zone mitts. He secured the interception for not only the defense’s first interception of the year but its first turnover, period!
We’re a fan of Connelly’s sharp, smart play that should only get better with experience. He’ll never be a big hitter and needs to match up alongside an explosive type, where his cerebral game can complement someone more dynamic. In a perfect world, right?
Tae Davis: Getting some early snaps (after last week not getting a single snap on defense, we suspected that the coaches were going to sprinkle Davis into the action), Davis was active and feisty on these snaps till he was pressed into full-time duty when Ogletree went down.
Then it was time for Davis to do his bad-read, non-cerebral act that found him going the wrong way and leaving his responsibilities untended on a down-to-down basis.
Davis continued hitting bigger players (that is his charm), but it resulted in a rather scary-looking concussion that forced him out of the game.
David Mayo: Getting the third-string inside backer snaps alongside Connelly, Mayo made a few contributions to the run defense in the 4th quarter, making some solid reads and getting in on one of the tackles that the porous run defense was making available in that quarter.
Mayo has size but appears to be a step or two slow in his reactions. He may be starting next week.
We suspect that Josiah Tauaefa may be getting a promotion from the practice squad this week.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
Janoris Jenkins: It didn’t take long for the Bucs to target Mike Evans as he went over the middle against Jenkins and picked up the easy first down.
A couple of plays later on second down, Jameis Winston again went to Evans for an 8-yard pickup. To finish off the drive Winston hit Evans in the end zone. Jenkins was one on one with him again.
This wasn’t bad coverage, but it also wasn’t enough to stop the touchdown, as Evans caught a pass on a slip screen near the end zone and walked into the end zone.
The Evans show continued in the middle of the second quarter when he beat Jenkins on a post pattern. To Jenkins’ defense, he is not getting any deep help.
At the end of the second quarter, Evans made the catch on a post pattern in front of Jenkins. It was an easy touchdown grab.
Again, this was another instance where Jenkins did not have any deep help, something that quite frankly surprised us.
Jenkins did jump a route intended for Perriman early in the 3rd quarter. He could have had the interception, but didn’t come up with it, though the play did at least force the Bucs to finally punt.
Late in the third quarter, on 2nd-and-long, the Bucs ran a draw to Barber. Jenkins came up and missed the tackle. Jenkins needs to do a better job of wrapping the ball carrier, as this has been a persistent problem with Jenkins.
On 3-and-8 early in the fourth quarter, the Giants came on a blitz. The pass was thrown to Godwin right at the first down marker, and Jenkins was unable to make the stop before the sticks.
Late in the 4th quarter, Evans beat Jenkins at the line of scrimmage and then made the big catch deep down the sideline.
This set up the attempt at the game-winning field goal, which failed.
Jabrill Peppers: On the first possession, Peppers did a better job covering tight end O.J. Howard down the seam. He applied tight coverage and there was nowhere to throw the football.
Late in the second quarter, Peppers got very good coverage on a deep sideline route midway through the second quarter.
A challenge flag was thrown for pass interference and sure enough, he was penalized for the pass interference. His arm did come in early resulting in one of the few overturns that we have seen.
DeAndre Baker: Baker did a better job in coverage late in the first quarter against Breshad Perriman.
He was tighter in coverage on this one then he has been against receivers in the last two games.
O.J. Howard ran a post pattern on Baker early in the third quarter. It wasn’t bad coverage, but Howard was just too big and physical for Baker to handle.
Baker made a nice tackle on Ronald Jones on an off-tackle run midway through the third quarter. Good to see him coming up and making a play in run defense.
Early in the 4th quarter, Chris Godwin went deep down the right sideline against Baker. Baker stayed stride for stride with Godwin down the field then turned at the right time to make a play on the ball.
The Giants challenged that it was offensive pass interference on the play, but it was not overturned.
Grant Haley: Haley had to defend O.J. Howard as he crossed the field late in the 2nd quarter.
As Howard crossed the field, he had a couple of steps on Haley and made the easy catch down the field to give the Bucs a first down in the red zone.
Michael Thomas: Thomas delivered a huge tackle late in the 4th quarter. Tight end Cameron Brate caught a flat pass on 3-and-short and it looked like he was about to get the first down.
Thomas would have none of it as he made a perfect form tackle short of the first down.
Antoine Bethea: Bethea was not involved in as much of the action this week.
He was used to give help to the Baker, and the Bucs countered by getting the ball to Evans a lot early in the game.
He still tends to be too deep in coverage which creates big gaps in the zone.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Aldrick Rosas: We’re getting a bit concerned about Rosas.
After last week’s field goal miss, several of his placekicks this week were not quite of the stress-free variety, the type that we had become accustomed to throughout last year’s Pro Bowl-level performance.
Rosas may need to re-discover the centered approach that turned the corner for him and made him such a big-time placekicker.
He’ll always have that big leg, but consistency is the hallmark of all the great ones.
Look at this week. The Giants special teams was the difference in this win and Rosas was that difference. It was just a little bit too close for comfort on a couple of those kicks.
Though he made all three of his extra points plus a 36-yard field goal (essentially, another extra point) we expect perfection from the kickers, since you know, that’s all they have to do.
Riley Dixon: Finding the consistency that he never could find throughout a solid but sporadic 2018, Dixon has really picked it up a couple of notches this year and is contributing to a special teams unit that has won its unit battle each week through three games.
Dixon’s stellar punting was nearly a mirror image of last week’s stellar effort. He punted five times without a clunker in the bunch, averaging 48.8 gross and a fantastic 47.0 net.
Folks, that translates into 9 return yards on 5 punts, without a single pooch or fair catch in the bunch.
Dixon was a big part of that wonderful production with consistently high efforts and reliable distance, never out-kicking his coverage and giving his wonderful coverage unit a chance to make a quick play.
For the record, the punts went 49, 50, 52, 44 and 49 yards. Talk about consistency!
Dixon has been doing it for three weeks now, and he continues to be as good a holder on placekicks as there is in the league. He’s punting at a Pro Bowl level.
Zak DeOssie: Continuing to provide the team solid deep-snapping, DeOssie forced one tackle on punt coverage when his impeccable contain lead to a Michael Thomas tackle and nearly got in on another tackle.
He’s running well for a greybeard (35 years old!) and providing veteran leadership with this historically young group.
TJ Jones: Continuing to hold onto the punt return job (since his return to the team last week), Jones handled two fair catches smoothly, but muffed his lone returnable punt that bounced right up to his waiting hands.
He still managed a 13-yard return, but like last week’s muff that also miraculously bounced right back into his hands, we wonder how many yards Jones left on the field via these muffs.
Ball security has to be a punt returner’s top job, and Jones is continuing to fail at it. We wonder how much longer the coaches will stay with him before returning the job to Jabrill Peppers.
Corey Ballantine: Maintaining his starting jobs of kick-off returner and solo gunner blocker, Ballantine continued to excel blocking the opposing team’s gunner, but his kick-off returning remains a work in progress.
Ballantine made a good decision to come up on a bouncing kick-off but his vision with the ball in his hands remains questionable. We like his ball security a lot, though.
As far as blocking gunners, if there’s anyone out there who does a better job of this, we’d like to meet him.
Ballantine doesn’t seem to need the double-team to block his man. His balance and speed while hand-checking the gunner all the way down the field is impressive to watch.
In all our years of watching Giants football, we’ve never seen anyone do this job as well as this kid does it. He’s got legit skills.
We’d love to see him promoted to a gunner job, but the team’s two current starters are just too good.
We can’t wait to see Ballantine graduate to the corner position with the defense, where he seems to be tailor made for future for the position.
This rookie class is impressing us all over the place, Ballantine very much included.
Cody Core: The team’s best gunner right now, we can’t believe that the Giants were able to secure Core’s services at no cost other than a waiver claim.
Core is a legit big-time gunner who seems to make plays every time he’s on the field. This week, it was two more tackles as he not only defeated his man down the field but showed fabulous field awareness and instinct to track the returner, keep him in front of him, and finish the play.
Last week, Core caught three passes on offense. We wonder what else he can do. He very much reminds us of a young David Tyree.
Antonio Hamilton: The team’s other starting gunner, Hamilton made the big play on the game’s opening punt when he beat his blocker, took an impeccable angle to the point where the returner was setting up to secure the punt, and timed his attack perfectly to bring down the returner right in his tracks. It was a spectacular play right off the bat and showed that the special teams as a group had come to play once again.
Hamilton may not have what it takes to play corner in this league, but he sure can play special teams.
Michael Thomas: The special teams captain made his presence known once again with another resounding solo tackle on a punt return, not only playing his lane impeccably but finishing off the tackle with the requisite physicality to stop his man in his tracks.
Thomas also made a sure tackle on defense late in the game that was one of the unsung plays in the win. If there’s one thing that Thomas can really do, it’s tackle.
Dexter Lawrence: The big rookie made his special teams’ presence known for the second week in a row.
Last week he was flagged for a ridiculous phantom tap to the center’s head on a field goal attempt. This week, Lawrence got his big mitt up to block an extra point, and guess what folks? The Bucs were chasing that point all game long until the very end when they lost by a point.
Lawrence’s big play was one of those missing points that the Bucs really needed, but alas, they missed two extra points and they were ultimately the difference in the game.
Great job by this big and dynamic rookie whose early impact on games is reminding us of a very young Jason Pierre-Paul. Different type of player, different position, but just as dynamic.
I ON STRATEGY
By Mike Iannaconi
The Giants won this game without Saquon Barkley, Alec Ogletree, and with a defense that is very suspect but because of the play of Daniel Jones there is a lot of reason for optimism.
The nice thing about the start of the Jones era is that a lot of receivers were involved in the attack. Sterling Shepard was a big part of the attack and continued to get open underneath.
Evan Engram finally made the type of catch and run we have been waiting for as he caught a seam route and then scampered 75 yards for a touchdown.
Engram presents a mismatch for almost all defenses and his presence on the field helps the rest of the receivers on the field.
As the game progressed, the Tampa pass rush got more and more difficult to stop.
Jones’ poise was amazing, and the play-calling took advantage of his strengths.
We saw some run-pass options (RPOs)as well as more usage of the entire field on running plays.
By that, we mean the Giants tried to get to the edge which worked at times against the over pursuing Bucs defense.
Losing Barkley was especially difficult as his ability to run screens and draws would have helped slow down the Bucs big pass rush.
The Bucs’ front four were basically pinning their ears back and rushing the passer. Despite this, Jones stayed patient and time and again was able to find a receiver down the field.
The receivers this week were much better at adjusting their routes when they were initially not open.
Last week they simply stood in place after running a route and not being open. This week they continued to try and work free which resulted in a number of big plays down the field.
Shepard is very good at this and it was very important having him back.
The defense was not good and if the Giants lost this game much would have been made of how the Giants covered or for much of the game did not cover Mike Evans.
The Giants did have a plan in the first half; it just did not work. The idea was to put Jenkins on Evans all over the field.
They hoped to take away Evans but more importantly have the safeties available to help the other defensive backs on the field, namely DeAndre Baker who has been having so many problems.
This strategy helped Baker but made it very difficult for Jenkins.
The Giants ended up changing coverage strategy for most of the second half as they went to a two-deep zone with the cornerbacks playing man to man coverage underneath.
We like this coverage because it allows the cornerbacks to play aggressive coverage underneath knowing that they have help from the deep safeties down the field.
The coverage does put some pressure on the linebackers to be involved in the pass coverage.
We say they played this most of the second half as on the last possession they went back to covering Evans man-to-man with Jenkins and the Bucs took advantage completing a deep pass to Evans that almost resulted in the game-winning score.
We think the theory here was the Giants wanted to give more help to the other pass defenders as they did not want the Bucs working their way down the field underneath to set up the game-winning score.
Jenkins needed to play better coverage and needed to tackle better but the one thing here was Baker was not picked on as much, and when he was thrown at, he did much better.
Hopefully, this game will help him build his confidence.
OFFENSIVE CHANGES
By Chris Pflum
When it became clear that the New York Giants would be drafting a quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft we assumed that the Giants' offense would be changing.
Not dramatically, because as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said earlier this week, this is Pat Shurmur's offense.
But that doesn't mean that there aren't wrinkles that haven't been emphasized with Eli Manning as the starting quarterback.
We have only seen sporadic use of bootlegs and rollouts, as well as run-pass option (RPO) plays with Manning at quarterback.
We did see them throughout the 2018 season and Manning actually outplayed Patrick Mahomes on designed rollouts, but they weren't called often, and the Giants only threw on a handful of RPO plays.
The expectation after the decision was made to move from Manning to Daniel Jones was that the rookie's athletic ability—Jones had the third-best SPARQ score at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine and ranks in the 78th percentile of NFL quarterbacks—would allow the Giants to more fully open their playbook.
And the Giants did use Jones' athleticism, calling an option run with the Giants near the endzone for Jones' first NFL touchdown.
Jones' mobility came into play a few times this game, from converting an early first down to taking advantage of a gaping hole in the Buccaneers' defense to run for the game-winning touchdown.
Other times, Jones was able to use his legs to buy time behind the line of scrimmage and convert third downs on scramble drills.
This had as much to do with the Giants' receivers as Jones, as when Manning was in the game the Giants' receivers didn't seem to know what to do when the elder quarterback broke the pocket.
We saw also saw some more subtle changes to the Giants' offense. Early in the game, the offense lined up in the “pistol” formation at least once in their first drive, a formation they only rarely showed with Manning in the preseason.
Like the shotgun, the Pistol sees the quarterback line up in the backfield, away from the line of scrimmage. But instead of the running back lining up alongside the quarterback, he lines up behind him as if the quarterback were under center. It is a subtle change, but it allows the running back more freedom and flexibility as a runner and a blocker.
There were other more subtle changes, but at this point, we need to mention the loss of Saquon Barkley with a high ankle sprain.
Prior to Barkley's injury, the Giants' offense seemed remarkably similar to what we have seen since the start of 2018. Shurmur was calling a steady diet of quick, high-percentage passes for Jones, who averaged just 6.5 yards per attempt going into half-time.
But after the half, with Barkley in a boot on the sideline, we saw the Giants open their passing game up some. This was particularly true with their use of Evan Engram and Sterling Shepard.
Engram's first catch of the game might have been an 18-yard gain, but it came on (yet another) three-yard crossing route which he turned upfield.
The Giants' first play of the second half Engram caught another ball over the middle, but this time it the ball was caught roughly 12 yards down the field.
That extra room let him get behind most of the Buccaneers' defense and the rest of the secondary had no hope of catching him as he streaked down sideline.
Likewise, the Giants let Sterling Shepard run down the field, with five of his 9 targets coming more than 10 yards down the field, four of which were more than 15 yards down the field.
Going back to last season, Eli and the Giants' offense was at its most effective when they were using their explosive playmakers to attack downfield, but Pat Shurmur never sustained the aggression.
Last week we saw Manning throw deeper, with his average target over 8 air yards downfield. Whether it was due to the return of Shepard and the involvement of Engram or to the loss of Barkley, the Giants renewed that aggressive mentality in the second half.
We also (briefly) saw a more aggressive use of Barkley shortly before he was lost to injury, running his few routes further downfield than we saw in the first two weeks.
Unfortunately, the loss of Barkley makes drawing any significant conclusions about the Giants' offense difficult.
It's likely that Arians was right in that it will still be Pat Shurmur's offense, the basis of which we have seen for over a year.
But hopefully the Giants will continue to be aggressive with Barkley recovering from injury and we will see more wrinkles to take advantage of his unique abilities when Barkley returns.
DEFENSIVE CHANGES
By Chris Pflum
The decision to name Daniel Jones their starting quarterback was good news for James Bettcher and the defensive side of the ball, which was in the crosshairs of some serious questions after giving up 35 and 28 points in the first two weeks.
The Giants spent the first six quarters of the season largely without a pass rush, though they were able to get pressure on Josh Allen in the third quarter of their week two match-up against the Buffalo Bills.
There wasn't even that on the back end of the defense, with Jabrill Peppers being largely invisible, Janoris Jenkins and Antoine Bethea playing poorly, and DeAndre Baker giving up a perfect passer rating when targeted.
Things got off to a rough start for the Giants, giving up back-to-back touchdown drives and WR Mike Evans having a great day's worth of production in the first half alone.
But we did see some changes to the Giants' defense early in the game, some more after half-time, and ultimately, they paid dividends.
The Giants clearly came into this game with an aggressive mentality. Despite their issues holding up on the back end, the Giants were committed to rushing the passer, frequently sending extra rushers against Jameis Winston.
They were able to get to him early, forcing Winston off his spot and impacting his ability to scan the field. But blitzing is a double-edged sword, and that came back to haunt the Giants in the first half.
While they were able to create confusion on Tampa's offensive line and for Winston, sending extra blitzers also reduces the number of players who can be back in coverage and forces the secondary to hold up in more one-on-one matchups.
DeAndre Baker and Jabrill Peppers were each penalized down the field on those match-ups, but it was the match-up of Evans on Janoris Jenkins which burned New York.
Jenkins struggled to match up with Evans in off-coverage for most of the first half and Winston repeatedly found the industrial-sized receiver for big gains.
But then something changed in the second half.
The Giants finally tried matching their secondary up in tight man coverage in the third quarter, and it had an instant reaction. Perhaps Tampa underestimated the Giants' offense without Saquon Barkley, but the offense we saw from Tampa in the second half was completely different from what we saw in the first half.
The Giants' tight coverage forced Winston to hold the ball, often throwing it away or taking a sack as he tried to find an open receiver down the field.
For much of the second half – until the very last drive of the game – the Giants held Evans without a target and all the corners seemed to play a better, sounder brand of football. The pass rush seemed more effective as well, swarming Winston and eventually forcing a turnover.
And with coverage and the pass rush suddenly working, Bettcher was able to get more creative and call a more varied game in the second half.
He added to the confusion on the line of scrimmage by showing heavy blitz only to have players retreat into coverage, clogging passing lanes and creating even more time for the rushers he did send to pressure Winston.
Other times he would show a blitz through one gap only to have them loop around to another gap, wreaking havoc on the Bucs' protection schemes.
At the very end of the game, we saw the aggressive Tampa offense from the first half re-emerge and the Giants' defense was victimized again, and not even coverage calls which better fit the secondary's collective skill set could keep the Buccaneers from gashing them.
It should also be noted that, as with the offense, the Giants lost players to injury and that surely had an effect on their play calling.
Linebackers Alec Ogletree and Tae Davis both left the field after taking hard hits, and by the end of the game, the Giants were forced to rely on lighter sub-packages out of necessity.
That might have helped influence Tampa to use a more run-heavy offense, but the added speed likely also aided their pass defense.
