Giants' midseason report card
Giants quarterback Eli Manning celebrates after the game-winning touchdown against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. The Giants won, 24-20. (Nov. 6, 2011) Credit: Getty
Tom Coughlin has been imploring his team to "finish" since the first day of training camp. Well, they're halfway there and are 6-2 with a two-game lead in the division.
The regular season will be judged in January based on how the Giants play from here on out. All we can do now is grade the first half:
OFFENSE: B
Peyton may not be on the field this season, but Eli Manning has been carrying the family legacy himself. He's doing it pretty well. He's ranked fifth in passer rating (98.8), is on pace to obliterate the franchise record for passing yardage in a season (2,377 so far), and most importantly has reduced his turnovers with six interceptions (he had 25 last year). More incredibly, he's doing it all with about a third of his completions (32.8 percent) going to Victor Cruz or Jake Ballard. Manning has also won five games in which the Giants have either trailed or been tied in the fourth quarter.
The run's the rub. The Giants are ranked 29th with 88.8 rushing yards per game and their leading rusher, Ahmad Bradshaw, will have to play the rest of the season -- or as much of the rest of the season as he can -- with a stress fracture in his right foot. The Giants shuffled their offensive line at the start of the year and they haven't seemed like a forged unit so far.
DEFENSE: C
Manning gets credit for the comebacks, but the defense sets him up with the fall-behinds. It's a unit that has been blighted by injuries, from the losses of Terrell Thomas and Jonathan Goff before the season started to the limits put on Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora. And don't forget, they thought they had two rookies who could be pressing for starting jobs at this point and neither Prince Amukamara nor Marvin Austin has taken a snap.
They have been decent on a snap-to-snap basis, but the big plays (37 of them for 20 or more yards, 30 in the passing game) have shown the Giants to be vulnerable to quick strikes.
A few who have shined so far: Corey Webster, Jason Pierre-Paul and Michael Boley. Antrel Rolle is pushing the envelope of his versatility and his performance is sometimes suffering for it. If Amukamara can get on the field and make an impact, it will make the entire defense better.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
Steve Weatherford has been poised, consistent and accurate. Basically everything Matt Dodge wasn't last year. If there is one position the Giants made the biggest improvement in the offseason, it's punter. Lawrence Tynes has not missed any field-goal attempts that were not blocked this season and he's benefiting from the kickoff rules moving the ball up to the 35. The coverage on their kicks has also been very strong.
The one area that's lacking is an explosive return game. Devin Thomas on kickoffs and Aaron Ross on punts have had very few memorable runs. The Giants have been flirting with Jerrel Jernigan for both jobs, and maybe once he proves he can catch the ball they'll turn to him for a contribution.
COACHING: B+
Coughlin almost gets an "A" here. Letdowns against the Seahawks and Redskins result in demerits. It's been a difficult season with the lockout and new rules on training camps and practices, but Coughlin has adjusted well. Kevin Gilbride does a good job of nodding when Coughlin talks about the need for offensive balance and then ignoring it to be more of a passing team. Perry Fewell had a virtuoso performance against the Patriots. Tom Quinn isn't as bad as we all thought on special teams when he has someone who can kick the ball where it's supposed to go.
Coughlin still likely needs to make the playoffs to keep his job. He's 65 and missing the postseason three straight years with a franchise quarterback in his prime may not be tolerated. But it will be hard for anyone to say Coughlin has "lost the team" after watching how the Giants mugged him in the locker room in Foxboro on Sunday.
