Giants-Commanders grades: Big Blue's defense lights out versus Washington
Dexter Lawrence II of the Giants sacks Sam Howell of the Commanders in the second half at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OFFENSE: B
When the offense hasn’t scored a touchdown since Eisenhower was President (OK, exaggerating, but it was a long time) . . . you can imagine how much better the Giants must have felt about themselves when Darren Waller hauled in a 15-yard TD pass from Tyrod Taylor early in the second quarter. Saquon Barkley followed with a 32-yard catch-and-run TD later in the quarter. Other than that, the Giants did not score, which is one of the reasons coach Brian Daboll said, “We left stuff out there . . . but I’ll take the result.” Taylor was in command of the offense, throwing for 279 yards, and Barkley had 77 tough rushing yards on 21 attempts. Barkley’s fourth-quarter fumble was almost a back-breaker.
DEFENSE: A
Five sacks in the first half and one in the second against slingin’ Sam Howell, who threw 42 passes when he was upright. The Giants had five sacks coming in. This grade would have been an A plus if Kayvon Thibodeaux had not dropped a sure pick-6 in the fourth quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C
Leonard Williams’ block of a 27-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter was the kind of play that seals a win. But the punt catching was a disaster. Eric Gray muffed one that the Giants recovered before leaving with a calf injury. Sterling Shepard muffed one that the Commanders recovered, leading to Washington’s only score. Finally, Darius Slayton got a hand for simply making a fair catch and catching the ball cleanly late in the game. Graham Gano missed his only FG attempt.
COACHING: B
Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale devised a scheme that led to six sacks. But the big story was Daboll deciding to be, ahem, more involved with the offense after last Sunday’s red-zone woes at Buffalo. Whether or not Daboll was calling plays isn’t the issue, but he clearly felt the need to personally intervene to heal the offense, and since the Giants scored and won, it worked. Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey might want to keep a low profile this week, especially when the subject of catching punts comes up. The Giants have to fix that. Muff said about that!
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
