Grading the Giants: Low marks in Week 7 win over Jaguars
Giants head coach Brian Daboll talks to side judge Don Willard during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, in Jacksonville, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
OFFENSE: C
The Giants racked up 436 yards, 309 of them by Daniel Jones who became the first Giants quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in nearly eight decades. It sure seemed as if he decided after Marcus Robinson’s fourth-down drop at the goal line in the third quarter he would just do it all himself; he threw just four passes the rest of the game. Saquon Barkley somehow managed to reach 100 rushing yards as well (110). Wan’Dale Robinson provided some early excitement with six catches for 50 yards but was a non-factor in the second half. The Giants had gone 14 straight games without scoring a TD on their opening drive but were able to accomplish that feat on Sunday.
DEFENSE: C
When it mattered most the Giants came up big, stopping the Jaguars on the final play, forcing a fumble inside their own 5, and creating a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter. In between those flashes though they were pretty porous, allowing 452 yards and 142 on the ground. Travis Etienne had 114 rushing yards on 14 carries. The Jaguars converted six of 13 third downs and two of four fourth downs. Trevor Lawrence had plenty of time to find his receivers and wasn’t sacked.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
A strange penalty on the first extra point led to a two-point conversion by the Jaguars but the Giants made up for that point later when Nick McCloud blocked an extra point. Graham Gano remains a steady kicker with field goals of 33, 33 and 34 yards, the last of which barely made it through the uprights after it was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Jamie Gillan punted just twice but a key one in the third quarter went for a touchback when it could have been downed inside the 10; none of the outside gunners could get to it.
COACHING: C
The Giants nearly blew it in the final minute when Saquon Barkley skidded out of bounds to stop the clock with 1:07 left rather than run it down to 25 seconds remaining. Barkley ran out of bounds twice before the 2:00 warning too. There had to be time for coaches to tell him to stay inside the lines no matter what at that point. Why are the Giants throwing to Marcus Johnson twice on third and fourth downs on a key second half possession from their own 3? There have to be more creative ways to get in the end zone at that point. Sloppy penalties included two roughing-the-passer calls against the Giants. One was ticky-tack with Dexter Lawrence pulling at Trevor Lawrence’s jersey but the Leonard Williams one on the final drive in which he drove Lawrence into the ground with his full weight is textbook roughing. Given how much attention the call has gotten in recent weeks it’s hard to imagine that kind of play hasn’t been stressed to the players. Guess it needs to be stressed further.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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