Grading the Giants in NFL Week 4 vs. New Orleans Saints
C.J. Board #18 of the New York Giants returns a kick while Zack Baun #53 of the New Orleans Saints attempts to tackle during the first quarter at Caesars Superdome on October 03, 2021 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Credit: Getty Images/Jonathan Bachman
OFFENSE: A
Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley carrying the day is the kind of performance the Giants dreamed about when they drafted them in back-to-back years. Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney racking up yardage (194 on 12 combined catches) was what the Giants envisioned when they added the two receivers this offseason. In short, GM Dave Gettleman had a very good day.
This game basically saw the evolution of Barkley from a back who couldn’t find loose yardage to save himself into a guy who was making game-breaking plays in the open field by the end. His 17-yard run late in the first half did not lead to any points, but it seemed to be a turning point in his return from his ACL surgery. The player who wore 26 at the end of the game did not resemble the one who had it on at the beginning. The Giants started a fourth different offensive line combination – with a fourth different left guard in four games in Matt Skura – and they performed well (but far from perfect). Jones was not sacked and had lots of time to complete his downfield passes (seven of 20 or more and two of 50 or more). It’s ironic that Jones had one of his best games the same day he threw his first interception of the season on a desperation heave at the end of the first half. That’s a bogus statistical scar.
DEFENSE: D
When they needed to make stops in the fourth quarter, they did. They stuffed Taysom Hill on a key third-and-2 that gave the Giants the ball back for what would become the TD and two-point conversion that brought them within a field goal. And James Bradberry came up with a big interception to keep the Saints from scoring (albeit a play after they had scored a touchdown only to have it negated by a holding call). But there were too many times when the unit looked overmatched, the two Hill touchdown runs chief among them. Giving up two touchdowns in the span of 1:59 of game play between the end of the second quarter and start of the third was nearly a day-spoiler. The second of those scores coming on a Hill run in which the Giants were trying to strip the ball and seemed to forget to try to bring him to the ground was ugly. They gave up 170 rushing yards – 120 to Alvin Kamara – and did not record any sacks on Jameis Winston. The best thing that happened to them probably was not needing to go on the field in overtime.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Graham Gano? After a franchise-record 37 straight field goals, made the veteran kicker pulled a gimme 35-yard attempt in the first quarter wide right. In a dome! It was his first missed attempt since Week 2 last season. He did start a new streak, though, with a 23-yarder and a clutch 48-yarder with 31 seconds left that tied the score and sent the game to overtime. C.J. Board had a key 26-yard punt return that sparked the team and helped set up Barkley’s long touchdown catch. The Giants’ unit did stand out compared to the Saints. Former Giants kicker Aldrick Rosas missed his only attempt, a 58-yarder, and at the end of regulation Deonte Harris had no business bringing the kickoff out of the end zone to burn time off the clock.
COACHING: C
The clock management at the end of the first half was awful as the Giants watched precious seconds drain away without using their timeouts to give themselves a chance to answer what was going to be inevitable points from the Saints. Instead they had to rush their last possession which ended with the Hail Mary interception. There were good things, though. Jason Garrett opened the playbook for Golladay and Toney, getting them involved down the field the way they are supposed to be used. They even called one play where Toney was supposed to throw the ball (no one was open so he ate it for a 1-yard run). But there were some head-scratchers as well, like the end-around to Evan Engram on second-and-goal from the 2 that lost 3 yards and led to a field goal, and a screen pass to Kyle Rudolph who, luckily, was spry enough to recover Barkley’s fumble in overtime but should not be given the ball in open space even with the cadre of blockers he had in front of him. Defensively, Patrick Graham needs to figure out how to stop teams in the closing moments of halves. Teams have had nine possessions against them with 4:00 or less remaining in a half and have scored seven touchdowns, including with 23 seconds left in the first half on Sunday.
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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