It’s tempting to just move on from the stinker that was the New York Giants’ 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Taking our cue from the coroner’s office, however, it can be useful to perform an autopsy to determine the cause(s) of death. And actually, there are a couple of surprising/mystifying things to report.

Offense

PFF grades

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

• Daniel Jones’ grade wasn’t as bad as you might imagine, only slightly below average. But that reflects the throws he did make and not the throws he didn’t even try to make. The latter were his biggest problem yesterday. I wrote yesterday about how he, like every QB, is affected by pressure, so let’s look at his splits:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Vikings’ defensive coordinator Brian Flores threatened blitz a lot but only actually blitzed 38% of the time, which isn’t small but isn’t as often as he sometimes does. The blitz didn’t really affect Jones, as the numbers above show. Minnesota did pressure Jones 40% of the time, which is more than the average QB faces but less than Jones saw last year. Pressure clearly affected Jones, with his passing grade being 32% lower when under pressure than when kept clean. He completed only 5 of 15 passes when pressured, many of them just inaccurate passes on his part. His only big-time throw, as well as his only turnover-worthy play, occurred from a clean pocket, as did both of his interceptions. What wasn’t his fault were the five drops by his receivers.

• The offensive line was a mixed bag. Andrew Thomas had his usual excellent game pass blocking (91.4), and Jermaine Eluemunor was above average (73.2). Inside wasn’t as good, with Jon Runyan Jr. barely average (59.7), and Greg Van Roten (44.1) and John Michael Schmitz (47.1) below average. Run blocking was mediocre across the board.
• The more notable aspect of the pass blocking yesterday were the culprits for the pressure:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Thomas had a clean game and JMS almost a clean game, while the other OLs surrendered 2-4 pressures. Only one of the five sacks of Jones, though, was “credited” to an offensive lineman. Jones himself was most often the author of his own demise:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

(The fifth sack was blamed on Eric Gray.)

• The skill players were mostly average to slightly below average. The best was Wan’Dale Robinson (69.3). Rookies Theo Johnson (41.3) and Tyrone Tracy (46.5) did not distinguish themselves, while Jalin Hyatt in his limited action was very poor (36.4).

Snap counts

• Daniel Jones and all five offensive line starters played all 71 offensive snaps. It’s a bit surprising that backups did not see a series or two late in the game when the result was decided.
• Theo Johnson was the clear TE1 (61 snaps), with Chris Manhertz getting 20 snaps and Daniel Bellinger having sunk down the depth chart with only 16 snaps. This suggests that Daboll was concerned with Minnesota’s heavy fronts and blitzes and thus ran 12 (or 22, but I don’t remember seeing any) personnel about 40% of the time. If you’re wondering why Jones didn’t take shots downfield, having only two WRs out on routes that often may be one part of the reason.
• But not the only reason. Our former BBV colleague Invictus XI was at the game and reported:

• Speaking of two WRs, the odd man out was Jalin Hyatt, who played only 13 snaps, most of those in the fourth quarter when the game was effectively already decided. This suggests that the game plan all along was not focused on taking shots downfield. Malik Nabers played every offensive snap (68), Darius Slayton played 50, and Wan’Dale Robinson 45.
• Devin Singletary as expected got most of the snaps (50) at RB, but Tyrone Tracy saw the field for 15 snaps and Eric Gray 7. Whether that is just how the cookie crumbled, or it indicates that Tracy is seen by Daboll as RB2, remains to be seen.

DEFENSE

PFF grades

• Dexter Lawrence was his usual great self (92.6), with 6 pressures and a sack. The rest of the IDL, though, was mostly MIA other than Jordon Riley, who played average (63.7) in only 9 snaps.
• The edge defender play was wanting as well. Brian Burns had a quiet first game as a Giant (53.8, 1 pressure), while Kayvon Thibodeaux was terrible (38.9, 1 QB hit), including a crushing face mask penalty on third-and-16 that led to a Vikings TD three plays later. Azeez Ojulari was his usual invisible self (59.4 with one tackle).
• Bobby Okereke was uncharacteristically mediocre (55.8), while surprise starter Darius Muasau had a decent first game as a pro (61.5), with 5 tackles, 1 miss, and 2 stops.
• The good news from the secondary was that rookie Dru Phillips had an excellent first game (84.3), especially in coverage, with a forced fumble…yet he only played 16 snaps. Why? Adoree’ Jackson and Cor’Dale Flott were average, while Tae Banks and Nick McCloud were both poor in coverage (47.5), though Banks was at least stellar in run support (81.2). Flott played 20 snaps in the slot after not practicing there all spring or summer. The three safeties were roughly average to slightly above average overall.

Snap counts

• The most surprising development was at off-ball linebacker. Bobby Okereke played all 55 defensive snaps, as he did last season. But Isaiah Simmons did not see the field of play at all on defense despite being active for the game, whether at linebacker or safety. Likewise, Micah McFadden, who has been nursing an injury but was active for the game, did not play. Instead, rookie Darius Muasau unexpectedly played 45 snaps.
• The other interesting aspect of defensive personnel was the variety of interior defensive linemen who saw snaps. Some of this may be the result of the game getting out of hand by the fourth quarter, but Dexter Lawrence was on the field for only 37 snaps, comparable to the lowest numbers of snaps he saw last season before his injury. Rakeem Nunez-Roches played almost as much (34 snaps), while rookie Elijah Chatman (24) and D.J. Davidson (22) got considerable work. Jordon Riley was the odd man out (9 snaps).
• Brian Burns (48) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (41) got most of the snaps on the edge, not that anyone noticed them when they were on the field. The only other edge defender snaps went to Azeez Ojulari (24); Benton Whitley was active but did not play on defense.
• Tae Banks saw the field for every defensive snap (55), while Cor’Dale Flott played 37 snaps, Nick McCloud 21, Adoree’ Jackson 19, and rookie Dru Phillips only 16. Rookie Tyler Nubin played every snap at safety; Jason Pinnock (54) missed only one, while Dane Belton was only on the field for 9 snaps.