Week 8: Tales from the timeline

The New York Giants are for the seventh time in eight years after Monday’s 26-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. finished with 145 yards on 20 carries with a score (7.3 yards per carry). He unfortunately left the game with a head injury and is currently in the concussion protocol, but not before establishing himself as the 1A back moving forward when healthy.

Below are several impressive Tracy Jr. runs that showcase not only his noticeable burst through the hole but also the nuances that have allowed him to average 5.2 yards per carry on the season.

(the above play was a negative rush by Tracy but an excellent play design by Teryl Austin)

The rookie has 376 yards on 73 carries with two touchdowns on the season. He is also a threat out of the backfield as a receiver; he’s caught 16 passes for 113 yards. According to Next Gen Stats, Tracy Jr. reached 20.6 miles per hour on his 45-yard touchdown run — the fastest speed by a Giants offensive ball carrier over the last two seasons.

Tracy Jr. has only allowed one pressure in 23 pass-blocking snaps on the season. That pressure was against the Steelers, but see why the play was still adequate for Tracy:

The Steelers run a mugged-up A-Gap twist at Tracy Jr. and center John Michael Schmitz. The rookie ensures the transition is enough for the center to handle before getting in the way of the other pass rusher. The pass did go incomplete, and I can’t say Tracy Jr. excelled on the play — rarely can one say that when a blocker has his back turned the opposite direction — but he still mitigated the rush and gave Daniel Jones a chance to complete a deep pass to Malik Nabers.

After watching the tape, I thought Daniel Jones

Later in the fourth quarter, while driving down by eight in the final minute, Jones did a fantastic job snapping into position — in one fluid motion — to orient himself to an open Malik Nabers on the sideline for a 15-yard gain:

Jones also did a great job finding Theo Johnson up the seam for 25 yards on the Giants’ final drive. It actually almost gave me some hope. In seriousness, this is an elite throw from Jones:

These are the types of flashes that allowed Jones to maintain his role as the quarterback over the past six seasons. Jones made several big-time throws in the game, including his first completion:

The Giants gained 43 yards on their first pass. I loved how Brian Daboll opened multiple drives, including this initial one. New York ran twice to start three drives in the game; he rotated a combination of DUO and Zone-Read, which look similar at the onset, and then incorporated 1-pull power (back-side OG pull) all from shotgun. These runs were designed well, and the play-action pass featured a pulling Jon Runyan Jr. to assist with T.J. Watt on the outside (as we see in the play above).

Daboll and the Giants’ offense did a much better job sticking with the rushing attack against one of the best defensive fronts in the league — and it was successful!

The rushing attack presumably made Jones more comfortable as the Giants’ offense gained just under 400 yards of total offense (394 yards). Jones finished with 264 passing yards. Sure, he made some nice throws and had three explosive pass plays in the game, but the mistakes and missed opportunities still plagued the Giants; no play represents that more than the final play of the game for the Giants offense:

Jones felt the pressure and senselessly threw the football off his back foot toward two Steelers’ defenders and over the head of Devin Singletary. The Giants did not have any timeouts, and there were 42 seconds left, so Jones did not want to take a sack. This mistake ended the game. There were other missed opportunities, including this third-and-3 Cover-2 hole shot that was too late, telegraphed, and high:

Jones’ lack of anticipatory feel and overall arm talent are problems with his overall profile. He’s always just a smidge too late, always confirming the open nature of a receiver for a bit too long in a league that’s predicated on quick, decisive throws. He’s late on the hole shot and almost sent Darius Slayton to the hospital.

The Giants’ offense was sloppy in the second half. Mistakes and missed opportunities destroyed their first three drives in the second half:

• First: Two sacks knocked out of FG range
• Second: Illegal shift, delay of game, 2nd & 16 SACK; punt return for TD
• Third: False start on first play of drive – PUNT

The Giants converted a third-and-5 to the Pittsburgh 31-yard line on the fringes of Greg Joseph’s field goal range. After a run for nothing, Jones was sacked by Alex Highsmith, who employed a beautiful inside spin move. New York needed to get a few yards to get back into Joseph’s field goal range (they were now at the Pittsburgh 40-yard line). Unfortunately, Jones took this sack:

Eric Gray was open in the flat. I’m not sure what Jones was doing stepping into a sack. It’s a tie game near field goal range on third and long — get a few yards and see if you can take a 12-9 lead. Instead, the Giants are forced to punt.

Defense

Let’s start with some Dexter Lawrence appreciation:

Lawrence leads the league with nine sacks and was the direct cause of Brian Burns’ sack. Lawrence is a ONE-of-ONE player; few people on this planet can move like he does at his size and possess his lateral agility/explosiveness. He’s rare.

Azeez Ojulari has seized the day with Kayvon Thibodeaux on injured reserve. Ojulari is a more dangerous overall pass rusher than Thibodeaux. Ojulari’s ability to stress the edge, win high-side, and separate from the half-man-relationship has allowed him to sack the quarterback six times, which ranks top 10 in the NFL:

Bobby Okereke arguably had his best game of the season against the Steelers. This may be due to the Giants’ use of three-down linemen in the game. Four interior defensive linemen played more than 20 snaps: Lawrence (47), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (39), D.J. Davidson (35), and Armon Watts (21).

It’s easier for linebackers to play behind TITE and ODD fronts, which were common in Wink Martindale’s system. Okereke also created — what could have been — a critical turnover:

Watts played better than Jordon Riley, who was inactive, had been playing. This was his most impactful play of the game: