‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: New York Giants winners and losers after blowout loss to Falcons

The Giants continue to find ways to embarrass themselves

The embarrassment continued for the New York Giants on Sunday. Their single-season franchise record-setting 10th straight loss was another lopsided affair, with the Atlanta Falcons winning 34-7.

Let’s get the ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ over with.

Kudos to …

Malik Nabers — The No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft broke the franchise rookie record for receptions of 91 previously shared by Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley. He caught seven passes for 68 yards and now has 97 receptions.

The only thing Nabers did wrong Sunday was commit two more illegal shift penalties, one on a Drew Lock pick six and one negating a 23-yard catch. That’s six pre-snap penalties on Nabers this season, five of them for illegal shifts.

Nabers, by the way, must read Big Blue View.

Kayvon Thibodeaux — He finished with only three tackles and a quarterback hit, but Thibodeaux played with force and made Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. feel his presence early in the game. He had a quarterback hit on the Falcons’ first play, and a drive-ending tackle early in the first quarter.

Wan’Dale Robinson — The diminutive slot receiver had seven receptions in 12 targets, many of those on wide receiver screens or quick throws. Robinson had 62 receiving yards (8.9 per catch) with Pro Football Focus showing 50 of those yards (7.1 per catch) coming after the catch.

Dru Phillips — The rookie slot cornerback returned after missing two games with a shoulder injury and reminded the Giants of what they had been missing. He gave up three receptions, but allowed only 15 yards. He displayed some physical run defense and tackling, with six tackles, one for loss.

Tyrone Tracy — The rookie running back would have had a two-touchdown day had it not been for an unfortunate holding penalty against Wan’Dale Robinson.

As it was, Tracy had about as productive a day as he could have had considering the broken state of the Giants’ offense. Tracy had seven carries for 26 yards and four catches for 43 yards and a terrific toe-tapping 12-yard touchdown catch. The 69 yards of total offense give him 984 for the season with two games to go, nice production since he didn’t become a part of the offense until Week 5.

Wet Willies to …

Drew Lock — The only way I can describe what we saw from Lock on Sunday is that what we saw after his early touchdown pass to Tyrone Tracy Jr. was Mike Glennon/Jake Fromm level quarterback play.

A pair of pick sixes. A sack/fumble. He finished an almost-respectable 22 of 39 for 210 yards, but eight straight garbage time completions on the Giants’ final possession made his numbers look far better than they actually were.

Lock is clearly not a good NFL quarterback.

Greg Van Roten and Evan Neal — The right side of the line was victimized a number of times on Sunday. Van Roten has been really good for the Giants this season. Not Sunday, when he gave up a sack and three total pressures. Neal had been playing pretty well until Sunday, but he and Van Roten looked comically inept on the third quarter pick six by Atlanta’s Matthew Judon. Neal gave up two pressures and committed three penalties.

Brian Daboll — The Giants’ coach just got his name attached to a single-season franchise record 10th straight loss. He managed it in embarrassing fashion, watching a mediocre team with a rookie quarterback making his first NFL start score 34 consecutive points. The Giants were inept on offense and helpless on defense. Daboll is now 17-31-1 (.357 winning percentage) in nearly three seasons as head coach.

Kwillies to …

Cor’Dale Flott — The third-year cornerback wasn’t good on Sunday. He was fortunate, though, being in the right place to deny Atlanta a touchdown with an interception after Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts muffed a catch near the goal line.

Deonte Banks — The second-year cornerback returned to the lineup after missing three games. He gave up just one completion in four targets and had two pass breakups, but also gave up a 30-yard pass interference penalty on third down that extended an Atlanta scoring drive.