The Giants had their best offensive performance in almost a decade
The New York Giants finally snapped their 10-game losing streak and did so in dramatic fashion. They not only beat the Indianapolis Colts, but did so in their best offensive performance since their wild 2015 game against the New Orleans Saints with a 45-33 win.
This game is going to have long-term ramifications, so what can we take away from the the Giants’ win in the moment?
This could be a very expensive win
The Giants picked up their third win of the year and avoided a historic 0-9 record at home. In doing so, however, they may have cost themselves in the long run.
The Giants currently hold the third overall pick, which could become the fourth overall with a Cleveland Browns loss. The New England Patriots have replaced them at the top of the draft order and currently hold the first pick. The Giants’ need at quarterback is obvious, and the draft might be their only chance to find a franchise quarterback with reports that the Minnesota Vikings could use the Franchise Tag on Sam Darnold.
The Giants offered their 2024 and 2025 first-round picks (plus additional picks) to the Patriots to move up for Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels. The Pats turned the offer down so they themselves could draft Maye, but the need for a quarterback is no longer there.
However, the Las Vegas Raiders have an additional pick inside the top 100 and could out-bid the Giants before having to dip into future picks.
The Giants have no choice but to begin their rebuild in earnest this off-season, but they might have to do so without their first round pick in 2026 — and perhaps more. That the Patriots could get their guy in Maye and still potentially work a trade with the Giants for multiple valuable picks is a definite win for them.
The Giants’ defense is still playing hard
The Giants haven’t been good this year, and they’ve been out-manned much of the season. But nobody can say they don’t play hard.
That’s actually fairly impressive given that the Giants have taken body blows to their leadership, losing Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence, and Bobby Okereke to injury, while Daniel Jones requested his release. And yet both sides of the ball have been playing hard this year, and that’s doubly true for the defense. The Giants’ defense has been flying to the football and playing far above their overall draft position.
That was on display in the first half when the Giants held the Colts to 13 points, forced a turnover, and limited Jonathan Taylor to just over 3 yards per carry. The Giants did a good job of pressuring Flacco and while the Colts were able to move the ball between the 20’s, the Giants’ defense largely stiffened in the red zone. This was far from a perfect performance, but the Giants looked much more like the team playing for a post-season berth than the Colts.
The Drew Lock experience
The Giants have gotten the full Drew Lock experience over Weeks 16 and 17. Last week Lock threw a pair of pick sixes, which played a big role in the Giants getting beat down by the Atlanta Falcons. He was indecisive at best and showed poor decision making and accuracy at worst against Atlanta. Games like that are why the Broncos gave up on him and were happy to trade him to the Seahawks.
This week, Lock showed off his arm strength and athleticism. He had a career day against the Colts and won as both a point guard and attacking deep. It was a better version of the type of games he had in his two starts for the Seahawks. This game also showed the potential Lock has flashed since his days at Missouri and has tantalized coaches since. This is the kind of game the Giants were hoping to get when they signed Lock away from the Seahawks when Daniel Jones’ status for the start of the season was in doubt.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Giants extend Lock as their backup — or perhaps even as their starter — for 2025.
The Giants find explosive plays
The Giants’ best game of the year has been defined by explosive plays. Massive plays by Malik Nabers, Tyrone Tracy, Wan’Dale Robinson and Ihmir Smith-Marsette all either scored touchdowns or directly contributed to the Giants’ 45-point outburst.
Granted, the Giants were assisted by some truly bad tackling by the Colts’ defense. However, this was something like the offense the Giants have been hoping to see since 2022. Brian Daboll has been adamant after games that the team had opportunities for explosive plays, or that they needed to create opportunities for them. It’s been fairly clear that the offense as a whole was built around stressing the defense with explosive plays to create room underneath for their quick game and RPO concepts.
We finally got a glimpse of the offense the Giants have been trying to build for the last three years and it was a lot of fun. We probably can’t count on this offense showing up consistently until the Giants are able to get consistent play from the quarterback position. But at least we know the potential is there and they have the weapons to put up points in a variety of ways.
