After being beaten convincingly in Philadelphia last week, the question was whether the beaten-up New York Giants would rebound with a spirited effort against the similarly (if not more) beaten-up San Francisco 49ers. The fact that the Giants’ two wins this season came at home after bad losses was reason for hope.
That hope was misplaced, though, as the Giants were beaten soundly by the undermanned 49ers, even though the final margin was only 10 points. The vibe at MetLife was like that in so many other home games for this team the past few years, with 49ers fans seemingly taking over the stadium. What did we learn from this debacle?
Is this the end of the Shane Bowen era?
This first of three questions I’m about to pose is probably the one with the biggest chance of actually happening, although I don’t actually expect it to occur. Mac Jones is a good quarterback. He was the No. 15 pick in the 2021 draft. He led New England to a 10-7 record as a rookie, passing for 3801 yards and 22 TDs. He’s now just a high-end backup, though. Today you would have thought he was Tom Brady. He went 19 of 24 for 235 yards, 2 TDs, and a 135.2 passer rating despite starting receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall being out.
I won’t blame most of that on the Giants’ secondary, even though they mostly covered poorly, because they were missing arguably their three best defensive backs – Paulson Adebo, Cor’Dale Flott, and Jevon Holland. Not that the guys who did play distinguished themselves. Korie Black did have one pass defensed, but other than that, Jones mostly played pitch-and-catch with his receivers.
The vaunted Giants’ defensive line, though, was mostly missing in action other than Brian Burns (who continues to have probably his best NFL season). Dexter Lawrence was once again mostly invisible. Kayvon Thibodeaux and Rakeem Nunez-Roches each had a sack, along with Burns, but overall the Giants pressured Jones only seven times, despite the 49ers’ offensive line being unremarkable other than Trent Williams. Other than his catch of the Jones sack/fumble caused by Burns, Abdul Carter had little impact today. It mattered: Jones did very little when pressured, with only 3 completions for 18 yards. Both of his TD passes came from a clean pocket.
Things were even worse when it came to the run defense. We usually remark (negatively) about the Giants’ defense’s inability to set the edge on rushing plays, and often that is the fault of the linebackers and defensive backs. I won’t say they played well today by any means, but San Francisco was running right up the middle on the Giants interior defensive line all game, and Roy Robertson-Harris, D.J. Davidson, and Darius Alexander were parting like the Red Sea to let CMC, and later Brian Robinson, through. The linebackers were no bargain either.
The Giants have given up 33, 38, and 34 points in their last three games. I realize that side of the ball is depleted, but is there a discernable Giants defensive plan to confuse quarterbacks and cause QBs to delay throwing so the pass rush can get home? I don’t think you can live by the blitz, but Shane Bowen blitzed only twice all afternoon. I don’t know how much zone vs. man he called, but 49ers receivers were wide open on almost every passing play. Spencer Rattler’s tell before the Saints game that the Giants don’t disguise defenses much was damning, but it doesn’t seem to have affected Bowen at all. Kyle Shanahan is undoubtedly one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, but he seemed to know exactly how to attack Bowen’s defense. The 49ers had not scored more than 26 points in any game before today. I don’t want to hear, “We have to be better.”
I think the time has come to make a move, even just for the sake of appearances.
Is this the end of the Brian Daboll era?
I was so impressed with the job Brian Daboll did his first year as Giants head coach. That team had little offensive talent, trotting Richie James, David Sills, Marcus Johnson, a washed-up Kenny Golladay, etc., out there to play significant snaps, yet the Giants managed to confuse opposing defenses a decent amount of the time with inventive play calling.
Daboll has more offensive talent now, even though his biggest chess piece, Malik Nabers, is injured, yet the Giants’ offense has settled into a predictable pattern of almost never taking chances, never running interesting route combinations, rarely throwing downfield anymore. Jaxson Dart only threw two passes beyond 20 yards today, and only 7 more in the 10-20 yard range that is the key part of the field for explosive offenses.
The worst part is how often the conservative plays fail. After all this time the Giants don’t seem to be able to execute the blocking for simple screens and swing passes. The 49ers’ defense should have been vulnerable today. They were without their two best defensive players, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, along with Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos, and yet after the first Giants drive for a TD, they held the Giants pointless until the middle of the third quarter. After the Giants’ big defensive play near the end of the first half, when Brian Burns sack/fumbled Jones and Abdul Carter recovered the ball at the San Francisco 27 with under half a minute left, what was the play call? An end zone shot or two to try to narrow the deficit to 17-14 heading into the locker room? No. A run up the middle by Tyrone Tracy that gained nothing. Then a short pass that Dart threw behind Tracy.
I don’t know how much of that was Mike Kafka and how much was Daboll, but presumably the head coach has to have some input into the general philosophy of the play calling in such a situation. The Giants today played not to lose rather than playing to win.
The other thing is the continuing mistakes – the drops, the missed tackles, the consecutive false starts (by John Michael Schmitz and Marcus Mbow) that turned a third-and-3 at the San Francisco 48 into a third-and-13 that the Giants didn’t convert. It’s mid-season; the team should have these things corrected. And they don’t. With a terrible fourth-quarter collapse in Denver followed by two consecutive poor performances, one has to wonder whether the time has come to make a change at head coach too.
Is this the end of the Joe Schoen era?
Probably not yet. Still, part of the mess that this team has become lands at Joe Schoen’s feet. Injuries are part of the NFL, and they can’t be predicted. Furthermore, the NFL Draft is much more of a crapshoot than most fans either realize or want to admit. Let’s set aside the strange 2022 draft – Schoen was perfectly justified in using his first two picks on Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal, and despite some of the head-scratching picks that followed, Wan’Dale Robinson, Cor’Dale Flott, and Micah McFadden from that draft have become pretty good players. Likewise, the 2023 picks of Deonte Banks, John Michael Schmitz, and Jalin Hyatt were considered good moves at the time, they just haven’t worked out as expected. It happens to most teams, not just the Giants. And in the last two drafts, it’s possible that Schoen has drafted four players who can plausibly be the foundation of a future Giants championship team in Jaxson Dart, Malik Nabers, Abdul Carter, and Cam Skattebo.
The problem is what he does when acquisitions don’t work out. Deonte Banks is clearly not the answer at cornerback for the Giants. Today he had Brian Robinson wrapped up on a run up the middle at the Giants’ 18 with the score still 20-10. Robinson just shed him like a bad suit and ran untouched into the end zone to more or less ice the game for the 49ers. Banks is just not an NFL player, and at some point the Giants have to cut bait. Likewise, Theo Johnson is a player with impressive physical traits. He showed those today with a run-after-catch for a TD. He also, though, had two more drops, one that killed a drive. Those come after Johnson dropped what Tom Brady called a “10 out of 10” pass from Dart last week in Philadelphia. Johnson may become reliable at some point. Until then, though, he hurts almost as much as he helps.
These are nit-picks, because every draft pick is a gamble. The issue is how Schoen responds to players that either don’t work out or haven’t yet become reliable contributors. The other issue is how he responds to injuries that deplete position groups. The Giants’ secondary was in bad shape after last week’s injuries, never mind the fact that it was under-performing up until then. The Eagles’ secondary has been underperforming too, with Quinyon Mitchell being injured for a little while, Kelee Ringo apparently a failed Howie Roseman draft pick (yes, he misses too sometimes), and an aging Adoree Jackson clearly not the answer. Howie’s response? Get Jaire Alexander from the Ravens for a 6-7 pick swap and $4M in cost. Alexander isn’t the player he was a few years ago but he’s still a plus defender. Schoen’s response to Banks’ failures and the injury to Adebo? Get Korie Black back. Those two things are not the same.
More generally, Schoen seems willing to keep unplayable players at the bottom of the roster rather than acquiring new ones who might contribute something. Evan Neal. Jalin Hyatt (now a kick returner at least).
We still have two days before the trade deadline, and Schoen may yet do something significant. It’s pretty clear, though, that Daboll and Kafka have little confidence in the Giants’ receivers beyond Nabers. How long can you ask the offense to function without a WR1? Your new franchise quarterback is getting the stuffing beat out of him because he always has to run around trying to find someone to pass to or else make something happen himself. He’s going to wind up on IR sooner or later. The Giants are one of two NFL teams not using void years to improve the roster, presumably because Schoen feels (rightly) that the Giants are not ready to contend. Still, you can’t hang what is now your greatest asset out to dry the rest of the season. Void year costs increase the current cash spending, and as such Giants’ ownership has to be willing to spend the money. The Giants haven’t had the financial resources that the Eagles do under owner Jeffrey Lurie. Now, though, Julia Koch and her $81B net worth have a 10% stake in the team. The time to begin spending – not Howie-level spending, but something – is now.
It’s gold watch time for Graham Gano
We’re there. Graham Gano has been a good Giant. At one time he was a real asset, making long-range (at least what was considered long-range a few years ago) field goals to win games for the Giants. Now, though, he is costing the Giants games with injuries and with his diminished accuracy even when asked to kick from reasonable distances. Today he missed a crucial 45-yard field goal after the Burns-Carter sack/fumble/recovery set the Giants up at the 49er 27 with half a minute remaining in the first half. It was bad enough that the Giants didn’t take an end zone shot – to not come out with even three points killed any momentum that defensive play might have created.
Thank you for your service, Graham. Enjoy your retirement.
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