Entering today’s game, technically there was still a path for the New York Giants to run the table and make the playoffs now that the most difficult part of their 2025 schedule was mostly behind them (next week at Detroit notwithstanding). If you buy that, though, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you. So fans needed another motivation to watch this 2-8 team whose three most exciting players are all injured, two of them out for the season.
That motivation only indirectly concerned the people between the lines. Yes, it would be fun to see what Jameis Winston could do with Jaxson Dart still in the concussion protocol. Much of the interest, though, focused on the coaches. Interim Giants head coach Mike Kafka has been interviewing for a head coaching position for several years. Turning this Giants team around, albeit against an easier second-half schedule, would do more than anything he could say in an interview to make his case to return as head coach in 2026.
On the other sideline, Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is under fire for his preference to run the ball and offensive results that have not followed from that. Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, a New Jersey product whose defense has been suffocating, has been more in the conversation as a possible Giants head coach hire. Since Kafka is still calling the plays, he and Hafley would be going head-to-head. To be honest, I didn’t think Hafley distinguished himself today, and I thought Kafka acquitted himself well in his first game as head coach. Nonetheless, the Giants lost again, so let’s see what we learned from this latest fourth quarter collapse.
Whatever Kafka said to Shane Bowen didn’t work: Running game edition
Did you see anything different about the Giants’ defense today? I didn’t. It looked like they played a lot of man defense. Props to Jordan Love, he played great today. Still, the Packers knew that whenever they needed yards, all they had to do was run the ball. Green Bay averaged 5.6 yards per rush for the game, most of it without their lead running back. Your lead back, Josh Jacobs, goes down with an injury? No problem, send backup Emanuel Wilson into the game and watch him do just as well. Wilson sliced through the Giants’ interior run defense for an 11-yard touchdown while hardly being touched. On runs between the guards, the Packers averaged just as much as when they ran outside: 5.6 yards per carry. How can that happen? For good measure, Emanuel caught Love’s 2-point conversion pass to increase the Packers’ lead to 7 points in the fourth quarter.
Whatever Kafka said to Shane Bowen didn’t work: Passing game edition
I will say this much. Bowen did blitz more today (12 times) after hardly blitzing at all last week. It had some effect: Love was only 5 of 10 when blitzed, although he did have one of his TD passes on a blitz. The Giants did pressure Love 43% of the time (19 times) overall, and that did affect him – he was only 2 of 9 in those situations for 42 yards. And they were without Kayvon Thibodeaux, which didn’t help. Still, they only managed to sack Love once, and other than Brian Burns, no one ever gets home.
It was interesting that Abdul Carter didn’t play the first defensive series. It was a “coach’s decision,” per Dan Duggan, due to “a mistake” he made during the week, per Pat Leonard. Whatever the reason, Carter played pretty well today, with a hit and two hurries.
The secondary is a different story, though. It was good to have Jevon Holland back today; he only gave up one completion for 2 yards…but it was a touchdown. Not having Paulson Adebo hurt, though. The rest of the secondary was pretty awful. Deonte Banks also only gave up one completion, for one yard…but it was a touchdown. At least he tried to contest the catch a bit, but he just is not able to. Cor’Dale Flott and Korie Black were the main culprits all afternoon, being victimized for 7 catches between them.
The bottom line for Bowen, though, is: 4 blown fourth quarter leads, and counting. With a defense that could close out games in the fourth quarter, this team could be 6-5 with wins over the Chargers, Eagles, Broncos, Bears, and now the Packers, all of them possible playoff teams.
Props to Tyrone Tracy and the Giants’ run blocking
The Giants’ offensive line has been good at pass blocking this year, and they weren’t terrible today although Andrew Thomas and Jermaine Eluemunor both gave up sacks. The Giants’ run blocking has been a weakness, though. Today’s game started out the same way, with Tyrone Tracy and Devin Singletary fighting and scratching for whatever yards they could get, while Green Bay’s running backs saw the Red Sea part before them when they carried the ball.
As the game went on, though, that first part changed. Especially in the interior, Tracy and Singletary found lanes to run effectively. Tracy in particular had his first game this season in which his running reminded me of the Tracy we saw in his rookie year. A total of 61 of Tracy’s 88 rushing yards, and 33 of Singletary’s 44, were after first contact. It would be welcome news the rest of the season if the Giants can begin to lean on their running game a bit more than they’ve been able to since Cam Skattebo’s injury.
Can we all agree that getting rid of Isaiah Hodgins was one of the worst personnel decisions the Giants have made in the Joe Schoen era? I don’t want to overemphasize it – Hodgins isn’t Mike Evans, or even Plaxico Burress. What a luxury, though, for Jordan Love to have 6’5” Christian Watson, 6’5” Savion Williams, and 6’2” Romeo Doubs to pass to when you really need it? The Giants have had a bunch of smurfs (in a relative sense) at the wide receiver position other than the now-departed Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Hodgins was one of the key players on that 2022 Giants playoff team, and then Brian Daboll apparently decided that big X receivers weren’t a priority. Hodgins had 5 catches in 6 targets today, a couple in important situations. He’s exactly the type of guy you need to keep the chains moving on drives.
Speaking of bad personnel decisions: I really wanted Jalin Hyatt to succeed, and he did have two catches for 18 yards today. It sure looked, though, as if he broke his route off in the end zone on the Winston pass that was intercepted to seal the Packers’ win. Hyatt just seems not to have matured as a football player. His time may be done.
Deonte Banks actually was in decent position on the Christian Watson TD early in the second quarter that tied the game. He actually got a hand in to try to break it up. What he didn’t do, what he never does, is to turn his head to watch the QB and react to the pass soon enough to break it up. On Emanuel Wilson’s TD, Banks was right there but took the wrong angle to do anything to impede Wilson’s path to the end zone. Like Hyatt, Banks is just not a savvy football player. Is it Bowen’s and Marquand Manuel’s poor coaching? Is it just an innate weakness? Whatever, he, Hyatt, and Evan Neal have been occupying roster spots that are providing nothing.
Meanwhile, I get why Daboll had Russell Wilson as QB1 to start the season, and QB2 after Dart went down last week. Can we say, though, that Jameis Winston is a pretty good quarterback? Yes, he puts the ball up for grabs: 4 times today, per Pro Football Focus’ initial estimate…and none of them occurred on plays in which he was pressured or blitzed. That’s the Jameis Winston experience. Nonetheless, I thought he threw well today in difficult conditions, and I’d be happy to have him remain a Giant for a while.
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