The New York Giants traveled to New Orleans on Sunday and started the game HOT against the Saints with two offensive touchdowns on two drives. New York took a big 14-3 lead, and the defense was dictating to Spencer Rattler and the Saints’ offense. But mistakes would catch up to the Giants, who were reckless with the football. Darius Slayton, Jaxson Dart, and Cam Skattebo all fumbled the football, which led to a long fumble return for a touchdown and two field goals by Blake Grupe.
Dart also threw two interceptions, so New York lost the turnover battle, 5-0. The Giants were consistent with their undisciplined play in the penalty department with eight for 95 yards, including false start, holding, and defensive pass interference penalties. Yes, the red zone offense looked better – but a lot looked worse. Here is the Week 5 report card.
Quarterback
Dart started hot with two touchdowns to start the game. It was the first time in five seasons that the Giants ended their first two drives with touchdowns. There were several high moments in the game for Dart, but, again, his performance was far from perfect. The underthrown flea flicker to an open Darius Slayton took points off the board. Dart then fumbled the football on a scramble to start the second half.
The Cam Skattebo fumble return for a touchdown gave the Saints a 26-14 lead. The Giants then turned the football over on fourth down with a deep desperation Dart pass that resulted in a Kool-Aid McKinstry interception; the drive was plagued by penalties and undisciplined play by the Giants. McKinstry came away with his second interception. Dart finished the game 26 of 40 for 202 yards with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. He added 55 yards on the ground (7.9 YPC). This was a learning experience for Dart.
Grade: C-
Running Back
kattebo ran with physicality and brought a necessary energy to the team, which has become synonymous with his play. The late Carl Granderson sack may have been on Skattebo, judging by the reaction of Andrew Thomas. His fumble ended a 12-play, 55-yard drive by the Giants, and gave the Saints a 12-point lead. Skattebo averaged 3.9 yards per carry with 59 yards on the deck. He also caught six passes for 45 yards. Devin Singletary had six carries for 20 yards with one catch for 4 yards. Singletary’s drop on the Giants’ third drive was a low-key massive moment in the game that led to a punt that quickly turned into an 87 yard touchdown to Rasheed Shaheed.
Grade: D+
Wide Receiver
Slayton had a rough start in the absence of Malik Nabers. Slayton’s fumble revitalized the Saints, and allowed them to take the lead. He also failed to secure a deep pass that was in his hands. His first-half outlook would have changed if Dart connected on the third-down flea-flicker; still, it was a rough start for the veteran receiver. Slayton left the game in the fourth quarter with a hamstring injury.
Wan’Dale Robinson was used on intermediate passes and on bubble RPO tags. Dart attempted to squeeze a deep contested dig route to Robinson, to no avail. Robinson had five catches for 30 yards and Slayton had 31 yards on three catches.
Jalin Hyatt and Beaux Collins both saw snaps. Hyatt even saw a pair of deep targets toward the end of the game. Hyatt had an opportunity to catch the second deep ball, but failed to secure it. Collins missed a third-and-3 pass over the middle of the field that could have resulted in a big gain. The ball hit the undrafted rookie in the fingers but could not be secured. Another target for Collins was intercepted. This group DESPERATELY misses Malik Nabers.
Grade: F
Tight End
The loss of Nabers is tough to overcome, but the Giants used more tight end sets and the passing attack essentially ran through the tight ends early in the game, with heavy 12 personnel usage. Daniel Bellinger was the Giants leading receiver with 52 yards on four catches. Theo Johnson caught two touchdowns on his six receptions for 33 yards. Chris Manhertz had several crucial blocks in the run game.
Grade: B+
Offensive Line
The Giants offensive line gave Dart and the passing attack plenty of time to successfully distribute the football. There were holes in the rushing attack as well. Jermaine Eluemunor took a few penalties late in the game that moved the Giants’ offense backwards. A miscommunication with Andrew Thomas led to a late sack for Carl Granderson, who was then flagged for roughing the passer, which was a TERRIBLE call. Overall, the Giants offensive line did enough to allow this offense to operate.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
Rakeem Nunez-Roches returned to the lineup, welcome news with Dexter Lawrence’s illness; Lawrence did not play as much as we’re used to seeing, but the Giants held up well when he was on the sideline, even though Kellen Moore made a point to run up the middle. D.J. Davidson and Darius Alexander both played well. The latter recorded a big tackle for a loss on a QB draw. Roy Robertson-Harris also played his role well from what I could tell. Much like the edge group, pressure was applied, but finishing was a big issue.
Grade: C+
EDGE
Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux were generating pressure, knocking passes down at the line of scrimmage, and had several STOPs in the run game. Still, they failed to sack the quarterback and cause the necessary plays to halt the Saints offense and position them in disadvantageous situations. The group is a massive positive to the team, but we need them to finish to overcome all the other issues with this operation.
Grade: B-
Linebacker
Both Bobby Okereke and Darius Muasau seemed to be where they needed to be with their run fits up front. Okereke, again, led the team in tackles with ten and was everywhere in the box. Muasau stole the soul of Trevor Penning at the end of the game when the clock was being milked; good to see late fight and passion, I suppose. The All-22 may tell another story, but that’s my assessment so far.
Grade: C+
Cornerback
Tae Banks was flagged early on a defensive pass interference that forced him to the bench until Dru Phillips was banged up late in the third quarter. Banks was in the slot on 4th-and-5 and, predictably, the Giants ran man coverage and Rattler targeted Banks converted. Both Cor’Dale Flott and Paulson Adebo surrendered important catches and neither had a good game. But they weren’t the primary issues with this loss, not even close.
Grade: C-
Safety
The speed of Tyler Nubin is in question, once again. This time, Nubin was isolated against Rashid Shaheed on a heavy personnel play-action deep shot, and Rattler delivered a well-thrown pass away from Nubin’s leverage — 87 yards later, the Saints had a touchdown. Holland had an impressive PBU on the first drive.
Grade: D+
Special Teams
Elite kickoff by Jamie Gillan, and coverage, to start the game. Partially blocked punt at the end of the first half for the Giants, which isn’t great. And even Banks – yes, Banks – had a big return that gave the Giants’ the football at midfield. Banks averaged 37.5 yards on two kick returns and Gunner Olszewski averaged 28.3 on three returns. Gillan’s two punts were both inside the 20-yard line. The special teams’ unit was not an issue on Sunday.
Grade: B+
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