Good morning, New York Giants fans!
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Other Giant observations
How Giants leadership helped fumble away Saints game long before it started | The Athletic
The Giants used their two practice squad elevations for Sunday’s game on linebacker Neville Hewitt and kicker Jude McAtamney. With two open spots on the 53-man roster, they could have signed up to two more players from the practice squad to have available for the game. The Giants elected not to promote wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey, which left them with just five active wide receivers, and Gunner Olszewski is mostly a returner. So when Darius Slayton injured his hamstring early in the fourth quarter, the Giants only had three legitimate wide receivers available.
Would Humphrey have made a difference in the game? Well, yes. He likely would have been a better option than Jalin Hyatt, who appears to have lost all confidence. Deep balls used to be Hyatt’s one strength, but he didn’t come close to hauling in two bombs on Sunday.
”The Giants’ pass rush is being negated because the defensive coordinator does not disguise the defense”
These 3 Giants draft misses represent the most glaring holes on roster right now | The Record
The narrative for the New York Giants heading into Thursday night’s national showcase against the Philadelphia Eagles will undoubtedly center on those players who got away from the franchise and took their games to another level.
Not just Saquon Barkley, who will return to MetLife Stadium for the first time since he rushed for 2,000 yards, won the Offensive Player of the Year award and hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy with the Super Bowl champion Eagles eight months ago.
Still, there’s no denying the film or the numbers and what they suggest, which is that Flott has been the steadier of the two, Flott currently with an 85.4 passer rating and zero penalties, and Flott having allowed 66.7% of the pass targets against him to be caught, whereas Banks has allowed 75%.
Still, the insistence on putting Banks out there remains a headscratcher. The third-year cornerback currently has a career-worst 154.2 NFL coverage rating, and his four penalties amassed so far have him on pace to top the eight he recorded last year. Are the Giants, for instance, doing so because Banks is a first-round draft pick for whom they traded up to acquire and on whom they have to decide regarding his option year after this season? Or is Bowen simply following his marching orders to where he doesn’t have the full autonomy to make the bigger picture decisions?
Ranking the NFL’s Hottest Hot Seats Before 2025 Trade Deadline | Bleacher Report
6. Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll. Daboll’s seat likely got a little cooler when he benched Russell Wilson in favor of rookie Jaxson Dart. He should get a little time to show what he can do with “his” quarterback, after all.
However, the good vibes of Dart’s first start—and the Giants’ first 2025 win—are already fading. New York just lost to the previously winless New Orleans Saints while mustering a mere 14 points. Through five weeks, the Giants rank 19th in total offense and 28th in scoring.
Top 15 NFL rookies through Week 5 | PFF
5. RB Cam Skattebo, New York Giants (81.3) Skattebo notched a 56.9 PFF rushing grade against the Saints, his lowest mark since Week 1. He took 15 carries for 61 yards, with four first downs. He also had a costly fumble to start the fourth quarter, which was returned 86 yards for a touchdown, giving New Orleans a double-digit lead. Skattebo forced two missed tackles and gained 44 yards after contact (tied for 10th most). He also caught all six of his targets for 45 yards and three first downs, finishing with a 74.1 PFF receiving grade.
Skattebo dips to third in the running back rankings, but he maintains a 77.6 PFF rushing grade. He now has 63 carries for 242 yards. He also ranks third in PFF receiving grade (81.6), with 18 catches for 143 yards and seven first downs, and leads the position in PFF run-blocking grade (89.9).
13. EDGE Abdul Carter, New York Giants (73.4). Carter came back down to earth a bit from his 90.2 PFF overall grade in Week 4, with a 71.1 mark against the Saints. He generated three hurries across 23 pass-rush snaps, finishing with an 8.7% win rate. He also earned a 70.1 PFF run-defense grade after recording two stops and limiting rushers to five total yards on those plays. Carter still leads all rookie edge rushers in PFF pass-rushing grade (82.4). He owns a 19.4% pass-rush win rate on true pass sets and ranks 11th at the position in pressures (22). He has a 15.3% pressure rate through five games.
Speed is the key to Carter’s game
Giants not getting nearly enough from big investments in secondary | New York Post
Cornerback Paulson Adebo (three years, $54 million) and safety Jevón Holland (three years, $45 million) haven’t yet made the major difference expected during free agency. They have a combined six passes defended — Holland had an interception negated Sunday by Banks’ pass interference — while allowing 30 catches for 333 yards and a touchdown, according to Pro Football Focus.
“They’ve been competitive,” head coach Brian Daboll said of the secondary. “We gave up that big one [to Shaheed], which we’d like to have back. I thought they did a good job of hanging in there when we turn the ball over five times and give [the Saints] opportunity after opportunity.”
But it is Dart’s legs — on designed option plays or scramble situations — that have the potential to keep defenses off balance. Against the Chargers, Dart ran 10 times for 54 yards, with a 15-yard touchdown. Against the Saints, he ran seven times for 55 yards, with a long of 20.
Jaxson Dart nominated for Pepsi Rookie of the Week | Giants.com
Jaxson Dart has been nominated for Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week, the fourth consecutive week a Giants rookie has been nominated for the honor. The other nominees are WR Travis Hunter (JAX), QB Dillon Gabriel (CLE), RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt (WAS), WR Emeka Egbuka (TB) and S Jonas Sanker (NO).
Jaxson Dart on his connection with Theo Johnson
Giants leaning much heavier on tight ends without Malik Nabers | New York Post
In their first game without Malik Nabers (torn ACL), the Giants revamped their offense to give more snaps to backup tight end Daniel Bellinger (38) than either of receivers Jalin Hyatt (34) and Beaux Collins (28). About half of their 73 offensive snaps in a loss to the Saints were with both Bellinger and fellow tight end Theo Johnson on the field.
2026 NFL draft order projections: Jets, Giants, Titans at top | ESPN.com
2. New York Giants (1-4)
Average draft position: 4.5
FPI chance to earn No. 1 pick: 18.8%
FPI chance to earn top-five pick: 70.5%
FPI chance to earn top-10 pick: 92.7%
This week’s opponent
Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley confirmed they held a players-only meeting, along with A.J. Brown, on Monday, but the quarterback and running back downplayed it as “just teammates being teammates.”
Jimmy Kempski of The Philly Voice reported that Hurts, Brown and Barkley met among themselves for two hours to discuss offensive frustrations after the 21-17 loss to the Broncos. The talks, per Kempski, were “positive.”
The Eagles have the same problem in a different year | Bleeding Green Nation
It’s also Nick Sirianni’s job to fix his broken offense. The team might need another meeting on that.
Sirianni has been down roads like this before. To his credit, he’s gotten the job done. As a rookie head coach and play caller he realized that he was in over his head balancing both roles and handed off play calling duties to Shane Steichen, which turned out to be a brilliant move. After the disastrous end to the 2023 season he listened to his players and toned down his overexcited personality. He listened and adjusted last year as well. With the bye not for another four weeks, another offensive leader meeting to fix the offense is probably needed during the mini-bye after Thursday. Time to stop allowing it happen and start leading.
Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson left last Sunday’s loss to the Broncos with an ankle injury and it may be a little time before he’s able to return to action. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Dickerson could miss one or two games as a result of the injury. The Eagles play the Giants on Thursday night and they will be in Minnesota to face the Vikings on Sunday in Week 7.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. The Eagles clearly aren’t on the same page offensively, and it’s showing week to week. After going up 17-3, the offense ran 14 plays for 27 yards — punting four times. The defense, in turn, allowed Bo Nix to go 9 of 10 for 127 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter (152.1 rating). The Broncos scored two touchdowns and a field goal on their final three possessions, as the Eagles’ defense couldn’t get off the field. The offense has issues that need fixing, but this Eagles team isn’t collapsing despite the yardage differential and inconsistency. Sunday’s game should have been a win, but this group has still emerged victorious in 20 of its past 22 games.
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