Do any Giants deserve praise after blowout loss to Philadelphia?
Let’s review Sunday’s 28-3 loss by the New York Giants to the Philadelphia Eagles in our traditional ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’ style.
Kudos to …
Brian Burns — The star edge defender deserves a ton of credit. He was impactful with a sack, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits, and a pass defensed. All while hobbling on and off the field due to a groin injury that kept him out of two practices last week. Burns’ effort tells you a lot about the kind of pro he is.
Dexter Lawrence — The amazing defensive tackle continued his incredible season with two sacks and two quarterback hits. Lawrence now has 9.0 sacks on the season, a career-high and an outlandish seven-game total for an interior defensive lineman.
Matt Haack — Haack punted 11 times for an average of 47.0 yards per punt, and a 42.9 net yards per punt average. He dropped four punts inside the 20-yard line, and had a 64-yarder. Not bad for a substitute. And, yes, maybe giving the punter ‘Kudos’ is a reach, but I’m trying to be nice here. It’s not easy.
Third-down defense — Believe it or not, the Giants held the Eagles to 1 of 13 (7.7%) on third downs. That was due mostly to the pass rush, and it ended up not meaning anything other than keeping the score closer than it might have been, but it is noteworthy.
Wet Willies to …
Daniel Jones — This is less about Sunday than it is a cumulative ‘WW.’ Jones’ numbers weren’t good on Sunday (14 of 21 for 99 yards). That’s Jones’ lowest passing yardage total in a game in which he threw the ball at least 20 times. Jones, though, never had a chance. He was sacked seven times. He was hit on 11 of the 21 passes he did manage to deliver.
There was no running game, unless Jones was running it himself. There were more drops. There were few easy completions. There were penalties when the Giants did manage positive plays, including a touchdown pass to Theo Johnson that was negated by offensive pass interference on Johnson.
This is more about four games at home quarterbacked by Jones in which the Giants have a total of 31 points (7.75 per game) and just one touchdown. Jones has six touchdown passes on the season, none of them at MetLife Stadium.
Jones is giving the Giants everything he has. It’s increasingly obvious, though, that it’s not going to be enough.
Deonte Banks — Banks seemed remorseful after the game when asked about his lack of hustle on Jalen Hurts’ 16-yard run. Still, that is the second time this season defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson has not been happy with the 2023 first-round pick’s effort. Compared to the way Burns played while dragging himself on and off the field with a groin injury, Banks should be embarrassed. Be a pro, Tae.
On top of that, Banks didn’t play well. The Eagles kept picking on Banks, especially when he was matched up on A.J. Brown. I will be interested in the matchup stats from Pro Football Focus on Monday.
Tomon Fox — Somebody needs to teach Fox that the score matters. Fox foolishly celebrated a sack of Eagles backup quarterback Kenny Pickett with less than two minutes to go and his team hopelessly down by 25 points. This after missing a tackle on what should have been a third-and-7 sack, leading to Hurts’ 16-yard run and Philadelphia’s final touchdown. Fox also committed a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty — which is the sole reason he had a chance for that sack. Be a pro, Tomon.
Brian Daboll — Like Jones, this is more a cumulative ‘WW’ than it is about Sunday. Don’t get it twisted. Sunday was terrible. An awful, non-competitive game in which they got embarrassed their former superstar running back. Daboll takes a hit for that, no doubt.
This is about 0-4 at home and being outscored 96-31 in those games. It is about not being able to get competent offense out of his team after taking complete control of the offense, his specialty. It’s about roster management decisions that continue to backfire, the latest of which is insisting after 2023 showed otherwise that Josh Ezeudu is an NFL left tackle.
Nick McCloud — The veteran cornerback/special teamer entered the game when starting cornerback Cor’Dale Flott left with a second-quarter groin injury. His first play was a Philadelphia fourth-and-3. The Eagles picked on McCloud, with Jalen Hurts throwing a 41-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown. That made it 14-0 at that point, and the game as basically over.
Run defense — Considering that the Giants were 30th in the league in yards allowed per rushing attempt (5.2) entering the game, the fact that Saquon Barkley ran wild (17 carries, 176 yards) should surprise no one.
The Giants talked about poor run fits, about plays where one or two players didn’t fulfill their assignments, about not getting off blocks. That’s all growing old, because we seem to hear it week after week.
This is yet another thing the Giants don’t seem to have an answer to.
Offensive line — It’s too simple to just give Ezeudu a ‘WW’.
Obviously, Ezeudu deserves a ‘WW’. He gave up sacks on two of the Giants first three possessions, both in obvious third-down passing situations. He looked exactly like what many feared he would look like — a player who shouldn’t be trying to play left tackle in the NFL.
Offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo admitted Friday that he still doesn’t know what Ezeudu’s best position is. It’s clearly not the one the Giants are asking him to play. He’s an exceedingly nice young man and I’ve tried to give him the benefit of the doubt since he was placed in a no-win situation a year ago. But, Sunday better preparation did not lead to better results.
That’s not his fault. That’s on Daboll, Bricillo and GM Joe Schoen for not having a better alternative in place. This is a young man the Giants drafted to be a guard. He has not been able to win a job there, and the Giants are now asking him to play outside. Usually, teams move failed tackles inside — not failed guards outside.
Eight sacks and 11 quarterback hits, though, tell you the problems went far beyond Ezeudu. Second-year center John Michael Schmitz did not appear to play well. Nakobe Dean blasted past him for a sack on one play. Eagles nose tackle Jalen Carter had two sacks, two tackles for loss, and two quarterback hits.
The pass blocking got the quarterback pounded. It also gave the Giants little to no chance to throw the ball down the field to try and get the big plays they have been sorely lacking.
The Giants didn’t try to run the ball enough, but I do understand that the largely ineffective run blocking didn’t inspire confidence in trying a ground-and-pound approach, either.
