New York Giants Report Card: Make It Stop; Please Make It Stop!

East Rutherford, N.J. – Grading the New York Giants’ 35-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens

For the first time since 1992, the Giants had four quarterbacks take a snap in a regular-season game when starter Tommy DeVito left the game in the first half with a concussion. 

Not that it mattered. The Giants managed 236 yards of offense, averaging 3.9 yards per play. They were 2 of 12 on third downs (7%), and of their nine possessions, they went three-and-out on two and failed to record a first down on three. Their longest play of the game went for 25 yards (Tim Boyle to Wan’Dale Robinson). 

Want more? The running game mustered only 55 yards on 20 carries (2.8 yards per carry) with one touchdown (by Devin Singletary). There were two dropped passes (Wan’Dale Robinson and Tyrone Tracy, Jr now has six drops on the season). 

Yes, the offense is now missing two starting offensive linemen (Jon Runyan, Jr. and Andrew Thomas). Still, save for tight end Theo Johnson, almost everyone is on the field except for a play-making quarterback, the position continues to be the team’s Achilles’ heel.

It’s almost unfair to give this unit a failing grade considering all the starters missing –Dexter Lawerence, Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Bobby Okereke, Tyler Nubon, Deonte Banks, Dor’Dale Flott, and Dru Phillips all come to mind. Still, those who dressed were expected to play, and let’s just say that the performance resembled a preseason game more so than a late-season effort.

There were busted coverages all over the place–see Lamar Jackson’s 49-yard touchdown bomb to Rashod Bateman in the second quarter. There were 14 missed tackles by the defense. 

Dane Belton and Micah McFadden combined for 25 tackles, but many were further down the field.  And why did it take Kayvon Thibodeaux until about 11 minutes left in the game to dent the stat sheet? 

Cornerback Addoree’ Jackson, getting the start with Banks and Flott sidelined, Jackson forced and recovered a fumble on the Ravens’ opening drive to snuff out one of their red-zone visits and Brian Burns led the team with five pressures as he continues to play his heart out despite ailing with injuries. But it jut wasn’t enough as the RAvens racked up 445 yards of offense, mailng it look far too easy. 

Another week, another series of clunkers from a special teams unit that, thanks to the problems elsewhere on the team, has been flying under the radar for its underperforming ways this season. 

Start with Justice Hill’s 59-yard kickoff return to open the game, which gave them starting field position on the Giants’ 37-yard line. Add in a clunker of a punt by Jamie Gillan that traveled just 37 yards and was returned 23 yards, aided by at least one missed tackle by Bryce Ford-Wheaton.  

Zero punt return yards by Ihmir Smith-MArsette, who did have two fair catches) and who also had the Giants’ longest kickoff return of the day (30 yards). Otherwise, there’s not much there regarding the Giants gaining any sort of advantage in terms of starting field position. 

Graham Gano had no field goal attempts, but he did make both PATs, which, if you’re looking for something positive, is there.

So, let me get this straight. Brian Daboll got into a hissy fit when his fourth-down play call failed. The play in question had Eric Gray, an obvious decoy,  on the field. He then had the smallish DeVito run up the gut, a play that continues to be a headscratcher, given DeVito’s size. 

It’s not like the Ravens and the rest of the stadium didn’t see that play coming. And it’s certainly not a play that made sense at that juncture, but hey, maybe they were trying to catch the Ravens off guard.  

How many more illegal shifts need to be called on this team before something is done to correct them? I get it that the coaches don’t play the game, but there has to be some way to get these players to stop with this sloppiness and the false starts at home that seem to sabotage the offense far too often. 

Given how the losses continue to pile up, it’s also fair to wonder if some of the “effort” we are seeing are players who have started to mail it in.

The bottom line is that you have a team that has now lost nine straight games for the fifth time since 1976 (2003, 2004, and 2019 being the other seasons). And it’s becoming harder and harder to justify retaining a coaching staff that looks like some guys are quitting and which, unlike last year when it squeezed six wins out of an injury-wrecked team, hasn’t been able to work similar magic.