New York Giants Week 10 Report Card: Disappointing

Here are the grades from the New York Giants‘ 20-17 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers.

You know that old saying about stats showing only part of the picture? That applies this week when it comes to the Giants’ offense.

New York outgained Carolina 342 to 306 and even had 190 gross yards passing to Carolina’s 126. 

But what the gamebook doesn’t show is all the receivers quarterback Daniel Jones missed, including Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson, on that doomed flea flicker in which both were wide open. It doesn’t show the bad throw behind Nabers on the first third down of the game or the pass thrown behind running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. that was picked off in the red zone.

Jones fished with a passer rating of 50.5, saying after the game his play wasn’t good enough. 

The problem is his play hasn’t been good enough all season long, and with head coach Brian Daboll declining to name Jones the starting quarterback for when the team comes out of its Week 11 bye—unlike the last few weeks when Daboll has, without hesitation thrown a vote of confidence behind Jones—that should tell you all you need to know about Jones’s immediate future for the rest of the year.

There were some positives, but not nearly enough.

Let’s start with tackle Evan Neal, making his first start of the 2024 season. Neal had as solid of a game as he’s had since being drafted seventh overall in 2022. 

Per NextGen Stats, he allowed just one pressure on 41 pass block snaps (2.4%), setting a career-low in pressure rate allowed (min 10. pass blocks). Twenty-seven of his 41 pass block snaps came against Jadeveon Clowney, who had a quiet day other than for that one pressure.

Back-breaking fumble in overtime aside—and yes, it was a huge play–Tyrone Tracy, Jr. otherwise had a nice day, rushing for 103 yards on 18 carries, his third 100-yard rushing performance of the year. Half of Tracy’s runs have generated positive EPA, with most of his big runs coming outside the tackles.

Good to see Jalin Hyatt (4-39) get more involved in place of the injured Darius Slayton.  

Overall, though? Not good enough, the story of the Giants 2024 season.

Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but the run defense was atrocious, especially on the edges. Carolina ran for 188 yards on 32 carries, with newly extended Chuba Hubbard gaining 153 yards on 28 carries and one rushing touchdown.

The Giants also gave up far too many big plays this week—six to be exact, four in the first quarter alone and three on the Panthers’ first scoring drive.

The good? Brian Burns, clearly motivated to play well against his old team, tied a career-high with seven pressures on 25 pass rushes (28% pass-rush win-rate). Four of those pressures, per NextGen Stats, came under 2.5 seconds. Burns now has 21 quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds), tying him for third-most in the NFL—this despite playing with a badly injured groin.

Tyler Nubin and Dru Phillips came to play this week. Nubin finished with a team-leading 12 tackles, and Phillips, who last week spoke about how he had to “grow up,” showed up a new man, forcing a fourth-quarter fumble that D.J. Davidson recovered. 

Every week, it’s something. This week, you had Graham Gano, back in his first action since Week 2, missing his first field goal attempt of the game, a  43-yarder that went wide right. He did make his second attempt, a 42-yarder.

A lesser-noticed gaffe came on a muffed punt return by the Panthers in which the Giants gunner overran the returner because he had called for a fair catch. Had he not done so, who knows? Maybe he’s in a position to recover the muffed punt deep in Carolina territory.   

Giants punt returner Ihmir Smith-Marsette lost his cool on a punt return, drawing double fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness.

The good? Jamie Gillan, returning from a four-game absence due to a hamstring strain, had a mixed day as well, mostly bordering on solid. Four of his five kicks were inside the 20, but he did have a low line drive that was returned 13 yards.

Dexter Lawrence was asked whether Daboll’s message was getting through to the locker room, and let’s just say that his response was concerning.

“I think it is,” he said. “Just has to be comprehended a little better. Yeah, I think it’s getting through. It’s just critical moments, and we’ve got to understand what those critical moments are to be able to win and come out on top.”

If Daboll’s message is falling on deaf ears, then not only is that contributing to the team’s shortcomings, but that’s also not good at all for the long-term.

We’re also not sure why Daboll stuck with Jones after a disastrous first half.

Daboll said he has a lot to think about. Maybe among those items, he should consider giving the play calling back to offensive coordinator Mike Kafka?

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