What did we learn from Giants’ PFF grades, snap counts?

My job at Big Blue View is to be the numbers guy. As a former scientist I appreciate how the objectivity of what the data tell us can correct for our biases and preconceived notions about things and make us think again about things we’d drawn preliminary conclusions about. Since I have no formal training in watching film and never played myself, I enjoy seeing how someone who watched the game closely with a trained eye may come to conclusions different from what I thought I saw watching the game in real time.

Today is one of those times when the numbers just don’t add up for me. Let’s look at the snap counts and Pro Football Focus grades for the Giants’ 20-15 loss to Dallas last night.

Offense

Snap counts

• Once again, Daniel Jones and all five starting offensive linemen played the entire game. The stability of the line this year compared to the merry-go-round of 2023 is something to be grateful for. If you want to know why the Giants had the ball and a chance for a game-winning score at the end of last night’s game, compared to last season’s 40-0 and 49-17 blowout losses to Dallas that were over almost as soon as they started, there’s your answer.
• The wide receiver pecking order has been clear for several weeks now: Malik Nabers sees the field on almost every play, Darius Slayton and Wan’Dale Robinson play the majority of downs, and Jalin Hyatt gets a handful of snaps and nothing more.
• The running back room usage is fairly stable as well with one exception. Devin Singletary continues to be the lead back, Tyrone Tracy plays a few series but is slowly seeing more snaps the past couple of weeks, and Eric Gray only gets a couple of plays each week.
• The tight end room situation is stable as well. Theo Johnson is clearly TE1 (for reasons unknown, see below), Daniel Bellinger is now the backup receiving tight end, and Chris Manhertz plays a little less than half the game as the blocking TE.

PFF grades

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

• The Giants’ highes-graded player on either side of the ball last night was…Daniel Jones, with a borderline elite 80.9 grade. Color me surprised. At some level, I get it. Jones led five scoring drives, and the Giants punted only once. PFF grades how well the quarterback did on each play on a scale from -2 (disastrous play) to 0 (expected result) to +2 (great play in a key situation) and then puts it all together in some proprietary fashion to arrive at their game grade on a scale of 0 to 100. Considered from that angle, you can see how Jones graded high for the game – 72.5% completion rate, 281 yards, 9.7 yards ADOT. He was intercepted once but it was a meaningless “f*it” (to use the team’s current rallying cry) Hail Mary at the end of the game just to take one last shot. I don’t blame him for that. I do blame him, though, for deep shots to Malik Nabers and Darius Slayton that were clearly underthrown, and even for the 39-yard completion to Nabers that was underthrown as well. Those are supposed to be the plays that separate great from mediocre quarterback play. Here are Jones’ PFF grades for the season:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Compare the Cleveland game (49.7 grade) to the Dallas game (80.9). I frankly thought Jones played similarly in the two games, the only differences being (1) 2 TD passes to Nabers last week, one as he was about to get pulverized by Myles Garrett, and no TDs last night, (2) overthrowing on deep shots last week and underthrowing on deep shots last night. I just can’t figure it out. Well, yes, I can: PFF grades each play in isolation, and the misses are more than made up for by the makes when everything is added up as long as you don’t get intercepted or fumble. Last night, though, the math didn’t work. Jones’ deep misses on Sunday and Thursday stand in stark contrast to Jayden Daniels’ beautiful, in-stride, deep TD shot to Terry McLaurin on fourth down, as he was about to get hit by a pass rusher, with the game on the line Monday night.

Here are Jones’ stats with and without pressure for last night:

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

Jones played fairly well under pressure last night by typical QB standards. He only went 6 of 12 but that was probably mostly the deep shots he missed (15.2 yards ADOT). He was only pressured 31.7% of the time, a welcome change from last year’s opening game vs. Dallas (45.5% pressure rate). All three dropped passes came when Jones passed from a clean pocket.

• On the offensive line, Andrew Thomas recovered from his spanking by Myles Garrett last week to post an above-average 75.6 grade (84.4 for pass blocking). Thomas allowed Micah Parsons to only generate three pressures all evening. Jon Runyan (72.3 pass block grade) and Jermaine Eluemunor (65.9) held up fairly well, while John Michael Schmitz (55.0) was slightly below average and Greg Van Roten (47.0) had another rough night pass blocking, his third in four games. He’s clearly the offensive line’s weak link. Expect him to be replaced next year, whether by Evan Neal or a draftee. Notice the run block scores, though. Not terrible – 50s and 60s across the board, but no one above average either. This has been a season-long occurrence, and last night the running backs had little room to run. Runyan said after the game that Dallas switched up its run defense and the OL wasn’t always blocking the right player.
• The wide receivers had a subpar evening: 72.5 for Malik Nabers (subpar by his standards but still above average), 59.8 for Darius Slayton, 54.6 for Jalin Hyatt, and 52.9 for Wan’Dale Robinson. Drops by Robinson, Slayton, and Nabers (though the one by Nabers was a tough ask) likely pulled their grades down, and indeed they were part of the reason the Giants lost. It wasn’t all on Jones.
• As a public service, I am letting you know that the Giants do have three tight ends on the roster. You’d never know from their lack of production. In fairness, Chris Manhertz is just there to pass block and he did a good job of it last night (76.5), though he was called for a penalty. Daniel Bellinger deserved better than the face mask penalty that was called on him when it should have been called on the defender; he run blocked well (70.5). Jakob Johnson (48.9) got 7 snaps blocking at FB. Theo Johnson (49.0) remains TE1. I am hard pressed to think of a single positive contribution he has made as a rookie thus far.
• Devin Singletary had a rough night running the ball (58.0), with few holes created by the OL, but he did pass block well. Tyrone Tracy (52.5) and Erci Gray (52.8) played minor roles.

Defense

Snap counts

• The starting boundary corners (Tae Banks, Cor’Dale Flott) and safeties (Tyler Nubin, Jason Pinnock) played every or almost every snap, while Nick McCloud was on the field about two-thirds of the time and Duke Shelley about one-third of the time.
• Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux played about 80% of snaps, Rakeem Nunez-Roches about two-thirds, and D.J. Davidson, Azeez Ojulari, and Elijah Chatman saw the rest of the time on the defensive line.
• Bobby Okereke as usual played every snap, though he hasn’t been as visible this season. Micah McFadden played three-quarters of downs and Isaiah Simmons the other one-quarter at linebacker.

PFF grades

Courtesy of Pro Football Focus

• There were no outstanding players on the defense last night, and a lot of average play. That seems about right. The D made Dallas punt three times, but no one stood out. Even Dexter Lawrence (61.4), who I think was double-teamed a lot, was pretty invisible with only 1 QB hit. Kayvon Thibodeaux had perhaps his best game of the season, with a 77.1 pass rush grade including a sack and 4 hurries. On the other side, Brian Burns (67.2) had two nice run stops but did little in the pass rush (1 QB hit, 1 hurry), and Azeez Ojulari (63.9) didn’t make any plays of note.
• Elsewhere in the interior, D.J. Davidson (55.7), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (47.8), and Elijah Chatman (40.8) were all pretty invisible.
• Micah McFadden (78.4) continues to play well, with 5 tackles and 3 assists; he is turning out to be one of Joe Schoen’s best draft picks. though he was responsible on one of the TD passes. Bobby Okereke (69.7) played fairly well but is having less impact in Shane Bowen’s defense. Isaiah Simmons (67.2), ditto.
• Another rough game for Tae Banks (54.6, 3 receptions in 3 targets and a TD); it’s becoming clear that he is not at this stage a CB1. Nick McCloud (60.7), Duke Shelley (60.2), and Cor’Dale Flott (58.7) all were OK but nothing more. Safeties Jason Pinnock (77.6) and Tyler Nubin (71.3) both had pretty good games, each giving up two short receptions in two targets, though I felt Nubin was out of position to limit the damage on the CeeDee Lamb TD play.