So far the Giants are sitting at 5-7 after 8 weeks. In this mini series we will continue to take a look at their record with a brief synopsis of the games and statistics. This will give the league a nice update every few weeks on how the team is doing overall.
Weeks: 1-4 Weeks: 4-8
Points: 24 ppg (31) Points: 31 (25)
Total: 367.5 ypg (23). Total: 409.9 (16)
Passing: 313.5ypg (4). Passing: 349.8 (9)
Rushing: 54 ypg (26) Rushing: 60.1 (30)
Weeks: 9-12
Points: 31 ppg (25)
Total: 410.3 ypg (22).
Passing: 345.3 ypg (11)
Rushing: 65 ypg (31)
All offensive numbers have stayed the same or have increased, however, that hasn’t translated into wins. In fact, compared to the rest of the league, outside of passing yards, the Giants offense is one one of the worst in the league. This could be because of many reasons, whether that be that teams are just playing pass which results in sacks and turnovers, as well as the Giants settling for too many field goal attempts. If you look at a lot of the league, you’ll see that fourth down has been gone for a lot more this season than in years past. The Giants on the other hand, are one of the worst teams at even attempting to go for it. This scared mentality is costing them potential touchdowns.
Weeks: 1-4 Weeks: 4-8
Points: 25 ppg (3) Points: 35 ppg (22)
Total: 327.8 ypg (2) Total: 400 ypg (11)
Passing: 274.5 ypg (7) Passing: 293.1 ypg (11)
Rushing: 53.3 ypg (2) Rushing: 106.9 ypg (19)
Weeks: 9-12
Points: 33 ppg (10)
Total: 398 ypg (10).
Passing: 302.3 ypg (10)
Rushing: 95.8 ypg (7)
The Giants defense have turned into one of the best defenses in the league. The entire league has struggled to play defense as most games are ending in the 40s. For the Giants, most of their games have averaged lower, which is resulting in the defense showing good numbers overall. The issue is the offense isn’t flying high like the rest of the league. When the defense makes a stop, the offense gives the ball back, and when the offense scores, the defense gives up a score. This team is battling against itself, and if they put it all together, maybe a late season run could be had.
Week 9: 21 49ers – 28 Giants
The Giants came into this game being about 5 overall points behind the Niners and brought a simple game plan, create turnovers, and give none away. Everything else was about creating key opportunities for players to try to get an advantage despite the overall difference. Dart didn’t succumb to the elite Niner defense and put on a show throwing for 3 touchdowns and nearly 300 yards. On defense, the Giants knew that they could force Purdy into some errors and were able to pick him off twice, while also sacking him three times. Both teams came into this under .500 but the Giants showed they were the better team.
Week 10 : Bears 31 – Giants 38
This is the game that got the Giants flying high, until everything after came crashing down. After last week’s win, players were feeling themselves and they knew they could knock off one of the better teams in the league. This game had a lot of offense and hardly any defense. It seemed that both Williams and Dart were doing whatever they wanted. Dart had his best game ever as a rookie, throwing for 444 yards, 4 touchdowns, and was almost perfect with a 90 completion percentage on 33 pass attempts. The defense stepped up when they needed to as in the final seconds of the game, Williams had a shot to tie, throwing a 40 yard bomb to the endzone, only to be intercepted by Phillips. Phillips was in a trailing position and made it look like the receiver was open, only to s***** it away at the last second.
Week 11: Packers 35 – Giants 30
After beating the Bears the Giants team confidence was as high as it ever has been this season. They were finally at .500 and ready to make a run with a few under performing teams on their schedule. Up first was a Packer team, who hasn’t been playing terribly, but just couldn’t find a complete game. Love has had the turnover bug and the Giants defense was hoping for that trend to continue. The game started and ended with heavy rain and wind, it honestly looked like a hurricane on the screen. This didn’t stop both teams from passing. Each team sent the house after the others quarterback, with Love prevailing over the rookie. The normal turnover machine Love, played with poise, patience, and accuracy in the downpour. While facing the best pass rush in the league, combined with multiple blitz looks, He was able to hit his receivers in stride to the tune of over 300 yards, 3 touchdowns, and a 80 completion percentage. Dart on the other hand, missed several big throws, while also throwing 2 interceptions. He was able to keep the game close despite the errors but it wasn’t good enough to get the win. This game likely took him out of the MVP race.
Week 8: Lions 30 – Giants 23
If losing to the Packers was embarrassing, losing to the Lions was icing on the cake. Both teams have decent users, however, haven’t been able to put it together. If any team wants a get right game all they have to do is face Burn. It seems that users play much more conservative versus me and don’t make the dumb reads I see in their other games. The Lions held the ball for 28 minutes compared to the giants 12 mins. This was done with a ball controlled offense by the Lions. They were forced into 13 third down and 4 fourth down situations. They completed 5 third downs and 3 fourth downs. These conversations led to milking of the clock, to the point that the Giants never saw the ball.
Goff was unusually accurate, didn’t make any dumb reads or mistakes and took the short routes and rpos that were given to him. With the Giants keying in on Gibbs and Williams, the Lions took what they got and it worked for them. The Giants offense consisted of two one play touchdowns, one interception, and one bad fourth down attempt that Dart let himself get sacked when a man was wide open. The defense overall kept the score low, but when it came time to make a stop they couldn’t. The game on defense is summed up on one play. 4th and 1, Gibbs takes the ball on a shotgun dive, then turns left horizontally. The corner had the pursuit angle, but let Gibbs run by him horizontally for the first down.
Overall, the early weeks brought hope to the Giants fanbase, but things came crashing down with the final two weeks. The games were close but that doesn’t matter when it comes to record. If you win those games, you’re sitting at 7-5 going into the rest of your divisional games. Now, you need to win out to even have a hope at getting a wild card spot. The issue isn’t the defense as if you look at the entire league, the Giants defense is one of the best. The offense under Dart has to score more points. They need to stop settling for field goals and get more aggressive in the final part of the season.
