Giants grades: Solid Bs across the board in third win
Eli Manning of the Giants hands the ball to teammate Saquon Barkley during the fourth quarter against the Dolphins at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OFFENSE: B
While the game was about Eli Manning, the offense was about Saquon Barkley. And rightfully so. He ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and caught four passes for 31 yards in his first Barkley-esque game since before he hurt his ankle in Week 3. Manning wasn’t clean — he threw three interceptions — but he did keep the chains moving with seven completions of 20 yards or more. Going 4-for-4 in the red zone was big.
DEFENSE: B
Considering they had four starters in the secondary who never had played an NFL snap before this season, the Giants did pretty well. The defense had three sacks, a takeaway on a fumble recovery, and even scored points on a safety. There were some iffy moments, like some long runs by Ryan Fitzpatrick that seemed to exploit holes, but overall they did a good job keeping the Dolphins out of the end zone. Miami was 0-for-2 in the red zone, including a turnover on downs from the 10-yard line.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B+
Da’Mari Scott’s 34-yard return on the free kick after the safety helped set up a touchdown drive that only had to go 40 yards. The safety itself was set up by Riley Dixon’s punt that was downed at the 5. The only hiccup that kept the unit from an A was a missed extra point kick by Aldrick Rosas on the Giants' last TD of the game.
COACHING: B
Pat Shurmur downplayed his orchestration of the maneuver to take Manning off the field in the final minutes, which allowed the quarterback and remaining fans to acknowledge each other. But it’s hard to imagine that scenario playing out any better given the Giants' season. In a year in which just about everything the coaching staff did was bungled, they deserve credit for having something work out. It didn’t affect the game, but years from now it likely will define it.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
