Giants' Week 4 grades: Saquon Barkley carries offense, defense steps up
Saquon Barkley #26 of the Giants runs the ball against the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OFFENSE: C
On a day the Giants wore throwback uniforms they relied on a throwback game plan. Their 262 yards were the most since they ran for 308 against Carolina on Dec. 21, 2008, and their 44 attempts were their most since they had 44 in Washington on Dec. 31, 2017. Saquon Barkley is a beast and accounted for about half of the team’s net yardage (162 all-purpose yards out of 333 for the team). The offensive line rebounded from a poor performance last week; the only sack they allowed was the one which Daniel Jones got hurt on and that was a designed run gone bad more than a pass protection failure.
DEFENSE: A
It’s rare to say it was a great day when the Giants allowed 149 rushing yards but they did not allow any touchdowns which is kind of the point of the game. They also racked up six sacks on Justin Fields — two by Dexter Lawrence — and had a key takeaway in the first half with an Azeez Ojulari’s strip sack led to a fumble recovered by Kayvon Thibodeaux. Even without Julian Love and Aaron Robinson, two defensive backs injured on the same play, the Giants still managed to look comfortable in the secondary.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C
Graham Gano’s rare miss on a 37-yarder that would have sealed the game with 17 seconds left was more shocking than disappointing. Still he made field goals of 44 and 43 before that to give the Giants the points they needed for victory. Richie James had been steady returning punts but fumbled one away in the first half. Jamie Gillian put two of his five punts into the end zone. Gary Brightwell recovered the muffed punt by the Bears with 2:01 left but was lackluster on his kickoff return tries never making it past the 18.
COACHING: B
The staff did a great job getting creative when Tyrod Taylor left the game but it was more than risky for them to have their backup quarterback running and taking unnecessary hits without any traditional quarterback behind him. The Giants muddled through some indecisiveness at the end of the first half barely escaping some poor clock management. A lot of backups had to see action because of all the injuries and there were no glaring breakdowns which means everyone was prepared to play.
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.
