Giants grades: Another F for the defense
Davante Adams of the Packers is tackled by Grant Haley of the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Mike Stobe
OFFENSE: D
One touchdown pass and three interceptions from Daniel Jones is not a recipe for success. The Giants found a few chunk plays, which have been hard to come by, as Jones hit Cody Latimer for 43 yards, hit Kaden Smith for 32, and Saquon Barkley had three runs of 10 or more yards for the first time since Week 2 against the Bills. But they had trouble sustaining drives (5-for-14 on third downs) and had just one touchdown in three red zone trips, including settling for a field goal when they reached the Packers’ 9.
DEFENSE: F
Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and completed 21 of 33 for 243 yards against a Giants secondary that looks more like a fourth-quarter-of-the-fourth-preseason-game group than a starting unit. Their inability to get off the field after flashes of competence remains a glaring flaw; the Packers converted third downs of 13, 17 and 8 to go and a fourth-and-10. No sacks and no takeaways is no good.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
For the first time since Oct. 10 the Giants did not miss a kick. New long-snapper Colin Holba had an unremarkable debut for the Giants (which is to say he was terrific) and struggling kicker Aldrick Rosas was good on field goals of 27 and 45 yards plus an extra point. Another new cog in the special teams machine was returner Da’Mari Scott, signed off the practice squad this week. He had one return for 12 yards and caught a fair catch.
COACHING: D
For the second week in a row the Giants were duped into the wrong personnel, this time when Rodgers and the Packers made a quick substitution and caught them with 12 men on the field (although the penalty was declined because they scored a touchdown anyway). It’s hard to find positives from the young players in the Giants’ secondary, but Julian Love seems to be doing OK after his first start. That begs the question: Why wasn’t he playing sooner? The Giants ran what may have been the ugliest flea-flicker in football history with Jones ultimately throwing the ball away.
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.
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