Giants grades vs. Seahawks: F's for the coaches and offense
Giants head coach Brian Daboll looks on against the Seahawks at MetLife on Monday. Credit: Mike Stobe
OFFENSE: F
The Giants’ totals were not embarrassing — 248 yards, 17 first downs, 36 minutes time of possession. But their production was: three points. Count 'em: 3. They have scored 15 points in their three prime-time games combined. The Giants allowed 11 sacks, 10 against quarterback Daniel Jones, whose three turnovers were killers. Well, at least the first two were. His 24th career lost fumble set up the Seahawks’ first touchdown, and an interception in the red zone resulted in a 97-yard interception return for a TD that effectively ended the game. Nothing Saquon Barkley said in negotiating for a new contract in the offseason spoke as eloquently on that subject as the Giants’ offensive dysfunction without him during the past two games.
DEFENSE: C
Two of the Seahawks’ three touchdowns were directly attributable to turnovers by the offense, but their one long TD drive did not reflect well on a Giants defense that has made a habit of missing tackles. The 51-yard pass from backup quarterback Drew Lock to tight end Noah Fant that set up Kenneth Walker’s 1-yard touchdown run late in the first half featured several whiffs down the right sideline, notably by linebacker Bobby Okereke. The Giants again failed to produce a takeaway. Kayvon Thibodeaux had two sacks and Okereke had a team-high 10 tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
Graham Gano’s 55-yard field goal saved the special teams the ignominy of an F here. Other than that, not good. The special teams totaled six penalties. They almost added a turnover to that when Eric Gray saw the first punt of the game go right through his arms. Even though the Giants recovered that muff, Gray was yanked from that role and replaced by old reliable Adoree’ Jackson. Jamie Gillan’s punting stats were good, as usual, with a net average of 45 yards on five kicks, two inside the 20 (he deserved to have a third if the ball had been fielded properly) and a long of 61.
COACHING: F
Brian Daboll, last year's NFL Coach of the Year, clearly is struggling for answers to the Giants’ early-season riddle, along with his assistant coaches. So far, no dice. Job 1 will be to figure out how to fix a leaky offensive line to at least give Daniel Jones a reasonable chance to make plays. But the biggest job for the staff this week will be to keep everyone pulling in the same direction while outside forces seek to pull the team apart with legitimate concerns about where this season is headed.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
