With the Giants tie against the Commanders yesterday, the playoffs just became that much harder to obtain. When the Giants entered the bye week after a loss to Seattle, they were 6-2. Since that point the Giants have a measly 24-16 win over Houston, losses to Detroit and Dallas, and most recently this tie with Washington, which brings their record to 7-4-1. If you had told any New York Giants fan at the beginning of the season that they would be playing meaningful December football, they would’ve told you that you were lying. But here we are in December as the Giants cling to the sixth playoff spot. Lets take a look at what’s went wrong, and if they can fix these issues going forward.
The Run Game
One of the reasons for the Giants early season success was the effectiveness of Saquon Barkley and the run game. Weeks 1-7 Barkley ran for 726 yards which was good for second in the NFL. Weeks 8-13 Barkley has run for just 329 yards which is good for eighteenth in the NFL. 152 of those 329 came in the Week 10 matchup against the Texans. Part of the reason for the downturn can be directed to Saquon’s shoulder injury in Week 5 against Green Bay in London. Since that point Saquon just hasn’t been the same back, looking more and more like his 2021 self. Still, Saquon refuses to go on the injury report as he is in a contract year and that could potentially hurt his value. While I’m sure the Giants appreciate his toughness, that hasn’t changed the fact that they’ve had to adjust their playcalling as a result. Since Week 8 the Giants are averaging 7 less runs per game with Saquon in order to preserve him and hopefully keep him healthy. Daniel Jones has done more than enough on the ground this season with a career high 522 on the ground along with 4 touchdowns. But if the Giants want to make it to the playoffs this season, they need more usage and production from the back up running backs, Matt Breida and Gary Brightwell.
Offensive Line
The Giants O-Line has been a revolving door this season with the exception of book end left tackle, Andrew Thomas. The strength of the line is supposed to be the running game, but as I pointed out earlier they’ve been struggling with that as a unit these last 5 weeks. While the return of Evan Neal to the lineup certainly bolstered the run game against Washington, it certainly didn’t bolster the pass blocking. The Giants have one of the worst pass blocking units in the NFL giving up 37 sacks so far this season, good for 27th in the NFL. When first year General Manager Joe Schoen signed C/G Jon Feliciano, G Mark Glowinski, and drafted Evan Neal, he made those moves knowing that the Giants were going to build the 2022 offense around Saquon Barkley and the running game. His bet worked, as the Giants rank sixth in the NFL in Rush attempts, yards, rushing 1st downs, and rushing yards per game. Going into next offseason, I fully expect Schoen to make more changes to the offensive line.
The Pass game
Daniel Jones has made the best out of a bad situation. When I did a season preview of the Giants at the beginning of the season, I was writing about Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney and Wandale Robinson. Now as we’re about to enter Week 14, Golladay is a non factor, Toney is still trying to heal his hammy in Kansas City, and Robinson tore his ACL on a freak play against Detroit. Now the Giants top receivers are Darius Slayton(this feels like 2020 all over again), Richie James(punt fumbler), and Isaiah Hodgins(cut off Buffalo’s PS a month ago). The dilemma for head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka is to find formations and plays that work within this offense. With the offensive line struggling to give Daniel Jones time to throw(2.47 seconds, 28th in NFL), rollouts, play action, and quick game have been the best passing options for the Giants. Anytime its a dropback, its likely a throwaway, sack.
Daniel Jones has been much better this season regarding turnovers, and with these 5 important games left on the schedule, why not give Jones the opportunity to let it rip?
Defense
The Giants defense has performed well this season. Dexter Lawrence, Julian Love , and Jihad Ward have exceeded expectations and I expect extensions for all three this offseason. Kayvon Thibodeaux has been a high energy player since returning from injury and his impact along with Azeez Ojulari yesterday was undeniable. The two biggest needs for the Giants are obvious. Secondary help, and Linebackers. As was proven from his time in Baltimore as defensive coordinator, you’re going to need a lot of corners and safeties if Wink Martindale is your DC. Clearly letting James Bradberry go was a mistake and while letting Logan Ryan walk opened the door for Xavier Mckinney, the Giants need players that don’t get injured on your WEEK OFF! Signing Jaylon Smith off the street was probably the best move the Giants could have made this season for a linebacker, but i heavily expect them to draft linebackers in 2023.
These next 5 games for the Giants will prove how good this defense really is and how good the Giants are as they play the Eagles twice, Washington on Sunday Night Football, the Vikings and the Colts. A playoff berth for the Giants is right in front of them, but the playcalling and execution MUST be better down the stretch. Every week from this point on is a playoff game for the Giants. Will they respond, or will they fold?
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