Just when you think you've seen the worst of the New York Giants, they find a way to top themselves.
Missed tackles, penalties, red-zone woes, struggles on third down, no pass rush, half-baked tackle, and blocking attempts--this game had all that and more as the Giants once again came crashing back down to earth thanks to a 30-10 butt-kicking by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here are this week's grades.
Rushing Offense: F
The Giants came into the game probably not intended to run the ball much, given that run defense is the Bucs' strength. Still, the group, as led by the return of Saquon Barkley (25 yards on six carries), totaled 66 yards on 13 rushing attempts, a 5.1 yards per attempt average. But--stop us if you've heard this before--the run blocking wasn't consistent, the Giants being stuffed three times up the gut, and the running game doing very little to help the cause. Oh and no touches for Devontae Booker, who literally carried the running game for the Giants in Barkley's absence? Seriously?
Passing Offense: F
This was another group failure, starting with the offensive line that couldn't handle penetration and which allowed nine hits (two of which were sacks) and who knows how many more pressures. Daniel Jones might have been under duress, but how does he not see a wide-open Kenny Golladay in the middle of the field early in the game with a chance to score? And what was Jones thinking when he wildly put the ball up for grabs in the second half?
Oh, and how do you think the team's ownership feels right now, knowing that they spent all that money on playmakers like Golladay, Kadarius Toney, Evan Engram, Kyle Rudolph, and Saquon Barkley only to see the lone touchdown of the game scored by offensive tackle Andrew Thomas?
Run Defense: F
The Bucs rushed 27 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns, and all you need to know here is that when three of your team's top four leading tacklers are members of the defensive secondary, that's usually not a good sign.
Passing Defense: F
No pass rush, missed tackles, bad angles--you name it, and it happened. Quarterback Tom Brady did whatever he wanted with zero pressure. The Giants pass rush finally woke up late in the game--after Brady exited. The lone bright spot of this passing defense unit was a fortuitous interception by Adoree' Jackson that bounced off the hands of intended receiver Mike Evans and set up the Giants' lone touchdown score of the game, again by offensive lineman Andrew Thomas, not a skill position player.
Special Teams: B
From a return perspective, they lost the field position battle, as they managed zero return yards on punts and kickoffs thanks to the fine kicking done by the Bucs. But from a kicking perspective, the performance was more than acceptable. Graham Gano made his lone field goal and PAT attempts, while punter Riley Dixon was a little better this week, putting three of his four kicks inside the 20.
Coaching: F
They had two weeks--two weeks!--to get the team ready, and yet the Giants looked as though they sat around on the comfy couches in the players' lounge playing video games.
From the penalties to the play-calling--what the heck was offensive coordinator Jason Garrett thinking when he pulled play-makers Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney off the field on a 4th-and-1 to run 12-personnel with Collin Johnson as the only receiver?--this was as bad as it gets. And this could very well be the tipping point for Joe Judge to finally make some long-overdue changes on his staff--changes that are probably two weeks too late.
Defensively, the pass rush couldn't get home at all, even after the Bucs lost guard Ali Marpet to an injury early in the game. As a result, the plan to keep everything in front of them didn't really work.
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