Five Takeaways from NY Giants’ Impressive Win Over Chargers

For three weeks, one of the topics around the Giants was why all of a sudden, All-World defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II was suddenly looking like another defensive lineman in a sea of them, rather than as one of the premier interior defenders.

It turned out that Lawrence,  who was on a pitch count during training camp and who didn’t play in any of the preseason games, needed a ramp-up period. It was hoped that by Week 4, Lawrence would look like Lawrence again, and sure, rough, he did in the win over the Chargers.

In this case, don’t rely on the stat sheet, where Lawrence was credited with just one tackle, to draw any conclusions. Interception aside, Lawrence was a load to handle between the tackles, blowing up some inside runs with quick, inside, upfield moves. 

He also drew and handled the double teams that he can probably expect to see a lot more of the rest of this season.

On a day where the Giants' pass rush had one of the best showings by a pass rush in recent memory, Lawrence’s drawing attention opened up opportunities for the guys around him to make plays.  

No, the stats weren’t gaudy, but Lawrence was back to being that All-World player he’s been the last few seasons.

Atta-Skatta!

You never want to see a player get hurt, but I wouldn’t be surprised if, once running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. returns from the shoulder injury that’s going to keep him sidelined for at least two to four weeks, he falls back to RB2 on the depth chart, behind rookie Cam Skattebo.

Skattebo, who sort of reminds me a little bit of a cross between John Riggins and Brandon Jacobs, is currently the second-best ranked running back (minimum 20 rushing attempts) by Pro Football Focus, behind Jacory Croskey-Merritt of Washington.

Skattebo, who has one more rushing attempt than Tracy, is averaging 4.4 yards per carry to Tracy’s 3.1. He also has nearly double the amount of yards after contact (80 to 47), has forced eight missed tackles to Tracy’s one, and has four runs of 10+ yards to Tracy’s one.

In the receiving department, again, they’re pretty much equal here in terms of opportunity. Still, Skattebo is averaging 8.7 yards per reception to Tracy’s 6.8, 75 yards after the catch to Tracy’s 59, and has a team-best (among running backs) 94.1 rating when targeted in the passing game.

This isn’t to say that Skattebo and Tracy can’t be a good 1-2 punch, but given the nearly equal number of rushes both have had, Skattebo has been far more productive on the ground, to the point where it wouldn’t be a surprise if he quietly ascends to the RB1 spot.

Could We Actually Have a Season?

I’m usually not one to put the cart before the horse, but just think: if the Giants, whose defeat over the Chargers (their first win over the Chargers since the 1998 season, by the way) beat the hapless Saints next week in New Orleans, suddenly the Giants are at 2-3 and the season outlook looks far better.

That overtime loss to Dallas still burns that's a game the Giants should have won, and one that had they won, it would have put them at 2 at this point with a chance to go 3-2 by next week. But, as I always say, “woulda, coulda, shoulda didn’t.” 

It’s all about what the Giants do moving forward. And I’d hope that the Giants, in beating a playoff team from last year and one of those teams on their schedule that people didn’t give them a chance of beating, now have the confidence that was maybe starting to slip a bit following the 0-2 start to salvage what, at one point, looked like another lost season. 

Throwin’ Darts

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart is that he doesn’t look like a rookie. The young man plays with confidence in himself and in his teammates, and if there is one thing in particular that stood out about his NFL debut as a starting quarterback, it’s his decision-making.

Despite modest-looking numbers and the injury-related absence of his No. 1 receiver for more than half the game, what gave Dart a legitimate chance to be successful was his repeated sound decisions on when to break the pocket, particularly against man-to-man coverage.  

After the game, Dart spoke of some plays that he would have liked to have a mulligan–all quarterbacks have those, regardless of how many years they’ve played. 

A secondary item that Dart probably won’t get credit for, but should, was his ball security, particularly as a runner. Not once did he put the ball in harm’s way when he used his legs to take off for yardage.

He also didn’t try many risky throws, working instead to build up his confidence. As that confidence was built up, Dart improved as the game progressed. 

Are there areas of Dart's game that still need improvement? Yes,  and he’ll be the first to admit to having a long list of things he wants to polish up.

But if there was any question as to whether Dart was truly ready for the bright lights, he answered quite a few of them against a top-10 defense.

An Unsung Hero

You may not often hear this mentioned when discussing the win. Still, Giants punter Jamie Gillan delivered one of his best showings since he’s been in Blue in terms of flipping the field position with some nice moonshots that gave the coverage team plenty of time to get downfield to cover.  

Gillan punted five times for a gross average of 48.8 and a net average of 43.8. Three of those five punts were put inside the 20, and four of the five were returned for just 25 yards, with one of his punts forcing a fair catch.

After starting the season sluggish – he failed to put any of his punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line in those first two games–Gillan has now put five such punts in the 20, helping to give his team advantageous field position.