Giants Week 13 Report Card: Flat-out Embarrassing

Quarterback Jaxson Dart is going to have a very short NFL career if he doesn’t wise up and learn to better protect himself when he runs. 

That aside, Dart clearly looked rusty after a two-week absence due to a concussion. He missed a couple of reads, he held onto the ball too long at times, and he missed on a couple of throws. 

Dart finished by completing 70.8% of his pass attempts and had no turnovers on the offensive side of the ball, which were positives. But a 5.79 yards per pass attempt average and a 4.1 yards per carry average just weren’t enough to overcome the 17-point first quarter hole. 

Defense: F

The Patriots scored on five of their six first-half drives, though one of those scores was on special teams.

The Giants had themselves an ideal matchup against the Patriots' banged-up offensive line, missing starters, but did it matter? Not really, as Drake Maye was under pressure on just 33.3% of his dropbacks. So much for being aggressive, right? 

The restored defensive secondary was back together again, but only four pass breakups and zero interceptions were a disappointment as Maye sliced and diced the defense. 

The run defense had its moments and was better compared to last week’s fiasco, but even that dam would break as the game wore on.   

Special Teams: F

If it were possible to give this unit a grade lower than “F,” we would. The nightmare began with a 39-yard return on the opening kickoff by Terrell Jennings that set up a field goal for the first Patriots' points of the game. 

It continued with  Jamie Gillan’s 54-yard punt being returned 94 yards for a touchdown by Marcus Jones, Gillan looking disinterested in making the tackle. 

Gillan, whose last few weeks have been simply terrible, then outkicked his coverage on Jones’ 17-yard return. 

And we’re still trying to figure out what happened on Younghoe Koo’s kick that wasn’t on the 47-yard field goal attempt, just as we’re also still trying to figure out why Gillan, the holder, took a 12-yard sack, which further aided the Patriots' starting position on the ensuing drive rather than throwing the ball away. 

Want more? The normally sure-handed Gunner Olszewski, who was blown up by a hard hit delivered by Christian Elliss that scraped the logo decal off one side of Olszewski’s helmet, fumbled a kickoff return. 

Coaching: F

Mike Kafka has been dealt a lousy hand and is doing the best he can given the circumstances. Still, any chance he had of having the “interim” label removed from his title is out the window after seeing the team not even be competitive in this one. 

You can’t talk about being aggressive and then, on a 4th-and-inches play, not take the bull by the horns by going for it, instead hoping that the well-disciplined opponent jumps offside.

You can’t be running the ball nonchalantly on the second-to-last fourth quarter drive in which the Giants, down by 15, ran the ball four times on the seven-play drive, the clock going from 10:46 at the start of the drive down to 7:41 by the time the Patriots got the ball back and systematically chewed up the clock. 

And while Kafka is trying to get Jaxson Dart to stop being reckless with his body and outside linebacker Abdul Carter to be a pro, the messages aren’t getting through to either, who continue to be defiant in their own ways.  

Outside of Kafka, it was a rough night for new defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen. Still, his night looked like a walk in the park compared to the night special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial had with his unit, which, until about a month ago, actually was playing the most consistently out of the three units.