The New York Giants’ season hit a rough patch in Week 6, marked by a lifeless running game, turnovers, penalties, and a quiet pass rush. The attack limited Cam Skattebo to six snaps and zero touches. The result was a 34-27 loss to a struggling New Orleans Saints team that got itself right against the Giants.
Some thoughts before we get to the grades…
1. People will point to Skattebo's lack of touches as a reason for the running game's dismal showing, but the run blocking also left much to be desired.
Left tackle Andrew Thomas earned the highest run-blocking grade on the offensive line, per PFF, with a 61.9. Center Bryan Hudson also earned a decent 59.8 grade, but the rest of the linemen struggled with run blocking.
2. What was receiver Malik Nabers doing on Jameis Winston’s first interception? On a play where Nabers was the intended receiver, Winston misfired the ball, and Martin Emerson Jr. picked it off, while Nabers just stood there watching instead of trying to break up the pass. The Saints converted that turnover into a 51-yard field goal to increase their lead to 27-10.
3. Per PFF, the Giants defense had 12 missed tackles in this game, two of which came on the Saints’ game-tying touchdown at the end of the first half. In the “ya think?” category, you can bet that will be a point of emphasis in the coming week of practice.
4. Despite the loss — and this one falls into the category of a game that the Giants had no business losing — New York is still in first place in the NFC East. But it won’t stay there if it doesn’t clean things up fast. The Giants have a much tougher second half of the schedule after their bye week.
5. Since no one among the running backs took the bull by the horns, does it make sense for the Giants to look to trade for a running back before the deadline? Given the lack of patience Harbaugh showed this week, would anyone be surprised if that happened?
Now onto the grades.
Offense: D
Head coach John Harbaugh said running back Cam Skattebo’s lack of touches in this game wasn’t by design, even though Najee Harris saw more snaps this week on offense.
Circumstances aside, the Giants offense is going nowhere with this running game. The unit finished with an average of 4.2 yards per carry, but a 28-yard run by quarterback J.J. McCarthy and a 20-yard reverse by receiver Darnell Mooney inflated that figure. Strip the rushing yardage down to just Harris, Tyrone Tracy Jr., and Devin Singletary, and the average falls to 2.4 yards per carry.
And no, Jameis Winston did not play well either, and chances are he’s lost his starting job moving forward. Unless the Giants solve their running game issues fast, expect more struggles to win and win big from this offense.
Defense: D
Twelve missed tackles, 4.6 yards per carry allowed in the run game, zero sacks. A glaring miscommunication on the Saints’ second-quarter touchdown. A needless roughing-the-passer penalty against outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux. Need we say any more?
Special Teams: C
Charlie Jones had an absolute killer turnover on a kickoff return that the Saints cashed in for a score and a major momentum swing. The Saints got the better of the Giants’ coverage units, averaging 28.3 yards on kickoff returns and 13.6 yards on punt returns, with several big gains.
Dominic Zvada bounced back from last week’s shaky day, and Jordan Stout was his usual reliable self. Still, the Giants lost the field-position battle this week, which didn’t help.
Coaching: F
John Harbaugh said he’s looking for someone to take the bull by the horns at running back, yet he won’t let anyone even try to get into a rhythm, which perplexed Najee Harris, among others, in the postgame locker room.
Harbaugh can say all he wants that Skattebo’s lack of touches wasn’t a benching. Semantically, he’s correct, but it was clearly an attempt to send a message to the young running back that he needs to be better.
That said, is this how it’s going to be when someone makes a mistake moving forward? Accoutnability is one thing, but at what point does there need to be an attempt to work harder to correct a problem rather tan try to sweep it under the rug?
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