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For a very hot second, I thought the Giants were going to upset the Rams. My parlays placed this past week had the Rams hitting. I wasn't getting my hopes up, but damn, I really did feel that the Giants could have pulled it at the end. I was mistaken.
The Giants had a nonexistent offense as expected, but the defense held their own. The Rams aren't the best team in the NFC by any means, but they are well rounded with a mastermind head coach. New York had a difficult task lining up against Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey but showed glimpses of decent play. The outcome was as expected, but not easily earned. The Rams defeated the Giants 17-9, putting the team to 0-4. From a fan's perspective, the game was B-O-R-I-N-G. The only "excitement" out of the game was the carried over beef from Giants wideout Golden Tate and Rams corner Jalen Ramsey. The game ended with a tussle due to Ramsey's past relationship with Tate's sister. Fighting doesn't benefit anyone, but I side with Tate because family is worth fighting for.
Heading back to the football side of this blog, what's laughable is the winless Giants are NOT out of the NFC East race. Could the Giants make the playoffs? Highly unlikely but not improbable. The way they are playing, it is hard to pinpoint when and if they will win a game.
Photo: ESPN
With that thought in mind, here is a review of Week 4 including what went well and what did not.
Pros
I'll say it again, Defense
Ram's Head Coach, Sean McVay, made a statement last week that surprised a lot of people.
Many thought he was crazy, but statistically speaking, the Giants have been playing well on defense. Besides the late 4th quarter, 55-yard touchdown to Cooper Kupp, the game was close the entire day, and the credit goes to the defense.
By all means, the defense hasn't been amazing, but they are a formidable unit with pieces of talent. The Giants forte on defense right now is against the run. The Rams have an O-Line that isn't amazing but considerably improved from the prior season. The Rams totaled just 58 rushing yards and averaged less than a yard per carrying before contact. This forced Jared Goff to throw the ball more. He did complete 78% of his passes, but that was mainly because he was throwing short. The average depth of targets was a mere 5.6 yards, besides the bomb to Kupp. Overall, the Rams only averaged 24 yards per offensive drive against the Giants defense.
Shoutout to Patrick Graham. The Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator has been a bright spot from our new additions. I hope he doesn't get snatched as a potential head coach, because I am enjoying having a solid defense again. I am a big proponent of defense wins championships. Eli always had decent weapons around him, but the Super Bowl teams had dawgs on defense. JPP, Justin Tuck, Osi, Prince, Antonio Pierce, the list goes on.
Well, we may not have a list of legends above, but this team does have Blake Martinez, James Bradberry, Logan Ryan, Jabrill Peppers, and Dextor Lawrence. The team may be winless, but the Giants D is putting up some eye-catching analytical stats.
The Offensive Line?
Yeah, I said it. Are they really good? Absolutely not. Did they help a lot this week? Hell no. But they started to find a groove. Andrew Thomas has been atrocious with the run block, but his pass blocking has been fine. He is a rookie, and he has had to face up against T.J. Watt, Khalil Mack, and Aaron Donald. That is a lot to ask. He will learn and he will grow, but fans just want to jump on the "wasted pick" narrative. Fellow rookie Matt Peart got some reps this week and his play was nice as well.
Cons
Also the Offensive Line...
With all the glitter, there isn't much gold. Daniel Jones was sacked 5 times on Sunday, and allowing 9 QB hits. They did help generate 136 yards rushing but from 5 ball carriers.
Speaking of Offense, have you seen her?
I feel bad for Daniel Jones. His rookie year was impressive, but now he is learning a system with a first time HC and new OC, he has no Saquon and Sterling Shepard, Golden Tate, and Evan Engram have been sub-par, and he is getting clobbered by a developing O-Line. All of these woes equate to the Giants being the worst-ranked offense in the NFL. They have scored a total of 47 points in 4 games. Gross. This week, we didn't even get a single touchdown, just three field goals from Graham Gano (thank you, kind sir.) Jason Garrett and the offensive company need to step their game up and actually score some points.
Photo: NY Post
What's next?
The Giants head down to Dallas to face division rival Cowboys. Currently, the line sits at 9.5. This is a revenge game for Offensive Coordinator, Jason Garrett. He was fired by Jerry Jones back in January.
For some reason, I feel that the Giants possibly could win this game. The Cowboys score a lot of points but are so wishy-washy. The GMen have been playing decent defense against guys like James Conner, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Cooper Kupp, and others, this game is truly made or break. I don't want to get my hopes up, so I will say expect another loss. Here is what my heart and gut are feeling.
Expectation: 27 Giants, 24 Cowboys
Reality: 41 Cowboys, 17 Giants
If the Giants fall to 0-5, Giants twitter will be barraging the site with #TankForTrevor. Daniel Jones isn't the full problem, but if the Giants have the option to draft him, they should do so. I know you should never talk about another man's job, but think the appropriate hashtag for the Giants is #GoodbyeGettleman because it is time to part ways. The Texans fell to 0-4 and released Head Coach/GM, Bill O'Brien. You can't go 9-27 in your tenure as general manager and hold a job for the New York Football Giants.
Photo: SB Nation; Big Blue View