It wasn’t pretty, but the New York Giants on Sunday won their first game in Philadelphia since 2013: a 19-11 win that was mostly a defense-and-special-teams game. The Giants had just 243 yards of offense and the Eagles 220, despite New York possessing the ball for nine more minutes than the Eagles.
Milton finished 18 of 34 for 128 yards, with 64 yards on the ground. Dennard Wilson brought pressure and got home seven times. The defense and special teams willed the Giants to victory as the offense sputtered
for much of the game. The offensive line regressed for the Giants, but New York still escaped Philadelphia with a victory. Here are the immediate positional grades.
Quarterback
J.J. McCarthy exited the game after taking a shot to the hip on a zone-read run. This came after an abysmal offensive first half. The Giants’ offense struggled against Philadelphia’s defense, which sacked McCarthy six times in the first half. New York had four consecutive three-and-outs against Vic Fangio’s defense, and New York’s offensive line was losing often.
McCarthy finished 12 of 19 for 127 yards with five sacks, and Winston was 6 of 8 for 71 yards with a touchdown while suffering one sack. McCarthy was clearly banged up throughout the game after returning from the hip injury.
Grade: B-
Running back
The rushing attack was ineffective against Philadelphia. Singletary had 21 carries for 31 yards (1.5 YPC) and he was often met in the backfield by the Eagles’ linebackers. SingletartDevin Singletary caught two passes for eight yards. He didn’t own the backfield, though; Greg Desrosiers Jr., whom the Giants signed off the Chargers’ practice squad, saw his first NFL action. He had 20 yards on three carries and looked fine, although his blocking seemed better than what Singletary received. Singletary had a pair of blown pass blocking assingments that were frustrating, too.
Grade: D+
Wide receiver
The announcers noted Malik Nabers’ poor body language, which persisted even after Isaiah Likely’s go-ahead touchdown. Nabers then dropped a touchdown that would have given the Giants a two-possession lead with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. The diva stuff gets old; catch the damn football. Still, the Giants found a way to win, and he caught five balls for 43 yards.
Darnell Mooney was involved, and he secured three important catches for 54 yards, including a 27-yard strike from Jameis Winston that helped set up Likely’s touchdown. Malachi Fields continued to be an asset as a blocker, while proving himself reliable as a receiver. He caught three passes for 40 yards on five targets. Overall, the Giants’ receivers didn’t have a stellar game, but did enough in this scrappy game script.
Grade: B-
Tight end
Isaiah Likely was involved early, catching four passes in the first quarter until the Giants’ offense went stagnant in the second half. Jameis Winston found Likely for a third-quarter touchdown to conclude his 14-play drive. Isaiah Likely caught five of six targets for 53 yards. Likely continues to be one of the best offseason additions by the Giants.
Grade: B+
Offensive line
The Giants offensive line significantly regressed out of the bye week. They surrendered six sacks and the Giants, collectively, were just bad in protection and were beaten at the point of attack. The run blocking wasn’t much better. It was a very disappointing outing from the Giants’ offensive line. It appeared like the entire offensive line had a down game, including Andrew Thomas. Jermaine Eluemunor was playing hobbled, and Francis Mauigoa had a poor outing from the broadcast tape.
Grade: D-
Defensive line
D.J. Reader continues to be an asset for the Giants’ defense. He collected a first-quarter sack after quality pressure was provided by Kayvon Thibodeaux and Shelby Harris. Thibodeaux also had a big QB hit on third-and-11 near the end of the game; it was a great spin move against Jordan Mailata. Reader also tackled Saquon Barkley for a 5-yard loss on a late third-quarter second-down run that eventually resulted in a punt. The defensive line did an excellent job on the Eagles’ fourth-and-1 attempt at the end of the first half. Shelby Harris stayed solid and had a key PBU at the end of the game. Darius Alexander had the game-sealing sack on a heavy blitz — the Dennard Wilson WAY!
Overall, the defensive tackles got pressure and finished with sacks, and the Eagles couldn’t do anything on the ground. Saquon Barkley had 22 yards on 13 carries and Elijah Mitchell had 6 yards on three carries.
Grade: A+
Edge
Thibodeaux continued to do the gritty work for the Giants’ defense, including a key pressure that led to a Reader sack. Dennard Wilson dialed up the pressure, and the Giants’ edge rushers were harrassing, although Abdul Carter received a lot of attention from Philadelphia’s protection. Dawuane Smoot had a fourth-quarter sack that was partly due to Carter’s rush. The edge defenders did their job and helped the Giants’ defense earn seven sacks, although five of those were assigned to other position groups.
Grade: B+
Linebacker
Arvell Reese is insanely talented – THREE sacks by the rookie! He annihilated Joe Milton on a third-and-5 sack directly after Charlie Jones’ muffed punt; it was one of the hardest hits I’ve seen on a football field, and it resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Micah McFadden. Reese, per NextGen Stats, became the first rookie since at least 1994 to record three sacks and 10-plus tackles. McFadden sacked Milton in the second half after bullying the Eagles’ center into Milton’s lap on a cross-dog blitz; McFadden also drew a penalty that was declined on the subsequent play. Reese and McFadden are playing good, hard-hitting football.
Grade: A+
Cornerback
Philadelphia didn’t have much success throwing the football deep. Tae Banks took a bad defensive pass interference penalty against Darius Cooper that set up Saquon Barkley’s opening touchdown, but Milton’s YPA was mild, with solid success attacking zone coverage via Mekhi Lemon in the first half. Banks also committed illegal contact on Hollywood Brown in the Eagles’ last-ditch effort to tie the game up.
Greg Newsome II was ferocious near the line of scrimmage and in run support. A second-and-7 play against a WR screen led to a 3-yard loss that was exceptional by Newsome, who I imagine covered well all day since he wasn’t challenged much.
Grade: B
Safety
Jevon Holland, Jason Pinnock, and Ar’Darious Washington looked solid on the broadcast film. A lot of heavy hits and solid work around the line of scrimmage. Washington nearly intercepted Milton late in the game.
Grade: B+
Special teams
Firstly, Braden Mann – the Eagles’ punter – had one terrible punt that went 17 yards and then an absolute rocket that removed a scoring chance from the Giants at the end of the first half; that punt traveled 86 yards. Dominic Zvada booted two field goals to end the Giants’ first two offensive drives; the kicks were 53 and 49 yards from the rookie kicker, who struggled in the previous two games. No kick was more important than Zvada’s fourth field goal for 49 yards, which gave the Giants a two-possession lead late. He also hit a 38-yard field goal.
Jordan Stout nailed a 63-yard punt to flip the field after the Giants’ third offensive drive that ended in a three-and-out. Stout also put the ball to the 6-yard line and allowed the coverage team to rally and tackle Cooper DeJean at the Philadelphia 11-yard line on his second punt. Stout then pinned the Eagles at the 2-yard line at the end of the first half; again, the coverage was exceptional. Stout also pinned the Eagles down at the 5-yard line on his final punt.
Special teams, however, continue to have back-breaking mistakes. Charlie Jones muffed a punt in the first half, and Elijah Campbell took a bad unnecessary roughness penalty. Still, a bounce-back for Zvada and Jordan Stout being Jordan Stout is enough to earn an A.
Grade: A
