The New York Giants won one of the sloppiest — yet exciting — games against the Arizona Cardinals, 36-24, with a walk-off Tae Banks pick-six. The Giants’ defense clamped down in the second half, and Jameis Winston had a roller coaster performance with more lows than highs. Nevertheless, the Giants went 7 of 15 on third down and outgained Arizona, 270-219 yards. The Giants are now 3-1; here are the immediate grades.
Quarterback
It was the Jameis Winston roller coaster. He struggled mightily through most of the game.
He held onto the ball, threw recklessly, was late, missed, and looked uncomfortable in the pocket. Winston was flat-out bad for much of the first half, but he made an excellent extended play on third-and-4, which led to Malachi Fields’ first touchdown. He then capitalized on Arvell Reese’s interception and found Malik Nabers for a touchdown up the seam in the red zone.
Winston threw an interception with less than a minute to go in the first half, which stifled New York’s momentum; Denzel Burke did an excellent job switching leverage pre- to post-snap, and Winston threw it right into his numbers, targeting Malachi Fields on a dig. He then threw an interception to Budda Baker to start the second half.
Winston finished the game 18 of 29 for 250 yards, three touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions. He was sacked four times. At least the red zone offense improved. We still need more from Winston, or we may see J.J. McCarthy sooner rather than later.
Grade: C –
Running back
We saw more Najee Harris early in the game, as the Giants attempted to establish the run to move the football, since Winston struggled with most aspects of playing quarterback. The rotation was fine, although neither was doing much on the ground, until Harris fumbled the football early in the fourth quarter. Neither running back was efficient in the game.
The Giants averaged a measly 3.1 yards per carry. Cam Skattebo had 18 rushes for 58 yards, and Harris had nine carries for 30 yards with a costly fumble. The split was even until the fumble — we did not see Harris after he put the ball on the ground. Overall, the Giants received little from their rushing attack.
Grade: C –
Wide receiver
Malik Nabers secured a 39-yard catch on the Giants’ first drive to put New York into field goal range; he suffered a shoulder scare, but returned to the game. Nabers caught the go-ahead touchdown, splitting Cover-2 after Arvell Reese’s interception. Nabers caught six passes for 112 yards with a touchdown on seven targets.
Malachi Fields scored his first NFL touchdown on third-and-4 and bailed the Giants out of a third-and-twenty after the Cardinals’ rookie safety blew a Cover-2 assignment. He finished with two important catches for 53 yards on three targets.
Darnell Mooney was missed a few times by Jameis Winston; he got the football to Mooney over the middle of the field on third down, but Budda Baker nailed the receiver, and the ball was not secured. Mooney did not record a catch; still, Nabers and Fields made MASSIVE third-down plays that helped the Giants secure the win.
Grade: A
Tight end
Both Isaiah Likely and Theo Johnson did their part in Week 4. Likely caught seven of twelve targets for 66 yards, and Theo Johnson caught his one target for 11 yards and a touchdown. The group blocked adequately but not great, and both tight ends did enough when their numbers were called.
Grade: A –
Offensive line
Jameis Winston was under pressure against a defense that struggled to generate it, but much of the pressure came from Winston holding onto the football too long. Francis Mauigoa had a miscommunication on the back side of a third-and-two Skattebo run that was blown up in the red zone. Overall, the blocking was not great up front in the run game, albeit Arizona was loading up the line of scrimmage and crashing hard on the run. The pass protection wasn’t perfect, either, but Winston did not help the line out at all.
Grade: C
Defensive line
The Giants’ run defense on the inside was solid – the outside is a COMPLETELY different story. The defensive line had several STOPs near the line of scrimmage against inside runs. Shelby Harris had a key PBU that led to Reese’s interception, and C.J. Okoye got a big sack on a heavy blitz by Dennard Wilson. Overall, the defensive line played very well up front.
Grade: A
Edge
The Cardinals SLICED and DICED the Giants with their rushing attack on their first two drvies. Mike Lafleur certainly watched the tape and saw how vulnerable the Giants were against outside runs over the last two weeks. Lafleur pulled, and the Giants had no answers – this isn’t just an edge problem, but they’re tasked with setting the initial defense, albeit crack-toss was a big strategy, and the rest of the defense was not in position to fit the run. Terrible run defense to start.
The defense, however, stabilized. They shut down the runs to the outside, and they got consistent second-half pressure, as Dennard Wilson dialed up the blitz. Abdul Carter took over the game in the second half, and he was an absolute menace for the Cardinals. Overall, the edge group was carried by Carter’s performance, but it was VERY impactful.
Grade: B +
Linebacker
Arvell Reese — wow! The linebackers were picked on early in this game. They were late to fit the outside runs; they weren’t gaining depth in their zone drops. However, the linebackers changed the Giants’ fortunes in the second quarter; Tremaine Edmunds blew up a Tre McBride screen, and then Arvell Reese hit Brissett’s arm, leading to the Newsome II interception. Reese then tackled Tyler Allgeier in the flat on a third-and-9; he’s done well guarding the flat since struggling in the first two weeks of the season. Reese was EVERYWHERE and put the defense on his back for much of the game. It was a slow start, but the edge and linebacker group stabilized well.
Grade: A
Cornerback
THE TAE BANKS REDEMPTION ARC IS HERE! A game-sealing pick-six for Banks after losing earlier in the game to Marvin Harrison Jr. on a touchdown. Banks also had a second-down PBU in the final goal-line stand for the Giants. The Cardinals ran the football outside consistently; while the cornerbacks weren’t out of position, they weren’t making plays to stop the run.
Newsome recorded an interception on an underthrown Brissett pass, though he surrendered 24 yards in the final seconds of the first half, leading to Chad Ryland’s 60-yard field goal. Giving Wilson the outside was tough, and it helped halt the positive momentum that the Giants had established. Newsome also held Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone, which led to the Cardinals’ third touchdown, but his fourth-quarter PBU against Michael Wilson was clutch.
Dru Phillips got away with a defensive hold on Tre McBride on third down late in the game, forcing a punt and giving the Giants the ball in advantageous field position. Phillips made a MASSIVE play in the end zone against Michael Wilson. It wasn’t a perfect performance by the corners, but it was enough with impactful splash plays.
Grade: B +
Safety
Tyler Nubin returned to the lineup and started by making an impressive pass break-up versus Tre McBride, but he struggled early to fit the run in the alley. We didn’t hear much from Jevon Holland in the game; I’ll need to see more on the All-22.
Grade: B
Special teams
Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a 55-yard return when the Giants were down 14-3, which was MUCH NEEDED. The Giants’ kick coverage did allow a good return to start the second quarter. Charlie Jones replaced the injured Braxton Berrios and returned it 23 yards, which was impressive. Jordan Stout had three punts, averaging 48.7 yards per punt, with two pinned down between the twenty-yard lines.
Dominic Zvada booted a 52-yard field goal to give the Giants a six-point lead with just over two minutes left. Zvada was technically 4-for-4, but a controversial defensive holding penalty negated one of his field goals and led to a Giants touchdown.
Grade: A
