The New York Giants convincingly dropped their second straight game, falling 34–24 to the San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. A couple of late touchdowns in garbage time made the final score
look closer than the game actually was. The Giants were able to devise an impressive opening script that resulted in an opening drive touchdown, but four straight punts and a missed field goal were the subsequent offense from Big Blue.
The missed field goal came right after Brian Burns earned a strip-sack fumble that gave the Giants’ offense the football at the 49ers’ 27-yard line with 33 seconds left in the first half. It could have been the catalyst to a possible comeback, but the Giants squandered the opportunity and came away with zero points after Graham Gano sent the 45-yard field goal wide left.
The Giants gained 296 yards to the 49ers’ 380. The 49ers were 6/11 on third down, and the Giants were 5/12. Questions about team effort are amplifying. This game, specifically, was indicative of errors that are all too common with this Giants’ team: missed tackles, blown run fits, missed field goals, and the pass rush disappearing, among others. Here are the grades from this week’s loss.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart led an opening-drive touchdown for the fourth time in six games – that’s an impressive statistic for the rookie quarterback. There were plays where Dart held onto the football a bit too long, but he still showcased his spatial awareness in the pocket on the majority of plays, leading to decent gains on the deck by the rookie. However, he was clobbered in the pocket on a first-half sack in that same situation.
Dart finished 24 of 33 for 191 yards with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, and 56 yards on the ground. Dart did not play perfect football, but he plays hard and finds solutions where there seemingly aren’t any. He isn’t exactly receiving help from his skilled-position players. Way too many dropped passes in big situations.
According to Doug Analytics on X, Dart finished with a +0.20 EPA with a 52% success rate and was 21/28 for 177 yards against zone coverage. The rookie’s shoulders must be sore.
Grade: B+
Running Back
The Giants missed Cam Skattebo and employed a running back by committee approach with Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary. The former had five carries for 18 yards (3.6 YPC) and the latter eight for 43 yards (5.4 YPC). Tracy Jr. had three catches for 19 yards and Singletary two for 8 yards. New York established the run on the first drive with gains of 8, 7, 6, and two gains of five yards on their 10-play, 64 yard drive.
Outside of those gains, the Giants struggled to establish a consistent attack on the ground; game script was one reason for that struggle. Overall, the Giants’ running backs did not have a massive impact on the game, and Dart’s legs out of the pocket and on designed quarterback runs led the Giants in rushing.
Grade: C
Wide Receiver
It’s not exactly a good thing when the highlight of the group was the first catch of the season by a special teams’ player. Gunner Olszewski hauled in a deep corner route on a well placed inside pass away from defensive leverage. Wan’Dale Robinson was used often underneath and secured 9 of 11 passes for 46 yards (5.1 YPC). Darius Slayton caught 5 of 7 targets for 62 yards and had a touchdown slip through his hands on a well defended play by Ji’ayir Brown. Ray-Ray McCloud worked into the Giants’ 11 personnel package and caught his lone target for five yards. Jalin Hyatt dressed and was used as a kick returner for the Giants.
Grade: D+
Tight End
The Giants were without Daniel Bellinger. With the elevation of McCloud, the Giants switched a bit more to 11 personnel. Theo Johnson’s touchdown in the first quarter displayed his potential; he stiff-armed a defender and tightroped the sideline for six. It was impressive. Still, Theo Johnson continued to struggle with catching the football and being in sync with the quarterback. His play-speed and reliability, despite the touchdown, remain inconsistent and, quite frankly, frustrating. Johnson secured three passes for 27 yards with one touchdown.
Grade: C
Offensive Line
The Giants started with a strong run game against the injured 49ers defensive front. However, the offensive line was guilty of two false starts that turned a third-and-four into a third-and-14. Then, the star left tackle, Andrew Thomas, did an excellent initial job against Clelin Ferrell on a second-and-7 at the Giants’ 10-yard line. After Thomas removed Ferrell from cornering into the pocket, he sort of gave up on the play, and Ferrell did not, leading to a 5-yard loss; to be fair, Thomas was unaware of Dart’s location, albeit Dart has developed a reputation for moving around in the pocket. The Giants were lucky the rookie quarterback held onto the football.
John Michael Schmitz was injured early in the third quarter. Rookie Marcus Mbow started in place of Jermaine Eluemunor and the first-year player struggled; he surrendered a big sack on a first-and-ten play action pass that halted a third-quarter drive. Dart was only sacked twice in the game, though. The Giants established a solid rushing attack on the first drive, but game script and early-down runs hindered that from translating to the rest of the game.
Grade: C+
Defensive Line
The defensive line wasn’t bullied like they were last week but the 49ers still ran the football well, specifically to the outside. The runs were well designed and well executed; the Giants, overall, did not look well organized against the run, albeit a lot of those issues were more on the backend. Still, the defensive line was not GOOD against the run, nor did they generate much pressure against Mac Jones. The unit, overall, continues to disappoint.
Grade: C-
Edge
Mac Jones was carving through the Giants early in the game. He was 10 of 10 for 98 yards with two touchdowns, and the 49ers’ rushing attack consistently attacked laterally against this porous Shane Bowen defense. However, the Giants generated pressure at the end of the first half; Brian Burns sacked Jones, forcing a fumble to pop into the air that was then secured by Abdul Carter. This gave the Giants an opportunity for, seemingly, easy points at the 49ers’ 27-yard line with 33 seconds left in the half. In typical New York Giants’ fashion, the score zero points as Graham Gano sent the 45-yard field goal wide left.
Burns continued to spark the Giants in the second half. He knocked down a third-and-six quick pass outside to Christian McCaffrey that gave the football back to the Giants’ offense down 20-10 midway through the third quarter. Although this Giants’ team appreciates any spark, it’s also fair to suggest that the pass rush disappeared too often in the game.
The Giants did struggle to stop the run laterally. It’s not all on the edge defenders, who sometimes were cracked/pinned down, but they could perform better to prevent such big gains by opposing rushing attacks. The run defense, in general, though, is just bad.
Grade: B
Linebacker
Darius Muasau (ankle) left the game in the first half; as if the Giants weren’t already thin at linebacker. Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles filled in at linebacker and even received looks during this week’s practice. Flannigan-Fowles wasn’t worse than Muasau, but the linebacker responsibilities in this defense, with this personnel, was still exposed by a creative passing attack.
Grade: C-
Cornerback
The Giants were insanely thin in the secondary. Paulson Adebo, Cor’Dale Flott, and Art Green (placed on IR) were all out. Tae Banks did almost intercept a pass but had it wrestled away by Jordan Watkins. Korie Black made a few nice plays in open space and in run support, but overall the Giants’ secondary issues – including at safety and linebacker – led to a defense scrambling to shut down the run. Dru Phillips did have a very impressive 4-yard tackle for a loss against McCaffrey early in the third quarter.
The Banks’ experience remained consistent; he wasn’t terrible in coverage and he almost made plays, but couldn’t quite finish. Brian Robinson Jr. also ran through him on an 18-yard touchdown in the second half, which, unfortunately, is not surprising.
The young corners were picked on by Mac Jones in quick game and in-breakers. Jones didn’t have an incomplete pass until the third quarter. Jauan Jennings failed to come down with a fade pass in the red zone against Black, who did contact but got his head around and hand on the football. Jennings did defeat Black on a pivot route in the red zone earlier in the game. Overall, the 49ers successfully looked Black’s way several times through the game.
Grade: D
Safety
Jevon Holland did not dress, leaving Tyler Nubin and Dane Belton as the starters. I defer to the All-22 often when it comes to the safety position, but the 49ers were passing and running at will for much of the game.
Grade: C
Special Teams
The Brian Daboll era will – in part – be remembered for the kicking fiasco that has plagued this team over the last two seasons. After Brian Burns and Abdul Carter combined for a strip-sack fumble recovery, the Giants’ offense went on to pick up zero yards, which gave Graham Gano a field goal opportunity at the 49ers’ 27-yard line. He missed, and the lead remained 10 heading into the second half with the 49ers set to receive in the third quarter.
Gano’s time in New York is marred with injuries that profoundly impacted several Giants’ game plans; he just can’t miss 45-yard field goals like that. The kick coverage struggled with missed tackles, which was most indicative midway through the fourth quarter when Brian Robinson continued to force missed tackles on his 41-yard return.
Grade: D
