The New York Giants were embarrassed for much of their game against the Washington Commanders. While the final score appeared respectable—a 29–21 home loss coming out of the bye week—the game itself told
a different story. After building a 29–14 lead, Washington repeatedly tried to hand the Giants a chance to steal the game. Two fourth-quarter Commanders fumbles led to a Giants touchdown, but New York ultimately couldn’t capitalize and failed to complete the comeback.
Another embarrassing loss in an embarrassing season. Here are the position-by-position grades.
Quarterback
A disappointing performance from the rookie quarterback, who had a terrible interception in the final seconds of the first half to Mike Sainristil. Dart looked indecisive and unsure for much of the first half. Dart used his legs frequently throughout the game. Dart did stabilize in the third quarter, and he found Tyrone Tracy Jr. on an out-and-up against Bobby Wagner for a well-placed touchdown pass that made the score 22-14.
Dart had a better second half with some high-level throws: the 45-yard pass to Theo Johnson and the Tracy Jr. touchdown throw. The throw to Slayton that was dropped wasn’t perfect, but an NFL wide receiver should catch that ball.
Dart finished stronger than he started: 20 of 36 for 246 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He also had 63 yards on the ground and added a trip to the medical tent on a goal-line rush. Overall, it wasn’t Dart’s best effort.
Grade: C-
Running Back
Tyrone Tracy Jr. had a pair of touchdowns and looked very impressive; his wheel route against Bobby Wagner to cap off a solid opening second-half drive showcased his receiver skills from his time in Iowa. Tracy Jr. was the bell-cow with 15 carries for 70 yards with a touchdown on the ground, along with his touchdown reception; he finished with three catches for 27 yards on three targets. Devin Singletary had just one catch for 1 yard with five carries for 13 yards.
Grade: A –
Wide Receiver
There was a Jalin Hyatt sighting! Most notably, on the Jaxson Dart interception to Sainristil. Darius Slayton opened the game with an explosive play – a 20 yard gain off play action, but he had a costly drop in the third quarter on third down. Slayton broke open on an important second-and-twenty; he was wide open in the end zone but Dart put a bit too much air under it.
Still, it was catchable and Slayton got both hands on the football until Antonio Hamilton knocked it loose. Slayton finished with four catches for 53 yards on ten targets. Wan’Dale Robinson continued to operate underneath and he scored a late 16-yard touchdown pass; Robinson sold his inside break very well against Mike Sainristil. Robinson finished with five catches on ten targets for 54 yards with a touchdown. Isaiah Hogins had just one catch for 4 yards on two targets.
Grade: C-
Tight End
Theo Johnson had a nicely designed 25-yard screen early in the second half and Daniel Bellinger was heavily featured on a successful Giants’ drive at the end of the third quarter – a drive that was slowed down by a John Michael Schmitz unsportsmanlike conduct penalty; cooler heads need to prevail there.
Theo Johnson provided a fourth quarter spark with a 45-yard reception after Dart audibled “Jamal Adams” at the line of scrimmage. Bellinger drew a flag in the end zone on the next play. Johnson finished with three catches for 72 yards on just four targets and Daniel Bellinger finished with three catches (on consecutive plays) for 35 yards on four targets.
Grade: A+
Offensive Line
Dart used his legs effectively and was only sacked once. The offensive line remained an asset, even though the Giants’ offense was inconsistent. Jermiane Eleumenor had some mistakes in the first half, and John Michael Schmitz took a dumb, unnecessary roughness penalty, but the unit, overall, was solid.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury had a clear game plan – establish the run, which the Giants have yet to stop with any consistency this season. Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s second-quarter touchdown run was a microcosm of the season: a wide-open hole and an undisciplined defense that led to nothing but green grass for the rookie. The defensive line moved with the blocking, but – as per usual – the cut-back lane was unoccupied by Giants’ blue. There were massive holes throughout the game. I’m unsure I heard Dexter Lawrence’s name, but Roy Robertson-Harris had a good tackle for a loss. Overall, the defensive line has played badly this entire season, and its inability to make plays is a big problem
Grade: C
Edge
Abdul Carter started the game – that’s a positive sign! Plus, he made an impact tackle for a loss on his first play against Laremy Tunsil. Carter played well and added a strip sack in the first half and a forced fumble recovery at the end of the game, which gave New York a chance to win down eight points with 2:30 left in the game. A very encouraging game from the Giants’ rookie. Washington kept their eyes on Brian Burns all game with tight-end and running-back chips. Burns recovered a late fumble caused by Dane Belton.
Grade: A-
Linebacker
Bobby Okereke was nowhere to be found on the aforementioned Croskey-Merritt touchdown run. He flowed with the blocks on the RPO, and Abdul Carter set to the outside of the tackle, along with Dru Phillips, who was respecting the “P” in the RPO. The Giants have struggled to fit the backside gap all season, and it appears that Okereke ran himself out of position.
Grade: D-
Cornerback
Washington didn’t test the Giants defensive backs a ton. Cor’Dale Flott had a few quality reps against Deebo Samuel in coverage – aggressively playing through the catch point. Flott incurred a flag in the fourth quarter against Terry McLaurin, but it was dubious, to be fair to Flott. Marcus Mariota spent much of the game using his legs and rushing, which is a sign of good coverage on the back end other than McLuarin’s big touchdown, which was against Dane Belton, with Paulson Adebo as the overlap coverage defender, who missed the tackle.
Dru Phillips had an elite play on third down against Terry McLaurin early in the third quarter; it was a text book play for the second-year defensive back.
Grade: B
Safety
Jevon Holland is returning punts, really? Gunner Olszewski was ruled out and the Giants’ chose to not promote one of the two special teams’ returners on their practice squad: Xavier Gipson or Ihmir Smith-Marsette. Just another mismanagement by the Giants’ decision makers. Holland surrendered some catches and remained unimpactful as a signing. He was also cooked by Ben Sinnott on second-and-ten with the Giants attempting to make a comeback down 29-21.
Dane Belton made a quality run stop but was burnt by Terry McLaurin early in the fourth quarter for a touchdown. Belton did have a great strip sack late in the game, but the die was already cast. Tyler Nubin was juked out of his cleats by Marcus Mariota, but he had a few late tackles for a loss and STOPS; he also initial hit Jeremy McNichols, which promoted the whacky lateral play that was ruled down by contact with Abdul Carter possessing the football.
Grade: D +
Special Teams
The Giants’ special teams under Michael Ghobrial continued their terrible performance. After starting the season respectably, they just kept being a massive negative to the Giants’ chances to win the field position battle. They surrendered points again against Washington, this time on a Jaylin Lane punt return touchdown with just over a minute left in the first half.
The kicking situation remains an issue. Younghoe Koo missed the opening 52-yard field goal and a 51-yard field goal, both wide left. Washington started with a solid field position as well due to sub-par kick-off coverage, other than the last kick-off, when the Giants were attempting to pull off an unlikely comeback; that was a great job by the kicking team overall. Still…
Grade: F
