The New York Giants had an improbable comeback that resulted in a wacky Week 5 tie against the Washington Commanders. New York was down 14 points in the fourth quarter, and the Giants’ offense scored three touchdowns to send the game into overtime. Starting right tackle Jermaine Eleumunor was injured midway through the third quarter when the score of the game was 19-6, Washington.
Marcus Mbow took over the right tackle responsibilities and played well for the Giants. He surrendered two pressures in
45 snaps (37 pass-blocking snaps), with Washington pinning their ears back in obvious pass-rushing situations. The second-year fifth-round draft pick out of Purdue wasn’t flawless, but he executed his assignments well and allowed the Giants to function well without Eleumunor. Let’s get into his tape.
(Marcus Mbow is No. 71)
Pass protection
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Mbow’s first snap was this third-and-8 at the Washington 47-yard line. The Giants helped Mbow with a Theo Johnson (84) chip and release, but Washington attacked the right side of the Giants’ line of scrimmage; Dan Quinn sent an E/T twist to Mbow and rookie Francis Mauigoa (65). Odafe Oweh (98) was the hammer with Frankie Luvu (4) looping to Mbow’s side. It’s an effortless pass-off by Mbow to the rookie guard.
Mbow does a solid job recentering his gravity, dropping his hips and attacking Luvu on the twist. He does lean a bit into the contact and gets his chest parallel to the deck, but his feet follow Luvu up the arc, and his inside hand placement on the lower back of Luvu allows Mbow to steer the pass-rusher. It’s an impressive bend from Mbow, who succeeded, despite less-than-desirable technique.
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A few plays later, the Giants are on second-and-5, and Mbow shows a crisp, smooth vertical set against Dorance Armstrong (92). Mbow is square to his target, moves quickly to match Armstrong, and lands both hands inside the chest while cutting off the angle for the edge rusher.
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K’Lavon Chaisson (45) rushed from a wide angle, and Mbow adjusted his set mid-set; a flat step to start turned vertical to match Chaisson’s pass-rushing path. Mbow maintained a low profile with hands ready to attack, as his feet situated his positioning. Once Chaisson committed to power through the outside shoulder, Mbow sank himself low and absorbed the contact. Chaisson pushed Mbow back slightly, but the second-year offensive lineman got his feet underneath him and sat back on his hips.
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Here’s another quality vertical set by Mbow, matching the rush and stalling the edge rusher at the top of the arc. Luckily for the Giants, the officials called back the now-infamous pass interference call.
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Mbow does a good job restricting space after Chaisson attempted to separate and get width; Mbow kept everything tight and stayed grasped on Chaisson for a very good rep on the deep dig route to Malik Nabers (1). Below we see Mbow exercise patience with his inside hand punch, which appears to have quality force into contact that allows him to steer. His feet/hands combination combines quickness with adequate overall pop.
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This isn’t a crisp rep against defensive lineman Daron Payne (94), who challenged Mbow with his power. Mbow, though, held up and forced Payne wide, allowing Jameis Winston to rush for 15 yards with an excellent — elite — pump-fake 12 yards downfield.
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Mbow had some anchor issues as a rookie. While his anchor wasn’t perfect in Week 5, he seemed sturdier, doing a better job getting his feet under him while keeping his hips low. Chaisson’s initial power pushed Mbow back a bit, but the second-year tackle absorbed the contact well and kept the pocket intact.
Could improve
Mbow has foot quickness, but he was beaten around the edge a couple of times, resulting in pressure:
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Mbow is patient, and sometimes too patient, with how he chooses to engage these rushers; again, it’s not a lack of foot-quickness, but overall framing and confidence. Also, reps can help all of this with timing. Credit to Mbow, though, for flipping his hips and getting his arms out without fully compromising the pocket.
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Mbow loses inside on a shifty rush that was combined with a violent cross-chop that timed up Mbow’s punch perfectly. The B-Gap was penetrated, and Winston was forced off the spot for a short run. This was one of Mbow’s worst reps in a passing situation.
Run game
The Giants did not run the football much after Mbow entered the game, but the important third-and-3 crack toss to Cam Skattebo that went for 19 yards was run toward Mbow’s side, and he looked good operating in space:
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Mbow gets out around the blocks of Malachi Fields (88) and Darnell Mooney (17) to locate the contain defender and allow Skattebo to cut inside and find the most explosive run of the day in overtime for the Giants.
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Mbow gets a free release up to Sonny Styles (52), but the linebacker does a good job staying tight to the line of scrimmage and restricting space. Mbow doesn’t make clean contact and gets into the block sloppily, but he positions himself between Styles and the running back’s path, though he doesn’t create much space.
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Mbow gets discarded by Daron Payne, which resulted in the Cam Skattebo fumble — it was Payne who helped punch the ball out. Mbow’s run blocking wasn’t tested much in Week 5, but it was a rough rep against one of the league’s better defensive linemen.
Final thoughts
Mbow played well filling in for Eleumunor. He helped protect Winston during the Giants’ comeback effort. Was it perfect? No, but it was effective. Although the above play against Payne may not suggest success, it’s an interesting idea to consider trying Mbow, or even J.C. Davis, as cross-training on the inside, which was a popular talking point throughout the offseason. The Giants should try and get their best five out there on Sunday; Mbow is good, but the jury remains out on him playing inside.
