The John Harbaugh era got off to a rousing start last night with the New York Giants defeating the division rival Dallas Cowboys 28-20 at a raucous MetLife Stadium. (When was the last time “raucous” and “MetLife” appeared in the same sentence about a Giants game?) Let’s see what the analysts at Pro Football Focusthought of the individual player performances.
Offense
Focusing first on the passing, Jaxson Dart’s 23 of 29, 230-yard, 3 TD, 0 INT performance was given a grade of…65.8, smack in the middle of their
“average” range. I’m sure fans will take Dart’s highly efficient game, as evidenced by his excellent 134.2 NFL passer rating last night, every week. PFF, though, grades on degree of difficulty and taking care of the ball. Dart didn’t have any interceptions, but in PFF’s eyes he had two turnover-worthy plays, which they see as being just as bad. He also did not have any “big-time,” throws, i.e., balls placed accurately into tight windows and especially those that go deep downfield for explosive plays. Dart only threw three balls beyond 20 yards and only completed one. To quote Seinfeld, “Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” but that’s what PFF values. Dart did what he had to do to win the game. In the long run, he’ll have to show that he can hurt opposing defenses deep on a consistent basis, but for one game the short-range passing game was just fine.
Let’s look at the effect of pressure:
Dart was an amazing 19 of 22 when kept clean, including all three of his TD passes. When pressured he was 4 of 7 for 57 yards, but both of his TWPs came under pressure.
Moving on to the pass blocking:
The starting offensive line played every snap last night. They were penalty-free against Dallas’ formidable pass rush and did not allow a sack, but the individual performances were uneven. Jermaine Eluemunor had a clean game at right tackle, as did right guard Sisi Mauigoa in his first NFL game. Surprisingly, Andrew Thomas played below his standards with two hurries allowed, but neither of those were on “true pass set” plays that PFF feels are the best measure of offensive line performance. John Michael Schmitz (two hurries) and Jon Runyan Jr. (two QB hits and a hurry) were as usual the weak links in the line, but they weren’t terrible.
Next, the run blocking:
The run blocking was fairly uneven. Thomas was his usual dominant self in the run game, and Eluemunor was fine, but JMS and Runyan were their usual subpar selves. Mauigoa had a rough go of it as well in his first NFL start. Of note is that wide receiver Malachi Fields did a nice job in 29 run blocking snaps.
Now let’s look at the receiving:
Unsurprisingly, Isaiah Likely led the group with a great 82.8 grade, his only blemish being a fumble. Likely caught every one of the eight balls thrown his way, including 2 TDs and two contested catches, and quickly established himself as Dart’s go-to guy, taking over the Wan’Dale Robinson slot receiver role to some extent (17 slot snaps). Malik Nabers (73.0) had a successful return, catching 6 of 9 balls, and Devin Singletary (71.7) kept catching those swing passes from Dart until he ran out of real estate and scored. Darnell Mooney, Theo Johnson, and rookie Malachi Fields also had successful games, with Mooney getting the second most snaps in the slot. Of note was that the receiving corps had zero drops. Odell Beckham Jr. was not targeted at all but played 11 snaps.
Finally, the rushing:
Cam Skattebo ran the ball more often than any other Giant; he did good things (a TD) and bad things (a fumble), the two canceling each other to give him an average 67.4 grade. Dart was the Giants’ second most frequent rusher (so much for putting him in bubble wrap after all his blue tent visits last year), and only 3 of those were scrambles, but he was effective running the ball with a 78.1 grade. Devin Singletary had a nondescript 6 rushes; his contribution was mainly on those swing passes. Tyrone Tracy only ran the ball twice, because on the second one he once again let a defender punch the ball out. That was it for him for the day. We’ll see if he gets out of Harbaugh’s/Greg Roman’s doghouse next week in LA.
Defense
Four players played all 58 defensive snaps: Linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and rookie Arvell Reese, and safeties Jevon Holland and Tyler Nubin. Five others played most of the defensive snaps: Abdul Carter (53), Greg Newsome II (52), Brian Burns (49), and Dru Phillips and Deonte Banks (48 apiece). Everyone else was on the field less than half the time. Abdul Carter was the clear leader, with a spectacular 90.3 composite grade over all facets of defense. Let’s look at the individual components. First, the pass rush:
Carter was the Giants’ best pass rusher (83.7) with a hit and three hurries. Chauncey Golston was equally productive with a hit and three hurries in fewer snaps but graded overall only an average 67.2. Kayvon Thibodeaux was second in pressures with three, including one QB hit, but his overall pass rush grade was only 48.2. Brian Burns had a quiet day with just a single pressure. In case you were wondering how Dennard Wilson was going to use him, rookie Arvell Reese only rushed the QB four times.
Next, the run defense:
Overall the Giants’ run defense got a 54.3 grade from PFF, in the middle of the individual game grades they received last year. Yesterday, there was some good news for the run defense: Free agent IDL signing D.J. Reader scored a very good 74.5 with a tackle and an assist on 10 rushing plays. Brian Burns (71.5) and Abdul Carter (70.0) were in the Very Good category. The bad news was that the main free agent IDL signing, Shelby Harris, graded an awful 35.7 with no tackles. Recent signing C.J. Okoye (39.7) had one tackle that qualified as a stop (an unsuccessful run as judged by down and yards to go for a first down). Still, too many players had subpar run defense grades to think that the Giants’ run defense problem is solved.
Finally, the pass coverage:
A reminder: If a receiver is open, PFF will grade the player covering him down regardless of whether the quarterback threw to that target or went elsewhere. The good news: Safety Jevon Holland played one of his best games as a Giant (73.2 coverage grade), giving up only one reception for 9 yards and hustling to intercept Dak Prescott. Newcomer Tremaine Edmunds also had a successful Giants debut with a 71.7 grade; he surrendered six catches but for only modest yardage.
Elsewhere things didn’t go so well. Dru Phillips (31.3) continued to show that he has trouble covering NFL receivers, with three defensive pass interference penalties and a missed tackle. Greg Newsome (40.4) only gave up one catch for 8 yards but apparently was letting receivers get open based on that low grade. Paulson Adebo (45.4) only played nine snaps but was targeted three times and gave up two catches. Arvell Reese also graded low (47.1), giving up three catches in three targets, but only for 23 yards. Tae Banks (48.9) had good and bad – the four catches he gave up in seven targets were only for 23 yards, and one attempt was a pass breakup..but another was a TD.
