EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The fact that the New York Giants have not run the ball as well as they expect to, or need to, so far this season has been well-documented. Like it was in these two Big Blue View posts:
- The Giants may need to change how they think about offense
- 5 Giants-Saints storylines: Optimism in the midst of ‘crazy town’
The question is, what are the Giants going to do about it?
Offense coordinator Matt Nagy said on Thursday that getting more from the run game, 24th in the league at 3.7 yards per carry, was a “work in progress.”
“We think we have some answers. I’m not going to get into that publicly, but I do
believe that we’re on our way into doing some things, and so that’ll be good,” Nagy said. “We look forward to seeing what comes from it, but these guys are trying. It’s not for a lack of trying from the coaches with the scheme or from the players with execution. We just got to keep staying with it, trust with what we’re going with, and be able to be balanced when we play football. We can’t just be all run or all pass. We got to be able to stay balanced. I think that’s probably the biggest thing.”
How much do the Giants need to adapt in their approach to the run game?
“You got to be able to be flexible with the players, with your scheme, with the coaches. You can’t be stubborn,” Nagy said.
“That’s probably going into this whole process one of our greatest strengths as coaches that I’ve noticed since I’ve gotten here is we got some coaches that really want to do what’s best for the players and for us. And then the players, too. I think it’s very important for the players to have a voice in this thing and us to be able to communicate clearly with them and say, ‘Hey, what are some things maybe that we’re doing that we’re not good at or you don’t like?’ And then vice versa, what are some things that we need to do that would help us out? That’s, to me, what good football coaching and communication is. So, that’s what we’ve done, and now we know.”
For Nagy, first down runs are particularly important.
“We have to be better on first down running the football,” Nagy said. “We can’t stay in this second and eight, second and 10, second and seven, but we know that. So, what are we going to do about it? How are we going to fix that? And that’s our number one challenge.”
The J.J. McCarthy package
McCarthy was on the field for five plays against the Washington Commanders. McCarthy’s longest run was 2 yards, and the only successful play — a screen pass to Malik Nabers — was wiped out by penalty.
The Giants have no intention of abandoning it.
“It is a change of pace,” Nagy said. “There’s three plays that we had him in there where it’s the old “if” thing. We had one piece of the play that was just off a little bit. One of them was the penalty, right? Then there’s two other plays that we had that could have been really big plays, and they weren’t for one reason. And so, without getting into the scheme part of it, we’ve told the guys and we’ve told J.J., like, ‘Listen, you’re doing what you’re supposed to do. We like that package.’ We can’t be predictable with it when we use him and when we’re going to do it, but he needs to stay with it. That can be an advantage for us.“
Nagy said the Giants also need to balance familiarizing McCarthy with the full playbook, and that they don’t take too many practice reps away from starter Jameis Winston.
“We’re going into week three with him, so we’ll continue to see where that’s at,” Nagy said. “In the meantime, we don’t want to lose sight that he needs to learn this offense as a quarterback, not as a package guy. That’s very important. So, we’re trying to keep that going, too, to where he can understand that. But you’ve got to be careful with how many reps you take away from him Jameis.”
More tempo?
The Giants leaned into tempo in the second half vs. the Commanders. Nagy said it was “absolutely” something that helped.
“I think that helped us last week. I know it helped us,” Nagy said. “So, when you look at something like that, you say to yourself, ‘Okay, that was some good stuff.’ We’ve got to be able to say now how much do we want to do of it, when do we want to do it, and then how do we make ourselves not be predictable when we are in it?
About those fumbles
Despite Cam Skattebo having fumbled in three straight games, and all three of the Giants usually active backs having had some type of fumbling issue this season, Nagy expressed confidence.
“I’ll never lose confidence in those guys. We don’t want that, but I will never lose confidence in those guys because they’re going to make plays for us,” Nagy said. “You’re obviously talking about Skatt (running back Cam Skattebo), speaking to him specifically. Love the guy to death. I know how much he cares. I know how much he wants it. Everyone here is seeing what this NFL has become right now with that peanut punch. It’s across the board.”
‘Massive jump’ for Malik Nabers
Star wide receiver Malik Nabers has had back-to-back 100-yard receiving games. Against the Commanders, Nabers had 11 catches on a season-high 20 targets.
“Probably the first week or two, you could see he was a little hesitant, which is natural,” Nagy said. “I haven’t thought about that at all when he’s out there playing now. To me, that’s a massive jump. When you don’t see it in practice, when you don’t see it in the game, you see that growth. Whatever that date is or that day, to me it’s day-to-day for him, but man he’s looking good.”
