The New York Giants entered Week 8 thirsty for a victory, but instead, they were treated to their fourth consecutive loss, falling to the Detroit Lions by a score of 31-26 at Ford Field.
Once again, the defense was nearly non-existent, giving up massive chunk plays at a remarkably frequent clip, blowing coverages, missing assignments and just generally looking out of sorts.
At times, the offense looked no better, but they did have a few flash moments that were able to keep them at least somewhat competitive on the day.
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the in between from loss No. 6.
Winners
Saquon Barkley: After a somewhat uncharacteristic game in Week 7, Barkley vowed to return to form against the Lions and the man is no liar. Although he still didn’t look completely healthy, we saw a more vintage Barkley on Sunday — impacting the game as a runner, receiver and blocker. He finished Week 8 with an impressive 143 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown.
Kevin Zeitler: The offensive line had a few notable down moments against the Lions (we’re looking at you, Nate Solder), but they played substantially better than a week prior. Of the starting five, Zeitler appeared to play the best upon first watch, handling Damon Harrison early in the game and making several other key blocks throughout the game. He did not appear to allow a pressure, hit or sack.
Evan Engram: Engram did have one drop, but he nicely rebounded from a poor performance against the Arizona Cardinals. Although not targeted as much as New York may have liked, Engram finished the day with four receptions for 40 yards and one touchdown.
Golden Tate: Squaring off against his former team, Tate got off to a slow start but became a key player the deeper into the game the Giants got. He finished the game with eight receptions on 10 targets for 85 yards.
Others: Riley Dixon, Eli Penny
Losers
Grant Haley: Haley may have recorded a sack and led the team in tackles, but in man-on-man and even zone coverage, he was repeatedly abused. While he knows the scheme well and is good around the line of scrimmage, he may be better suited to play safety than slot corner. We don’t have the final numbers, but they are not going to look good.
Jabrill Peppers: Peppers, who deserved a nod for a forced fumble in thr fourth quarter, is quality against the run, but no one can say he excels in coverage. He was repeatedly beaten in both man coverage and zone coverage, and once again missed a tackle or two. Entering the game, he had 11 missed tackles on the season and that number is most certainly going up.
Aldrick Rosas: An All-Pro in 2018, Rosas has looked like a much more shaky kicker this season. He missed only the second point after attempt of his career, which was a critical at that point in the game. The Giants attempted to recoup that point in the third quarter on a two-point attempt, but failed to convert.
Defensive line: The Giants D-line was clearly over-matched against a high quality Lions offensive line, although they did improve slightly throughout the game. Still, they were carved up on the ground, being bulldozed out of the way on inside runs leading to holes a car could drive through, and they did little in the way of generating pressure on Matthew Stafford.
Officials: There are no bigger losers in the NFL than their officials on a week by week basis. They flagged David Mayo for running into the kicker after his hand lightly grazed the punter’s ankle, taking the ball out of Big Blue’s hands, giving it back to the Lions and directly leading to a pre-halftime score. Pathetic.
Others: Nate Solder, Deandre Baker, Antoine Bethea
Mixed reviews
Daniel Jones: Jones put the Giants in a bad spot early with a lost fumble and a near interception, but managed to stay centered and rebound for what was otherwise a quality performance. Another near interception or two aside, the rookie flushed his bad start and finish the game going 28 of 41 for 322 yards and four touchdowns. Had he not started off so poorly, who knows how the game would have gone.
Darius Slayton: Some will see Slayton here and find fault with it because of his two impressive touchdowns, but he’s proving to be somewhat of a liability on kick returns (was replaced in the game) and, of course, had a crushing drop late in the second quarter, potentially preventing the Giants an opportunity to score before halftime. But those two touchdowns were key — both were contested and he unquestionably won each time.
Janoris Jenkins: Jenkins can be defined by up-and-down play and Sunday was no different. Luckily, Jackrabbit’s most major errors on Sunday ended up not harming the Giants, but the potential for disaster was still there and the Giants can’t rely on luck each week. On the plus side, Jenkins made a few key one-on-one tackles and, of course, had an interception to stop a potential scoring drive.
Others: Michael Thomas, Jon Halapio, Cody Latimer
