The New York Giants had hoped to rebound from two consecutive losses on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, but looked like a team still on their 10-day break as they fell, 27-21.
Kyler Murray out-played Daniel Jones in a battle of first-round quarterbacks, as the Giants offensive line regressed to 2018 form in their ugliest showing of the season.
In fact, most of the game was ugly — you’re going to hear that word a lot this week — and there’s plenty of blame to go around. But it wasn’t all bad… There were a small handful of positives.
Winners
Rhett Ellison: Although Ellison did allow a tipped punt in the game and missed a rare block, he was sound outside of that. And in a game where almost everyone had highlight reel flaws, the veteran tight end played about as well as anyone could have hoped outside of two minor miscues. He finished the game with two receptions on two targets for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Michael Thomas: Thomas isn’t just valuable as a leader, but as a special teamer. He erupted through the line on a punt deep in Arizona territory, getting his hand on the Andy Lee boot in the endzone leading to a touchdown for Eli Penny, which all but erased an early Arizona lead and put the Giants right back in contention.
Golden Tate: Tate was heavily booed on the Giants’ first series when alligator arms got the best of him, nearly leading to an interception. After that, Tate threw caution to the wind and took every shot that came his way, ending the day with a team-leading six receptions for 80 yards on 11 targets.
Others: Deandre Baker, Cody Latimer, Janoris Jenkins, Jabrill Peppers
Losers
Antoine Bethea: On the Cardinals’ second 20-yard touchdown run of the game, Bethea missed a score-saving tackle, which has become a common problem of his this season. He made a few other solid plays throughout the game, but his negatives outweighed his positives overall. He hasn’t been what Big Blue had hoped.
Evan Engram: In his return to the field, Engram did not have the game many expected against a Cardinals defense that hasn’t been able to stop any tight ends this season. He had a huge drop on what would have been a long gain, allowed a third quarter strip sack of Daniel Jones and then had to leave the game in the third quarter after being poked in the eye (he did return). He finished the game with one reception on five targets for six yards and two drops.
Antonio Hamilton: Hamilton took limited defensive snaps, so his appearance on this list tells the story. Early in the first quarter, he blew a coverage (confusion with Grant Haley) that led to a big play for the Cardinals that set up a score.
Offensive line: In what was their worst performance of the season, the Giants O-line couldn’t pass protect, couldn’t run block, couldn’t pick up the blitz and couldn’t get out of their own way. From missed assignments to penalties it was just an all-around mess. And none of the starting five were any better than the others.
Third-down defense: Although the defense stiffened late, they couldn’t stop a third-down early in the game, allowing the Cardinals to convert on seven of 15 when all was said and done. However, that early third-down defense helped put the Giants in a hole they could not recover from.
Coaching: There’s a lot to unpack here… The Giants were clearly not prepared for the Cardinals, the team started slow, the gameplan was flawed and the decision-making was equally flawed. Pat Shurmur found himself owned by another PI challenge and late in the fourth quarter he called a sequence of plays that are so mind-blowing that it pay put him on the hot seat.
Others: Aldrick Rosas, Darius Slayton, Riley Dixon
Mixed reviews
Saquon Barkley: It’s not easy to put Barkley here considering how much he was toughing it out, but he didn’t have a spectacular game in his return. Twice he lost big yardage by trying to run backwards on the field, wasn’t able to get anything going out of the backfield and averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry if you took away his one 20-yard run. He also had a late fourth quarter drop. Still, he played hard, battled through a re-injured ankle and scored a key fourth quarter touchdown.
Daniel Jones: After vowing to clean up his turnovers throughout the week, Jones did anything but on Sunday. In addition to one of the ugliest (there’s that word again) interceptions you’ve ever seen, Jones tossed two other passes that should have been picked off. He also fumbled three times, losing two of those, finishing the game going 22-of-35 for 223 yards, one touchdown and three turnovers. On the plus side, he had a few big-time throws that only elite quarterbacks make. So…there’s that.
Alec Ogletree: Ogletree impressively sniffed out a screen early in the game saving a big play, but was later easily taken out on Cards’ second touchdown run. It continued like that for Ogletree throughout the day, showing up on a few big stops but also making a few mistakes in coverage.
Others: Grant Haley, Markus Golden, Lorenzo Carter
