The New York Giants came into Thursday night’s game against the New England Patriots short-handed and left with their second straight loss in four days.
Despite hanging with the defending Super Bowl Champions in Gillette Stadium for the majority of the game, the Giants ended up losing 35-14 to the Patriots and dropped to 2-4 on the season.
The Giants will now have 10 days to rest, get key players healthy and prepare for the Arizona Cardinals.
After their Week 6 game against the Patriots, whose stock is up and down from the Giants?
Stock up: Markus Golden
Heading into the 2019 season, it wasn’t clear who would step up and be the dominant pass rusher on the Giants defense.
After six games, it’s very clear that Markus Golden has taken that claim, as after five sacks, he is by far the Giants best pass rusher.
Golden had several quarterback hurries, had 0.5 sack on Tom Brady, and had a fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Golden is seen everywhere on the field making plays and causing havoc wherever he goes. If this play continues, Dave Gettleman should get Golden a long-term deal and keep him in the fold for the next few years, as the Giants may have found the premier pass rusher they’ve been hoping for all along.
Stock down: Grant Haley
For the second straight week, Grant Haley was the focal point of the opposition and was targeted a lot.
On Sunday, it was the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins attacking Haley often. And on Thursday night, Tom Brady went after Haley as well and succeeded.
It might be time for the Giants to consider giving others a shot at playing and maybe let Haley take a step back in his playing time.
Stock up: Golden Tate
In his first game for the Giants, Tate’s presence was barely felt on the field. However, on Thursday night, Tate was extremely effective and was the primary target for Daniel Jones.
Tate had six catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, including a 64-yard haul in the second quarter and the first of Tate’s tenure with the Giants.
For the majority of his career, Tate has been extremely reliable and can haul in a ton of catches. For the Giants’ sake, this game is the first step in Tate being that kind of player for them in 2019.
Stock down: Daniel Jones
This isn’t a knock on Daniel Jones, as he was asked to step into an offense that was missing four key players on the road against the New England Patriots.
With that said, Jones looked like a rookie quarterback and played like a rookie quarterback on Thursday night against the defending champions.
Jones was intercepted three times in the loss. He did have another touchdown pass, but he was just under 50 percent and had a 35.2 rating in the game.
With that said, it was only the fourth game of his career and will have plenty to learn from this experience.
Stock up: Alec Ogletree
After missing a few games because of injury, Ogletree returned to the lineup for the Giants and his presence was felt on defense.
The Giants middle linebacker finished with 12 total tackles, nine of which were solo, two quarterback hits and a sack.
Not only was it one of Ogletree’s best games for this season, it may have been one of his best overall games of his tenure with the Giants.
Stock down: Jon Hilliman
The Giants were without Saquon Barkley again and also without Wayne Gallman, so Jon Hilliman was the primary back for the Giants, and for the second straight week, he was underwhelming.
Hilliman had 11 carries for 38 yards and two catches for negative three yards. But for the second straight game, Hilliman had a crushing turnover that hurt his team and led to opposing points.
With Barkley on the mend to recovering from the ankle sprain, Hilliman could find himself out of a job in the next couple of days, and the inability to hang onto the football may end up being why.
