The New York Giants hosted the Washington Redskins this week in a game that initially seemed to favor the Skins’ pass-first offense. Case Keenum was dealing with a foot injury, but the Giants awful secondary play still pointed to the Redskins benefit.
However, after some changes during the week and a Redskins quarterback change mid-game, the Giants pulled through as the victor.
The Giants have now won two games in a row after benching Eli Manning.
Here’s what we learned in Week 4:
Giants defense benefited from mid-week tweaks
It’s no secret that the Giants defense was pretty awful over the first three weeks. Even with a win last week, the defense still didn’t look quite right. But James Bettcher made some tweaks this week — tweaks which clearly paid off.
The most visible tweak was that Janoris Jenkins and Deandre Baker each stuck to one side of the field instead of Jenkins following the opponents top wide out. This strategy landed Jenkins two interceptions, on top of the pick by Ryan Connelly and the pick-six by Jabrill Peppers, which was the only score by either team in the second half.
Whatever it is that Bettcher did or said this week, he needs to keep it up. The defense looked vastly improved and rejuvenated this week, something that needs to continue if the Giants want to keep winning.
Daniel Jones proved he can weather the storm
Jones may not have put up any points in the second half, but he made sure the Giants put enough points on the board to get a win. He was 23/31 for 225 yards and a touchdown and rushed five times for 33 yards. He did throw two interceptions, bringing his QBR down to 73.3, but he didn’t let those mistakes faze him.
Many people thought that Jones didn’t deserve to be the No. 6 overall pick in this year’s draft, but he is proving why Dave Gettleman and Pat Shurmur are so high on him. Jones is practically an Eli Manning with speed clone on the field, not just in the way he plays, but how he maintains composure and doesn’t get rattled by errors.
Manning may have lost his starting spot in New York, but the Giants aren’t looking back. This is Daniel Jones’ team now.
Markus Golden is a legitimate pass rush threat
Golden is in his fifth season in the NFL and his first with the Giants. The outside linebacker is one of the new faces on defense this season, and he’s proving to be a smart pick up.
The Giants can thank Bettcher for that one as Golden likely followed his old coach to the Big Apple. This season he’s recorded six solo tackles and 3.5 sacks. Two tackles and half a sack came in yesterday’s win over Washington, plus he managed three hits on a Redskins quarterback, likely contributing to interceptions.
With injuries to Alec Ogletree, Tae Davis, Lorenzo Carter and Ryan Connelly, the Giants need that to continue, and it looks like he’s up for the task.
The ball is finally bouncing New York’s way
Over the last several seasons, the Giants have had some seriously bad luck. Whether it’s bad officiating, ridiculous plays by opponents or silly mistakes by the team, things have gone against Big Blue.
Since Jones took the reigns, things are looking up for the Giants. And no, that’s not a hit on Eli, just an observation. They had a lot of calls go their way yesterday, Case Keenum missed two potential touchdown passes to wide open receivers and the Giants had four interceptions between the Redskins quarterbacks.
For once, it seems like things finally went New York’s way. Hopefully this becomes a trend — it’s about time this team gets a break from the nonsense and sees their effort and hard work pay off.
