Folks, for the first time since 2016 the Giants have a winning record. It’s a great feeling and one that I admittedly didn’t expect to have after week 1. With that being said, there’s a lot to break down from this game and I’m going to do just that.
Let’s jump into this week’s thoughts after the game!
1. Brian Daboll is the right man for the job
I will always say that going for two is the right decision at the end of the game. No balls, no babies. You’ve gotta play to win, not play for a coin toss. Brian Daboll laid it all out on the line and it paid off.
Would people have criticized him if it didn’t? Definitely. But going for two is always the right call.
The other part I loved about Daboll’s game tonight was that he made a ton of adjustments heading into the second half. That’s something we didn’t see from Pat Shurmur/Joe Judge. It’s a breath of fresh air that he embraces analytics and fun offensive play.
2. Saquon Barkley is back
I’ve absolutely been one of Saquon Barkley’s biggest critics. I’ve demeaned him. I’ve been mean to him. I’ve called him a mascot. Yesterday Saquon made me eat my words. He looked every bit as good as he was supposed to be when he was drafted second overall in 2018. It only took three coaches but he was finally running through people. He absolutely put the team on his back during the final drive.
Now should the Giants re-sign him to a long term contract once the season is over? Absolutely not. Paying running backs never works out. But they could potentially franchise tag him if he maintains this level of play.
Either way, for the rest of this season the offense runs through him. The Giants will go as he goes. Hopefully he can continue to play at a high level.
3. Get Kadarius Toney On the Field Now
Toney didn’t have a single reception today but he did have two rushes for 23 yards. He was elusive when he had the ball in his hands and it’s clear that the Giants receiving corps need to see more of him. No receiver really stood out today and the Giants will not win a lot of football games if that continues to happen this season.
Toney needs to be involved in the passing game and it needs to happen next week.
4. Wink Martindale Coached His Ass Off
There’s no other way to put it: Wink Martindale absolutely coached his ass off. His defense held Derrick Henry to 3.9 YPC without their two starting edge rushers. They didn’t allow the Titans to get into a rhythm the entire game. They were disruptive enough to get the Giants a win today. It was a really impressive coaching performance from the defense.
5. Aside from the long touchdown pass, Daniel Jones was not good
Ahh you knew it was coming. I said a bunch of positive things but I inevitably have to bring things down to earth: Daniel Jones was not good last night. If you take away his 65 yard touchdown pass to Sterling Shepard where Shepard was wide open, he averaged just 6.15 yards per attempt which is really bad. He had one of the worst interceptions of his career where he stared down Saquon Barkley in the end zone and threw it right to the defense.
The tweets below sum it up best.
Just imagine what Brian Daboll’s offense could do if he had a top quarterback. The sky would be the limit.