A Tie?! Yes, Giants fans, we tied with the Commanders on Sunday. There are tons of things we can poke at. From the poor officiating throughout the game, decisions from the coaching staff, blown up blocking assignments, bad LB/DB play, bad drops, and debatable throws. In the face of all the angst and frustrations, I wanted to take a positive spin and remind people that there were positives that came from this game. These positives are ones we can take with us beyond the season too. Don’t let these things escape your vision.
Did anyone see how influential Azeez Ojulari was on the field yesterday? He made Taylor Heinecke’s life difficult yesterday with the pressures, the sack/fumble recovery, etc. he caused. Best of all, it gave guys like Kayvon Thibodeaux, Leonard Williams, and Dexter Lawrence more looks to do some damage of their own. Once the Giants improve their inside LB group, this will certainly be a devastating front 7 for opposing offenses to deal with each week long term.
Daniel Bellinger just came back from his eye injury, but it didn’t stop him from seeing almost every snap. The fact he was able to jump right in and be a factor without a pitch count was huge for this team as they missed his hands in many ways. He did get beat on a couple of blocking assignments, but those will improve as he gets back into his routines. He is a rookie after all and has been arguably the best value in the draft at the TE position so far.
Another positive I took away was the play of Evan Neal. He played a clean game yesterday coming off his injury and even set the stage with a nice block on the Saquon Barkley TD. He played extensively and showed no ill signs from his previous ailment. He was starting to put it together before he went down in Jacksonville and is an amazing sight to see he hasn’t lost a beat. If he continues this path of good play, we will have the edges of our O-Line covered for years to come.
Lastly, we continue to see Darius Slayton play out of his shoes. For all the hell the fanbase has given him for not holding onto that late game pass, he has put up stats and made big plays that we never would have expected from him. He has truly gone from an afterthought in training camp to the best WR we have on this team. I hope he stays with the team long term (just not as our WR1).
Don’t let a silly tie ruin what is slowly coming together long term for this team. We have a defense that is overachieving and giving a mere taste of how dangerous they will be in the future. We have a young TE that is proving to be a steal as a mid-draft pick and can still grow even further. The ends of our offensive line looks to be the best we have had in ages. Most of all, we have a WR that is doing his best to change the narrative on his NFL story as a later round role player that couldn’t hack it. I am excited to see what else this team can show us between now and the end of the year. While going to the playoffs is a nice possibility, don’t let it create the tunnel vision that’ll prevent you from enjoying the bright spots of this season. There are still games to play and enjoy after all!