Post-game first impressions … Don’t want to sound like a broken record, but for the third time in four weeks, a Giants had a chance to win in a game at the end, but for the third time in four weeks came up short, this time losing 37-34 in Dallas when the Cowboys kicked the game winning FG as time expired. It was also a game in which the Giants had not one, but two TDs taken off the board because of borderline penalties.
The fact that the Giants were so close at the end was kind of weird, though, as they didn’t appear to do much of anything all that well on the day. There were a couple of decent runs early, but overall didn’t run the ball that well with an average gain of just 3.3 yards; QB Daniel Jones was running for his life most of the afternoon, while the defense struggled to stop the run and couldn’t stop the pass at all. Which has kind of been a microcosm for the entire season in which the Giants have been competitive in four of their 5 games despite a myriad of critical weaknesses across the lineup. (More on that in a later column this week.)
That said, you don’t score 34 points and lose at the buzzer in the NFL if you don’t have some guys making plays. Here are our choices for the Giants that stood out on the day.
WR Darius Slayton: Slayton has been one of the few (and maybe only) bright lights on the Giants offense so far this year and he had maybe his best as a pro against the Cowboys. Slayton had 8 catches for 129 yards; he also had a 31-yard TD wiped out by a penalty. For the record, Slayton accounted for almost 60% of the team’s passing yardage against the Cowboys. And therein lies one of the major problems on the Giants offense; Slayton just ain’t getting much from his friends. In particular, WRs C.J. Board and Damion Ratley were on the field for over 60 snaps between them, but had zero receptions. Indeed, the only significant impact either had on the game was Ratley’s OPI that wiped out Slayton’s TD. Ouch!
OLB Kyler Fackrell: Fackrell is quietly turning into arguably the Giants’ best value free agent signing this off-season. LB Blake Martinez and CB James Bradberry have admittedly been more productive, but at way more cost. Against the Cowboys, Fackrell returned a pick for the Giants first defensive TD of the season. Then, with the Cowboys driving for a tying FG late in the 4th quarter, he made terrific back-to-back plays that resulted in TFL’s that pushed the Cowboys back to the edge of FG range. (As an aside, in one of those moments that make you just want to pull your hair out – if you have any – with the chance to get aggressive and stop the Cowboys right there, the Giants went all prevent and allowed an easy-pass and catch 10 yard gain that made that FG that much easier.)
PK Graham Gano: Gano bombed not one, not two, but three 50-yard plus FGs – in three attempts – and looked like he had the leg to connect from another ten yards out. Unfortunately he never got that chance.
QB Daniel Jones: Jones has rightly taken a lot of criticism for his play so far this year, but man it’s tough to blame him for the Cowboys’ loss. He did lose a fumble that was returned for yet another TD, but it was a hit from behind by an ER no one laid a glove on. And he wasn’t able to get the Giants into scoring position on their final drive, but in truth he spent just about the entire afternoon dodging Cowboy pass rushers and running for his life. And while he still had fans and media calling him out, it was in fact the kind of gutsy performance that teammates notice.
And a few duds:
OT Andrew Thomas: It’s probably not fair to put all the blame on the OL’s struggles against the Cowboys on Thomas, but he was one guilty of the Ole block on the strip sack. He was also guilty of giving up way too much penetration on just about every snap. It’s still early, but it’s a little scary. Big thing we notice about Thomas is that he’s just not light on his feet. We’ll take a longer look in the next couple of weeks.
RB Dion Lewis: Not sure what he was even doing in the game in the final minute, especially after Devonta Freeman had played very well all game including turning a couple of receptions into nifty runs totalling 27 yards. Whatever, on those final three plays Lewis looked really old and slow.
Interior defensive line: The Giants run defense had been one of the team’s strengths through the first four games of the year, but the unit got really pushed around against the Cowboys. Worse, it came against a kind of patchwork Dallas offensive line. One really has to wonder why DT Dexter Lawrence, arguably the unit’s best player, was on the field for barely half the snaps. Curious!
Next up: Whatever is left of the season will be on the line on Sunday when the Giants host the Washington No-names in one of the few legitimate winnable left on the schedule.
