What a difference a year makes! What a difference a point makes! A year ago the Giants reeled out of a devastating last-second loss in their season-opener in Dallas that somehow set the tone for a second straight disappointing 6-10 record. And it appeared that the Giants just might be in for another heart-breaker in Dallas with the Cowboys edging toward a possible game-winning last-play FG. But finally the football gods smiled on the Giants when Dallas WR Terrance Williams inadvertently zigged upfield with just seconds on the clock and the Cowboys out of timeouts rather than zagging toward the sideline where he likely would have been able to get out of bounds and give Dan Bailey at least a shot at a 60-something yard FG. And the way Bailey effortlessly nailed 56 and 54-yarders early in the game it certainly would have been in his range. But he didn’t get the chance and the Giants are 1-0 to start the season for the first time since 2010.
And while any road win in the NFL is a good one, especially one in Dallas, this one wasn’t particularly pretty. In fact, anyone looking at just the post-games stats would almost automatically assume the Giants took one on the chin. The Giants had no sacks and didn’t force a turnover, while the Cowboys had more total yards, 6 more first downs, converted 10 of 17 3rd downs and ate up almost 37 minutes on the clock. The difference in the game, though, was that the Giants turned their only three drives of the game into TDs, while Dallas was settling for FGs.
As noted, though, style points don’t count in the NFL. And they especially don’t count on the road. That said there was a somewhat disquieting aspect to the win that went beyond the basic stats. We were really expecting a major difference in tone and creativity in the Giants’ overall scheme and game plan with young bucks Ben McAdoo and Steve Spagnuolo calling the shots with conservative old Tom Coughlin now in retirement. Didn’t see much different though.
Indeed, with a few minor exceptions – and one major one – the Giants’ game plan looked like it was straight out of the Coughlin playbook. On offense, for example, we were expecting the Giants to throw a whole bunch of different sets against the undermanned Cowboys’ defense, including multiple 4-, and even 5-WR packages and force them to scramble to matchup. Instead, with the exception of a couple of snaps at the end when they snuck back-up C Brett Jones in as blocking FB, the Giants literally played the entire game in a 3-wide, one TE set. In fact, they literally played the entire game with the same three receivers: Odell, Victor and rookie Sterling Shepard.
At the same time, one saw very little of the kind of plays that one might normally expect from a creative spread offense. Indeed, one probably didn’t need any fingers at all to count the number of bubble screens and underneath clearing routes the Giants executed against the Cowboys. Perhaps the biggest surprise was that Dwayne Harris got only one measly snap in the base offense. Maybe the Giants are saving him for his special teams’ skills, but one would think that simply having a guy like Harris with his open-field skills on the actual field would cause an NFL defense a whole lot more consternation than the stiffs the Giants were rotating at TE when that defense already had to account for #s 13, 80 and 87. (more on that below)
On the other side of the ball, one would have expected the Giants to come out and throw every look possible at the Cowboys with rookie 4th round pick Dak Prescott starting at QB. Instead, they played it very close to the vest for the better part of the first half, rushing just 4 and dropping into a moderately soft zone that Prescott pretty much picked apart. The big change though from the Coughlin era, though, was when it became clear that that scheme wasn’t working, Spagnuolo did start to dial up the pressure by bringing extra people and taking away the easy underneath routes such that Prescott indeed looked like a rookie QB for most of the second half.
We were going to grade each position on their performance in Dallas, but on further review just about everybody got a B. So some general observations:
Eli was okay. You want your vet QB to rally the team when needed and Eli did that twice in Dallas, first, leading the team to a key momentum-changing TD early in the second quarter with the Giants down 6-0 and spinning their wheels on both sides of the ball, and then driving them to a game-winning TD with just over 6 minutes to play. At the same time, Eli looked shaky much of the second half after having his first pass after the break picked off. And yeah, the primary culprit on the pick was rookie WR Sterling Shepard, who reportedly gave up on the route, but still there isn’t much excuse for throwing a pick into the chest of a DB who’s on his knees!
The offensive line was okay. For the most part, Eli had time to throw the ball, and while the run game struggled early, there were some nice holes that led to key runs on both the Giants game- winning drive and their final drive that ate up just enough of the clock that Dallas ultimately didn’t have time to get into scoring position at the end. In the end, this unit will likely be better than most fans expect, but it’s still a group the Giants will again look to upgrade in the off-season.
And kudos to RBs Rashad Jennings and Shane Vereen who made some nice runs on those final drives. Frustrating, though, that neither really has that extra gear to genuinely stretch defenses. At the same time, we’d also like to see more wheel routes and the like from the Giants’ backs. They are all pretty decent receivers who can do more than just function as outlets.
The defensive line was okay. They did a nice job stuffing the vaunted Dallas running game; indeed, celebrated Cowboys’ rookie RB Zeke Elliott, the 4th player selected at this year’s draft, averaged a measly 2.5 yards per carry and was never factor. At the same time, though, there really wasn’t much of a pass rush from the front four, although Jason Pierre-Paul did get free on a couple of late rushes and forced early releases.
The secondary was pretty good. The unit held Dez Bryant to just 1 catch for 8 yards and while Jason Witten and Cole Beasley combined for 17 of the Cowboys’ 25 reception, they barely averaged 8 yards per catch. And one figures that these guys are only going to get better. Rookie FS Darien Thompson showed some deep range that the Giants haven’t seen in years after taking over from Nat Behre at FS. For his part, Behre will come up and hit people, such that the Giants might start thinking of using a 3-headed monster at safety with Behre playing as the inside the box SS while Landon Collins plays a hybrid safety-LB role.
The one drag we saw in Dallas – and no it wasn’t the OL – were the TEs. Bottom line is that neither Larry Donnell nor Will Tye are very effective blockers. Fact is we have no problem with that, but if your TE isn’t going to block then they have to be a dynamic receiver with the ability to stretch defenses and force defenses to shift resources to cover them. However, while Donnell and Tye are competent enough journeyman receivers who will make some plays, neither is going to scare anybody. Which has us repeating one of pour favorite mantras: there is no rule in the NFL that you actually have to have a TE on the field when you have the ball. Just saying!
In that context it is interesting that while the 2017 draft looks to be relatively weak, one of few the positions of strength will be the TEs. And that almost certainly will have the Giants looking at guys at the position such as Jake Butt of Michigan, Alabama’s O.J. Howard, Evan Engram of Ole Miss, Clemson’s Jordan Leggett, Virginia Tech junior Bucky Hodges, and Jeremy Sprinkle of Arkansas, each of whom has at least some top 50 potential. Note though that while most Giants’ fans likely want a TE that can block, it’s more likely the team will actually be in the market for a talented receiver. If they can also block, great, but if they can’t scheme around it!
Next up: New Orleans at Giants Stadium, Sunday at 1 PM ET.
