The Giants will get the weekend off to regroup from Thursday’s disappointing 20-15 loss to the Cowboys. Here’s a final review of the Giants’ seventh straight loss to Dallas:
Where’s the rush?
The vision when the Giants traded second- and fifth-round picks for edge rusher Brian Burns, then signed him to a five-year, $141 million contract, was that they’d be able to generate pressure with their front four. With Burns and 2022 No. 5 pick Kayvon Thibodeaux on the edges and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence in the middle, they believed they wouldn’t need to rely on blitzing.
That looks like a miscalculation through four games. The Giants pressured Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on only seven of his 27 dropbacks and recorded just one sack on Thursday night.
Thibodeaux took advantage of a mismatch with rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton to lead the Giants with five pressures and the lone sack. Lawrence had an uncharacteristically quiet game with just one pressure while being double-teamed on virtually every snap. Burns disappointed with just two pressures.
The book on Burns when the Giants acquired him was that he’s a very good — but not great — player. He flashes his freakish athleticism enough to tantalize, but he also disappears for stretches. His $28.2 million salary puts him in the same pay range as San Francisco’s Nick Bosa, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and Cleveland’s Myles Garrett. He has never been a consistent game-wrecker like those players.
The only time the Giants’ pass rush has dominated this season was when defensive coordinator Shane Bowen broke tendency and blitzed Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson on 53.2 percent of his dropbacks in a 21-15 win in Week 3. That relentless assault against an undermanned offensive line produced eight sacks.
It wasn’t surprising that Bowen dialed back the blitzes against Prescott, who is one of the best quarterbacks in the league when pressured. Prescott went 4-for-4 for 74 yards and a touchdown when the Giants blitzed him on Thursday.
Again, the point of acquiring Burns was to avoid needing blitzes to affect the quarterback. That wasn’t the case on Thursday. The defense wasn’t bad. Holding Dallas to 20 points, 293 yards and 3-for-10 on third down should be enough to win. But the lack of disruption — one sack, no takeaways, 81.5 completion percentage — allowed Prescott to pick apart the secondary from a clean pocket en route to his 13th straight win over the Giants.
Breaking the Banks
The Giants can’t be surprised by their lack of top cornerback play. General manager Joe Schoen joked that he might have to play corner when informing Bowen of the cost to trade for Burns.
If the Giants kept the second-round pick traded for Burns, they likely would have selected Alabama cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry with the 39th pick. McKinstry went 41st to New Orleans, so he was off the board before the Giants took safety Tyler Nubin at No. 47 with their other second-round pick.
The Giants also could have prioritized signing a proven cornerback in free agency. Instead, they rolled with their inexperienced group until re-signing Adoree’ Jackson right before the start of the season.
The hope was that 2023 first-round pick Deonte Banks would blossom into a No. 1 corner in his second season and that young corners Cor’Dale Flott and Dru Phillips would capably fill the other starting roles. But Banks hasn’t been up to the tall task of shadowing opposing No. 1 wide receivers.
Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb torched Banks for a 55-yard touchdown on a go route in man coverage in the second quarter. Lamb had six catches for 94 yards in the first half before being limited to one catch for 4 yards after the break.
Flott was solid at the outside corner spot opposite Banks, while Nick McCloud filled in well for Phillips, who impressed before suffering a calf injury in Week 3. McCloud again demonstrated that he is a valuable player to have as a Swiss Army knife backup.
The supporting cast won’t matter if the Giants don’t come up with a better plan against No. 1 targets. Seattle’s DK Metcalf, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Philadelphia’s A.J. Brown are looming in the next three games. The Giants need to give Banks more help in those matchups.
Targeting Nabers
It’s clear that coach Brian Daboll is adept at getting the ball to top playmaker Malik Nabers. The dynamic rookie had 12 catches for 115 yards on 15 targets against the Cowboys. Nabers has been targeted on 38.2 percent of the Giants’ passes, which is the highest target share in the league. For perspective, Raiders three-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams led the NFL with a 33 percent target share last season.
The Cowboys wisely shifted No. 1 cornerback Trevon Diggs on to Nabers after the phenom torched backup corner Andrew Booth with a double move for a 39-yard gain on the Giants’ opening possession. Nabers had two catches for 16 yards on four targets when matched up with Diggs.
Malik Nabers making guys touch grass 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/OEshvF2TSc
— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2024
Daboll used shifts and motions to get Nabers away from Diggs before the snap. One savvy method was lining up Nabers in the slot because Diggs didn’t travel inside. Then Nabers would motion to the outside on the other side of the field away from Diggs.
The most creative wrinkle was lining Nabers up in the backfield and having him release between the left guard and tackle on a play in the third quarter. Nabers navigated the zone coverage of linebackers to get open for a 15-yard completion.
Nabers suffered a concussion late in the game and is “day to day,” according to Daboll. The Giants have an extended break before their Week 5 game next Sunday at Seattle because of the Thursday game.
Designs not matching results
In addition to the creative ways to get Nabers the ball, there are signs of Daboll’s skill as a play caller and game planner.
Daboll clearly identified the Cowboys as susceptible to double moves, so he dialed up Nabers’ nasty route that left Booth stumbling on the slant-and-go that gained 39 yards. Running back Tyrone Tracy aligned wide in an empty formation and ran a stutter-go to get open deep in the second quarter. But Tracy failed to get both feet inbounds and the play was negated by an illegal shift anyway. The design was effective, but the execution was lacking. That’s been a trend for an offense that is averaging just 15 points per game.
For the first time since Tiki Barber was in the Giants’ backfield, the screen pass is a viable part of the offense. Tracy had a 19-yard gain on a screen that he finished with hard running, while Devin Singletary added a 14-yard gain on a screen.
The Giants recognized that the Cowboys would jump on hard counts, so quarterback Daniel Jones twice drew defenders offside on third downs. One offside was blown dead, but Jones squandered a free play on the other as he underthrew an open Darius Slayton on a deep pass that was intercepted by Diggs.
The frustrating aspect of the inability to score is the Giants aren’t capitalizing on opportunities that are factored into the game plan.
Running in place
Singletary made one of the best 3-yard runs you’ll see on Thursday. The Giants had fourth-and-1 at their 49-yard line in the second quarter when Singletary took a handoff and was immediately faced with penetration on his right and an unblocked defender crashing from his left.
Singletary spun to his left away from safety Donovan Wilson and outran two linebackers to pick up 3 yards for the first down. That was it for highlights from Singletary, who gained just 24 yards on 14 carries.
Aside from the 43-yard run to seal the win over the Browns, Singletary has 29 carries for 46 yards in the past two games. He also nearly had his third fumble in three games, but he was ruled down before the ball popped loose on a 2-yard run in the second quarter.
The Giants couldn’t run the ball from any personnel grouping, but they were particularly unsuccessful from 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR). The Giants had 14 carries for 11 yards out of 12 personnel. They gained 3 yards on three carries from 13 personnel (1 RB, 3 TE, 1 WR) and 12 yards on six carries from 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR). They gained 10 yards on six carries with tight end Jakob Johnson lined up at fullback. Their longest run of the game gained just 5 yards.
Head-scratching play calls
Daboll’s decision to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line on the opening drive of the second half was debatable. Trailing 14-9, Daboll believed it was important to put points on the board in a close game.
With that in mind, the play-calling leading up to the field goal was head-scratching. The Giants had first-and-goal from the 10-yard line after the creative 15-yard completion to Nabers. On first down, Wan’Dale Robinson was open in the flat immediately, but instant pressure from an unblocked edge rusher prevented Jones from pulling the trigger. He avoided the sack and eventually checked it down to Robinson, who was out of bounds for an incompletion.
On second down, the Giants used two tight ends and motioned Slayton into the line to put nine defenders in the box for a Singletary run that gained 2 yards. That play call seemed like a clear sign that this was four-down territory.
On third-and-goal from the 8, Robinson motioned into the backfield and then out toward the left sideline on the snap. Nabers ran a curl on that side of the field to draw attention, and Jones threw a quick swing pass to Robinson. He caught it at the line of scrimmage and was tackled at the 3-yard line. Daboll then called on the field goal team for a 22-yarder that cut the deficit to 14-12.
Not taking a single shot to the end zone from the 10-yard line is hard to justify, especially when the second- and third-down play calls seemed to be designed to get closer to the goal line rather than to score a touchdown. That approach would have been understandable if Daboll was setting up to go for it in fourth down. Instead, he took the conservative route.
Returning problem
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Giants’ return game is a liability. Part of that is because established returners Gunner Olszewski and Isaiah McKenzie got injured during the preseason, but the backup plan has been a dud.
Eric Gray had a costly fumble on the opening kickoff against the Browns, while Tracy coughed up a kickoff return on the opening kickoff of the second half against the Cowboys that was recovered by teammate Chris Manhertz. There has been no tradeoff for the poor ball security with big plays, as the Giants’ longest kickoff return of the season is a 31-yarder by Gray.
Tracy was replaced after the fumble by Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who was signed in Week 2. Smith-Marsette didn’t get any opportunities to return a kickoff, but he had a 22-yard punt return to give the Giants good field position for a field goal drive early in the fourth quarter.
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Kicking away doubts
The stakes were high for Giants kicker Greg Joseph after he missed his lone field goal attempt, a 48-yarder, in his debut at Cleveland. Daboll didn’t immediately commit to sticking with Joseph, who was signed last week to step in for Graham Gano (hamstring), who will miss at least four games on injured reserve.
The Giants had committed a roster spot and salary to Joseph for three weeks since they poached him from the Lions’ practice squad. That likely spared Joseph, who responded by going 5-for-5 on field goals on Thursday.
Joseph connected from 22, 38, 41, 42 and 52 yards to account for all of the Giants’ scoring. He also booted touchbacks on all six of his kickoffs to keep the ball out of the hands of dangerous returner KaVontae Turpin.
Gano is eligible to return in Week 7, although it’s not known if he’ll be ready then. Joseph’s performance on Thursday provided some peace of mind that the Giants have a suitable replacement.
Closing the gap?
Daboll was asked after the game if the close result showed the Giants are making progress in the one-sided rivalry with the Cowboys. If the gap is shrinking, it’s mostly because the Cowboys have gotten worse.
Dallas had an inexplicably passive offseason, letting valuable contributors on both sides of the ball leave in free agency without investing in replacements. That makes it more discouraging that the Giants couldn’t beat their rival at a vulnerable point.
(Top photo of Brian Burns and Terence Steele: Julian Leshay Guadalupe / NorthJersey.com / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
