The New York Giants improved to 6-1 on the season after a nail-biting 23-17 last-second victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road in Week 7.
Buy Giants TicketsHere are the winners, losers and in-betweens from the game.
Winners
Daniel Jones: Giants Twitter continues to bash Jones, who does nothing but give 12 billion percent on every play. In this game he lost two starting offensive linemen and his starting tight end while star running back Saquon Barkley was being bottled up for most of the game and carried the team on his back. Let’s not forget the half-dozen drops or so that killed drives and scoring chances. Jones ran for 107 yards and a score and completed 19 of 30 passes for 202 yards and another touchdown.
Saquon Barkley: After a frustrating first half, Barkley imposed his will on the Jaguars and finished with 135 total yards from scrimmage (110 rushing, 25 receiving) and helped the Giants outlast Jacksonville.
Brian Daboll: Not quite sure what his secret sauce is yet, but the fans like it and won’t question it. The second half adjustments seem to work every week now and the Giants keep on rolling despite all of the injuries and other adversities.
The Giants’ secondary: Xavier McKinney forced a fumble off Travis Etienne deep in Giants’ territory to thwart a Jaguars scoring drive. Adoree’ Jackson made several key stops and PDs both before and after he left the field to be checked for a concussion. Fabian Moreau made the game-saving stop with no time left.
Others: Joshua Ezeudu, Landon Collins, Kayvon Thibodeaux
Losers
Evan Neal and Ben Bredeson: Both starting offensive lineman left the game with knee injuries in the first half and were ruled out. They had not been playing particularly well prior to the injuries. They were replaced by Joshua Ezeudu and Tyre Phillips respectively.
Giants wide receivers: A huge case of the dropsies hurt the offensive effort all day, most notably a drop on 4th-and-2 on the goal line by Marcus Johnson. The ball was right in his chest and he could not reel it in. A touchdown there would have given Big Blue a 20-17 lead with 6:19 remaining in the third quarter.
Referees: What an atrocious game for the NFL officials, especially on the final drive of the game. They were wildly inconsistent and seemed to want to insert themselves into the game.
Others: Marcus Johnson
Mixed reviews
Darius Slayton: Slayton led the Giants with three catches for 58 yards and a touchdown but every target seems to be and adventure these days.
Run defense: Again, the Giants had issues locking down the run. Etienne rans for 114 yards and a score in this game. They allowed 142 yards rushing in all and now have allowed over 100 in five of their seven games this season. In the other two games, they allowed 94 and 93 yards rushing.
Tae Crowder: The Giants’ inside linebacker is getting lost in the sauce at times and appears to be out of place. He is no longer the centerpiece of the defense and it may not be his fault.
Others: Leonard Williams, Jaylon Smith
