The New York Giants tied the Washington Commanders, 20-20, in a Week 13 divisional battle.
This outcome brings New York’s record to 7-4-1 and third in the NFC East. They will have another divisional test next week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this tie.
Offense: C-
The Giants’ offense was once again underwhelming in the second half.
After a slow start, which included an unfortunate Daniel Jones fumble, the Giants’ offense started rolling. They scored 20 points on four straight drives to give Big Blue a seven-point lead. They were playing well as the running and passing game seemed in sync. Uncharacteristically, they even broke off a few big plays during this period including both a Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley 21-yard run and a Darius Slayton 55-yard catch.
However, after their third-quarter touchdown, the Giants’ offense disappeared. They failed to score on five straight possessions including four punts in regulation. To make matters worse, in overtime, Big Blue started with the ball and was unable to score. Then they also failed to score on the next two drives forcing this game to end in a draw.
The offensive totals themselves were up to par as Jones notched 200 yards and a touchdown passing while he added 71 yards on the ground. And Barkley added 63 yards and a touchdown rushing.
However, the same problems remain for the Giants as their offensive line allowed four sacks and opened limited rushing lanes while their receivers continue to get limited separation.
Defense: C+
The defense bounced back and put together a much better effort than last week but unfortunately still came up short at the end of regulation.
After a game where the defense recorded zero sacks, they went out and forced a lot of pressure on Washington by recording five sacks and 10 QB hits. They also forced a turnover again this week as they forced a Taylor Heinicke fumble.
The defense also deserves credit for their overall play in the second half and overtime. They allowed only seven points on eight second-half and overtime drives and came up clutch for New York as they forced Washington to have two straight punts in overtime giving the Giants a chance to win.
However, the same problems remain for New York as they failed to stop the run once again. They allowed Washington to rush for 165 yards on the day on an efficient 4.6 yards per carry. The team’s tackling also is a big problem which was on full display during Jahan Dotson’s 28-yard game-tying touchdown.
The defense had a chance to close out the game and give the Giants their first divisional win but instead allowed a 90-yard drive sending the game into overtime. New York desperately needs to improve on their ability to tighten up late in games and not allow points.
Special Teams: B
Despite Graham Gano missing a game-winning field goal, the special teams department played fairly well on Sunday.
Gano himself had a solid game where he made two field goals (the longest coming from 48 yards out) and both of his extra points. Unfortunately, he did not hit on what would have been a game-winning field goal from 58 yards out.
The rest of the unit played fairly well as Jamie Gillan placed three of his seven punts inside the 20-yard line.
In the return game, Richie James Jr. averaged a modest six yards per punt return and Gary Brightwell averaged 22 yards per kick return.
Coaching: C
A tie is always disappointing in football and Brian Daboll’s squad definitely had many opportunities to win this game. It was a good effort from Daboll to get his players to rally back from an early 10-0 deficit. However, the team’s inability to close out this game and fall off in the second half once again falls on Daboll and his second-half adjustments.
As for the individual coordinators, Mike Kafka definitely improved on his last couple of outings but there is still a lot of room to grow. The Giants were only 4-13 on third downs and two-of-three in the red zone. Saquon Barkley also was once again not the most efficient rusher averaging only 3.5 yards per carry. There is limited room for Kafka to work with but he needs to do a much better job getting his playmakers in space with a chance to affect the game.
On the other hand, Wink Martindale had one of his better coaching performances of the season. Taylor Heinicke was under constant pressure all game and this forced a lot of errand passes.
It’s clear that this defense is really raw but Martindale is getting the most out of them that he can.
