The New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers, 24-22, on Monday Night Football.
The Giants pulled off a big upset in primetime to keep their playoff hopes alive. They have now won three straight and improved to 5-8 on the season. They will have an opportunity to build on that next week as they face another potential wild-card team in the New Orleans Saints.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this win.
Offense: B
The Giants had one of their best offensive outputs of the season in terms of points. The offense was highlighted by Tommy DeVito, who had the first game-winning drive of his career when he completed four straight passes for 53 yards to drive down the field for a game-sealing field goal.
DeVito ended the day with 158 passing yards, one touchdown, a 113.9 passer rating, and most importantly no sacks or turnovers. The rookie was also a threat in the run game as he added 71 yards on the ground on 10 carries. DeVito’s pocket presence looked a lot better in this contest and he was also helped out by improved offensive line play as he was only hit twice on the day.
As a team, the Giants totaled 367 yards, three touchdowns (two coming from Saquon Barkley), and averaged 6.7 yards per play (their highest of the season). However, not everything was perfect on the day as the Giants failed to convert on too many short-yardage plays.
The Giants only converted 30 percent of their third downs and failed to convert on their one fourth down. Worse, they had an opportunity to ice the game in the fourth quarter and Barkley had a backbreaking fumble on a fluke play which would lead to the Packers taking a lead in the last two minutes of regulation.
Defense: C+
It was a roller-coaster day for this defense. At a quick glance, it looks like a solid day. Two turnovers forced on Jordan Love and held the Packers to completing only 35 percent of third downs.
However, the Giants defense was very leaky all game. At the end of the first half, the defense allowed the Packers to score a field goal in the last minute instead of sending the game into the half tied.
Furthermore, the Giants’ defense allowed back-to-back scoring drives to end the game (and the drive before that was a missed field goal), allowing 90 yards and 10 points on the final two defensive possessions of the game, giving the Packers the lead.
Luckily, the defense did come up clutch in stopping the two-point conversion, allowing Devito’s drive to be a game-winning one.
One positive is that the Giants’ secondary came to play on Monday night with Deonte Banks. He was very solid in coverage all day, making a couple of big plays in crucial moments. He finished with 12 tackles, one tackle for loss, and one pass defensed.
Jason Pinnock also had the only interception of the game which helped to stop a Packers drive. Pinnock had another big play in what was a potential game-saving play where he knocked the ball out of a Green Bay receiver’s hands to save a touchdown.
Special Teams: D+
Bobby McCain was responsible for a costly fumble on the punt return unit which set up a Packers field goal to cut the lead to one point.
Randy Bullock also missed a field goal attempt from 48 yards out, which would have been the first points of the game. Instead, the Packers had a shorter field, allowing them to go up seven at the end of the first quarter. Bullock did make up for it by hitting the game-winning field goal from 37 yards out.
Jamie Gillan did a solid job punting the football, nailing three of his four punts inside of the 20.
However, the best part of the game from this unit was when they recovered a fumble on a punt at the start of the second half, setting up a touchdown that would give the Giants their first lead of the game. This salvaged a very subpar day from the special teams unit.
Coaching: B+
Brian Daboll & Co. deserves a lot of recognition for stacking three straight wins together with this roster. While they have not faced the fiercest of opponents, the Packers are currently the seventh seed in the NFC Playoff picture and the Giants were heavy underdogs even at home.
Daboll had a great game plan coming into this game and made the necessary second-half adjustments. The problems on special teams need to be resolved immediately, though, if the Giants want to stay competitive.
Mike Kafka drew up some nice runs to get his three best playmakers — Wan’Dale Robison, Barkley, and Devito — in space. The Packers have one of the worst run defenses in the NFL and Kafka took full advantage of it. He also got the ball out of DeVito’s hands quickly relieving the burden on the offensive line. The biggest criticism of his play calling is his third down play calls as the Giants failed to convert on third and short too often.
Wink Martindale did not have his best coaching day but did get his defense to force the classic Martindale turnovers. The Giants need to get home at the quarterback more as two sacks likely will not cut it.
Finally, Martindale’s scheme in the last few minutes of halves needs to improve as the Giants were unable to stop the hurry-up offense that the Packers ran.
