The New York Giants are rolling as they picked up their fourth straight win against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7.
This 23-17 victory shows how far this franchise has come in a mere year as they have already beaten their win total from last season. New York battled injuries and made yet another fourth-quarter comeback in this match. The excitement surrounding this team is at a 10-year high as the Giants are now 6-1 and second in the NFC East.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this win.
Offense: B+
Big Blue’s offense once again got the job done.
New York scored on five of their eight drives. The team also led seven campaigns into Jacksonville territory as they did their best to control the field position battle. And while there were several shortcomings, especially when the Giants failed to convert from inside the five, much of this can be blamed on one department.
It is clear that the receiving core is holding back this offense from its true potential. The group severely lacks talent and this was shown on Sunday with the five-plus drops and overall lack of separation created.
However, outside this personnel group, the Giants are looking like a playoff-caliber team. The offensive line improved throughout the game opening up more and more rushing lanes while only allowing one sack. Saquon Barkley also had a slow start but ended up with another amazing stat line, rushing for 110 yards while catching four passes for 25 yards.
The true game-changer for this offense in Week 7 was Daniel Jones. The quarterback posted his second 200-yard passing game of the season as he finished with 202 yards and one touchdown through the air. However, that’s not all. Jones also was an exceptional rusher, totaling 107 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries.
This true dual-threat ability from the former first-round pick causes defenses to second-guess themselves and was a major reason for the Giants scoring 23 points. Not to mention, Jones also notched his fifth game-winning drive of the season, the most in the NFL.
Defense: C
While the defense held the Jaguars to 17 points, it was not the best effort from this team.
The group finished with one sack and only one turnover against a Jaguars team that had been sacked eight times and turned the ball over eight times in their previous three games. Allowing 436 yards of total offense and a 100-yard rusher are also not the greatest feats. The overall lack of pressure was definitely a problem in this game as the Jaguars were able to break off several big plays.
Fortunately for Big Blue, the secondary had a solid game, efficiency-wise, holding Trevor Lawrence to just a 51.2-percent completion percentage. Giants’ defensive backs recorded five passes defended on the day and also ended up making the game-saving play as they held Christian Kirk one-yard from the endzone on the final play of the game.
Nevertheless, the Giants will need to see some improved play from this department as they face a high-powered offense in the Seattle Seahawks next week.
Special Teams: B+
This was an overall solid game from the special teams’ department that was put over the edge to a succeeding grade by a blocked extra point from Nick McCloud which deserves recognition.
Other than that the rest of the team simply got the job done. Graham Gano made all three of his field goal, the longest from only 34-yards out, and his two extra points. Jamie Gillan was a below-average punter on the day having his two punts only total 80 yards and one of them ended in a touchback. However, this was nothing game-changing.
In terms of the return department, the Giants returned one punt for two yards and allowed 68 yards in kick returns on three attempts. Once again nothing really game-altering from this department in Week 7 but the McCloud blocked point after attempt deserves praise towards the former undrafted free agent.
Coaching: B+
Brian Daboll & Co. notched their sixth win in seven attempts on Sunday. In another fourth-quarter win, the Giants were able to stay undefeated on the road to start the season.
Daboll once again had a mediocre start to the game as the Giants seemed to be allowing too many big plays and were only up by two points going into the half. However, it was clear that he and his staff outcoached the Jaguars in the second half as the Giants had all four drives end up in Jaguars territory and outscored their opponents 10-6 in the final two quarters.
While many would have questioned his decision to go for it on fourth down in the third quarter, it was a gutsy call and you do not always win those. Daboll’s energy, conviction, and decision-making were great in the final 30 minutes of this game helping lead to a Giants victory.
As for the coordinators, Mike Kafka coached a great game from the offensive side of the ball as the Giants led several long drives and converted on 50-percent of third downs. The play-calling was great allowing New York to total 436 yards on offense, a season-high for the team. Kafka also had some amazing designed runs and read options for Jones allowing him to be the first player in team history to pass for 200 yards while also rushing for 100.
On the other side of the ball, Wink Martindale had a somewhat underwhelming game. The defense allowed 452 yards of offense and two fourth-down conversions on the day. Not to mention, Trevor Lawrence was able to pass for a season-high 310 passing yards without getting sacked once.
Martindale was expected to cause the young quarterback some problems but Lawrence looked pretty much unfazed for much of the game.
