New York Giants Week 5 Report Card: Honor Roll

The New York Giants traveled to Seattle, known for one of the loudest playing environments in the league, and emerged victorious. Let’s break down the unit grades for this pleasing victory.

No Malik Nabers, no Devin Singletary, no problem! The Giants, who always preach that it’s “next man up,” adapted with a perfectly balanced game plan (34 runs, 34 pass attempts) and the results showed what a winning offense should look like.

Start with a much-improved rushing attack of 5.1 yards per carry, which meant fewer second-and-third-and-long situations.

Add to that strong offensive line play in both run blocking and pass protection, a quarterback in Daniel Jones who silenced his harshest critics for at least an afternoon, and the resurgence of receiver Darius Slayton, whose 122-yard performance put an end to the talk Should you trade him, you’ll have one of the best, most efficient offensive performances from a Giants team in a long time.

Would you like to know more about the numbers? The Giants, who held the ball 37-22, recorded 24 first downs, converted 43.8% of their third down plays, had three possessions of 11-plus plays and finished the game with 420 yards of total offense.

Despite the noise level, no pre-snap penalties were assessed for false starts. Behind the Class A pass protection, Jones continued his attacks rather than quickly directing the ball into tight windows, and there was room for defenders to reach the second level.

There were a few hiccups – the sack by Jones on the first play of the game, which resulted in a fumble that the Giants fortunately recovered; a questionable call on Eric Gray’s fumble in the end zone that never should have been made had Gray kept the ball; and a few more dropped passes (two from Wan’Dale Robinson).

But these little blips on the radar can be corrected (it has to move forward).

Degree: A-

Don’t look now, but the Giants’ defense leads the league with 22 sacks, adding another seven to their impressive total.

Dexter Lawrence may have still ignored Pro Football Focus’ claim that he was neutralized last week by Cowboys rookie center Cooper Beebee (We’re kidding! We’re kidding!) continued on a tear that included three sacks and a slew of other pressures.

Youngster DJ Davidson was the other defender with a multi-sack game, adding two to the pile.

Cornerback Deonte Banks responded to defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson’s public criticism of him last week with his best game of the season.

According to NextGen Stats, Banks faced Metcalf on 35 of his 47 runs, and the second-year cornerback held the big-play receiver to 24 yards on two receptions on four targets, including a forced fumble late in the game that the Giants recovered .

Brian Burns came through in the clutch and sacked Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith on a fourth-down play. The Seahawks’ running game made little difference, and Seattle was able to boast a 27.3% third-down conversion rate.

Grade: A

Greg Joseph made all of his field goal attempts, the longest of the three going 38 yards. Punter Jamie Gillan laid a nice punt inside the 20, which Dane Belton knocked down inside the 5-yard line.

But the biggest play was the blocked field goal attempt in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Isaiah Simmons broke through a gap in the Seahawks’ defense and got a mitt on the 47-yard attempt, the ball landing in the arms of Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who ran it back 60 yards for a touchdown, giving the Giants a tackle. Points lead with just a bit of time.

If this play had not been made, the game would have been lost in overtime.

Degree: A+

Brian Daboll delivered a near-masterpiece this week with a game plan that mixed in screens, attacked the edges, and got the tight end more involved.

Shane Bowen continued to mix a bit more flash into his pressure packages and seemed to find a good balance between being particularly aggressive when needed and not going overboard like his predecessor did.

Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial came up with the idea that led to the blocked field goal that turned the game in the Giants’ favor.

Degree: A+