Raise your hand if you had the Giants as one of six teams to start out 2-0 this season? Believe it or not, this is the reality right now. Daboll has turned this team around and has it believing in each other. They are doing it with defense as they have only allowed 36 points thru 2 games. It helps to have Saquon Barkley back and healthy, but is this a legitimate playoff contender, or are there still reasons for concern?
Offense
This offense relies on a physical running game and timely passing. So far they have gotten just enough of both, but it will need more to compete with the better teams. The big change from recent years is this run game led by Barkley. He has ran the ball 39 times for 236 yards so far this season, which is an average of 6.1 yards per carry. Even when Saquon was healthy, the offensive line could never open up holes and it seemed like he was met behind the line of scrimmage constantly.
The passing game still leaves a lot to be desired. They dont have many big plays where they can stretch the defense. Their goal is to play it safe and have Daniel Jones be more of a game manager as they lean on their running game and defense. Jones has been fine thru 2 games going 39 for 55 for 364 yards. As you can tell, it is a lot of short passes as he is only averaging 6.6 yards per attempt. This is at least better than throwing INT’s all over the field. He only has 1 thru 2 games.
The positive about this Giants team is that they have an identity with Daboll. They haven’t really had any sort of identity in the last few years. This team knows what they need to do to win games and it has worked so far. I think the issue is when they play better offenses (Played Titans and Panthers so far) and have to score points to keep up with the other team. Their bigger strength so far in this early season is their defense.
Defense
The defense is their bread and butter this season. They just limited the Panthers to 275 yards of total offense and held them to 2 of 12 on 3rd down conversion attempts. The crazy part is that they aren’t even fully healthy on this side of the ball.
Leonard Williams went down and was carted off the field in the game vs the Panthers. They were also without their 1st round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Azeez Ojulari who led them in sacks last season. When they get their guys back, this team has the potential to be great. Defensive Coordinator Martindale has these guys playing fast and aggressive. He has preached to his players to not be afraid of failing and that mentality/style is the reason for their good start.
This defense is always trying to confuse opposing Quarterbacks with blitzes coming from all different places. The key play to show what they are all about was on the critical 3rd down play with just under 3 minutes to play. Martindale called a double safety blitz, which is pretty aggressive in that situation. The Panthers didn’t need many more yards to get into FG range. Their disguise threw Mayfield off, which opened up a hole in the line. This allowed safety Julian Love to get the sack on Mayfield. McKinney was right behind him on the other side too. You dont see many coaches calling double safety blitzes in that situation, but that’s what this defense is all about. If they can stay healthy and keep flying around the way they are, this defense could keep this team competing for a wildcard spot.
Conclusion
I don’t think this team is ready to make the playoffs yet this season, but they are definitely taking strides forward compared to years past. It’s starts with coaching and their mentality. The only way this team can find a way to sneak into the playoffs is if they can get more out of their passing game and Saquon can stay healthy all season long. The big “If” in that situation is the passing game because Daniel Jones has never truly shown consistently that he is the QB that can carry a team when he needs to, but time will tell.
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