Big Blue View
I don’t think there was…or at least I don’t think there should have been… much player evaluation going on during today’s meaningless New York Giants game against the Dallas Cowboys. (Did the Giants keep Kenny Golladay because he caught a TD pass from Davis Webb in the 2022 season finale in Philadelphia?) Both franchises had disappointing seasons, both will see upheaval to a greater or lesser extent in their coaching staffs during the off-season, and both have had defenses that have been pretty offensive to their fans this season. Whoever the next Giants head coach is will not be analyzing tape of this game to learn anything that isn’t evident on the previous 16 tapes.
The main differences in the two teams have been that the Cowboys’ quarterback situation has been settled all season, they have two premier wide receivers who have been healthy all or much of the season, they have two of the NFL’s best placekickers and punters, and while Matt Eberflus may be short-lived as their defensive coordinator, at least he hadn’t blown five fourth quarter leads this season.
Still, the Giants showed signs of life last week in Las Vegas, and according to the calculations of Doug_Analytics, Saturday night’s Seahawks victory over the 49ers left the Giants with a slightly larger sliver of hope that they could get the No. 1 draft pick. It would require a number of things to go right in this and other games today, and a worst case scenario was the Giants dropping all the way to N0. 7.
What did we learn today about this and other aspects of this frustrating team?
No No. 1 pick. That went out the window with the Giants’ victory. On the plus side, the Giants entered the game with the chance to pick as low as No. 7. Their final landing spot depends on the results of the 4:25 games involving the Jets, Cardinals, and Commanders, but with the Browns winning and the Titans losing, the Giants can pick no higher than No. 3 and no lower than No. 6.
That’s disappointing, but at least they beat the Cowboys for a change, and Dak Prescott for a change (even though he only played a half). I’ll take what I can get.
You had to feel sorry for Jaxson Dart. He was playing his heart out today as he always does. With Malik Nabers out almost all of his time as QB1, and with Wan’Dale Robinson sitting the game out after breaking the 1,000-yard mark, the pickings were slim for Dart to find receivers to throw to. For the second time this season, Darius Slayton had a long TD reception called back by a questionable offensive pass interference call. The Isaiah Hodgins of 2022 doesn’t seem to exist anymore. Daniel Bellinger helped with a TD on an improvised shovel pass from Dart but otherwise did little. Chris Manhertz dropped his only target, as well as whiffing on...
