Big Blue View
The New York Giants surrendered their third-straight 30-point game in Week 9, as the San Francisco 49ers won 34-24.
Early on, it looked as though the Giants were going to make a game of it. They marched down the field on their first drive to score another game-opening touchdown, then pushed the 49ers to fourth down on their ensuing drive. But San Francisco was able to convert the fourth down and ultimately scored a touchdown on that drive. The Giants didn’t allow the 49ers to be explosive, but they did allow San Francisco to be methodical and efficient.
“Thought we eliminated some explosive plays, which was good,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “but four of five in the red zone is tough, and three of those were on third down, and we got picked with the one with McCaffrey on the way back there.”
The Giants made plays on both sides of the ball. However individual efforts on individual plays just wasn’t good enough. And once again, the Giants run defense simply wasn’t up to the task in front of it.
“I wouldn’t say they had a ton of explosives but they ran it and they were pretty productive running the football,” he said. “Longest one was that last one, I think 18 yards, whatever. But you know, four or five, six, average 4.1, 40 carries. We’ve got to do a better job in that area. I don’t think it’s a secret.”
“Team game,” he added. “But certainly got to do better.”
Ultimately, the Giants’ defensive front failed to generate much pressure and allowed holes to be opened. The depleted linebacking corps and secondary failed to fill their gaps or tackle well.
“Yeah, look, nothing was good enough,” Daboll said. “You know, the guys battled but ultimately not good enough.”
The Giants did indeed battle.
Brian Burns came up with his 11th sack of the season, leading to a fumble recovery for Abdul Carter.
“That’s a great play by Burns and Abdul,” Daboll said. “Didn’t come away with points. That was, I wouldn’t say the breaker, but you’d love to have points down there. Didn’t get it done.”
And then, of course, there was Jaxson Dart. Dart went 24 of 33 (72.7 percent) for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns, as well as led the Giants in rushing with 56 yards and a touchdown.
“Kid gives everything he has,” Daboll said. “Competes 60 minutes, makes good decisions. We’ve got to do a good job of finishing plays around him, too. But he battles and I’m proud of him.”
‘Battling’ is an accurate description of how Dart plays the game. Giants fans consistently question why Dart doesn’t slide, or why he hasn’t learned to protect himself. The answer is simple, however: Dart knows how to protect himself, but chooses not to do so.
The rookie simply refuses to fold — whether it’s on a play or on the game as a whole. He took off...
