Big Blue View
The New York Giants convincingly dropped their second straight game, falling 34–24 to the San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. A couple of late touchdowns in garbage time made the final score look closer than the game actually was. The Giants were able to devise an impressive opening script that resulted in an opening drive touchdown, but four straight punts and a missed field goal were the subsequent offense from Big Blue.
The missed field goal came right after Brian Burns earned a strip-sack fumble that gave the Giants’ offense the football at the 49ers’ 27-yard line with 33 seconds left in the first half. It could have been the catalyst to a possible comeback, but the Giants squandered the opportunity and came away with zero points after Graham Gano sent the 45-yard field goal wide left.
The Giants gained 296 yards to the 49ers’ 380. The 49ers were 6/11 on third down, and the Giants were 5/12. Questions about team effort are amplifying. This game, specifically, was indicative of errors that are all too common with this Giants’ team: missed tackles, blown run fits, missed field goals, and the pass rush disappearing, among others. Here are the grades from this week’s loss.
Quarterback
Jaxson Dart led an opening-drive touchdown for the fourth time in six games – that’s an impressive statistic for the rookie quarterback. There were plays where Dart held onto the football a bit too long, but he still showcased his spatial awareness in the pocket on the majority of plays, leading to decent gains on the deck by the rookie. However, he was clobbered in the pocket on a first-half sack in that same situation.
Dart finished 24 of 33 for 191 yards with two passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown, and 56 yards on the ground. Dart did not play perfect football, but he plays hard and finds solutions where there seemingly aren’t any. He isn’t exactly receiving help from his skilled-position players. Way too many dropped passes in big situations.
According to Doug Analytics on X, Dart finished with a +0.20 EPA with a 52% success rate and was 21/28 for 177 yards against zone coverage. The rookie’s shoulders must be sore.
Grade: B+
Running Back
The Giants missed Cam Skattebo and employed a running back by committee approach with Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary. The former had five carries for 18 yards (3.6 YPC) and the latter eight for 43 yards (5.4 YPC). Tracy Jr. had three catches for 19 yards and Singletary two for 8 yards. New York established the run on the first drive with gains of 8, 7, 6, and two gains of five yards on their 10-play, 64 yard drive.
Outside of those gains, the Giants struggled to establish a consistent attack on the ground; game script was one reason for that struggle. Overall, the Giants’ running backs did not have a massive impact on the game, and Dart’s legs out of the pocket and on...
