Big Blue View
Let’s review some of the key plays, sequences
Here are some of the key plays and sequences of plays in the New York Giants’ 27-22 los to the Washington Commanders on Sunday.
Quarterback Daniel Jones finally threw a touchdown pass at home. The recipient was veteran tight end Chris Manhertz. Jones also had a rushing touchdown in the game. However, the Giants had a very run-heavy approach in the first half. Jones finished the first half 4 of 6 with 0 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass to Manhertz. He finished the game 20 of 26 for 174 yards with two touchdown passes.
Jones also connected with Theo Johnson for a 35-yard touchdown up the seam:
It’s the second week in a row where Jones attacked a middle-of-the-field-open defense with Johnson up the seam. It’s great to see Johnson’s upside receive attention, but he played poorly for much of the game. Johnson’s touchdown came with under three minutes left in the game, and was followed with another failed 2-point conversion attempt.
This is what Pro Football Focus had to say about Daniel Jones’ performance:
Jones was especially effective from a clean pocket, where he completed 18 of 22 attempts for 160 yards and two touchdowns, with one big-time throw and no turnover-worthy plays. Impressively, he didn’t earn a single negative grade on his 25 dropbacks without pressure.
Still, the Giants’ game plan was obvious — run the football and control the clock. The Giants’ second passing attempt was a designed screen that was fumbled by Jones as Dante Fowler Jr. hit him upon his release.
This was the Giants second drive after their defense forced a three-and-out from Washington. New York had five consecutive runs to open this drive before the Jones’ fumble. Tyrone Tracy Jr. started the drive with a 4-yard rush that he then followed by a 10-yard rush. Jones then took advantage of an aggressive defense and rushed for 24 yards:
Great read by Jones to get the offense moving. Tracy Jr. then ran 15 yards on the next play, followed by a 10-yard rush. Here is the 15-yard gain:
The Giants have successfully employed screens all season. It was a well-timed play call by Brian Daboll, but the call is precarious if the play side edge defender goes wide around Chris Hubbard. The execution is not crisp, and the Commanders turned this fumble into Terry McLaurin’s first touchdown of the game.
The vendetta between Commanders’ wide receiver Terry McLaurin and Tae Banks went the way of burgundy and gold. McLaurin caught two touchdowns against the struggling and mercurial Banks, who was benched last week. However, the two touchdowns were his only receptions in the game; he was only targeted on three of Jayden Daniels’ 22 passing attempts. Here are his touchdown receptions:
The first touchdown was a slick man beater underneath where McLaurin was able to get inside of Banks to establish leverage. McLaurin got...
