Big Blue View
The New York Giants play the Philadelphia Eagles this week on Thursday Night Football. One benefit of the short week is that media got to speak with Giants coordinators on Monday, rather than having to wait until Thursday afternoon.
That means we got some perspective from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen, and special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial less than 24 hours after Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Let’s go through some of what we learned.
The New York spent big money in free agency on safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo. They have a first-round pick (Deonte Banks), second-round pick (Tyler Nubin) and and two third-round draft picks (Dru Phillips, Cor’Dale Flott) of their own in the secondary.
Yet, the secondary has been an issue for much of the season. Sunday against the Saints the Giants gave up an 87-yard touchdown pass, and had defensive pass interference penalties on Banks, Phillips, and Adebo that created first downs for the Saints. The Banks penalty negated a Holland interception.
“Obviously we want the big one back,” Bowen said. “We can’t give that up, especially backed up there with how the game was going. I felt like that swung the momentum right there for sure. We’ve got to do a good job of understanding our leverage as that thing gets down the field and where our help is and making sure we had two guys back there, and he broke really across our leverage, and we were unable to get him down.
“We’ve got to eliminate the penalties, the grabbing, the DPI negated an interception for us early … I think these guys feel themselves, and they’re actually in decent position as we’re going, their own body, and then just as it keeps getting extended, the panic sets in a little bit, and we’ve got to be able to find some comfort when we’re on body and be able to locate the football and not foul.”
The Giants have continued to rotate Flott and Banks at cornerback, though Flott (283 snaps, 78.6%) has played much more than Banks (100 snaps, 27.8%). Flott with a passer rating against of 85.4 and and zero penalties committed has clearly outplayed Banks (142.9 passer rating, four penalties committed) has clearly been the better player.
Bowen said Monday that is a “week-to-week thing” and will be an “ongoing evaluation.”
Bowen was asked point-blank (’Kudos’ to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post) if he has the autonomy to decide not to play Banks. The obvious implication there is whether or not the front office, which traded up to select Banks in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, is insisting on Banks getting playing time.
“These players earn what they get when they get here. That’s how it is. That’s how it’s been,” Bowen said. “I think us as a staff, it’s something we discuss day in and day out, just how guys are...
