The New York Giants are in a peculiar position on offense, as coordinator Jason Garrett has driven the unit straight into the ground with a lack of consistency and execution. In what seems to be a different strategy and system every week, Garrett has failed to play to his player’s strengths, giving receivers like Kenny Golladay opportunities with 50/50 balls and inexcusably avoiding Kadarius Toney in the passing game.
Toney, who replaced Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton after both suffered hamstring injuries in the loss to Atlanta, received just three targets and two catches despite playing for the majority of the game. There were numerous occasions where Toney could’ve been more involved, utilizing him on screen passes and targeting him in the shallow portions of the field where he can make players miss with his elite agility.
The New York Giants are sticking with an offense that will never succeed:
Ultimately, Garrett’s scheme is outdated and prehistoric, as he fails to adapt to the modern-day NFL and incorporate more unique route concepts. In addition, if you look over to Kyle Shanahan‘s offense in San Francisco, one of the ways he curates a more effective unit is by utilizing pre-snap motion. Motion allows the quarterback to decipher the opposing defense’s coverage, whether it be man or zone. It also forces defenders out of position and creates movement where the offenses can capitalize. The Giants simply don’t use enough of it, playing out of their base concepts and hoping Daniel Jones can find a receiver with the minimal amount of time he has in the pocket.
Despite Garrett’s pre-historic offense, head coach Joe Judge is committed to his strategy, stating there wouldn’t be any significant changes as they’re looking for more continuity moving forward.
“We’re going to stay consistent with what we’re doing and keep improving as a team. There’s a lot of things we need to clean up coaching-wise, execution-wise, but we’re going to stay on the track with it and make sure we get those things right before making any radical changes.â€
The problem is simple; most NFL offenses are incorporating a number of different strategies, including pre-stop motion and designing plays around their top playmakers. Newly signed receiver Kenny Golladay seems to be running pointless routes that aren’t giving him an opportunity to win. The frequently called slant and hook routes aren’t enough to win football games, and if you look over at Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams, they find ways to scheme open their star players, like Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods. Using rub-routes and decoys, they were able to confuse some of the best defenses in football, something the Giants failed to do against a league-worst Falcons defense.
So the question is, how long can the Giants survive as Jason Garrett drags them through the early 2000s and a scheme that most dinosaurs would coin as incompetent?
At the very least, the offensive coordinator should be utilizing a hurry-up offense more strategically, as it creates confusion for defenses and is one of the only ways the Giants have experienced success, notably on the first drive against the Washington Football Team in Week 2.
If the unit continues to struggle at this rate, Judge may have to make another difficult decision, firing an experienced coach like Garrett midseason and handing over playcalling duties to Freddie Kitchens. However, the Giants likely won’t stick with Garrett beyond the 2021 campaign, as Kitchens will likely take over playcalling duties at some point if the offense is unable to crack 20 points in the coming weeks. Having playmakers like Golladay, Toney, and Saquon on the field at the same time should be enough to score more than 14 points against the worst defense in football.