The New York Giants fell to the Los Angeles Rams 9-17 on Sunday afternoon. Starting the season 0-4 was never the plan, but early struggles were expected given the circumstances.
New head coach Joe Judge has tried to motivate his team and improve his coaching along the way, and while his roster has shown fight, they simply haven’t been able to extract victories from their first four contests.
Good news and bad news for the New York Giants:
GOOD NEWS:
There was plenty of good to extract from the loss to the Rams. While the offense was essentially nonexistent, the defense played admirably and there were several stand-out performances.
Linebacker Blake Martinez had an outstanding performance, tallying 13 total tackles and one for a loss. Interior defender Dexter Lawrence was also active, picking up a quarterback hit and six tackles.
However, free-agent signing Kyler Fackrell was in the backfield often, recording three tackles for loss and one sack. His performance was notable and a major reason why the Giants stuck around until the final moments.
More positives from the game, undrafted free agent CB Ryan Lewis performed well in coverage, picking up three tackles along the way. He filled in for Corey Ballentine and Isaac Yiadom, and I anticipate he will gain more reps moving forward. The Giants have struggled to find a supplement for the CB2 position after DeAndre Baker was released earlier this off-season. They have been testing different options for quite some time now, and Lewis might have shown the first real sign of positivity.
The Giants entered the game as the 12th best defense in the league, and they undoubtedly showed their true colors against a strong Los Angeles team. This unit is being coached extremely well by defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, and once they find their solution at CB2 and gain back Xavier McKinney, they should see vast improvements.
BAD NEWS:
The bad news, the offense is simply incapable of scoring touchdowns. Their last six scoring drives have ended in field goals, making Graham Gano one of their highest scorers up to this point in the season.
On the ground, they had a bit more success in week four, totaling 136 yards. Wayne Gallman clocked in at 45 yards on six carries and Devonta Freeman 33 on 11 carries. Of course, Daniel Jones was running for his life for a majority of the game, tallying 45 yards on six carries as well.
In the receiving game, Darius Slayton picked up three receptions for 48 yards, but most of the afternoon was tempered by dump-offs. They were far too many drops in a contest by the WRs.
Daniel Jones was unable to capitalize on several fantastic red zone opportunities. Late in the game, Jones threw a costly interception that could have tied the game for the New York Giants. They would’ve had to convert the two-point conversion, but they were marching down the field with ease until Jones‘ bad decision. Unless he can eliminate these poor turnovers, the Giants will never have a true chance at winning these games late in the 4th quarter.