There is plenty of bad to harp on from the New York Giants’ week five loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but one excellent performance came from cornerback James Bradberry on defense.
Given the unit allowed 37 points and ultimately provided Andy Dalton with a chance at victory, Bradberry was a stand out player and locked down his opposition for the entire game.
Before diving into his specific performance, let’s go through a few of his season stats up to this point. Through five weeks, Bradberry has 17 combined tackles, nine passes defended, and one interception. He has also forced one fumble and played a significant part in an interception earlier on in the year, in which Julian Love came away with.
Diving into James Bradberry and how great he’s been for the New York Giants:
Bradberry continues to shine on a weekly basis, earning an 85.7 overall grade this year, which ranks second among all corners, according to PFF.
His coverage grade averages out at 87.3, with his worst number coming in week one against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Since then, he has been elite, hitting a top of 93.1 against the Chicago Bears, in which he completely blanked star, WR Allen Robinson.
His major issue has been his tackling, posting only two games with a grade over 77. He’s had three below 51. However, you can make the argument that if he isn’t allowing receptions, he usually isn’t going to be making tackles. The sample size is likely so small that any number of missed tackles bloats his conversion rate.
Going further into his performance against Dallas, he walked away with a 77.9 overall grade and a 79.1 grade in coverage, which actually isn’t as great as one might have thought. He racked up two tackles and was targeted five times, allowing three receptions overall for 35 yards. However, against Amari Cooper, one of the best route runners in the NFL, he kept him to just one catch for 7 yards. That is an incredible feat that the Giants should be proud of, considering Janoris Jenkins allowed a three-touchdown, 190-yard performance to Mike Evans in week three of the 2019 season.
While his overall coverage grade might not have reflected his performance, that is simply due to the number of targets that went Bradberry’s way. He allowed three receptions on five targets but factoring in how little Dallas targeted him, you can begin to understand just how dominant he has been as the CB1 for the Giants.