Good Morning, New York Giants Fans!
The New York Giants escaped the 35-14 loss to the New England Patriots without suffering any further significant injuries. Rooke passer Daniel Jones took a few big hits but managed to stay active and healthy throughout the contest — one play in specific was cause for concern when he dove headfirst into a diving Pats defender extending for the defensive score.
https://twitter.com/PatsNationTM/status/1182490006184706049
The effort is appreciated by Jones, but spare us the heart-attack and push him out of bounds rather than spearing him with the crown of your helmet. Luckily, he walked away unharmed and finished the game with 161-yards passing for one score and three interceptions.
Did Dave Gettleman do the Giants a disservice?
Consider this reality for a second — the Giants trotted out practice squad rookie Jon Hilliman onto the field against one of the best defenses in the past decade. A defense that hadn’t allowed a passing score through five-week before Golden Tate’s 64-yard circus catch.
My question is, did Gettleman even try and help Jones out with some free agent support? Hilliman was not only inefficient, but he fumbled down seven-points in the fourth-quarter, giving Pats defender Kyle Van Noy a treat in the form of a fumble recovery for a touchdown. This play alone put the Giants two scores away and in a position of impossible return.
Big Blue is sitting on about $3 million in available cap, and Gettleman didn’t even think to utilize any of it for at least one week to help out his rookie quarterback. Options like CJ Anderson, Bennie Cunningham, and Jay Ajayi remain available on the market, but Gettleman didn’t even consider signing one. The Giants did, however, work out three veterans when Barkley went down, but none were signed.
While Gettleman didn’t allocate cap-space to the running back corps, he could still sign linebacker, Deon Bucannon. The former Tampa Bay Buccanneers defender and Arizona Cardinal has experience playing underneath James Bettcher. Bucannon had his best seasons playing on Bettcher’s defense, and the Giants would be crazy not to kick the tires on the former first-round pick.
That could certainly be where the cap allocation is headed.
Injury update:
With over a week to recover and prepare for the Arizona Cardinals, star running back Saquon Barkley should be ready to return. There was speculation that he would play against the Patriots, but cold weather and reliance on running the ball might have been too strenuous on the injured ankle.
Tight end Evan Engram could have theoretically played on Thursday night, but a sprained MCL kept him out. He will also likely return against the Cardinals. Wide receiver Sterling Shepard might be the playmaker out the longest, considering his second concussion of the season suffered against the Minnesota Vikings. If he misses a second-consecutive week, he will be in line to return against the Detroit Lions.
Nonetheless–
Your top news of the day:
Tyler Sullivan – Patriots’ Kyle Van Noy says Daniel Jones was ‘trippin’ for continuing to test Stephon Gilmore
Jordan Dajani – Pat Shurmur not surprised by NFL’s ruling on pass interference challenge: ‘Replay doesn’t overturn much’
Ed Valentine – Post-game quotebook: What thy Giants were saying after 35-14 loss to Patriots
Mark Cannizzaro – Giants turned grim Patriots matchup into building block: ‘Can beat anyone’