Grading the Giants’ 24-6 loss to the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday.
Offense
This was a return to the slop from earlier in the season. Tommy DeVito (20 of 34, 177 yards) could not get much of anything going. That he was the leading rusher (4-36) for his team was a really bad sign for Saquon Barkley (9-14), who will probably see LB Demario Davis (10 tackles) in his sleep.
The run blocking was lousy and the pass protection was suspect, as DeVito was sacked seven times — another regression. Justin Pugh at left guard was not at his best.
Getting only 193 total yards is a recipe for failure and converting 2 of 16 on third down made establishing anything virtually impossible.
Not much doing for Wan’Dale Robinson (4-25), and Jalin Hyatt was shut out despite three targets. At least TE Darren Waller (4-40) returned and held up.
Grade: F
Defense
Derek Carr was hearing boos from his home fans this season and the Giants allowed the beleaguered quarterback to complete 23 of 29 passes for 218 yards and three touchdowns for a passer rating of 134.8. Easy game for him in the Big Easy.
The run defense was not terrible — Alvin Kamara (16-66) did not go wild — but there was no heat on Carr and the coverage on the back end was fairly brutal.
CB Adoree’ Jackson struggled. His holding penalty handed the Saints a first down on a third-quarter TD drive. Azeez Ojulari, not known for his work in coverage, stopped Taysom Hill short of a first down on the opening series.
Jason Pinnock had his struggles in coverage but he beat RB Jamaal Williams badly for a second-quarter sack. There was a sloppy penalty in the end zone by Pinnock on third down that led to a Saints TD.
The Saints converted six of 12 third downs. Grade: D.
Grade: D
Special Teams
How about Jamie Gillan? The left-footed punter attempted only the second field goal of his five-year NFL career because Randy Bullock injured his hamstring on a kickoff after hitting a 56-yard field goal in the first quarter. Gillan drilled the 40-yard attempt.
Gillan’s second and third punts of the game went for 53 yards, with no return and he averaged 47.6 yards for a pretty busy day.
Matt Breida raced down to cover the first Saints punt.
Uber-dangerous Saints return man Rashid Shaheed averaged 11.7 yards on his three punt returns.
Grade: B+
Coaching
This was a flat performance after halftime as the Giants were outscored 17-0 and whatever was said at the break needs to be stricken from the record.
The play-calling on offense could never get in sync because there were too many second and third and long situations and no hint of a running game. More aggressiveness was shown by Brian Daboll going for it on fourh-and-2 from the New Orleans 44-yard line late in the first half, a decision that led to three points.
Wink Martindale’s defense was ineffective in the second half and there were only two hits on Carr all game.
Grade: D
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