Game Review: New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams, October 23, 2016

Landon Collins and Janoris Jenkins – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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New York Giants 17 – Los Angeles Rams 10

Overview

This was a dangerous game for the New York Giants given the distraction and fatigue of traveling to London combined with the media frenzy surrounding Josh Brown. Stating the obvious, this was not a “fun” week for the entire franchise.

The good news is the Giants won a game that they desperately needed to win. By improving their record to 4-3, New York remains very much in the hunt for a playoff spot. And the team now has two weeks to get healthy and concentrate on fixing those areas where it is struggling. The defense is finally starting to create turnovers and accrue sacks.

The bad news is the offense seems stuck in neutral and if this isn’t rectified quickly, the Giants will be sitting home again come playoff time.

Giants on Offense

Simply pathetic. New York was held to 13 first downs, 232 total net yards, 196 net yards passing, and 36 net yards rushing. The Giants were only 4-of-13 (31 percent) on 3rd down conversion attempts and only held the ball for just under 25 minutes. In 11 offensive possessions, the Giants longest drive was 71 yards (which resulted in a short field goal). The next longest drive was 37 yards. Ouch.

I’ll sound like a broken record but the same problems remain. The Giants can’t run the football. Teams are focusing on taking Odell Beckham out of the game and when Eli Manning and Odell Beckham can’t click on the big play, this offense becomes one of the worst in the NFL as the Giants can’t otherwise sustain drives. The longest offensive play for the Giants on Sunday was 25 yards.

The Giants have only scored more than 20 points twice this year. In this game, the defense scored once and set up the offense’s only touchdown drive at the opponent’s 35-yard line.

The Giants only ran 57 offensive plays: 37 passes, 18 runs, and 2 kneel-downs by Eli Manning. They were hampered by terrible starting field position (backed up to the goal line) three times in the second half. The Giants were not penalized once on offense.

Quarterback

The Giants literally passed twice as much as they ran the ball. Eli Manning was 24-of-37 for 196 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. For the second week in a row, he spread the ball around, connecting with 10 different targets. But the average gain per pass play was only 5.3 yards. Manning is receiving absolutely no help from his running game. But he certainly is not playing at a very high level. He needs to get his ass in gear.

Running Backs

Once again, the running game was a non factor. Giants backs carried the ball 18 times for 38 yards (2.1 yards per carry). The “leading” rusher was Rashad Jennings with 13 carries for 25 yards (1.9 yards per carry). His longest run was five yards! Paul Perkins had four carries for 12 yards with the team’s longest run of 10 yards. Most of the runs come out of the shot-gun formation and it is not working very well. It’s interesting to note that Perkins’ playing time increased this week.

Jennings caught 2-of-3 passes thrown in his direction. One went for no yards while the other picked up an impressive 24 yards. Perkins caught one pass for four yards while Bobby Rainey caught one pass for -2 yards.

Wide Receivers

I’ve contended for this offense to click, the top targets have to be the receivers. On Sunday, Eli’s top targets were Victor Cruz (5-of-8 for 55 yards), Odell Beckham (5-of-9 for 49 yards), and Sterling Shepard (5-of-7 for 32 yards). The problem was that these three receivers only averaged nine yards per catch. It is no coincidence that Cruz’s longest reception (25 yards) and Beckham’s longest reception (22 yards) led to the only offensive points of the day. Beckham’s 22-yard reception on 3rd-and-3 on the game-winning drive despite heavy contact against double-team coverage was the offensive play of the game. Cruz dropped a pass in the 1st quarter that killed a drive. The blocking by Cruz and Shepard on the flare to Beckham out of the backfield that lost six yards was pathetic. Beckham could have made a better effort on a 3rd-and-1 sideline pass that fell incomplete in the 3rd quarter.

Tight Ends

Stating the obvious, the Giants are not getting any help from their tight ends. Just like the previous game against the Ravens, the offense put the team in a hole by turning the ball over on the first possession of the contest as Larry Donnell fumbled the ball away. This turnover set up the Rams only touchdown. Donnell was targeted two other times but did not catch another pass. Will Tye caught two passes for a grand total of 14 yards. He’s been a major disappointment this year after a surprise rookie season. Rookie Jerell Adams caught one pass for five yards.

Offensive Line

The story line here remains the same. Decent pass protection and terrible run blocking. Eli Manning was not sacked. He was hit officially five times. That said, Eli isn’t holding the ball very long either. Many of the pass plays are short, quick throws – which makes the offensive line look better in pass protection than it really is. RT Bobby Hart gave up a couple of hits on Manning. The Giants only ran the ball 18 times, but when they did, they also only generated 38 yards or just over two yards per carry. The good news was there were no penalties.

Giants on Defense

This was the Giants best defensive game of the season to date. Not only did the defense do a good job of stopping the run (74 yards on 20 carries), but it picked off four passes, defensed 12 passes overall, and accrued three sacks and seven QB hits. Most importantly, the defense held the Rams to 10 points and scored on defense. The Rams were shutout in the the final three quarters of the game. The defense was only penalized three times (one offsetting). The biggest negatives were allowing first downs late in the game on 3rd-and-22 and 4th-and-10.

Defensive Line

It’s interesting to note that Jason Pierre-Paul is back at right defensive end, with Oliver Vernon now at left defensive end. The defensive line was fairly stout against the run and applied a decent amount of pass pressure. The Rams stuck with the run throughout the game but only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. Their longest run by a running back was only eight yards. Damon Harrrison (1), Jay Bromley (1), Jason Pierre-Paul (0.5), and Kerry Wynn (0.5) all registered sacks. Although Olivier Vernon did not sack the quarterback, he was a factor in pressuring the pocket throughout the game and caused a holding penalty that wiped out a big gain. This was the best pass-rush game for both JPP and Vernon so far this season. The inside guys got some good pressure too. Bromley was flagged with defensive holding.

Linebackers

Keenan Robinson (8 tackles, 2 pass defenses) had another strong game. His 4th quarter deflection of a Case Keenum pass caused an interception that set up the Giants game-winning touchdown. And Robinson’s sure open-field tackle of the ever-dangerous Tavon Austin off a bubble screen may have saved a touchdown. Jonathan Casillas was only in on three tackles, but also tipped a pass that was almost intercepted. Devon Kennard had two tackles and a QB hit. Only one tackle for Kelvin Sheppard.

Defensive Backs

Led by Landon Collins (2 interceptions, 2 pass defenses, 8 tackles) and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (2 interceptions, 3 pass defenses, 4 tackles), the Giants secondary had a phenomenal day. Collins was the beneficiary of two deflections, but his 44-yard return for a score not only changed the complexion of the game, it will go down as one of the most memorable in Giants history. And while DRC’s second, game-deciding interception was a gift, the first was a fantastic play that stopped a 4th-quarter scoring threat. He also almost came down with a third interception off of a flea flicker. Janoris Jenkins gave up the longest play of the game – a 48-yard reception to wideout Brian Quick (Jenkins was also guilty of illegal contact on the play). That said, Jenkins defensed three passes and had a solid game overall. Eli Apple was flagged with a 13-yard pass interference penalty on 3rd-and-7. Safety Andrew Adams gave up the 10-yard score on 3rd-and-6 in the 1st quarter. Aside from his turnovers, Collins was laying the lumber with a couple of big hits. Collins messed up on one deep shot and was lucky the QB couldn’t connect on what should have been an 81-yard score to start the second half. The biggest negatives were allowing the Rams to convert on 3rd-and-22 and 4th-and-10 late in the game.

Giants on Special Teams

Robbie Gould replaced Josh Brown. He made his only FG attempt (29 yards). Only 1-of-4 of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. Kickoff coverage was solid as the Rams longest return was 25 yards. Brad Wing punted eight times! He averaged 49.8 yards per punt (43.8 yard net) with one touchback and two punts downed inside the 20. Tavon Austin returned three punts and the Giants did give up a 19-yard punt return. Roger Lewis forced a fumble, but the Rams recovered the loose ball.

Dwayne Harris returned three punts for only 11 yards. Odell Beckham returned one punt for zero yards. Coty Sensabaugh was flagged with holding on one return. For the second week in a row, the Giants were unable to return a kickoff with all opponent kickoffs resulting in touchbacks.

(New York Giants at Los Angeles Rams, October 23, 2016)