Game Review: New York Giants 24 – Green Bay Packers 22

Wan’Dale Robinson – © USA TODAY Sports

QUARTERBACK

Tommy DeVito: 17/21 – 158 yards / 1 TD – 0 INT

DeVito also added 71 yards on 10 carries, including a 26-yard run that fell a yard shy of a touchdown. Saquon Barkley scored on the next play to give the Giants a 14-10 third quarter lead. The story continues on from the undrafted rookie even though Tyrod Taylor was off Injured Reserve. It was the right decision for this team to ride the hot hand. DeVito’s play overall, the fact he is a rookie with more unknown margin, and his ascending momentum made the call a near no-brainer. This offense, this team, and this fan base are all responding to this kid being under center.

Early on, DeVito missed multiple throws. I counted three wide misses (AKA awful accuracy throws), two of which were on third down. He steadied the ship and went 10/11 for 110 yards and a score after halftime, in addition to 45 yards rushing. He made clutch throws both from the pocket and on the move. He was precise, but also showed off excellent arm strength. The key trait I see in him that is keeping the hope alive that NYG may actually have something here is the combination of anticipation and a sudden release. DeVito is not a manufactured robot. He can feel the defense and can alter/adjust his approach at the final moment before delivering a clean, accurate ball. That ability makes it a lot tougher to pressure him. He is, on the fly, figuring out how to beat coverage even when the defense wins early on in a play. That is a special trait.

RUNNING BACK

Saquon Barkley: 20 att – 86 yards – 2 TD / 3 rec – 15 yards

-Barkley had a 100+ total yard and 2-TD game for the second time over their last three contests. He was used to grind out the Packers defense without much room for most of the night. But things began to open up for him in the second half, rushing for 68 yards on 11 carries. Toward the end of the fourth quarter, with NYG trying to close out the game, Barkley ripped off his biggest gain of the night (34 yards). He was tripped up, regained his footing, then tripped over the turf himself. The weird-looking play ended with him falling to the ground untouched and the ball popped out as he hit the ground. That is a fumble, and it gave Green Bay the ball back, down 5. They scored a touchdown and took the lead with under 2:00 left. We have seen Barkley make colossal mistakes at the end of games before and this would have been the worst. Situational awareness and smoothness will not be what he is remembered for.

WIDE RECEIVER

Wan’Dale Robinson: 6 rec – 79 yards / 2 att – 36 yards

Without Robinson’s big plays, NYG does not win this game. On their first scoring drive, Robinson had a 32-yard run. On their second scoring drive, Robinson caught a 4-yard pass. On their third scoring drive, Robinson caught a 25-yard pass. On their fourth (and final) scoring drive, Robinson caught passes of 5 and 32 yards, respectively. Three of the team’s four biggest plays went to Robinson. Call him whatever you want, but now that he is a year-plus removed from his ACL surgery we are seeing how much he can impact the game across multiple roles. Simply put, he is a unique playmaker who is starting to see things clearly and quickly. He alone will make this offense better in ways nobody else can.

-Isaiah Hodgins caught 2 passes for 22 yards and a touchdown. While we have not seen him build off the impressive and surprising 2022 campaign, Hodgins still breeds confidence in big situations. The routes and ball skills at his size and power presence are very usable in the right role. I would not call him a number one, two, or three. But similar to what Jauan Jennings does for San Francisco, he can be that reliable back-of-group guy who in specific situations when a short- to intermediate-play is needed.

-Jalin Hyatt and Darius Slayton each caught two passes without any explosive plays. Hyatt dropped a ball on the first drive.

TIGHT END

-Daniel Bellinger caught 2 passes for 15 yards. He was very slow and awkward post-catch. He has not gotten into a groove this year, as things seem to look too fast for him at times. That is fine for a number two guy who can block well, but he is not blocking well. NYG was stuffed on 4th-and-1 when they tried to hand it to Barkley with Bellinger leading the way as a blocker. Bellinger made contact with linebacker Eric Wilson but failed to get movement and even worse, failed to maintain contact. Wilson made the tackle and forced a turnover on downs.

OFFENSIVE LINE

-Packers outside linebacker Rashan Gary is one of the best edge defenders in the NFL. The NJ product has been among league leaders in pressure rate four straight years (and is coming off a torn ACL). He was shut down by Andrew Thomas in this match-up. The All-Pro caliber tackle allowed one pressure on the night and paved the way on Barkley’s first touchdown run. The twitchy control he plays with is incredible.

-Ben Bredeson was the main weak point to an offensive line that, as a whole, played well. He allowed three pressures. Justin Pugh allowed two while Tyre Phillips and John Michael Schmitz each allowed one.

-Schmitz continues to be a polarizing player from an evaluation standpoint. The rookie is (by far) the best option they have at center. He is an outstanding gap blocker and blocks well when moving downhill. He gets clean, productive contact at the point-of-attack before climbing to the second level and finishes off linebackers consistently. The issue that keeps popping up that causes tackles for loss is the wide zone blocking assignments. He is giving up way too much ground and loses a lot of power and balance when moving laterally. It shows up in pass protection as well. Correctable issue? Yes. But it will be vital to correct in time.

EDGE

-Kayvon Thibodeaux continued his steady play as a pass rusher. He finished with a sack and 3 pressures. His biggest play of the night was a forced fumble that Xavier McKinney recovered. While it did not turn into points for NYG, the play did take place within field goal range in a game that ended with a two-point victory. The blemish on Thibodeaux’s grade sheet was the outside contain against the run. Green Bay went after him due to the fact he crashes down so hard on blocking schemes that are going away from him. He got fooled three times and did not recover well.

-Azeez Ojulari tied his season high with 49 snaps and played his most impactful game of the year with a half-sack, 3 pressures, and 3 tackles. The pass rush will get most of the attention, but I thought his run defense was equally effective and impactful. He shined brightest in the second half, which is a sneaky-positive because of the issues that surround his durability.

-Jihad Ward is seeing his playing time decrease and struggled to make any impact at all.

DEFENSIVE LINE

-Dexter Lawrence was on a pitch count, but he still found a way to impact the game in a big way. On just 43% of the snaps (he is normally over 70%), he had 2 tackles, a half-sack, and 3 pressures. A’Shawn Robinson stepped up big in his place. He finished with 8 tackles (the most he’s had in a game since November 2021), a tackle for loss, and a pass break up. He was controlling multiple gaps and shedding blockers with ease. Big-time effort and performance from him.

-Rakeem Nunez-Roches added 2 tackles while backups D.J. Davidson and Jordon Riley saw a few snaps. Davidson was flagged for a false start early and missed a tackle, while Riley made a nice run stop where he showed good stack-and-shed with an explosive finish.

LINEBACKER

-Another week, another 100% snap total for Bobby Okereke, who has not missed a single snap all season. He finished with 6 tackles. While he did allow 5 completions on 5 targets, everything was underneath and kept in front of him. The exposure I saw in his game arrived on the outside runs to GB receiver Jayden Reed. He did not reach the outside gate quickly enough.

-Micah McFadden had 5 tackles but also missed two. A.J. Dillon delivered a stiff arm to him that showed the lack of length McFadden has. In some situations that is a real issue. Isaiah Simmons rotated in a few times and also missed a tackle. His contact on the ball carrier is so weak and soft when it comes to straight ahead run defense. Any time a quality downhill rushing attack sees him on the field, they start salivating. He dances around blocks or struggles to play stout. Rarely do I see him coming out of an inside run play with a positive grade.

CORNERBACK

-Deonte Banks was targeted often by the Packers passing game. Banks was thrown at 10 times; no one else was targeted 6 times. He did allow a touchdown and 5 catches, but he also broke up a pass and finished with a team-high 12 tackles. He was close to the action post-catch, limiting extra yards and he did not miss any. One of his tackles went for loss and he had a stop on fourth down that was incorrectly called a first down by the refs. His 3rd-and-10 pass deflection on a vertical route in the end zone showed outstanding ball-tracking and speed. To sum up, Banks was all over the field and has firmly proven he is a capable pro starting corner who is very early on the progression curve. He has exciting talent.

-Adoree’ Jackson and Cor’Dale Flott played the majority of the other corner snaps. Jackson was quietly effective in coverage, but Flott had a rough go. He allowed multiple first downs and was flagged for a pass interference on a third down stop. It was a panic move by him that could have easily been avoided.

SAFETY

-Both safeties came up with big plays as they once again played every snap. Jason Pinnock picked off a pass on a bad underthrow by Jordan Love, and Xavier McKinney recovered a fumble. Turnovers have been the main catalyst to NYG turning things around and it is good to see these two joining the party. It is primary component to safety play I look for in evaluation. They both finished with 4 tackles and 1 missed tackle.

-Dane Belton played 6 snaps, ending with a pressure, and Bobby McCain was hit by the ball on a punt return, giving GB the ball back in NYG territory in the third quarter. It resulted in three points for GB.

3 STUDS

-OT Andrew Thomas, WR Wan’Dale Robinson, EDGE Azeez Ojulari

3 DUDS

-DT D.J. Davidson, LB Isaiah Simmons, TE Daniel Bellinger

3 THOUGHTS ON GB

(1) The Jordan Love situation will be one to watch this offseason. He is playing on a one-year, prove-it deal and the only thing he has proven is that we still have no idea if he can be the guy. But without a current Plan B, what are they supposed to do? If he hits the market, there will undoubtedly be a team that signs him to mid-tier starter money. If they keep him, it likely has to be another short deal that swallows a lot of cap room. At his best, Love has the talent to be special. But the inconsistencies (we saw it last night) are too frequent to assume he can play at a high-level year after year.

(2) Head Coach Matt LaFleur is from the Shanahan tree that is all over the league now. Early success (three straight 13-win seasons) was a nice start, but as Rodgers came down to earth and then got traded, along with a defense that worsened, a credible question can be asked about his future. He has a good shot at finishing under .500 for the second straight year, and it doesn’t look like he has developed Love as well as one would expect for a first rounder. Firing him this offseason would be premature, but as I said with Love above, what can they do here? Starting over is on the table.

(3) The areas of this roster (the youngest in the NFL at the start of the season) that I feel good about are at receiver and tight end. Rookie WR Jayden Reed is a player who could easily be another D.J. Moore. Second-year WR Romeo Doubs and another rookie wide receiver, Dontayvion Wicks, look like ideal complements who can be Amani Toomer-types. Tight ends Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft would start as rookies on over half the teams in the NFL and both have top-10 upside. And lastly, Christian Watson has as much talent as Tee Higgins, but health is a major concern. If I am a veteran QB looking to sign somewhere or force a trade, Green Bay would be on my short list.

3 CLOSING THOUGHTS

(1) There is a lot to both like and be entertained by when it comes to DeVito. But what I am looking at from evaluation standpoint that weighs the most is how he handled the 2-minute and pass rush situations. He went 4/4 – 53 yards on a drive that began on the NYG 25-yard line. He took what the defense gave and got it out clean + crisp. It summed up his game perfectly and checked another box for one of the most unlikely stories of the year in the NFL.

(2) This is what I wanted to see out of the Giants offense this year. We saw more efficiency in 2022 than the prior nightmares we called seasons. But NYG was still so down the list in explosive plays. The best offensive success they had stemmed from the Daniel Jones runs, but we know that is hard (and dangerous) to sustain. Now? We still see efficiency that grows from protecting the ball, but there are also the explosives that keep showing up. The versatility they are showing on these plays (pass, RB run, WR run, QB run, yards after catch, deep balls) will be the future of this offense. It is good to see the plan can work. Next up, consistency.

(3) Yes, NYG is still in the playoff hunt. The odds are incredibly small, but with how the NFC is shaping up and the rate of injuries we see league-wide, don’t sleep on the idea. The biggest road block will be the two match-ups against PHI. While I won’t be betting on NYG in those games, don’t overlook how hard PHI is crashing down to earth. But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. New Orleans is a team on the bubble and a head-to-head win there could make things very interesting if a couple of other chips fall into place. This is a low-key, very big game. NYG is a team that has absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.