The New York Giants were frustrating in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders. They were inefficient on the ground, made terrible defensive lapses, and the Jameis Winston Experience kept raising questions about who should start at quarterback. Despite all of this, the Giants tied the game in the fourth quarter \u2014 the team doesn\u2019t go away!<\/p>\n
Jameis Winston and the Giants\u2019 offense put together 150 yards in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 1:43 left. Some may point to the Giants benefiting from officiating, specifically on the negated Amik Robertson interception, but Washington also committed terrible penalties throughout the game that put their offense into disadvantageous situations \u2014 they were playing sloppy football.<\/p>\n
New York had the football in field goal range to win the game in overtime, but Cam Skattebo fumbled the football. And then \u2014 AND THEN \u2014 Washington, without a timeout, ran a play and time expired, giving the Giants a 27-27 divisional tie against the Washington Commanders.<\/p>\n
I entered halftime thinking: is it J.J. McCarthy time? The Giants offense had 77 yards in the first half. It was lifeless, couldn\u2019t run the football, and the Jameis Winston experience was not enjoyable\u2026up until the fourth quarter. Jameis Winston led three consecutive touchdown drives to send the game into overtime. It was, once again, the Jameis Winston Experience. Winston finished 33 of 54 for 326 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n
The Giants used a J.J. McCarthy package to leverage his athleticism, but it didn\u2019t work. Some plays had elements where McCarthy would enter the mesh point, but Washington was all over the package. Although the offense looked inept for much of the game, it finished with 408 yards of total offense and would have scored more than 30 points if it weren\u2019t for a rookie kicker and a costly Skattebo fumble.<\/p>\n
At times, I asked, \u201cWhere is Cam Skattebo?\u201d The Giants used a heavy running back rotation. Tyrone Tracy Jr. operated as the third-down back, and he received several opportunities throughout the game. Najee Harris started the second Giants\u2019 drive and was involved. Harris finished with five carries for 9 yards with a 7-yard long \u2014 there was little to no rushing room. Tyrone Tracy Jr. had three carries for 6 yards and he caught two passes for 25 yards.<\/p>\n
Skattebo effectively ran in overtime as the pendulum of this game kept swinging. That was until Skattebo fumbled in field-goal range, giving Washington the ball with 1:55 left in overtime. Skattebo finished with 13 carries for 59 yards and one MASSIVE fumble.<\/p>\n
Malik Nabers had two opportunities at the end of the first half to make a play; both were difficult catches to secure, but Nabers failed to secure them. The second \u2013 a nine-route in one-on-one action near the goal line \u2013 was more difficult but would have given the Giants a much-needed spark. Nabers was critical to the Giants\u2019 comeback, catching 12 of 21 targets for 120 yards with the game-tying touchdown.<\/p>\n
Darnell Mooney only secured seven of 14 targets for 14 yards with a bad third-down drop. Malachi Fields secured both of his targets for 20 yards. The Giants have a concentrated target share within the receiver room, but Nabers is the engine.<\/p>\n
Isaiah Likely is such a reliable weapon for this Giants\u2019 offense; so many of the plays are scripted for Likely. Theo Johnson made an impressive adjustment on a seam pass, but a bad route almost led to an overtime interception by Jameis Winston. Likely hobbled off the field at the end after catching 11 of 13 passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Let\u2019s hope he\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n
The Giants are not getting push at the point of attack. Their running game has been flat-out bad and inefficient for most of the season. Winston was sacked twice but wasn\u2019t under constant pressure. Overall, the pass blocking was adequate. The offense had pockets and time to throw throughout the game. But the inefficient rushing attack is a problem, though the crack-toss on third down in overtime was an elite play, going 19 yards to Skattebo, as well as a few other holes that were opened up and assisted by quality play calling by Matt Nagy in overtime.<\/p>\n
The Giants defense tightened up after a terrible start. D.J. Reader and Shelby Harris continue to perform well on the line of scrimmage: STOPS, balls batted out of the air, sound gap responsibility \u2013 they\u2019ve exceeded their expectations through five weeks.<\/p>\n
C.J. Okoye was removed off the line of scrimmage on Washington\u2019s opening touchdown, which led to a much wider hole for Carter to constrict and the linebackers to fit. Jihad Ward saw snaps and will be worked into the rotation now that Chauncey Golston is injured.<\/p>\n
Abdul Carter made an impact early. He sacked Jayden Daniels on a second-and-9 play that resulted in a punt on Washington\u2019s second drive. Carter then forced a fumble in overtime, but the Giants could not recover, although it forced Washington to punt. The game featured few pure drop-back-and-pass situations. The edge defenders also weren\u2019t making many plays against the run. We haven\u2019t heard Kayvon Thibodeaux\u2019s name much this season.<\/p>\n
The entire defense was locked up on Jacory Croskey-Merritt\u2019s 33-yard touchdown run. However, the defense hunkered down and began to bottle up the rushing attack. Dennard Wilson\u2019s blitzes incorporated the linebackers and the defensive backs, and it did harass Daniels and slow down the offense.<\/p>\n
Jayden Daniels had 38- and 26-yard touchdown runs against man coverage that seemed to be without a spy. Edmunds and Reese both made impressive plays, but the run defense wasn\u2019t consistent.<\/p>\n
Washington wasn\u2019t slinging the ball around the yard in the wet conditions through much of the game. The cornerbacks weren\u2019t challenged much other than quick slants that Greg Newsome II and Tae Banks struggled to defend. The tackling in overtime was less than desirable. Dru Phillips made an important third-and-10 sack in the first half and another in the fourth quarter. The coverage downfield seemed solid late in the game when Daniels struggled to find open options.<\/p>\n
Tyler Nubin was left in the dust by Croskey-Merrit on the second-year back\u2019s 33-yard touchdown scamper. Nubin\u2019s athletic deficiencies continue to plague him from depth, but he did have a valuable tackle near the line of scrimmage early in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, however, Nubin left the game with an injury to his neck\/head area.<\/p>\n
Jevon Holland missed a tackle in the alley that resulted in a 22-yard gain. The safeties were tested much through the air, but they both struggled to effectively fit the run. Holland was in the area against Antonio Williams under route that converted on third down. Overall, the Giants did not receive much from their safety position.<\/p>\n
Dominic Zvada is human. He missed a 50-yard field goal to start the game and then sent a 57-yarder wide left at the end of the first half. Zvada also missed the overtime field goal, which is obviously not ideal. He did, however, hit his 51-yarder later in the first quarter and a 56-yarder to start the second half.<\/p>\n
Jordan Stout booted a 59-yard punt and continues to be an asset when his number is called. Jack Kelly JUST missed blocking a punt deep in Washington\u2019s territory. Charlie Jones had 52 yards on four punt returns and 130 yards on five kickoff returns; Jones gives the Giants some burst and excitement at returner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Giants were frustrating in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders. They were inefficient on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,7692,11,10],"class_list":["post-370592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants-analysis","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}