New York Giants: Offense must convert on deep drives
Following two wins, the New York Giants were unable to match the Vikings on Sunday and make it three. Converting possession into points was a problem.
It wasn’t a game that the New York Giants were tipped to win, but it was, perhaps, the first big test of the Daniel Jones era thus far. The Minnesota Vikings aren’t who they’ve been in recent years, but this team has plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. New York, on the other hand, have struggled significantly.
This was the second game that Big Blue went into without Saquon Barkley, who’s expected to be making a return much sooner than once anticipated, some saying as soon as Week 6. To make things worse, Barkley’s stand-in, Wayne Gallman, was ruled out for the game after suffering a concussion in the opening quarter.
All things considered, plus the fact that Kirk Cousins was having a rare productive game, this could’ve been a lot worse than it actually was for the Giants.
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For once, the Giants defense can’t be blamed too much. After losing Ryan Connelly (ACL) and with both Lorenzo Carter and Alec Ogletree being sidelined on Sunday, there were plenty of holes in this Giants defense. But this make-up group was able to hold the Vikings offence to just two touchdowns through the full 60 minutes.
Cousins did go 22-of-27 for 306 yards, which saw the Vikings eventually amass 28 points, but there were plenty of positives, especially from the defensive line and occasionally from the defensive backs. In the absence of Carter and Ogletree, the linebacker position was clearly weak and this allowed the Vikings offense to make large gains downfield regularly and quickly throughout the game.
However, the Giants secondary did well to limit yardage. Dalvin Cook totalled 137 yards and the run game has been extremely strong for Minnesota this season, but, again, the secondary did well to limit this, and it could’ve been a lot worse.
Going into the break trailing 18-10 following plenty of opportunities the offense failed to take, the Giants had a real shot of at least being in contention down the stretch.
To start the third quarter, the Giants had a possession that lasted for around eight minutes and involved the Vikings conceding a penalty on the field goal attempt due to contact with the center. This drive resulted in the Giants, again, settling for three points after two red-zone appearances on the exact same drive — something you can ill afford against a strong team like Minnesota.
Daniel Jones passed for just 182 yards on 21-of-38 passing against the Vikings, one of the poorer days for the rookie. Without Barkley and Gallman, the running game wasn’t there to go to, especially against a defense like Minnesota’s.
Jon Hilliman and Elijhaa Penny did all they could do as they combined for 35 yards on just 12 attempts. There was plenty of downfield movement and the offense was moving at a very fast pace, which was good to see. However, every time they got into Vikings territory, which was actually much more than the scoreboard shows, they couldn’t find the game-breaking pass or big play.
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Settling for three points was something they just seemed to be getting used to. With Barkley coming back soon, the Giants will get that killer instinct in the red zone back, but the offense has to be more consistent in getting into the end zone. This is something that’ll come in time, especially with Jones now learning his trade. Nonetheless, Week 5 was a frustrating showing from the New York offense.