Based upon a 0-4 record it is not a popular position to see improvement.
The defense looks better despite not having a constant rush or defensive backs
They are stopping the run, they are learning how to make big plays
The additions of Martinez, Fackrel, Bradbury, good play by the interior DL is something to build on.
The defense will be much improved with McKinney, Peppers, and Beal and hopefully with the addition of a pass rusher next year the defense could become very good.
The offense line looks like it is developing an identity.
I liked that Gates stood up to Donald when he was attempting to intimidate the line.
The line seems to be working better and they are moving the line. With some more improvement and the addition of Barkley this could become a strength.
Bye the way Barkley being out this year may be a blessing. The last two years he has not gotten a lot of mileage.
He should have a lot of tread on his tires.
The weakest part of the team are their receivers. The Giants need a couple of receivers who are fast, elusive and who are able to create separation. Based upon metrics the Giants receivers create the least separation in the NFL.
They also do not get yardage after the catch.
Better receivers will help Jones.
The Giants need an all round TE. Engram does not have it.
The new receivers do block and that will help in the run game. But they need a TE who can hold the edge.
That brings me to Jones. He looks like he has regressed. It appears that he is having a difficult time in learning the new offense. In order for this year to be positive we need to see more from Jones.
To Jones credit he seems to be protecting the ball better this year. He was sacked many times and was able to protect the ball. This would not have happened last year.
I am hoping with improved line play that Jones improves. Garett's offense is based on play action. If the Giants can run then Jones will have less pressure and more opportunities to make a play.
I would like to see more passes downfield and see Jones roll out, and use the RPO utilizing his running ability.
The special teams look good. The Giants need a good punt and kick returner.
Hopefully Peppers will help. The kicking looks good.
I may be overly optimistic but I think that the Giants will be much better as the season goes on.
The division is awful and it is probable that the East will be won by a team with a losing record.
I am hoping that the Giants can win their division games. I think 4-5 wins is possible.
Ratley was open. Hit him with an accurate, timely pass, and only then can we even know if DJ needs "better receivers" or just a quicker mind and more accurate ball placement.
I'm not done evaluating DJ, no one should be, but let's not gloss over his flaws with "he needs x, y and z."
The offense is really hard to assess right now, Jones included. New offense, new lineman, poor talent at the skill positions. Just a bad recipe. Very interested to see how things progress (especially if we can get the running game going like we did yesterday).
The offense is really hard to assess right now, Jones included. New offense, new lineman, poor talent at the skill positions. Just a bad recipe. Very interested to see how things progress (especially if we can get the running game going like we did yesterday).
Agree with all of this!
But we also let Trubisky move the ball up and down the field (until he almost gave us the game), made Nick Mullens look like Joe Montana, and we were fortunate, in all likelihood, that we caught Roethlisberger in his first game back since the elbow surgery.
So the jury is still out...
For all the talk about an improved line, we gave up 5 sacks, 9 QB hits, and Jones rushed several throws. Did we run it a little? Better than the shit we've seen, I guess. But we're also now facing defenses that don't respect our run game and rightfully drop more into coverage to stop Jones and Slayton, our only real threats.
We completely shut them out in the second half. The first half was bad, yes. But we made adjustments. You're conveniently forgetting how that game went when it comes to Trubisky.
We completely shut them out in the second half. The first half was bad, yes. But we made adjustments. You're conveniently forgetting how that game went when it comes to Trubisky.
Okay. That's fair. But with Trubisky you aren't going to get a complete performance because he just can't sustain it. So that begs the question - did we shut down Trubisky or was the second half Trubisky being Trubisky?
Why wouldn’t it be? 🤡
#1-two plays, Trubisky throws a really bad pick. Giants couldn't move the ball but took the three gift points.
#2-Not a huge drive in yardage gained, but they picked up some first downs and ran a lot of clock. Nine plays, 33 yards, but 5:36 off the clock.
#3-5 plays, 20 yards, Trubisky throws another pick on 3rd and 4. Credit to Bradberry, that was a tremendous play.
#4-12 plays, 44 yards, missed FG. Defense blew a golden opportunity to stop them cold and get the ball back after the Bears took a 15 yard chop block penalty that left them with 1st and 25 from their own 41. 4:51 left on the clock at that point. Bears run for 23 on first down. Giants were lucky that Santos shanked the FG, but another 5:29 run off the clock.
So, it was effective enough at keeping the Bears off the scoreboard, but not exactly suffocating. The inability to force punts was the main reason the final drive ran out of time.
The Giants have lost to good teams that I did not see them beating
The team is young, has a new coaching staff, and did not have a normal offseason due to Covid restrictions.
As for Peppers, he is their best returner and must be an in the box safety. He cannot play free or deep safety.
I don't know what expectations should have been for the team.
I am looking for improvement that will result in wins.
But bottom line is, the Bears didn't score in the second half and were for the most part shut down. Why does the end result only matter when it comes to the Giants but not other teams? They didn't score, I think that's largely a great result by the D.
I get that we didn't exactly stonewall them for the whole half...but a shut out is a shut out.
We shut them out, no matter who was playing at QB.
If the Giants get shutout on offense, you completely blame them, and you wouldn't credit the other team. That's my point.
Let me see real development this season and I can get behind the belief that they are showing improvements. They need to win games.
It changes based on what happens to the Giants.
The offense is about as bad as it has been, if not worse, than during the worst time of this stretch from 2013 to the present. So, I am not really seeing much improvement. Can there be? Sure. Will there be? I wouldn't bet on it.
It just wasn't a good throw. Yes, the DB made a great diving catch, but even if he hadn't it still might have been incomplete because it was thrown well behind the WR.
It’s not.
Yes, the Giants have personnel deficiencies up the yang-yang, and lots of coaching questions, But I've seen too many teams look this bad, and then turn into winning teams. I'm not suggesting the Giants compare in any way to S.F., but as an example, didn't they look like crap the first few games of last season?
Brand new coaches all around, better than half the roster turned over - not only are these guys still trying to figure out what they need to do, they're each trying to figure out one another.
I'm not suggesting that this team will even have a winning record, but they actually played one of the NFL'S better teams pretty tough in the 2nd half.
It’s not.
I don't feel abused. I'm able to separate frustration of waiting for this team to get better and choose to look towards things that are positive.
I don't know what's wrong with that. I can jump on every thread picking apart whoever fucked up on what play but I don't get anything out of it.
I think we can acknowledge bright spots/potential bright spots while acknowledging the entire picture still sucks.
I agree, I don’t get it. 0-4 sucks, I’ll look at whatever bright spots exist.
We shut them out, no matter who was playing at QB.
If the Giants get shutout on offense, you completely blame them, and you wouldn't credit the other team. That's my point.
I gave the D credit for yesterday. It was a fine performance against a team with real offensive class.
And it was a good moment for the coaching staff, specifically the D and Judge, after the 9er debacle. Games like last week can absolutely ruin a season.
I'm a consistency guy. One game doesn't make a trend. When performances start to manifest week after week after week then we can start to hold to something.
Until then, I'm staying skeptical.
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I hate the losses, but I can also acknowledge yesterday’s game and be impressed with the defense.
I agree, I don’t get it. 0-4 sucks, I’ll look at whatever bright spots exist.
I don't think one game is a bright spot. And, if we are being fair, there were games during the Shumur era we have said the defense has kept them in games until it just got worn down because the offense couldn't stay on the field. Yesterday, we punted down 10-9 from our own 45 or 50 to give it to the defense to get that stop. It didn't. So, while the defense was very good yesterday and I would obviously concede it improved yesterday, it failed at a time when we needed it to get a stop and one game is not an improvement. If this becomes a trend over the next month, than I would be more willing to say we have improved as a unit.
Did you really think that the Giants would be competitive this year?
They were awful last year and they are rebuilding.
There is a new staff. A team that is in transition.
The transition has occurred without a preseason.
They lost Barkley, their best player, who the offense was built around.
There are only 25 players presently on the active roster from last year.
The team is the youngest in football.
I am looking for improvement and building blocks.
The Giants are playing hard and have eliminated a lot of the mental errors.
I think that we will see dramatic improvement as players become more comfortable in the new systems.
The defense and the Special teams have played well enough to win. The defense has been on the field a lot due to the offense inefficiency.
Now we need to see improvement by the offense.
I do not understand what fans expected?
However, why is it bad to point out improvement? Improvement happens gradually. Improvement will have had to go on for a while before its reflected in the season stats.
Our D is improving, and yesterday was a big step. The OL played the last 2.5 quarters pretty well against a good DL. That is improvement. I hope this trend can continue because with time to throw and holes to run in, we should be able to open up the offensive gameplan more.
I think some people are very hesitant because by saying improvement they think we are saying we are good now. The two are not tightly linked.
I imagine when DVOA comes out on Wednesday we'll see what we've seen since the start of the year: mediocre defense, terrible offense and not-bad special teams. Whoop de doo.
Improving. Even if they are, so what. At this rate of improvement they'll make the playoffs in 10 years.
I think we can acknowledge bright spots/potential bright spots while acknowledging the entire picture still sucks.
Agree there were some bright spots in the game. But as I said on another thread, there is actually ZERO cause to compliment the overall effort unless we can see our ceiling is higher than this.
As of now we know our floor is getting blown out by a vastly undermanned team and our ceiling is playing a close game against a good not great team. Both the floor and ceiling must be higher than that. That's really all there is to say on the subject of viewing this team overall.
But to reiterate there were some definite bright spots and you have to compliment the coaches for improved effort and focus this week.
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HAHAHAHAHAHA
Why wouldn’t it be? 🤡
Julius Peppers maybe.
Did you really think that the Giants would be competitive this year?
They were awful last year and they are rebuilding.
There is a new staff. A team that is in transition.
The transition has occurred without a preseason.
They lost Barkley, their best player, who the offense was built around.
There are only 25 players presently on the active roster from last year.
The team is the youngest in football.
I am looking for improvement and building blocks.
The Giants are playing hard and have eliminated a lot of the mental errors.
I think that we will see dramatic improvement as players become more comfortable in the new systems.
The defense and the Special teams have played well enough to win. The defense has been on the field a lot due to the offense inefficiency.
Now we need to see improvement by the offense.
I do not understand what fans expected?
You know, if the GM didn't suck so much, he might actually keep more than half the roster from one year to the next.
If the roster turnover is being used as context for the team's supposed improvement this year, let's make sure we carry that context all the way through to its logical end.
That is insanely good for any New York Giant defense I have watched since 2016.
I get that we didn't exactly stonewall them for the whole half...but a shut out is a shut out.
Once again, proving your opponents' point.
I think most have tried to explain to you that the Bears game isn't especially directional because they're actually not that good of a team. So no, it's not just that they're unlucky. It's that they're not that good and playing them close but losing isn't much of an achievement.