The next day and Going forward from here.

There is so much to take from yesterday. The first part is I have to admit I was wrong in my prediction. I kept saying 31-20 Giants (all week) and for a time in the second half I thought they might get to 27-20.

Yesterday:
I am not going to go over a recap of the game series by series etc. but some things that stood out and some impressions I came away with.

1) Kenny Golladays absence was felt yesterday. Hold on, quit your laughing and let me explain. Golladay out changes your receiver room and changes your active and inactive lists. Golalday does provide some needed blocking outside and that suffered some.

2) Darius Slayton gets a lot of praise for the plays he makes and too many excuses for the ones he does not. I don't care who the QB is, what the pass was like etc., once you turn and fully face the pass, get both hands on the ball, you HAVE to catch it. Keep in mind (watch the replay) he starts to drop the ball as he pulls it in to his stomach while still in the air (ie the ground didn't knock it loose). Slayton as our #1 WR tells you EVERYTHING you need to know about how barren our receiving corps really is. That play had a chance to put a dagger in the Washington team and instead it led to even more doubts, more conservative thinking later on.

3) Isaiah Hodgins is literally our go to target now in the middle of the field and in the red zone. Let that sink in further, a guy off the scrap heap is our main target on the over the middle plays and in the redzone. I do think he has a shot at being here next year (you can only fill so many spots in one offseason) and will be counted on the rest of the way here in 2022.

4) Thibs had a huge hit in OT that I still don't know how TH didn't fumble on BUT, I really would like to see more game changing plays earlier in the game. These almost got there moments begin to be a pattern-almost got there, almost made the play and at a time where we need to have SOMEONE step up adn take over, it just didn't happen yesterday.

4a) To follow up on that Thibs sack I was VERY disappointed to see the Giants on second down Rush heavy on what was obviously going to be either a run inside or a quick pass to just get off the goal line. Thibs went wide and the inside folks collapsed inward too much leaving Robinson a big hole to run right up through. That to me was on Wink's call, sometimes you play more of contain, when you know the other team is now fearing the possible safety. Rivera is Riverboat Ron for 4th down calls, not for taking chances where he exposes his team big negative plays. The Giants defense needed to be a bit more conservative on that rush. Had we held Robinson to say 2 or 3 yards, vs 7-8, Washington would have been even more conservative on 3rd down (they were still anyway) and their punt would have been a tad deeper in their own end and field position would have been a bit more advantageous. * Small critique but I could have called the play the Commanders were going to run after that huge sack and the Giants should have been set for it as well.

5) Barkley just is not the same guy since the Texans game and even in that game I was calling out some issues, some ways he was playing that now are far more glaring. Confirmation Bias is very difficult for people (all people) to ignore or overcome. It starts with if you like one guy vs another you will find positives for one and negatives for the other at any and all opportunities. Barkley has over a 100 yards that means he was great. Barkley ran tough on one pass to the flat so he is running hard and physical. The blocking is average so that 3 yard gain was all because of Barkley...

Go back these last few weeks and then watch games from last year and you will notice SB tends to slow up at contact, slow up (almost gives up) by the sideline and in many cases turns his back into contact and gives up on any forward momentum that may have been there. The blocking has not been great and the play calls on second down specifically (many second downs) is beyond predictable. That being said, Barkley is still not running like he did earlier this year. There is no doubt in my mind that he is running differently. Watch the actual film, look at the first 6 games to the last 6 games. Something is off and it is even more noticeable since the break.

6) Holy shit we area bad tackling team. It isn't even close as far as maybe it was a game here or there. We absolutely suck at tackling. Now, one BIG reason for that is depth- ie lack of depth now because we are playing so many guys who would be part-time folks or even just PS folks as starters that our backups are backup to backup players at best. This also explains why our Special teams are nothing special as we are digging deeper and deeper for guys to play ST's because of lot of ST's guys are full-time starters now.

7) The last one and the one that drives this board crazy and divides groups so much, Daniel Jones. I am so tired of the Jones arguments that I am actually rooting for him to move on just so we can argue about something else.

Yesterday was a weird game where we basically saw all the facets of Jones's game- both in game ability and what his game means to the team, vs an opponent and what it does to the fanbase. Jones was a threat early on with his legs. he was making Washington worry about coming in too hard on the pass rush and making them watch closely if the ball was going to Barkley or not.

That threat was tempered right away though with a very generic tackle causing a fumble on the very first drive of the game. Yes, this happens with many QB's, the problem is when the spotlight shines the brightest this type of play happens with Jones-regularly. Very disappointing BUT, that had nothing to do with the ultimate outcome (or at least it wasn't the reason we didn't win.).

Jones did show nice arm strength a number of times and at one point late had only 1 incompletion and that was an intentional spike to stop the clock. BUT, the passes were so very short, very rudimentary that it didn't seem like he was 15/16 at that point and the scoreboard sure as heck didn't show that result either. Is that all on Jones?? I don't think so. We ran so many bootleg left or right with a dump off to the TE or WR within 2 yards of the LOS where the completion was almost guaranteed but the yards and results were not. BUT, the question becomes are we running those plays because our skill position players are so bad that we don't have a choice or that the lack of confidence in Jones's passing the ball is so prevalent that we take most of the risk out of the equation?

I don't think it is 100% the lack of confidence but I do think it is a combination of both. When neither part is a significant strength (IE no #1 or even #2 or #3 NFL WR and your QB confidence is not overly high) then you become massively limited in play selection. Jones's high completion % is great but the results of the plays or the IMPACT of those plays is minimal at best. The other thing that comes with that type of approach, that type of attack is that we need near perfection to pull it off. A mistake here or there, a missed block and lost yardage pretty much dooms that drive. We need so many plays to score that you have to have NO mistakes, period!

There were a few times yesterday where I felt the QB was holding us back some and a whole bunch of times where the players around him certainly were holding us back. Slayton and Barkley were both mentioned above and they each played a roll in our offense struggling. So did Glowinski, Feleciano (HUGE HUGE HUGE blunder all to act the fool-even if he was doing it with Slayton he did it down field in a group of Commanders), and even Gates.. This team plays a razor thin game and when anything breaks down the play, the series and the game become in jeopardy.

Jones should have had a long completion to slayton. Jones also continues to make some throws (even in close) that make it difficult for the receiver to maintain momentum or have to fight the catch some in order to make it. That three yard gain on 3rd and 2 would have been 5-7 yards but the pass became such that just catching it was the hard part. That is costly and on a 3rd and 5 situation, could end up being a completion for 4 yards instead of the first down it should have been. *Yes, go back to the Dallas game with the pass to Barkley. Barkley has to catch it BUT, a good pass has that in play to be a HUGE gain. That is something that I don't think can be overcome as it is just how he throws the ball. You don't get better with your FEEL for the passing, that is instinct. Jones is a thinker and an aimer when it comes to passing, vs instinctual and a thrower.

Where do we go from here:

Right now two things are in play at the same time, it just depends on the outcome of two very specific games. The two things in play are- #1) we can make the playoffs with wins vs Wash and Indy (unless Detroit really rolls the rest of the season) #2) we can be moving back up the draft chart to a point where if we want a guy (I still think of all the QB's coming out that Levis the guy Daboll can mold) we could be a lot closer to trade up a bit.

Now, we are going to be getting more folks back- hopefully Jackson, Bredneson, McKinney and that will certainly help us out, The problem is, we are not getting anyone back that will help our scoring offense. That ship has sailed.

The season as far as the playoffs now rides on two games- @Washington and home vs Indy. If we steal one somewhere else great but these two games are MUST wins. Yes, for 2022 we are still playing with house money but it does feel a bit of a let down after starting 7-2. To be 0-2-1 in the last three games, especially when we could have won two of those games, is very deflating.

This week vs Philly scares the crap out of me. They are so balanced and we are so bereft of talent that they will wear us down across the board and that will have a huge impact on the next game (vs a rested Washington team with a huge grudge) as well. In many ways if we are to lose I would rather it is over early to have some guys rested and waiting for Washington vs a tough closer game where we still really didn't have a great chance to win (ie Dallas Thanksgiving Day) and we get guys beat up and or injured completely.

** if I am Daboll, I am very careful how I play this game and I use Brightwell and Breida a LOT to try and save whatever is left with Barkley for Washington. I would sit Leonard Williams if there is any question on his neck/shoulder whatever. Our season basically comes down to two games- Washington and Indy.