Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Giants: Full Report Card Grades for New York
It was another subpar performance on prime-time television for the New York Giants, this time against the Indianapolis Colts in a 40-24 loss at home.
The Giants (3-5) are sinking in the NFC East, and now ravaged by injuries, postseason hopes are growing thinner by the game. Against the Colts, New York did not resemble anything near a playoff-caliber team.
The defense outperformed the offense in this game, as the Giants were able to keep Andrew Luck and the Colts in check for at least some of the game. At no point in the game was New York's offense at all threatening to Indianapolis' lead.
Each positional group is graded in this report card. See how each unit fared in the slideshow ahead.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Once again, Eli Manning played about as good a game as he could given the talent around him. Nothing he did lost the game for the Giants. He did not throw an interception for the fourth consecutive game; he overcame a slow start to mount something that resembled a comeback.
Manning finished the game with a respectable stat line: 27-of-52, 359 yards and two touchdowns.
That 52 percent completion rate was Manning's worst of the season, but he did not get much help from his pass-catchers Monday. When Manning's receivers weren't dropping balls thrown to them, they were running the wrong route or communicating poorly with the quarterback in general.
It was Manning's most prolific day of the season, in terms of yardage. New York's signal-caller could have done more to take over the game—much like Luck did when Manning was on the sidelines—but he is certainly not to blame for the loss.
Manning is the only consistent producer the Giants have on offense. A perfect example of this fact illustrated in Monday night's action was Manning's 18-yard rush, which was New York's longest gain on the ground against the Colts.
Grade: C
Running Back
2 of 10
The Giants basically gave up on Andre Williams once the ground game was compromised. He was rendered ineffective for most of the night, gaining 22 yards on only 12 carries as the Giants' featured back. Williams also fumbled once.
It's unfortunate for Williams, who is a talented rookie. He's a tough runner, a difficult one for the opposition to bring down; he just isn't ready to be the team's No. 1 option at running back. The only bright spot in Williams' third start came when he caught a 24-yard pass and scored on the very next play from one yard out.
Peyton Hillis replaced Williams when the Giants went one-dimensional, as his experience makes him the more complete back. He finished the game with 20 yards, mostly on runs that caught the Colts off guard. Hillis struggled in pass protection but caught five passes for 50 yards.
Hillis is being used far more than was expected at the start of the season. The Giants signed Hillis off the street last year, and now he's taking a ton of the team's reps at running back. Let that sink in for a moment.
Michael Cox got into the mix during garbage time and wound up leading the team with 27 yards on two carries.
As a team, the Giants carried the ball only 20 times for 89 yards.
Grade: F
Wide Receiver/Tight End
3 of 10
As a whole, the Giants receivers may have been the team's worst positional group. If not for a couple of outstanding individual efforts, this group would have easily failed.
Odell Beckham Jr. had the best outing of any New York pass-catcher, recording career highs for receptions (eight) and yards (156). A couple of his catches were acrobatic feats of unparalleled athleticism; his best play was a 59-yard catch-and-run, which made the Colts defense look foolish.
Eli Manning targeted Rueben Randle 11 times and came away with only four completions for 49 yards. Randle couldn't make any big plays along the sideline, as Vontae Davis thoroughly dominated his one-on-one matchup with New York's most tenured receiver.
Preston Parker was pathetic, as he and Manning pretended they'd met for the first time in the locker room before the game. The two connected on only one of six targets for a gain of seven yards.
Undrafted rookie Corey Washington got into the mix against some of Indianapolis' backups. He was impressive, like he was in the preseason, catching four passes for 48 yards. Like clockwork, Washington caught a red-zone touchdown on his only drive of the game.
At tight end, Larry Donnell got involved minimally with four catches for 25 yards, although one went for a five-yard score. It was his first touchdown since the Washington Redskins game in Week 4.
Overall, the screw-ups were too many. OBJ and Washington saved this group from a failing grade.
Grade: D
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
No surprise here, but the Giants' offensive line was terrible again against the Colts. It's getting harder and harder to come down on this unit simply because expectations keep sinking further and further.
Justin Pugh has not fully recovered from his nightmare outing versus the Philadelphia Eagles more than three weeks ago. He didn't give up as many pressures on Manning, but twice he was penalized—once for a false start, once for an illegal use of hands. Pugh may be loosing his cool.
Will Beatty has actually improved this season. His game against the Colts was a small step backward, as he gave up one of the three sacks on Manning.
The interior line is still the weakest point of New York's offensive line. J.D. Walton is an average center on his best day, John Jerry is a poor excuse for a starting guard and rookie Weston Richburg's evening ended with a ride on the injury cart.
The Giants can't get Geoff Schwartz back soon enough.
New York's O-line hasn't created a semblance of a push up front for weeks. The blockers' complete inability to open up running lanes, combined with shoddy pass protection, earns the offensive line a failing grade.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Giants' strongest unit on Monday night was the defensive line. It benefited from a simplified game plan a bit, thanks to a Colts offense that likes to pass.
New York sent rushers after Luck all evening, utilizing multiple defensive ends in many pass-rushing sets. This allowed Robert Ayers Jr. to flourish, as the former Denver Bronco enjoyed his heightened snap count against Indianapolis. The Giants hit Luck 11 times; seven of those hits were by Ayers (one sack).
No other D-lineman recorded a sack, but others contributed in various ways. Damontre Moore racked up seven tackles (one for a loss), Mathias Kiwanuka added two QB hits and Johnathan Hankins and Jason Pierre-Paul each recorded a pass deflection.
The Giants did all this without Cullen Jenkins, their most experienced interior defensive lineman.
The Colts didn't try to run the ball much but were successful when they did (24 carries, 98 yards). A lot of that had to do with New York's personnel; tackles Mike Patterson, Jay Bromley and Markus Kuhn spent most of their time on the sideline, as the Giants relied on their pass-rushers more than their run-stuffers against the Colts.
The pressure New York's defensive line worked for most of the game, kept Luck off-balance and even forced him into a few poor throws that could have been turnovers had the Giants' secondary been a bit more opportunistic.
Ultimately, once Luck got comfortable with New York's pressure later in the game, the Giants' pass rush was rendered useless.
Grade: B
Linebackers
6 of 10
The linebackers were picked on by Andrew Luck and the Colts' passing attack.
Jacquian Williams got it the worst. He posted an insane, 18-tackle figure, which is more a mark of how often Luck had Williams chasing his pass-catchers than anything else. The Colts were consistently able to line Williams up in favorable matchups. More often than not, the Giants' best coverage linebacker was just a step too slow.
Jameel McClain got confused in coverage a couple of times, allowing a back to sneak free here or there. He made up for these mistakes to some degree with strong blitzing. Although McClain brought down seven Colts, not one was behind the line of scrimmage.
Devon Kennard made one of his four tackles for a loss. Although the rookie got the start, Kennard came off the field when the Giants were in their nickel package to defend Luck's many pass targets.
This group was exploited, as the majority of Luck's pass completions came over the middle or in the flats, where linebackers are relied upon most in coverage. New York needed tighter play from its linebackers against Indianapolis.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
The Giants' secondary didn't do so poorly, considering the injuries it has weathered this season.
In addition to the season-ending injuries to slot guys Walter Thurmond III and Trumaine McBride, as well as the hobbling one to starter Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the Giants lost Prince Amukamara early in the Colts game. Reports, such as the one by Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (via Bleacher Report's Joseph Zucker), say Amukamara's bicep injury will end his 2014 campaign.
With Rodgers-Cromartie coming in and out of the game, playing alongside Zack Bowman and Jayron Hosley, the Giants were able to keep the Colts' top receivers in check. Thirty-one of T.Y. Hilton's 71 yards came on a flukey touchdown grab in which he yanked an interception away from DRC. Forty of Reggie Wayne's 70 yards came on an all-out blitz, which Luck was able to beat.
While the defensive backs limited Indianapolis' playmakers, they needed to become playmakers themselves. If the Giants were to win this game, it would have been through turnovers. I mentioned DRC's near-interception; Antrel Rolle had another ball go through his hands.
The plays were there to be made, and the Giants' defensive backs simply did not make them.
This group is completely decimated moving forward. Future quarterbacks should be able to take advantage of New York's extremely shaky secondary.
Grade: C-
Special Teams
8 of 10
The Giants' special teams was a small bright spot on Monday night.
Michael Cox returned the opening kickoff 33 yards, but he made a couple of poor decisions to take the ball out of the end zone after that. Odell Beckham Jr. only returned one punt for minus-three yards. Despite their limited success, Cox and Beckham are dynamic return specialists compared to the players New York previously fielded at those positions.
Josh Brown was clever with his kicks, utilizing pop-ups to limit big Indy returns. He also hit a good onside kick, although New York was unable to recover. Steve Weatherford punted eight times; it wasn't his most consistent outing, but he averaged nearly 45 yards a punt.
Both Brown and Weatherford found the hit stick, too, recording a couple of the game's most impressive special teams tackles. Brown also made a 38-yard field goal.
Grade: B
Coaching
9 of 10
The Giants' coaching shoulders a great deal of blame for Monday night's loss.
Tom Coughlin struggled to find something—anything—that worked, like he struggled to find the red challenge flag in his sock. From watching the game, you'd never guess Coughlin and his coaching staff had two weeks to prepare for the Colts.
Perry Fewell didn't do a terrible job with his defensive game plan. He was fearless and aggressive with his blitzing, putting the heat on Andrew Luck throughout the game. In the end, however, you have to look at the scoreboard, and the Colts dropped a 40-bomb on New York's defense.
Offensively, the Giants have become painfully ineffective. Ben McAdoo was far more conservative in his play-calling, as New York's new offensive coordinator now looking like a knife without an edge. No amount of sharpening seems to make this unit more lethal, as the Giants attempt the same feckless tactics from week to week.
Injuries are out of the coaches' control, but even this undermanned platoon is capable of so much more.
Grade: F
Overall
10 of 10
Here are the full report card grades:
| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | F |
| WR/TE | D |
| OL | F |
| DL | B |
| LB | D |
| DB | C- |
| ST | B |
| Coach | F |
Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants for Bleacher Report.
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