New York Giants: Studs and Duds After Week 3 Win Against Houston
The New York Giants finally delivered the kind of football we’ve been hoping for now for months.
No, it wasn’t perfect—no game really is.
And, yes, a closer look at the final numbers shows that the game was almost even in several key areas, such as total net yards (411 for the Houston Texans, 419 for the Giants), average gain per offensive play (6.6 for Houston, 5.89 for the Giants) and average gain per rushing play (4.8 for Houston, 4.6 for the Giants).
In the end, it was a win for the Giants, who snagged their season from the jaws of despair to improve to 1-2 thanks to a 30-17 win at MetLife Stadium.
There was plenty to like this week, just as there was plenty not to like. Here’s a look at some of this week’s studs—we've included more studs this week given the outcome—and duds.
Stud: Running Back Rashad Jennings
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When the Giants signed free-agent running back Rashad Jennings this offseason, they had visions of him delivering the type of production he did this week, which was 176 yards on 34 carries.
That’s a healthy 5.2 yards-per-carry average, which to put things into perspective, meant that following a Jennings run, the Giants' ensuing down was usually very manageable, allowing for offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and quarterback Eli Manning to choose from multiple options.
If Jennings’ performance, which was the best by a Giants running back in a regular-season game since Andre Brown ran for 127 yards in Week 12 (against the Dallas Cowboys) last season, wasn’t inspiring enough, then how’s this for inspiring?
After the game he told reporters about how his father, Albert Jennings, has diabetes and had his legs amputated as a result.
“In leading the (team) prayer today, I kind of reminded the guys that for whatever reason we play this game, play like that,” Jennings said during his postgame press conference. “My father has diabetes and ended up getting both of his legs amputated and he doesn’t have legs. So today I remembered that I do have them. So I played that way.”
Getting back to Jennings’ production, per Michael Eisen of the Giants, Jennings’ 34 carries were the most by a Giants back since Joe Montgomery ran 38 times on December 5, 1999, in a game against the New York Jets.
Dud: Safety Stevie Brown
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Safety Stevie Brown deserves all kinds of credit for working his way back from an ACL injury that put him on the shelf last season.
However, as I’ve noted in the past, he doesn’t seem to be as quick as he was before his injury, and that showed up again this week.
This time it was a 44-yard touchdown pass from Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to Damaris Johnson, which made the score 17-10 late in the third quarter. Brown was late to the party, allowing Johnson into the end zone untouched.
Brown finished with two tackles, one of which was solo, and one of which was an assist.
Stud: Receiver Victor Cruz
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Victor Cruz was another player who has had a bumpy start to his 2014 season.
Cruz, who came into this week’s game having not caught a touchdown pass for almost a full year, finally came up with his first score since Week 4 of last year, ending a 12-game drought.
Not only did Cruz not drop any of his pass targets—he caught five out of six balls, the one incomplete pass not his fault—he also had a 61-yard catch. That was his 16th career reception of 40 or more yards.
Cruz, by the way, now has 253 career receptions thanks to his five catches in this week's game, according to the Giants' weekly media notes.
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Dud: Receiver Corey Washington
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On the Texans’ first possession, they had a 4th-and-1 situation on their 39-yard line. They lined up to punt, but instead of kicking the ball away, punter Shane Lechler threw a pass to wide-open running back Alfred Blue.
Who was the man who was supposed to cover Blue? Receiver Corey Washington, who earlier this week spoke to me about how he was trying to pick former Giants special teams ace David Tyree’s brain on how to become a better player.
If Washington, who didn’t have any passes thrown his way, wants to contribute on offense, he’s going to need to play a fundamentally sound game on special teams.
That he fell asleep on that particular play certainly didn’t help inspire any confidence in the coaches.
Stud: Quarterback Eli Manning
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For the second week in a row, Manning moved the offense up and down the field, looking as though he has been in this West Coast offense his entire career.
He completed 21 of 28 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. That’s a 75 percent completion percentage, his best showing since Week 13 of last year against the Green Bay Packers.
In addition to the high completion percentage—remember back in the summer, quarterback coach Danny Langsdorf told reporters (via ESPN.com) that the goal was to get Manning to complete at least 70 percent of his pass attempts—Manning was also more judicious with throwing the ball.
For the first time since November 24, 2013, in a game against the Dallas Cowboys, Manning did not throw an interception.
“That is the way it is supposed to work,” Manning told reporters after the game about the offense. “I thought it started up front with our offensive line. They did an outstanding job opening up lanes. Rashad [Jennings] ran hard. We didn’t get stuck in many 3rd-and-longs. We didn’t have many third downs at all, it felt like.
“The receivers made catches. They had good runs after the catch. It was efficient. We mixed it up and went to no-huddle, then we went with some standard offense and huddled up. I thought we had a good combination and a good mix.”
Never one to rest on his laurels, Manning added that there is still much more work to be done from the offensive side of the ball.
“I think we were close, but we are going to keep working and keep getting better,” he said. “I thought last week we made some steps to get better and this week was even stronger.”
Dud: Special Teams Coordinator Tom Quinn
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No, special teams coordinator Tom Quinn doesn’t execute the plays, such as the low snap by Zak DeOssie that squirted by holder Steve Weatherford on the Giants' first field-goal attempt of the game.
But Quinn is supposed to keep a watchful eye over his players’ technique so as to avoid gaffes such as the holding penalty called against Damontre Moore on Preston Parker’s 12-yard punt return in the second quarter, a gain that was nullified.
He’s supposed to remind and/or teach his players to be on the lookout for fake punts, such as what the Texans did on their first drive on a 4th-and-1, a play in which Corey Washington was not alert to the possibility of the fake.
Good preparation leads to solid execution. Three weeks in a row now the Giants special teams have looked like the Keystone Cops, and what’s even more alarming is that the names and the faces might change among the players, but the one constant has been the coaching.
Stud: Defensive End Jason Pierre-Paul
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Slowly but surely defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is rounding back into his 2011 form, a season in which he had 16.5 tackles and made all kinds of plays that ultimately caused opposing offensive coordinators to start game-planning specifically for him.
This week, Pierre-Paul finished second on the team with seven tackles, including one for a loss and one pass defensed.
More importantly, he’s starting to draw the double-team blocks that he used to command in 2011. This is key, because if opposing offenses double up on Pierre-Paul, that leaves the other three members of the defensive front to beat their solo blocking.
That’s what happened with defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, who shared half a sack with linebacker Jameel McClain all thanks to Pierre-Paul helping collapse the pocket.
Patricia Traina is the senior editor for Inside Football. Stats via NFL.com. All other quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
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