New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Full Report-Card Grades for New York
It was the Hindenberg disaster of pro football for the New York Giants, who saw everything go wrong in a Week 6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The division rival Eagles (5-1) completely overwhelmed their guests for the evening, blowing out the Giants (3-3) to the tune of 27-0. New York was worked in all aspects of the game, as Philadelphia put on a live clinic in front of a national audience at Lincoln Financial Field.
As you can imagine, the grades aren't good. A few positional units graded out better than others, but the ones that flunked ultimately sunk the Giants' ship.
See all the grades in the slideshow ahead.
Quarterback
1 of 10
Eli Manning's night was honest and unproductive.
Completing 12 of 23 pass attempts for 151 yards is almost never going to win you a game. But Manning was not properly protected for a single dropback, and the Eagles pass rush ate him alive. Eight times, in fact. Eagles outside linebacker Connor Barwin can personally attest to three of them.
Somewhat amazingly, Manning did not throw an interception—and he threw very few dangerous balls. He put a few passes up for his playmakers in the end zone, but he came away with no touchdowns for various catastrophic reasons.
In spite of the unspectacular stat line, it's tough to give Manning a poor grade for the night because he was not directly responsible for anything that led to the team's downfall. Almost every drive ended up behind the sticks at some point, due to negative plays such as sacks (eight for 43 yards) and penalties (10 for 74 yards). That put Manning in low-percentage plays to begin with.
In a hostile environment, he needed exceptional contributions from the playmakers around him—and he didn't get it. A delay-of-game penalty, his first of the season, knocks his grade down a half-letter.
Grade: B-
Running Backs
2 of 10
Listen, I love watching Andre Williams bowl over unsuspecting defenders. It's awesome. He bulldozed an Eagles defender on an eight-yard carry in the first quarter. I wish he'd have runs like that on every carry.
But it's unrealistic. Williams was a poor replacement for the more dynamic Rashad Jennings, whose knee is being monitored on a week-to-week basis. The Giants realized how badly they need Jennings tonight, as a Williams-led rushing attack ended up being more bark than bite.
I'm not saying Williams had word-class blocking to run behind, but I do believe Williams' limited capabilities forced the Giants' hand, leaving them no other option than to force-feed him to a pack of hungry wolves. Jennings' well-roundedness would have provided the Giants with more options on offense—and, if you don't believe it, why did Peyton Hillis, a far less effective ball-carrier, see so many of the snaps in the second half?
Twenty-one carries for 82 yards, most of which came during garbage time, is not nearly enough production from this unit on the ground. Hillis' three pass receptions (second-most on team) saves the running backs from a failing grade.
Grade: D
Wide Receivers/Tight Ends
3 of 10
I am kind of giving the wide receivers the benefit of the doubt here.
Call it sympathy for a unit that lost its leader for what appears to be the remainder of the season, but I think the protection was more to blame than the route running for the Giants' overall lack of a passing attack. That's not to say the receivers were without fault; Manning stood in the pocket for an awful long time on a few dropbacks waiting for someone—anyone—to get open.
On the downs in which Manning was able to find an open receiver, Rueben Randle was usually the target. He led the team with five catches for 58 yards, mostly on safe comeback routes with Manning rolling out to the same side.
A couple of times, Odell Beckham Jr. made spectacular, yet confined plays. You got the feeling he could have made a difference if the Giants had more opportunities to get him the ball with room to run.
Victor Cruz was the subject of Sunday night's most tragic moment, when he collapsed in the back of the end zone, clutching his knee after dropping a fourth-down fade attempt. It's a torn patellar tendon, so Cruz's 2014 stat line will likely finalize like this: 23 catches, 337 yards and one touchdown.
I'm already looking forward to his comeback story.
In the meantime, the Giants are screwed in the slot. Jerrel Jernigan would have been useful right now, but he's on injured reserve. So would Marcus Harris, but, shoot, he's there too!
Watch for Julian Talley to be elevated from the practice squad this week.
As for the tight ends, Larry Donnell caught a routine six-yarder and a circus catch in the end zone—you can probably guess which one was called back for a holding penalty (hint: the Giants were shut out). Daniel Fells hauled in two big 20-yard receptions, the second of which he immediately fumbled away to the Eagles. Adrien Robinson had one 29-yard catch in the waning minutes of the game.
Grade: C-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The Giants could have had "The Hogs"—save for right tackle George Starke—line up to the left of Justin Pugh on Sunday night, and New York's O-line still might earn a failing grade.
Pugh was manhandled by Eagles outside linebacker Connor Barwin, who finished the game with three sacks and two quarterback hits. The second-year right tackle was absolutely horrible against Philadelphia.
It should be noted that Pugh was wearing some type of brace on his left arm.
The rest of the line wasn't much better. In addition to Pugh's holding in the second quarter, right guard John Jerry and left tackle Will Beatty were also called for holding infractions. Jerry was also called twice for false starts. Left guard Weston Richburg committed an idiotic unspotsmanlike-conduct penalty, diving onto a player he had already knocked down.
The only member of the offensive line that was not called for a penalty, center J.D. Walton, was pretty much manhandled and unable to identify the Eagles' pressure packages on a couple of occasions.
Grade: F
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The defensive line looked clueless in its attempt to comprehend a little bit of misdirection in the Eagles running game. They ends did not hold the edge, allowing LeSean McCoy to bounce outside for long gains. The players at that position were most to blame for the 6.8 yards-per-carry average Shady posted on Sunday night.
The defensive tackles were slightly better, allowing less room to run up the middle. They couldn't, however, stop the Eagles from eclipsing 200 yards on the ground.
The pass-rush fell somewhere between invisible and semitransparent. Eagles QB Nick Foles almost looked surprised when Damontre Moore sacked him on one of his ridiculously long dropbacks. The Giants hardly laid a hand on Foles the entire night.
Jason Pierre-Paul had his moments early on, but he disappeared once the game started getting out of hand. The only individual standout was Johnathan Hankins, who continued his rampage as a disruptive interior force with four tackles (one for a loss).
Sorry, Hank. Your unit still fails.
Grade: F
Linebackers
6 of 10
There was nothing great to say about the Giants linebackers on Sunday night. Jacquian Williams broke up one third-down pass attempt, limiting the Eagles to a field goal on the game's opening drive. Although it stunted Philly's early offensive surge, it was a play we should expect Williams to make as the team's best linebacker in coverage—except we don't.
Jon Beason made a healthy return, which may have been the unit's greatest accomplishment of the night. He and Jameel McClain shared the field, with McClain chipping in four tackles (three solo) to Beason's three (two solo). Beason also had a pass defense.
The linebackers must be more impactful if the Giants are to field a top-10 unit again, but they are hardly the team's biggest concern on defense.
But let's not sugarcoat it: Two stops in the red zone, where the spotlight shines on linebacker play, saved this unit from a failing grade.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
I can't fault the secondary, because the defensive backs gave New York back-to-back opportunities to spark some scoring, and the offense let them down.
The first chance came just before halftime, when Antrel Rolle picked off Nick Foles and gave the Giants an opportunity to dial up a two-minute drill. They were stifled instead, and any salvageable momentum from the first half was officially forfeited.
The next shot came on the Eagles' first drive of the second half, when Zack Bowman picked off Foles and returned it 18 yards into scoring position. The Giants invaded the red zone, exploring Eagles territory as deep as the 3-yard line.
Still, no points.
You could point to Foles' 248 passing yards and chalk it up to a loose secondary, but it wouldn't be entirely accurate. Sure, there were specific incidents, such as the Quintin Demps' blown coverage on James Casey's 26-yard score, when the coverage broke down. But on most plays, the defensive backs were asked to cover Philadelphia's receivers for an awful long time due to New York's all-around lack of a pass rush.
A lot of the Giants' coverage was solid, just beat by good throws and smart decisions. A perfect example was Foles' pinpoint strike to Zack Ertz in the end zone, just beyond Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who exited the game early with back spasms. He entered the game with various leg ailments.
With Walter Thurmond III already on injured reserve, the Giants are running out of credible reserves at the cornerback position.
Grade: B
Special Teams
8 of 10
OK, the Giants special teams were bad. I gave them a great grade last week, despite a fumbled kickoff return and a big play from Devin Hester, simply because I liked the move to put Odell Beckham Jr. back on punt returns.
At home, it made sense. It riled up the crowd. It was the most momentous fair catch I've ever witnessed.
On the road, in front of a hyped-up Philadelphia crowd at night, putting OBJ back there during a blowout was the equivalent of using your dad's Mercedes as a piñata. I'm starting to wonder what type of dirt special teams coordinator Tom Quinn has on GM Jerry Reese, because his firing is obscenely overdue—and those who read me know I am not quick to call for those to lose their jobs.
This week, Darren Sproles was given four opportunities to return punts, so, naturally, one of them was brought back 43 yards against New York's porous coverage unit. Another time, Steve Weatherford's attempt was partially blocked.
The only special team that showed improvement was the kick-return team, which was more effective with Michael Cox as the deep back. Cox, who was called up from the practice squad this week, averaged 26.5 yards per return and was smart about bringing the ball out of the end zone.
Cox saved the Giants special teams from a failing grade this week.
Grade: D
Coaching
9 of 10
The Giants were absolutely out-coached. Chip Kelly's on-field product was so much better than Tom Coughlin's that it was hard to believe their teams even competed in the same league—let alone the same division.
The Giants came in with their game plans practically tattooed to their foreheads. If Coughlin and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo caught anybody by surprise with their power-running game, he wasn't a member of the Eagles defense. For every time the Giants lined up to run the ball with Andre Williams, Philadelphia's wall was there to meet him at the line of scrimmage without fail.
And when the ground game failed, New York made no adjustments. I admire the Giants' adherence to what they originally planned to do, but when you try to fly a plane with no wings, it's best to know where the emergency hatch is.
The Giants couldn't recover, as they floundered for a lifeline when the running game wasn't working. And although that deficiency was at the forefront of New York's woes, the edgeless defense and sketchy special teams were right at the heart of the team's troubles, too.
The coaches made it easy this week: A shutout calls for automatic failure.
Grade: F
Overall
10 of 10
Here's the Giants' final report card for Week 6:
| Pos. | Grade |
| QB | B- |
| RB | D |
| WR/TE | C- |
| OL | F |
| DL | F |
| LB | D |
| DB | B |
| ST | D |
| Coach | F |
Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants for Bleacher Report.
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