Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants: Full Report Card Grades for New York
That's it, Big Blue faithful.
Another 17 weeks are in the books, as the New York Giants 2014 season has come to a close, fittingly, with a loss.
This one was a 34-26 defeat at the hands of the division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Sunday's loss snapped a three-game winning streak New York had going, dropping the team to 6-10 overall for the season.
To see how each positional unit graded out one last time, click through the slides to follow.
Quarterback
1 of 10
The Giants asked Eli Manning to do a lot in the final week of the 2014 season.
With the running game struggling, Manning threw the ball 53 times. He completed only 28 attempts (52.8 percent), although several of them were low-percentage deep shots to stretch the Eagles defense thin. Many of these passes fell incomplete, but it seemed to be by design.
By the end of the outing, Manning had racked up a tremendous yardage total of 429—his highest of the season. In typical fashion, Manning's arm powered the Giants offense against the Eagles. His passing yardage accounted for 85 percent of the offense's total output.
On Manning's only touchdown of the game, Odell Beckham Jr.'s run after the catch was more impressive than the throw itself. And his lone interception, which sealed the game in Philadelphia's favor, was the result of an over-inflated pass attempts figure more so than anything else.
Grade: B-
Running Back
2 of 10
The Giants got very little from their running backs, but how much are they to blame?
The holes are rarely there to run through. First contact is usually made in the backfield. Basically, the backs barely have a chance to be successful.
But the infusion of a somewhat healthy Rashad Jennings should have given the Giants a bit of a boost. It did not. Instead, he carried the ball 10 times for 33 yards. Yet Jennings did muster New York's longest rush of the game—an 18-yarder early in the second half.
Andre Williams made the start, but the rookie was even less effective. He led the team with 15 carries for 43 yards, an average of less than three yards per carry.
The Giants were able to get their running backs a bit more involved out of the backfield, mostly as check-down options. Williams and Jennings combined to catch five passes for 40 yards.
Grade: C+
Wide Receiver/Tight End
3 of 10
Two receivers were outstanding for New York. Every other pass-catcher was pretty much ignored.
The two standouts were Rueben Randle and Odell Beckham Jr. Both receivers eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive week.
For Randle, these last two games have been a tremendous turnaround. Twice he was benched for the first quarter this season. Against the Eagles, however, Randle couldn't have asked for a hotter start. Two big catches of his, including a 43-yarder in between two defenders, set up the Giants' first touchdown of the game.
Beckham got hotter as the game went on. Targeted an insane 21 times, the rookie came away with 12 grabs for a season-high 185 yards. The highlight of the game, per usual, was a long scoring play of his—this time a 63-yard dance down the right sideline.
While Beckham and Randle hogged the spotlight, players like Preston Parker and tight end Larry Donnell withered into the background. Those two caught a combined four passes. The rest of New York's receptions came from running backs.
Grade: A-
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The offensive line was much improved from its last showing against the Eagles. In a Week 6 shutout loss at Philadelphia, the line allowed eight sacks (six on Eli Manning, two on Ryan Nassib).
New York must have made the proper adjustments, because Manning dropped back to pass 53 times in Week 17 and was not sacked once. The Eagles did hit him a handful of times, but, for the most part, the O-line did a great job keeping him upright and giving him a chance to find receivers downfield.
The offensive line was far from perfect, though. Will Beatty got a Rueben Randle touchdown called back for a holding call, and J.D. Walton had unsportsmanlike conduct and false start penalties on back-to-back plays.
More annoying than the penalties, however, was the complete inability to run block. The Eagles dominated the trenches any time the Giants tried to run, limiting New York to an average of 3.0 yards per carry. This forced Manning to pass more often, throwing off the team's delicate offensive balance.
Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The defensive line didn't have it's best day, although it did feature one individual standout.
Jason Pierre-Paul finished his contract year strong with two sacks, bringing his season total up to 12.5 due to a late surge. JPP led all Giants D-linemen with five tackles (four solo), three of which were for a loss of yards.
The only thing Pierre-Paul could have done better was maintain the edge. He and New York's other defensive linemen were often fooled by the Eagles' confusing misdirection plays, which allowed LeSean McCoy to average nearly six yards per rushing attempt.
Markus Kuhn was the only defensive lineman besides JPP to record a sack. The fourth-quarter takedown of Philadelphia's Mark Sanchez was the former seventh-round selection's first sack of his career.
Mike Patterson, Johnathan Hankins, Damontre Moore, Cullen Jenkins and Kerry Wynn each found themselves in on a handful of tackles, but none of these players managed to make a stop in the backfield.
Grade: C
Linebacker
6 of 10
It's tough to come down so hard on the linebackers, considering the personnel New York had to field in order to fill out this injured unit. Still, the Eagles were extremely successful when targeting linebackers.
With longterm backups already starting in the middle (Jameel McClain for Jon Beason) and on the weak side (Mark Herzlich for Jacquian Williams), the Giants completed the trifecta when Spencer Paysinger got the start in place of a newly injured Devon Kennard (toe).
McClain, Herzlich and Paysinger struggled to keep up with the speed and overall athleticism of Philadelphia's up-tempo offense. Several times, they were caught out of position, as the Eagles consistently exposed the soft underbelly of New York's defense.
The linebackers were able to muster a couple positive plays, including a pass defensed in the end zone by McClain and a sack by Herzlich. Paysinger, on the other hand, only made one tackle.
Grade: D+
Secondary
7 of 10
The secondary wasn't terrible, but someone must be blamed for Mark Sanchez's 96.1 passer rating.
Mike Harris, New York's third cornerback, had the busiest day. He made 10 tackles, usually after giving up a completion. Harris did intercept one pass, but that was bound to happen considering the quarterback and how many times he was targeted.
Antrel Rolle had the quietest eight-tackle outing ever, and his partner at safety, Stevie Brown, only stood out by blowing coverages. On Philadelphia's first score of the game—an easy-looking, 44-yard weave through the Giants defense by Jordan Matthews—Brown was nowhere to be found.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie was the only solid performer in the secondary, helping limit Philadelphia's top pass-catcher, Jeremy Maclin, to just three catches for 49 yards. Opposite him, Chykie Brown was the complete opposite. DRC's counterpart was penalized for pass interference, encroachment and illegal use of hands, which was declined.
Grade: C-
Special Teams
8 of 10
New York's special teams had its moments but ultimately provided the game's biggest mistake.
The field-goal game was strong. Josh Brown's stellar season continued, as the 35-year old converted three more tries against the Eagles. The first two were chip shots and the third was a season-long of 53. Brown went the entire season without missing a field goal from 50-plus yards away (4/4). In fact, the veteran boot missed only two kicks all season, and one was blocked (23/25).
The special teams error came early in the second half, when a nasty snap and lackadaisical punt by Steve Weatherford was blocked and returned for a touchdown. Before that play, the Giants trailed by one point. After it, Philadelphia maintained at least a five-point cushion the rest of the way.
Grade: C
Coaching
9 of 10
The Giants were vastly improved compared to their last performance against the Eagles—a 27-0 shutout loss—but that improvement still wasn't enough. Getting swept by two divisional rivals (Eagles and Cowboys) is never a recipe for success.
New York's complete lack of a running game severely hamstrung the team in Week 17. This was an ongoing problem, one that has persisted since last season, and has yet to be fixed. Injuries have a lot to do with it, but at some point the coaching staff have to come up with some solution. It's getting to be pretty ridiculous.
In this game, specifically, the Giants struggled in the red zone (1-for-3). They've lacked creativity in this area all season, relying too heavily on the athleticism of their receivers to catch 50-50 balls on poorly disguised fades. Again, this probably has a lot to do with New York's lamentable ground game.
Not all of New York's problems come on offense. The team still has veterans blowing coverages and failing to defend option offenses. There's no excuse for this, especially when many of the same mistakes are repeated week after week after week.
An overall sign of subpar coaching in Week 17 was how often the Giants were penalized. New York was called for eight infractions (106 yards) compared to Philadelphia's five (35 yards).
Grade: C-
Overall
10 of 10
Here are your full report card grades for Week 17:
| Position | Grade |
| QB | B- |
| RB | C+ |
| WR/TE | A- |
| OL | C- |
| DL | C |
| LB | D+ |
| DB | C- |
| ST | C |
| Coach | C- |
*All statistics courtesy of NFL.com box score and play-by-play.
Kevin Boilard writes about the New York Giants at Bleacher Report.
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