Believe it or not, the NY Giants are very much alive in the NFC East, the Eagles are very banged up, and Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the talk of the NFL
After the NY Giants’ 20-19 win over the Washington Football Team, here are some observations about the NY Giants, the NFC East, and the rest of the NFL from Week 6.
1. Scrambling Jones
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones ran a career high seven times for a personal best 74 yards, leading New York’s rushing attack. Jones took off both by design and when the play broke down, and continuing to use his legs more often than usual might be an important element of the Giants offense.
Forcing opposing defenses to defend against his rushing threat should open up some passing lanes for Jones. In addition, keeping the defense honest on RPO looks should help open things up for a rushing attack trying to get the job done without Saquon Barkley.
That said, the youngster needs to make sure to protect himself and get down or out of bounds once he’s picked up the yardage needed. On the opening drive of the second half, Jones picked up the first down with his legs on third-and-four, but took a shot for a few extra yards. He drew a 15-yard personal foul, but the Giants don’t want to be in the business of trading shots at their quarterback for 15 yards too often.
The rule of thumb is to take a hit when fighting for a touchdown or a first down, but otherwise Jones needs to get on the ground or to the sideline before he’s in harm’s way.
2. Overly Conservative Judge
In two instances, Giants head coach Joe Judge stayed conservative in fourth down situations, settling for a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yardline with a 10-3 lead late in the second quarter, and opting to take a delay-of-game penalty and punt facing fourth-and-two from the Washington 38-yard line early in the second half with a three-point lead.
According to the math, Judge should have kept the offense on the field both times. Neither was late enough in the game for the time and score to factor in much at all, so his conservative decisions likely cost the Giants win-equity. They also belayed a lack of trust in his offense and in his young quarterback.
It’s definitely a glass half-empty scenario. Either Judge is likely to make poor decisions in big spots in the future in terms of applying analytics to his in-game decisions, or he doesn’t trust his offense. If it comes down to his opinion of Daniel Jones, that might not bode well for the youngster’s future. For now, it’s something for Giants fans to keep an eye on.
3. Opening Sequence
On the other hand, I was a big fan of how the Giants coaching staff opened the game on offense. They started with a play-action roll out for Jones that gave him an easy completion downfield, cutting the field in half and giving him plenty of time to deliver a strike to Evan Engram for 21 yards. They kept things simple for Jones and moved the ball 50 yards on their first five offensive plays before it went awry.
On first-and-10 from the Washington 13-yard line, the Giants dialed up a reverse that lost three yards. It was an odd situation for a reverse, which is a high risk play that often loses yards but can hit big. Why run one when the upside is a 13-yard gain? That’s a play that makes a lot more sense between the 20’s than in the red zone.
Perhaps the Giants were in a scripted sequence to open the game, as it was the sixth snap and most teams script the first 10 to 15 snaps offensively. Even if that was the case, it was an ideal time to deviate from the plan and save that play for a better situation later in the game.
4. Rookie Mistake
At this point in Daniel Jones’ career, in his 18th start, you’d like to see him turning the corner and eliminating rookie mistakes. That wasn’t the case with a third quarter interception in the red zone.
The Giants held a 13-10 lead, and were threatening with first-and-goal at the Washington seven-yard line. Jones was under pressure, and appeared to try to throw it away off his back foot. He didn’t get enough on it and Kendall Fuller made a spectacular interception. But he never should have had the chance.
Jones has to do a better job of protecting the football there. In a close game, you can’t turn the ball over in goal-to-go situations. It’s especially bad on first down, as you not only take a minimum of three points off the board – you also give away two more opportunities to find the end zone.
Take the sack, or make sure the ball sails out of bounds. That’s a situation where the Giants need to come away with points. Sacks and incompletions are okay, but turnovers are not. If Jones was actually trying to complete the pass, then the decision making was even worse – hopefully that wasn’t the case.
Either way, that was a rookie mistake, and Jones can’t be making those any more.
5. Wide Open NFC East
Was anyone impressed with the Football Team from Washington Sunday? Didn’t think so.
Washington’s now tied with the Giants at 1-5.
Was anyone impressed with the Cowboys last night? Me either.
Dallas’ blowout loss to the Cardinals dropped them to 2-4, but they still lead the division. I thought Andy Dalton would be able to play well enough to keep them in the mix in such a weak division, but his ability to handle pressure behind a questionable offensive line is not on Dak Prescott‘s level.
The Eagles spent three quarters flailing around with an injury-riddled offense before Carson Wentz nearly willed them to overtime. A failed two-point conversion dropped them to 1-4-1. So the division is wide open.
Other than the Football Team from Washington, you can make a case that any team should be the favorite. But, should anyone want to be the favorite? Winning the NFC East should feel kind of like going on Maury Povich or Jerry Springer expecting to be the good guy, and finding out that, congratulations, you ARE the father! Sign the child support check here, and enjoy your reputation as a deadbeat dad.
What really awaits the winner of the NFC East? A likely first round playoff loss and a significantly lower draft pick? No, thanks. I would need to see markedly better play from any team in the division to be convinced they should actually want a postseason berth.
6. Clarifying Divisional Picture
That said, the division should come into focus over the next month. There will be eight games involving NFC East teams, and five of them will be divisional confrontations. It should go a long way to separating the division out.
Next Week: Dallas at Washington, New York at Philadelphia.
Week Two: Dallas at Philadelphia, Tampa Bay at New York, Washington bye
Week Three: New York at Washington, Pittsburgh at Dallas, Philadelphia bye
Week Four: Philadelphia at New York, Washington at Detroit, Dallas bye
I expect Dallas to beat Washington and lose to Pittsburgh, but their game in Philadelphia is tough to predict. I expect New York to beat Washington and lose to Tampa Bay, but their two games with Philadelphia could go either way. All three of Philadelphia’s games are tough to call, and I don’t think Washington is in the race.
So the games that I think will determine the direction of the divisional race are:
Week 7: New York at Philadelphia
Week 8: Dallas at Philadelphia
Week 10: Philadelphia at New York
7. Wentz on the Rise?
After looking like one of the bottom five quarterbacks in the NFL the first three and a half weeks, Eagles signal caller Carson Wentz is starting to look like a franchise player again.
Wentz’s stats don’t tell the full story, but since halftime of the win over the 49ers, Wentz has completed 49 of 87 passes for 562 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions.
That’s fewer than 6.5 yards per attempt and only a 56 percent completion percentage, but given the fact that he’s playing behind offensive lineman the Eagles have been scooping up off the street and practice squads, and he’s lost his top three wide receivers and top two tight ends as well, it’s been somewhat impressive.
The Giants might not be getting him at the best time this year, but they should be able to generate a ton of pressure against a struggling offensive line.
8. Ertz’s Days Numbered in Philly?
It would be somewhat surprising if Zach Ertz was still in Philadelphia after the trade deadline on November 3. It was widely reported that Ertz wanted an extension in the offseason, and his numbers have been far from stellar. Ertz is under contract through 2021, and at 29 years old still has plenty left in the tank.
However, his numbers this year are less than stellar. Through six games, Ertz has 24 receptions for 178 yards and a lone touchdown on 45 targets. That projects to a 16-game pace of 64 catches for 475 yards and three touchdowns. He’s gone for at least 74 catches and 800 yards five years in a row, averaging 5.6 touchdowns per season.
Something isn’t clicking, and it’s hard not to wonder if it has to do with his tenuous contract situation. Given the Eagles struggles this season, it would make a lot of sense if Ertz is suiting up for a new team in November.
He’s caught 67 passes for 764 yards and seven touchdowns in his last 11 career games against the Giants, so New York fans should be happy to see him out of the division.
All that said, the tight end’s injury status could impact whether or not he has much trade value. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that Ertz is expected to miss three to four weeks with an ankle injury. That will certainly impact his trade value, which may cause the Eagles to hang onto him and deal him in the offseason – when they will still control his rights.
9. Bucs Look Legit
If there were any lingering questions about whether Tom Brady’s Buccaneers were a legit contender, they were put to rest Sunday.
Tampa Bay took apart Green Bay 38-10, and the defense was probably more impressive than Brady. Tampa’s allowing just over 20 points per game – the third fewest in the NFC.
They ruined Aaron Rodgers’ afternoon, sacking the Packers quarterback five times, picking him off twice, and holding him to 160 yards on 16 of 35 passing with no touchdowns. Brady went 17 of 27 for 166 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and cruised to the win.
While the future hall-of-famer is in the pack in terms of passer rating, he’s racked up 14 touchdowns (fourth most in the league) and only four interceptions. It’s hard to argue with that, and it looks like we might seeing Brady make another deep post-season run.
10. Football in 4K
Have you had the pleasure of watching a game in 4K ultra-high definition yet? I did last night, as Fox offered the Chiefs-Bills game in 4K. I didn’t expect to notice much of a difference, but the picture clarity was quite impressive – especially with fast motion.
Giants fans can look forward to a crystal clear picture on Thursday night, as Fox is offering the full slate of Thursday Night Football in 4K. Check out GMEN HQ on Thursday for more details on how to watch the Giants-Eagles game in ultra high-definition either through your provider or via a stream.