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Who to blame for NY Giants’ ugly Week 14 loss to Cardinals

By Danny Friedman

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 13: Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball through mid-field in the fourth quarter of the game against the the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 13, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Cardinals defeated the Giants 26-7. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - DECEMBER 13: Quarterback Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball through mid-field in the fourth quarter of the game against the the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium on December 13, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Cardinals defeated the Giants 26-7. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Giants Special Teams Coordinator, Thomas McGaughey, is shown at practice, Thursday, July 25, 2019Giants Football
Giants Special Teams Coordinator, Thomas McGaughey, is shown at practice, Thursday, July 25, 2019Giants Football /

#3. The NY Giants Special Teams are starting to become a special issue.

Whatever issues have happened must stop with the NY Giants’ special team units.

It’s hard to pinpoint one player that’s killing the special teams.

Simply put, it’s on coordinator Thomas McGaughey and assistant Tom Quinn to explore and figure out and they better fix it immediately.

Over the last three weeks, there have been far too many inexplicable mistakes and boneheaded decisions from the team’s coverage and return teams on punt and kickoffs. For the first 10 weeks, the special teams did their job every week and they were never once a problem. Since the Cincinnati game in Week 11, it’s been a full-blown disaster.

Starting with Cincy, the special teams nearly cost the team a much-needed victory. It all went wrong with the Bengals taking their opening kickoff to the house for 103 yards after the Giants’ opening touchdown drive. This was then followed by bad punt coverage, a fake punt that Cincy converted, more bad kickoff return coverage, and then Erickson’s punt return nearly won them the game had Cam Brown not made a shoestring tackle. Luckily for NY, they held on to survive thanks to their defense.

In the Giants game vs Seattle, things went from bad to worse. Seattle blocked a punt in the Giants’ own endzone and the ball *barely* dribbled out of bounds before two Seahawks could scoop and score the fumble for six. Then, Graham Gano shanked his first extra point of the year, and the team’s return coverage units were simply dreadful. Again, the defense held strong and won the team the game in the final moments.

This week was more of the same bad play from the special teams units.

Riley Dixon was out punting early and often and had one of his worst games as a Giant. Field position was a huge issue for NY all game and they also happened to spot Arizona exceptional field position nearly every drive they had. Dion Lewis fumbled a kickoff return and gifted the Cards easy field position that led to their first touchdown.

Lewis being the team’s primary kick returner is one of the more puzzling decisions personnel-wise. He is clearly past his prime, he’s not fast and has lost a step, and he was always much quicker in short bursts than a burner for long distances. Kickoffs are game-changing plays, the team has to put a better, more dynamic game-changing returner back there than Dion Lewis. He clearly is not the answer for returning kicks.

NY found itself stuck time and time again with having to punt, then letting up a huge return. When it was their turn to return, there was no space or gaps to be had for any returner to run through. The Giants had 78 rushing yards, 63 passing yards (adjusted for yards lost with the 8 sacks allowed), and the Cardinals had 77 punt return yards. That’s an inexcusable statistic and can’t happen again.

I’m not sure what’s happened to the Giants’ special teams, but it has completely fallen apart. It must improve instantly or the Giants will again get accustomed to losing games.

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