In their 2020 regular season schedule, the NY Giants played eight teams that ultimately reached the NFL Playoffs. Four teams remain in the divisional round.
The NY Giants this season went against a team in every game to be played in the divisional round of the 2020 NFL Playoffs. So, while the Giants won’t be picking up any playoff experience this season, it doesn’t mean they don’t know what it would take to be there.
Unfortunately, the Giants went 0-4 against those teams. What’s worse, some of those game were complete blowouts.
But every loss should be seen as a chance to learn, especially under the current regime. Now that most of the pieces are in play and the NFC East is up for grabs, anything less than a playoff bid next year should be seen as a failure by the organization.
If Joe Judge is to take this team to the playoffs next season, then he should note what works against these teams, and where the Giants failed to capitalize. And perhaps seeing what it takes to beat these teams will show how close the Giants are to be competing for a conference championship — or how far.
But to see how much they’ll need to improve, let’s review what worked and what failed when the Giants played four of the eight teams still in the race for a Super Bowl championship.
Los Angeles Rams, Week 4
Result: Loss, 17-9
The Giants’ fourth game this season also marked their fourth loss.
But, this game also showed the Giants’ ability to play well against a good team, despite what the final score said. The Giants were only losing by one point until the Rams scored with 6:56 left in the fourth quarter.
The Giants outplayed the Rams in several offensive categories. Both teams had 10 offensive drives, but the Giants made more first downs (19 vs 15), had more total yards (295 vs 240), and had more time of possession (33:18 vs 26:42) than did the Rams.
But the Giants also got in their own way. They were winning the turnover battle, until Daniel Jones threw an interception in the Red Zone with under a minute to go. This was just one of four trips to the Red Zone for the NY Giants, but they came up empty in all four trips.
The Giants actually made twice as many trips to the Red Zone as did the Rams. But the Rams went 1-2 in their trips.
What worked for the Giants was holding back the Rams offense, particularly their run game. The Giants had seven tackles for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble that they recovered. Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams combine for 11 tackles, which significantly stunted the Rams’ rushing attack.
Clearly, the Rams wanted to rush the ball just as much as they wanted to throw it. They attempted 23 runs vs 32 passing attempts. This is in line with how they defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the Wildcard round, although they rushed far more that game with two injured quarterbacks.
But where Seattle’s defense failed, the Giants offense succeeded. The Giants held the the Rams to just 58 yards rushing and 2.5 yards per attempt, while the Seahawks gave up 164 yards on 43 rushing attempts for 3.8 yards per attempt.
What hurt the Giants was the lack of touchdowns. Their nine points came on three field goals. Even the Seahawks — a team the Giants beat — scored in their lone trip to the Red Zone in the Wildcard game.
The Giants could have fared better than the Seahawks defensively, but there’s still work to be done offensively if they hope to compete under similar circumstances.
If Green Bay will beat the Rams, they’ll do so by taking a play out of the Giants’ game plan and stop the rushing attack.
Baltimore Ravens, Week 16
Result: Loss, 27-13
During this loss, the Giants, much like the Tennessee Titans during the divisional round, were unable to stunt the Raven’s rushing attack.
The Ravens’ offense played almost identical in both games. Baltimore had 400+ yards in each, with 200+ of the offense coming from the ground.
It’s no secret to what the Ravens’ want to do; they’ve had the leagues best rushing attack for two consecutive years. But neither the Giants nor the Titans were able to do anything about it.
The Giants gave up 249 yards on 40 rushes, while allowing 183 yards through the air on just 17 completed passes. The Titans were able to do a little better, allowing 236 yards on 35 carries and 165 yards through 17 completed passes.
But when the Titans beat the Ravens in Week 11, they were able to succeed the way the Giants hoped in stopping the run. The Ravens that game only rushed for 129 yards, which for them is as pedestrian as it gets; they only had four games during which they rushed for 129 yards or fewer in 2020, losing three of them.
It’s hard to say that anything worked for the Giants. The only positive they had this game was winning the turnover battle. They also had half the penalties that the Ravens did (10 vs 5), though just ten fewer penalty yards.
And just about everything hurt them. They rushed for only 54 yards, and only scored on one of three trips to the Red Zone, the lone touchdown coming halfway through the fourth quarter.
The Giants, and the Titans, knew how to beat the Ravens, but neither were able to do anything about it. And if anything, the Titans executed the game plan better than the Giants could have hoped to do.
If the Bills want to continue their exciting run, they’ll have to succeed where the Titans and Giants failed.
Cleveland Browns, Week 15
Result: Loss, 20-6
This game, the second in a three-game skid that further diminished the team’s hope for the playoffs, marked the Giants’ lowest score total all season.
Despite playing a clean game with no turnovers, having fewer penalties, and holding the third-best rushing team in the NFL to just 106 yards, the Giants were unable to beat the Browns.
Much like the Pittsburg Steelers in the Wildcard game last Sunday, the Giants didn’t help themselves in this game.
In a common theme among games they lost against divisional round playoff teams, the Giants went 0-3 in trips to the Red Zone. What’s worse, Cleveland went 3-3.
What worked best for the Giants was shutting down Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. Chubb rushed 15 times for just 50 yards, averaging 3.3 yards per carry. Outside of the Week 4 game in which he was injured, the it was Chubb’s fewest yards up to that point in the season. He would rush for only 28 yards the next week against the NY Jets.
Hunt equally had a poor showing. The Giants held him to just 28 yards total, his fewest through all of the 2020 regular season.
What hurt the Giants was yet again an unproductive offense. Backup quarterback Colt McCoy got the start, but only completed 19 passes on 31 attempts. The offense seemed uncertain about what it wanted to do; no running back had more than nine carries, and no receiver had more than four receptions.
The Giants would have done far better than the Steelers, at least in the first quarter. But the Steelers still managed to score 37 points and collect 553 total yards. They were decisive in their attack, throwing for 501 of those yards.
If Kansas City wants to beat Cleveland, they’d be wise to stop their running backs while capitalizing on Red Zone opportunities — and not go down by 28 points in the first quarter.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Week 8
Result: Loss, 25-23
While the game plan for most of these teams was for the Giants’ defense to overpower their opponents’ rushing attacks, the plan against Tampa Bay was to put Tom Brady in the turf.
The Giants were only able to do that to some degree, but it was their offense which helped them stay close in this game. In fact, this was one game the Giants could look back on and say they should have won. And however far the Buccaneers go, the Giants should absolutely feel they’re capable of getting.
The Giants and the Bucs had the same number of drives, but the Giants had more yards (357 vs 344). The Giants also had more trips to the Red Zone (4 vs 3) and scored on three of those trips. But they did not play a clean game; they had two interceptions and seven penalties for 73 yards.
The Giants’ Red Zone numbers match identically to how the Washington Football Team performed during the Wildcard game. But Washington had one fewer interception, and five fewer penalties. Washington only brought Brady down twice.
While the Giants were also able to sack Brady twice, it wasn’t enough to throw him off his game. He still completed 28 passes for 279 yards for two touchdowns and a rating of 106.1. He hit eight different receivers at least twice.
It was the Giants offense that worked best. While Daniel Jones only had a rating of 74.8, he completed 25 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants also rushed for 101 yards. Wayne Gallman rushed for 44 yards on 12 carries and a touchdowns, Alfred Morris added 28 yards, Jones had 20, and Evan Engram had nine.
Washington was only able to rush for 86 yards in their Wildcard game.
But what hurt the Giants was what usually hurts them, turnovers. They lost the turnover battle, and the penalty battle. And in this sense, their NFC East rivals played a better game than the Giants did.
But this should show just how close the Giants are. Turnovers aside, the Giants had an abnormally sloppy game. They were the third-lowest penalized team in the NFL in 2020. Seven penalties for 73 yards is far too much.
That could spell trouble for New Orleans. While the Saints were eighth overall in the NFL in sacks with 45, and managed to bring down Nickelodeon’s Valuable Player Mitch Trubisky once in the Wildcard game, they are the fourth highest penalized team in the league.