Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders was, in some ways, a microcosm of the NY Giants’ season, with much to be gleaned ahead of the bye week
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The NY Giants have surpassed what used to be the midway point of the NFL season, and enter the bye week striking an optimistic tone, but Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders revealed some hard truths about this team.
Daniel Jones was far from prolific against the Raiders, but just as he had for much of the first eight weeks of this season Jones withstood a barrage of pressure and delivered several perfectly placed passes with rushers baring down in the pocket.
While the NY Giants remain three games under .500, Jones has consistently shown that he has the toughness, command of the pocket, and accuracy to become a franchise quarterback in this league, for this team.
Despite wide receivers Sterling Shepard, Kadarius Toney, Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton, tight end Evan Engram, and Saquon Barkley, missing a combined 23 man-games, Jones has made significant strides
Sunday, Jones only passed for 110 yards and a touchdown, but it was his sixth game of nine that he didn’t throw an interception, and really made the best of a performance where he faced pressure on nearly every drop back.
Many of the familiar themes and developments of the first half of the NY Giants’ season emerged in Sunday’s 23-16 win over Las Vegas.
Here are five things we’ve learned about the NY Giants from Sunday’s win over the Raiders
Getting wide receivers involved is a real struggle
When Kadarius Toney has the football in his hands, he has proven capable of being an electrifying playmaker with game-altering talent.
But, once again on Sunday, it became clear that the NY Giants need to scheme ways to get him involved rather than relying on him creating his own opportunities.
Against Las Vegas, Toney caught his lone target for a nine-yard gain. He wasn’t targeted until the third quarter.
Twice in the first half, the NY Giants tried gadget plays to get Toney involved in the game-plan; once from the wildcat, and once on what looked like a trick play designed for Toney to throw the ball downfield after catching a lateral. The plays yielded negative-eight yards.
Since his 10-catch for 189 yard outburst against the Cowboys in Week 5, Toney has caught just eight passes for 71 yards his past three games.
It seems that while Devontae Booker has shown an ability to get involved in the passing game, and tight end Kyle Rudolph has emerged, the NY Giants have had real issues involving the receivers.
Jones has completed 210 passes, but only 57 percent of them have gone to wide receivers.
Injuries certainly have played a role, but the play-calling, which frequently focuses on underneath routes to backs and tight ends combined with a leaky offensive line have made it exceedingly difficult for Jones to involve his receivers in the passing game.