4 NY Giants who let the team down in 31-16 loss to the Dolphins

Another week, another embarrassing loss for the NY Giants in which they looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL. This time around, though, it came at the hands of the Miami Dolphins, who have been on the complete opposite side of the spectrum as the Giants in terms of success. While this game was closer than it arguably should have been, we all know how it ended up going for the G-Men.

The Giants needed to be perfect on both sides of the ball to try and pull off an upset, but that wasn't the case. Multiple Giants didn't deliver on Sunday, with these guys certainly being on the list:

4. DL Dexter Lawrence/Leonard Williams

Heading into the season, fans were excited about the Dexter Lawrence/Leonard Williams duo. Both of these players were fantastic all-around defensive linemen that could rush the passer, and stop the run at any given moment. While, for the most part, they've done just that this season, they were almost non-existent against the Dolphins this week.

While Lawrence has had a slightly worse season as a pass-rusher compared to last, he's still been elite, racking up 17 pressures heading into Week 5. Considering how mediocre the Dolphins' offensive line is on paper, fans were hoping to see the All-Pro dominate. Instead, he racked up just one tackle and one QB hurry.

For Williams, he has been incredibly solid for the Giants, racking up 10 pressures and seven tackles going into this week. However, he also had just one tackle and one QB hit. Considering how badly the Dolphins were killing New York in the run game, the Giants needed these two to step up and they didn't.

The Dolphins ran the ball 23 times for 222 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 9.7 yards per carry. The Giants safeties and linebackers needed to help out here as well, but they didn't at all. Williams and Lawrence needed to be electric, but they just were not.

3. OT Joshua Ezeudu

Since making his first career start against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, fans were incredibly excited about what Joshua Ezeudu could be for the Giants. In this game, Ezeudu allowed just one sack and no other pressures in 45 pass-blocking snaps. Since this game, though, Ezeudu has continued to play worse week in and week out to the point where he was even benched against the Dolphins.

Following the Cardinals game, Ezeudu has allowed four sacks and 10 pressures in just three weeks. To keep it simple, he has been borderline unplayable, which is really unfortunate because it really seemed like Ezeudu could have been a fine player for the Giants.

As we mentioned, Ezeudu was also benched this week in favor of Matt Peart after being embarrassed by Andrew Van Ginkel on a sack that led to Daniel Jones injuring his neck. In addition to this, Ezeudu was also penalized THREE times in one drive in the second quarter, including back-to-back false starts.

Normally, a player like Ezeudu wouldn't even be seeing the field for the Giants. However, with Andrew Thomas currently dealing with a hamstring injury, Ezeudu's been forced to start at left tackle. Hopefully, the Giants will have Thomas back soon, if not, it will be interesting to see whether or not Brian Daboll keeps Ezeudu at tackle, or moves Peart into the starting role.

2. OT Evan Neal

It seems like every week, Evan Neal finds himself on one of these lists and it's really been disappointing to see the complete lack of progression from him thus far. Now, with the way he talked about Giants fans earlier this week, it seems like there will be more heat than ever on the second-year tackle.

Through 46 pass-blocking snaps, Neal allowed six pressures, earning a PFF pass-blocking grade of 40.7. All game long Neal looked incapable of reading basic defensive stunts and the Dolphins' defense took advantage of it. Take a look at this play below and get ready to be upset once again. What was he doing here?

At this point, the Giants have to do something about Neal. Whether it's benching him, moving him to guard, or maybe even shifting him back to left tackle if Thomas continues to miss games, something must change. Neal has been nothing short of disastrous for the Giants and Daboll cannot continue to allow him to ruin the team's offense every week.

Maybe the backlash Neal has received from the comments he made toward fans will be a wake-up call for him heading into the rest of the season. For now, though, that's all the hope we have. Through 18 games, Neal has shown no progression as a player and it has us incredibly worried about what the future could hold for him on the Giants.

1. DC Wink Martindale

Now, the entirety of the defense's struggles are not a result of Wink Martindale, don't get us wrong. Despite this, there's no doubt that he made some pretty crucial mistakes during this game that cost the defense big time. This, combined with his questionable playcalling in the other four games, has been deflating to witness.

For starters, Martindale's inconsistencies in defensive playcalling, lack of adjustments, and personnel issues were bad. However, this does not change the fact that the Giants' defense did do a solid job, forcing three turnovers after heading into this week with zero on the season. Regardless, they still gave up 31 points and were absolutely embarrassed at several points throughout the game.

One of Martindale's biggest mistakes this game came in the third quarter, when he, for some reason, put rookie sixth-round corner Tre Hawkins on Tyreek Hill in press-man coverage with no safety help at all. This resulted in an easy 69-yard touchdown pass for Hill. Some will blame Hawkins, and he did make a very bad play, but he never should have been in this position to begin with. Everyone knows that Hawkins has been struggling, so for Martindale to put him one-on-one against Hill is just mind-boggling.

We're confident in Martindale and his abilities as the Giants' defensive coordinator, as he's proven he can be great in the past. However, he has to put his guys in the right position to succeed the rest of the season. Wink had a lot of Giants fans furious on Sunday.