Actions speak louder than words, especially when they are controversial.
The Giants’ offense mostly came late in the first half of their last game against Washington, when a two-minute drive began with five hurries on the first six plays and a desire to keep the score tied. the turnover risk outweighed the charm of a touchdown because the ball was never thrown into the end zone. After burning three timeouts, Daniel Jones ran the quarterback on third-and-1 at the 11-yard line and rushed the ball to set up a three-pointer.
“That’s what we think is the best play,” defensive coordinator Mike Kafka said Thursday.
It’s hard to reconcile the reasoning behind three straight touchdown drives — two of which would have been one of the Giants’ longest drives of the season if completed — after getting the ball back with 1:45 left in the fourth quarter. ‘ng, when setting up a walk – the outfield goal must be the goal. Only 28 seconds elapsed before the punt.
“Obviously, in a two-minute situation, there are plays you talk about: shooting or underhand. [routes]Kafka said. “If you get a chance, you take it. We just tried to give our guys the best opportunity to have an explosive game. It didn’t work for us, so we went back, evaluated it, and worked to improve.
The two different approaches at the end of the half show the Giants are at a crossroads between what worked and what adjustments need to be made to keep the defense off balance heading into Sunday’s game against the Eagles. Daniel Jones’ passing routes and targets in the backfield are no longer surprising.
“We have a lot of different ways of doing it with different people in different staff groups,” Kafka said of the central takeaway from his book. “I think it’s about making sure we’re doing it right and detailing it from the coaching side.”
As was the case under former offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, Jones’ emphasis on ball protection created an overcorrection. Jones’ career-best 86 carries per punt return are offset by the Giants’ five fewer punts of 20 yards (20) than any other team in the NFL.
Is the conservative approach the result of a lack of confidence in Jones’ decision-making? Don’t believe an interior offensive line that allowed 28 sacks from three middle positions? Don’t trust an injury-plagued receiver group that doesn’t create enough separation?
“I believe in the offense,” head coach Brian Daboll said, “and I believe in the pitching staff.”
It started last week against the Chiefs, when Jones was allowed to throw three straight touchdown passes, one of which was a 55-yarder to Darius Slayton early in the game. In overtime, 12 of 14 play calls were passes, including sacks and scrambles, after Jones was 13 of 14 in the first three quarters.
Does Jones think the Giants are showing confidence in the passing game?
“Yes, I will,” he said. “I think we’ve had points all year based on that and we’ll continue to work on improving it. … We ran the ball effectively all year. I understand that.’
The Eagles (28.2 points per game) are the NFL’s second-highest scoring team, which suggests the Giants will need to capitalize on opportunities to keep the momentum going. But the Eagles also lead the league in turnovers — no team has more than 23 games — which suggests the Giants may be trending conservative. The way to go — and the possible wrinkle — is to start running back Saquon Barkley (3.3 yards per carry over the last five games) using him more as a pass rusher.
“Kafka, Dabes, those guys every week find creative ways to not only get me the ball, but to make our offense successful. That’s all that matters,” Barkley said. “Every week is a new challenge and you have to show something different. So far this season, I haven’t had to be. Could this be in the near future as the season progresses? You will never know.”
Words are an act of mockery.
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