The New York Giants fell to the Detroit Lions on Friday night in the first week of the NFL preseason.
The 21-16 loss is not one that will be remembered as preseason outcomes mean next to nothing. It was a great chance for New York to see some of their fringe players and rookies and there was definitely a lot to like. However, things were not all rainbow and sunshine as there were definitely a lot of areas in need of improvement, especially starting with the offense.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this loss.
Offense: D
Overall, the offense was abysmal. This was evident from the get-go. On the first two drives of the game, New York was given the ball in Detroit territory (awfully close to the red zone) and only converted six points.
Most of these problems stemmed from the offensive line which could not get any push in the run game, leading to Giants rushers averaging 3.7 yards per carry (2.3 yards per carry if you exclude Jashaun Corbin’s 33-yard scamper).
Things were even worse in the passing game as the pocket was always collapsing and Detroit was able to get home for 5.0 sacks. This was not great to see. While all of the skill position players will not likely be starters (other than possibly Jalin Hyatt), there were a couple of starting offensive linemen in from the beginning.
Nevertheless, the one positive is that rookie center John Michael Schmitz seemed very comfortable in his role and should be a solid Day 1 starter for Big Blue. Furthermore, when New York plays its skill position stars and the tackle duo of Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal, this offense will look wildly different.
Defense: A-
New York’s defense played well on Friday, coming away with two interceptions and a turnover on downs which resulted in 13 of New York’s 16 points.
Much of this was the result of great secondary play. For starters, Jason Pinnock was easily the player of the game, coming away with an interception on the first drive of the game. On the next drive, Pinnock also recorded a tackle for loss and broke up a pass to force a turnover on downs. The secondary as a whole was great in this area recording eight passes defended while also holding Detroit quarterbacks to a measly 51.0 passer rating.
However, the one area in need of improvement was the pass rush, which did generate decent pressure but could have gotten home more as they only recorded three quarterback hits and one sack.
Special Teams: C
The special teams unit played well besides allowing a 95-yard punt return, which unfortunately knocks the grade down significantly.
On the other hand, the kickoff return game was decent, averaging 20 yards per kick return while holding the Lions to only 13 yards per return.
Specialists Graham Gano and Jamie Gillan also did their job well. Gano made all three of his field goals and his one extra point and Gillan had two punts land inside the 20 and an average of 47.6 yards per punt with a long of 67 yards.
Coaching: C
Brian Daboll did his job in Week 1 of the preseason. He did not risk any tenured starters after a week of joint practices and played the guys that the team needed more film on. A win or a loss is irrelevant in a game like this and come the regular season, Daboll will hopefully be able to win this game with a cast of almost 20 different players.
The lack of creativity from Mike Kafka on offense was expected — there is no game planning for preseason games. The same applies to Wink Martindale on the defensive side of the ball.
