The New York Giants upended the Houston Texans, 24-16, in a Week 10 game at MetLife Stadium. The score should have been more unbalanced, but some drops and untimely penalties killed a few offensive drives.
There’s still a lot the Giants have to clean up, but they’re winning games they’re supposed to win and that’s all that can be asked of them.
Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 10 win? Let’s take a look.
Stock up: Dexter Lawrence
Earlier this season, we argued that Dexter Lawrence was playing at a Pro Bowl level. Prior to the bye week, we argued that he was playing at an All-Pro level. Now we’ll argue that he’s among the best interior defensive lineman in all of football — on Aaron Donald’s level.
Some may scoff at that but turn on the tape and watch for yourself. Big Dex isn’t just winning inside, he’s dominating against both the run and the pass. And when we say “dominating,” we literally mean dominating.
Lawrence finished Sunday’s game with five tackles (one for a loss), one pass defensed, five QB hits and one sack (the one sack was the total of two half sacks).
Stock down: Kenny Golladay
Kenny Golladay returned on Sunday and to say it didn’t go well would be an understatement.
The $72 million receiver took just 26 snaps before being benched in the second half. That came as the result of two incompletions on two targets — one clear drop and one arguable drop.
Golladay expressed frustration after the game but vowed to continue working through the issues, for which he had no real answer.
Stock up: Daniel Jones
It’s strange to see a small subsection of Giants fans still miserable when discussing Daniel Jones. We’re not sure if it’s denial or what, but they simply refuse to acknowledge how well he’s playing this season.
While DJ isn’t lighting up the box score, he’s playing very efficient football with minimal receiving options. And while some may credit Saquon Barkley for that, there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
On the Giants’ three touchdown drives in Week 10, DJ completed eight of his nine passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns. On those same drives, Barkley had 54 yards on 15 carries (3.4 YPC) and one touchdown.
Barkley’s touchdown run was preceded by two third-and-long conversions courtesy of Jones.
Stock down: Jamie Gillan
Maybe it was the wind or something else, but Jamie Gillan did not have a game worth writing home about on Sunday.
Gillan punted the ball six times for 242 yards (40.3) average, one touchdown and one downed inside the 20. The one downed inside the 20 (actually at the 8) was his final punt of the game and was the only redeeming moment of his performance.
One of those punts went just 14 yards. Another was a net gain of just 20 yards.
Stock up: Jason Pinnock
With Xavier McKinney (hand) out and rookie Dane Belton starting, that meant an increased role for reserve defensive back Jason Pinnock.
He responded with four tackles (three solo, one for a loss), two QB hits and 1.5 sacks as Wink Martindale frequently used him as a blitzer.
What makes those numbers even more impressive is that the production all came on 23 defensive snaps.
Stock down: Kayvon Thibodeaux
This won’t sit well with many but the reality is, Kayvon Thibodeaux took a step back in Week 10.
We’ll preface with this, however: Thibs is held at a remarkably alarming rate and they’re all blatant. The fact that he’s not receiving the calls is questionable at best.
Now, with that having been said, it’s on Thibs to sell that a bit more. You can’t blame him for not flopping and continuing on each play, but he needs to start getting the attention of officials. Until he does, the holding will continue and so will the limited production.
On Sunday, Thibodeaux recorded just four tackles and didn’t really factor in at any key moment.
