New York Giants Standouts and Disappointments Week One

Giants Standouts

Saquon Barkley

Barkley’s day started with a bit of a hiccup after he had his first fumble in the NFL. He caught a quick pass out of the backfield and turned upfield when a defender made an excellent tackle to force the ball free. It didn’t take long for Barkley to turn things around. On his first run of the game, he took a handoff from Eli Manning and scampered up the sideline for 59 yard gain. Barkley was difficult to tackle throughout the game and routinely made the first defender miss. At the start of the gam his offensive line was creating nice holes for him to run through and he was an active member in the passing game. By the third quarter, Barkley had surpassed 100 combined yards. The only negative other than his fumble was the minimal amount of touches that he received in the game.

Wayne Gallman

In limited touches, Gallman was able to prove his capabilities as an impressive backup to Barkley. He was impressive during his limited runs and had some nice gains through the air. During the Giants’ lone running touchdown, Gallman was able to drag a defender to the edge of the endzone and reach out with the ball for a score. Gallman was only sparingly used against the Cowboys but was impressive when the ball was in his hands.

Evan Engram

Evan Engram was the most successful pass catcher for the Giants. He routinely separated from his defender, made difficult catches, and generated positive gains when the ball was in his hands. On his touchdown grab, he had an excellent block and release to get open from defenders for the score. Several plays were designed specifically to take advantage of Engram’s athletic abilities. He looks to be in store for his best year as a pro.

Mixed Bag

Eli Manning

Manning made some mistakes and had too many failed third-down throws, but generally was able to keep the Giants offense moving. He made several impressive tosses along the sidelines including a beautiful throw to Cody Latimer in the third quarter. He was called for intentional grounding on a play where he could have thrown the ball out of bounds. That penalty led to a punt when the Giants could have dialed up an offensive play on a fourth and short. Manning also had an excellent throw after getting away from a defender to set the Giants up with a new set of downs but later had a fumble on a rollout when he attempted to tuck the ball and run. Throughout the night, Manning was often pressured and threw a majority of passes short.

The Offensive Line

The Giants started the game by generating a nice pocket for the passing attack and generating good lanes for the running game. As the day progressed, the blocking slowly fell apart. With the Cowboys scoring at ease, they started to send extra defenders after Manning, and the offensive lines troubles began. Barkley was often forced to create on his own after his first big gain and Manning was left with little time on throws.

Giants Disappointments

Pass Defense

The Giants failed to even slow down the Cowboys passing game. There were massive communication issues and consistent undisciplined play from the secondary. During Blake Jarwin’s wide-open touchdown grab, the defense completely bit on a play-action and left the entire deep middle unguarded. They allowed the Cowboys passing game to go unchecked over all four quarters and gave up big gains all afternoon. Michael Gallup was uncoverable throughout the game, and Amari Cooper took advantage of rookie Deandre Baker. The defense, in general, looked worse than last season which is saying a lot.

Pass Rush

The Giants were unable to generate any pressure on Prescott all night long. Defenders failed to get into the backfield and when they did, they were flagged for jumping early. After an offseason of hype surrounding some new additions, draft picks, and the emergence of young players, the Giants defense failed to make any impact against the Cowboys.

Play Calling

The offense looked good early on, marching down the field on their first possession for a touchdown. Things slowly started to unravel after their initial success. There were several play calls on short-yardage third downs where the Giants gave the ball to someone other than Barkley. When you have one of the best running backs in the NFL on your team, give him the ball. One of the biggest head-scratchers is Barkley’s minimal touches. He had only 11 running attempts and four catches. He should have been focused on much more heavily in the offensive gameplan.