Giants Fall to 0-3 as They’re Clobbered by 49ers 36-9

The Good

There was virtually nothing good that happened in this game. The Giants were a trainwreck on nearly every facet of the game. Big Blue had two players that did their job relatively well, and that was about it.

The first of these two was cornerback James Bradberry. Bradberry was not perfect, but he did his job well compared to his teammates. He would finish the game with three passes defended, two more deflections and forced a 77.8 passer rating. While these numbers may not be eye-popping, they were still good and, albeit small, it was a bright spot for the Giants.

Blake Martinez was the only other true bright spot for Giants fans this week. Martinez finished the day with one sack, four solo tackles and five assisted for a total of nine. Just like Bradberry, these numbers may not be eye-popping, but they were at least positive in some way.

The Bad and Ugly

Where to even begin. This game was barely highlighted by both Bradberry and Martinez. To say this game was a trainwreck would be an understatement.

Let’s start with Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones. Jones was pitiful this week. His final stat line was as follows, no touchdowns, one interception, one fumble, 179 passing yards and 53.13 completion percentage. This was one of Jones’ worst games of his young career.

In Jones’ short 16 game career thus far, this was his 10th game with at least one interception, his 10th game with at least two turnovers and, worst of all, he has only had one game without any turnovers. While Jones is a decent passer, he is a turnover machine and it clearly is not getting any better.

Jones continues to make very poor decisions with the ball and is extremely costly. Big Blue is not a great team by any means and these constant turnovers are not making things any better. The Giants absolutely must figure something out with Jones or he will be gone sooner rather than later.

As much as it is pains me to say, this was not the only issue in this game. This was not even the only issue on the offensive side of the ball for that matter. Truth be told, the offense as a whole was a problem. They were horrendous.

The Giants offense couldn’t get anything going all game. They only managed to get 231 total yards of offense, about 20 minutes in time of possession, (the 49ers had nearly double that) and had Jones as the lead rusher.

This is a pathetic offense that has scored an average of 12.66 points per game. That ranks the Giants as the 31st worst offense. The only offense that has been worse at this point are the Giants cross town rivals, the Jets. No one is expecting the Giants to be the best team offensively, but they sure were not expecting them to be nearly dead last. It is unclear what Jason Garrett is trying doing as offensive coordinator. However, what is clear is, whatever he is trying to do is not working.

As if that was not bad enough, there was also the defense this week. They were just as much a liability as the offense was. The Giants defense got crushed by a team who was missing their starting quarterback, multiple running backs, multiple wide receivers and their star tight end.

After hearing that basically the entire staring offense was out, you would think the Giants defense would have a field day. If you thought that, you would have been sorely mistaken. The Giants defense let up 420 total yards, allowed 29 first downs and were on the field for more than half of the game.

The Giants secondary was the biggest of these issues. Nick Mullens and the 49ers offense torched the Giants defense for 343 yards in the air. The 49ers had three players with at least three receptions and 50+ yards. This was pure and complete domination by the 49ers.

The Giants defense had been the one true bright spot for this horrible Giants team. However, this week, we saw them breakdown and become the biggest issue. For the Giants and fans around the world, it was a horrible sight to see.

The Verdict

This week was an abomination for the Giants. Nothing seemed to go right for them on either side of the ball. Coach Joe Judge needs to get his team together and figure something out soon. If they can’t get something going, this could be another painfully long season for Big Blue.

Follow me on Twitter @Jake_Malik for more New York Giants news and notes and follow @OT_Heroics for any and all things sports! 

Come discuss this and much more at the Overtime Heroics forums!

Also be sure to check me out on my podcast Journey With The Js!