Giants in position for playoffs
The New York Giants came through on Sunday and got a win against the Dallas Cowboys in their final game of the 2020 regular season. Now all they can do and wait and see if Washington lose to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here are my takeaways from the Giants’ big win.
Daniel Jones very sharp
I will admit, Giants’ quarterback Daniel Jones didn’t look great early on, but he got hot in the second quarter and made some great throws.
Jones finished the game by completing 17 of 25 passes for 229 yards, two touchdowns and one interception that was not his fault.
What was really encouraging about watching Jones is that he was able to run more this week even though he told reporters that he’s confined to the pocket. The Giants also had him run the ball off of some designed run plays. He was clearly bluffing.
Defensive line dominated
I can’t imagine how great the Giants’ defense would be if they had one or two really good edge rushers to compliment their strong defensive line.
Leonard Williams and company were all over Cowboys’ quarterback Andy Dalton and recorded a total of six sacks. Three of those were from Williams who finished the regular season with 11.5.
Third downs an issue
I think the Giants issues with third down conversions were due to poor play calling by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett who seemed to abandon the run. But we’ll get to that in a minute.
Now the Giants did end up converting 7-13 third down attempts, but early in the game they were having huge problems. They can’t have trouble converting third downs if they make the playoffs.
Where was the run game?
Going into this game the Cowboys had one of the worst run defenses in the league. I don’t understand why Garrett only had Wayne Gallman (11) and Alfred Morris (5) only carry the ball a total of 16 times.
I think this was a big reason why many of New York’s drives stalled.
Evan Engram still a problem
It really amazes me and the rest of the NFL world that New York tight end Evan Engram was voted into this year’s Pro Bowl. The one interception that Jones threw went right through his hands. He also dropped a couple of other passes that really hurt the Giants’ offense. And he’s been doing this all season.
It’s a good thing that wide receiver Sterling Shepard went off for huge game. He finished with eight catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. He also ran in a touchdown, so he scored twice on the day.
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