• Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Monday Night, the New York Giants suffered a 16-26 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. New York took themselves out of a close game at MetLife Stadium, in a couple of VERY key areas. However, one thing that cannot be denied is how much this team reflects Coach Joe Judge. When asked about mostly anything pertaining to the game, he very quickly dispelled any notion of frustration or brash judgement. When the players followed, they all mostly preached the same sentiment, and almost sounded like carbon copies of their coach.

The main thing they all spoke about was the way this team fought. That is something that as a team you must embrace if you want to establish a winning pedigree. However, in the NFL to contend for a championship there needs to be EXECUTION beyond just “fighting hard”. The next thing that needs to happen is accountability, and that was spoken about and relayed through clearing up in watching film. Here are the three things the Giants should have seen on film, and need to clear up to get a Week 2 win over the Chicago Bears:

  1. Protection for Daniel Jones to make good quick decisions
    • Jones was hit eight times and sacked three times. Some of those hits were pressure from the Steelers front, but Jones also needs to have a mental clock. There were times Monday (the red zone interception specifically) were Jones held the ball too long trying to make a play. Last season, Jones spoke about how smart and quick decision making was the key to his success. The offensive line needs to put their QB in positions to do so, and Jones needs to hold up his end as well.
  2. Establishing an effective run game
    • There is no secret that the Giants want to run the ball with Saquon Barkley. The problem lies in doing so effectively when the whole world knows that is what you want to do. New York has struggled being creative in getting the ball to Barkley through the ground. Barkley only accounted for six yards on 15 carries. With the identity of this Giants team, that production is not conducive to winning games. Mixing in some effective play actions, calls for responsibility on the wide outs to create separation.  If you can keep the defense honest, that will allow Barkley to get the chunk yardage were used to seeing.
  3. Stuff the run game
    • From the New York side, we can see just how important a good run game. Defensively if you can’t stop the run, you’re going to have a hard time winning games. The Steelers ran all over the Giants for 141 rushing yards. There were too many times were New York either took bad angles or exhibited poor tackling. These are the most basic of things that as a defense you can control, and needs to be a priority in fixing up.

Barry Holmes is a Senior Writer for PureSportsNY.com. Follow him on Twitter @BHO732

(Featured Photo Credit: AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

By Barry Holmes

Graduate of Millersville University, with a BS in Communications focused in Broadcast. Senior Writer & Social Media Manager for PureSportsNY.

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