Giants' grades vs. Kansas City: F's for special teams and coaching
Giants head coach Brian Daboll reacts in the first quarter against Kansas City at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
OFFENSE: D
The Giants managed only 281 total yards, turned the ball over twice on interceptions and twice on downs, and scored a single touchdown. Cam Skattebo was the most productive player with 60 rushing yards on 10 carries and also had a team-high six catches for 61 yards. Malik Nabers was held to two for 13. The offense seemed much more crisp with Andrew Thomas on the field, but that lasted only 24 snaps.
DEFENSE: C
Dru Phillips getting nailed for a 52-yard pass-interference penalty with seven seconds left in the second quarter led to a field goal and was a backbreaker after a fairly strong first half in which the Giants kept Patrick Mahomes and his guys out of the end zone. The Giants had other opportunities for takeaways — a backward pass that Dane Belton and Bobby Okereke each had their hands on before Mahomes recovered it and a pass Paulson Adebo should have picked off — but couldn’t come up with any.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
With Graham Gano sidelined for most of the game with a groin injury suffered during warmups, the whole kicking unit fell apart. Punter Jamie Gillan lined his extra-point attempt into the line of scrimmage for a block. Gano did come on to add a late field goal, but by then, the Giants had given up far too many points because of his absence.
COACHING: F
Brian Daboll had a golden opportunity to get Jaxson Dart some actual live reps late in the game, but for some reason, he stuck with Wilson even when the score was out of reach. His handling of the quarterback rotation — Dart is limited to several snaps a game — is getting curious and potentially distracting. The offense had no response to Kansas City's intentions of taking Nabers out of the game.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
