Grading the Giants in Week 13 against the Patriots
Theo Johnson of the New York Giants makes a catch against the defense of Craig Woodson of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Monday. Credit: Getty Images/Winslow Townson
OFFENSE: D
There were a few glimpses of Jaxson Dart playing the kind of football that excites the Giants, such as his throw when he was lifted off the ground by a defender and his scramble before finding Darius Slayton on a fourth-quarter two-point conversion, but they were too few. Dart didn’t get much help as a sharp pass in the end zone in the second quarter that could have cut the deficit to 17-14 was dropped by tight end Theo Johnson. It seemed as if the Giants were reluctant to let Dart use his legs after he took that big hit along the sideline in the first quarter; he had only three other carries for 8 yards after that clobbering. Devin Singletary had a few nice runs, which is good, because Tyrone Tracy Jr. left with what looked like a serious hip injury. Singletary may be their only experienced and healthy running back option for a while.
DEFENSE: F
Clearly it wasn’t all Shane Bowen’s fault. In the first game since the defensive coordinator was fired, the Giants had no answers for any of the Patriots’ modes of attack. Drake Maye completed 24 of 31 passes for 282 yards and two touchdowns and running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for a combined 107 yards on 23 carries. The Giants got only two stops all game — both times forcing a punt — as the Patriots moved the ball at will. They scored 30 in the first half and probably could have scored another 30 in the second if they had wanted to do so.
SPECIAL TEAMS: F
When you allow a 94-yard punt return for a touchdown and it’s not the worst special teams play of the night, that’s a miserable effort. The Giants did that when Younghoe Koo’s attempt at a 47-yard field goal that would have closed the gap to 17-10 in the second quarter was scuttled by his kicking foot stubbing into the turf and sticking there without making contact. Add in a fumble on a kickoff in which Gunner Olszewski suffered a scary concussion, and it’s the worst display by the unit all season.
COACHING: D
Mike Kafka simply did not have the team ready. They came out flat and never inflated. By the second half, it felt as if Kafka were running out the clock with a lead rather than calling a game with the urgency of a team trying to come from behind. Some of that may have been in the name of protecting Dart from himself. New defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen had very little impact.
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.
