A few insights about New York Giants from the NY Daily News.
The Giants offense has struggled tremendously this season, its first under offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Giants have averaged just 1.36 points per drive this season, ranking 30th in the …
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Giants nonexistent run game needs to improve against Rams
The Giants offense has struggled tremendously this season, its first under offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Giants have averaged just 1.36 points per drive this season, ranking 30th in the entire league.
Daniel Jones has gotten off to a slow start, Saquon Barkley is out, the offensive line has struggled and their receivers have been inconsistent to start the season.
“First, the thought process is we have to be better as a whole,” second year wide receiver Darius Slayton said. “Obviously, we have to execute better. That’s the thought process. The encouraging thing is when you cool down and you watch film, you see things that are correctable. You see things that aren’t what the opposing team is doing but what we’re doing to ourselves that we can stop.”
The Giants run game has essentially been nonexistent to start the season. The Giants have by far the worst run game in the league, ranking 32nd in their rushing offense rankings. Between their lacking run game and a stifled passing attack, the Giants haven’t had much success generating big plays this season.
“Obviously, if you run the ball effectively, then defenses tend to come up a little bit closer and it’s a little bit easier to get behind people,” Slayton said. “Obviously, that’s something that I consider a skill of mine, so hopefully I’ll be able to do that. But I know as well my teammates are also capable of doing those things.”
Garrett and the Giants need to get the ship turned around in a hurry or else they’ll be facing an 0-4 start after their game against the Rams on Sunday.
TRAVEL PLANS FOR THE RAMS GAME
The Giants might be taking a page out of the Patriots book as they prepare to travel for their game against the Rams. Judge is tinkering with their travel schedule and the Giants will head to Los Angeles early Saturday morning.
“We’re going to go out there early Saturday,” Judge said. “A lot of teams travel on Friday, kind of reset that circadian rhythm. We’re going to go out there Saturday. We’re going to get out there early, get our guys in the sunlight for a little bit, kind of get them in the UV rays, which should help reset their body clocks a little bit. Being as though it’s not a primetime game at night, it’s less than 24 hours of a trip for us. It shouldn’t affect us overly in terms of that window we’re going in there.”
Judge also said the Giants plan on leaving Los Angeles around lunch time on Monday, allowing them to return by Monday evening.
“We’ll fly back, give us an opportunity as coaches to work on the next opponent going forward, give the players a good amount of time between Monday night getting home and Tuesday as the off day,” Judge said. “We’re really looking to avoid some of that jetlag time coming back and trying to keep the players as fresh as possible.”
ROSTER MOVES
The Giants signed safety Sean Chandler off their practice squad to their active roster on Friday. They also cut tight end Eric Tomlinson, who is expected to re-sign to the Giants practice squad.
INJURY UPDATE
Rams running back Cam Akers is Out for Sunday’s game with a rib injury. Rams safety Jordan Fuller is Questionable with a shoulder injury.
Giants safety Jabrill Peppers is Out with an ankle injury. Defensive back Julian Love is Questionable with knee and ankle injuries.
The plan last Sunday was to play Logan Ryan at free safety. An early Jabrill Peppers injury forced the Giants to change their defensive personnel plan for the 49ers midstream, and the result was a …
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No panic in Logan Ryan, Giants defense; explosive Rams offense awaits
The plan last Sunday was to play Logan Ryan at free safety. An early Jabrill Peppers injury forced the Giants to change their defensive personnel plan for the 49ers midstream, and the result was a 36-9 drubbing at MetLife Stadium.
Peppers (right ankle sprain) did not practice on Wednesday, and the strong safety is very much in doubt for Sunday’s game in Los Angeles at the Rams (2-1). So that likely means Ryan will have to be all over the field again for the Giants (0-3).
But Ryan, as versatile and valuable as he’s been, is only one player. And whether Peppers plays or not, the Giants defense could be in for a long day against a Rams offense averaging 29.7 points per game.
“You are going to hear it a lot here: everyone has to do their one job,” Ryan said Wednesday. “I can’t come out there and try to be superman on every play. I have to do what they’re asking Logan Ryan to do and count on my teammates to do their job. I have to beat the man in front of me. We need more people beating the man in front of them. That’s how you play defense.”
Ryan, 29, a late offseason signing once rookie Xavier McKinney went down, has become the conscience of the Giants in a way.
He expressed dismay with last Sunday’s performance, saying, “It’s not good, it’s not the standard, it’s unacceptable.” But he also stressed that the Giants are still improving and in no way are resigned to being irrelevant in 2020.
“It’s the fourth week of the season. No one’s in their final form yet. There’s no panic button right now,” Ryan said. “It’s about how we practice and clean up the things we did wrong, the self-inflicting wounds, and go out and play better against the Rams on Sunday.”
Ryan also has become the only glue that is barely holding together a shaky back end.
Ryan, James Bradberry and Blaker Martinez were the only three players who played all 77 defensive snaps against the 49ers. Bradberry played outside corner and Martinez played inside linebacker. Ryan was everywhere.
He played 27 snaps at box/strong safety, 25 at free safety, 17 at slot corner, four at outside corner and four down on the line of scrimmage.
He had started at free safety, putting Julian Love on the bench and extra linebacker Devante Downs on the field with Martinez and Peppers in the box. But Peppers' injury meant Love had to jump back in and play a lot of free safety, with Ryan not always available to play deep.
Ryan made an excellent pass breakup in man coverage on tight end Jordan Reed but also allowed three completions and missed a couple tackles.
And of course Sunday wasn’t good enough from him or anyone on the defense, given that the Niners became the first Giants opponent not to punt or commit a turnover since the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 13, 2008.
Ryan admitted there was “definitely an effect” losing Peppers and having to alter a personnel plan they’d practiced all week. But he also pointed out that the Niners' offense lost Reed mid-game and didn’t miss a beat.
“We might have had to change things on our end, but I pride myself on my versatility and if I have to move from one position to the other, that’s what the team brought me here to do,” he said. “To bring position flexibility, to bring leadership, and to make plays regardless of the position.”
The Rams' offense is averaging 449.7 yards a game, though, including 279.3 passing and 170.3 on the ground. And Ryan raved that Rams head coach and play-caller Sean McVay exploits defense’s weaknesses “similar to [Kyle] Shanahan,” the Niners' coach.
Gulp.
“They’re able to mask everything to look the same. So their passes look like runs, their runs look like passes,” Ryan said. “You can’t really tell much about what they’re gonna run before the snap.”
The Giants' Wednesday injury report also included three safeties in all: Peppers, who sat out, and Love (knee/ankle) and Adrian Colbert (quad), who were both limited.
That could mean elevations of Sean Chandler and rookie seventh-round pick Chris Williamson from the practice squad. But what it really means is that Ryan, unfortunately, might have to be superman Sunday.
IN AND OUT
The Giants placed special teams corner Brandon Williams (groin) on injured reserve Wednesday. That opens a spot they will fill on Thursday with the official signing of corner Madre Harper, whom they plucked from the Raiders' practice squad this week.
Four Rams players did not practice Wednesday: OT Andrew Whitworth (not an injury), RB Cam Akers (ribs), DL Sebastian Joseph-Day (ankle) and WR Josh Reynolds (illness). Safety Jordan Fuller (shoulder) was limited.
