New York Giants Midseason Outlook
Halfway through the season and the New York Giants are doing way better than expected. The team is 6-2 with no signs of slowing down. The only other teams that have a better record than them are the Minnesota Vikings (7-1) and the Philadelphia Eagles (8-0).
The Giants have outgained their opponents by 200 yards this season and won six of their seven games by one score. Give credit to general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll for getting the players to buy into their system.
Let’s talk about the Giant’s bright spots and what can help them finish the season strong and make the playoffs.
Keep feeding the beast of Saquon Barkley. He is looking like the running back everyone believed he could be. At any given moment when he has the ball in his hands, he has the possibility of breaking out for a big run.
“He keeps you on your heels. He can score at any point.” NFC scout said.
Barkley is averaging 4.8 yards per rush and is averaging 97.4 rushing yards per game. He has a total of 779 yards and five touchdowns. He already has six 20-plus yard runs and there will be more.
Daniel Jones has been good for the Giants as well. He might not have the best stats in the world (1,399 yards, 6 TDs, 2 INTs) but he is steady. Jones has not had consistency from his receiving core, but he has a QBR of 58.0 making him 12th among all quarterbacks, and is the highest of his career. He leads the NFL in fourth-quarter comebacks with four this season. If Jones stays confident, he can help lead this team to the playoffs and make some noise.
The offense has taken a big leap this year and so has the defense. Someone that doesn’t get talked about enough is Dexter Lawrence, he is leading the team with 23 pressures and has a 14.7% pass-rush win rate that is 12th among interior rushers. Wink Martindale’s defense is to thank for this. He puts a lot of guys on the line which gives Lawrence 1-on-1 matchups. Kayvon Thibodeaux has 17 pressures which are second on the team. He is only scratching the surface of his young career and shows big promise for the Giants.
The secondary is strong with Fabian Moreau leading the way as the best cornerback. He has only allowed 42.9% of passes to be completed. His completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) is great at 11.5%. The whole secondary has a CPOE below zero.
The team is playing great, coach Daboll got everyone on the team to buy in and the culture changed from day one. This is just the beginning for the Giants, but a tough road lies ahead. After the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, the next four opponents will be from their division.
The Giants will host the Texans Sunday at 1.