Giants head coach Brian Daboll gave his players an unplanned day off Friday after their 28-20 loss to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. As the players get a three-day break to recharge, here’s a final review of Thursday’s loss:
1. It was surprising that Giants general manager Joe Schoen engaged in contract extensions with running back Saquon Barkley during the team’s bye week at the midpoint of the season. Barkley played like an MVP candidate in the first half of the season, but it seemed prudent to see if the injury-prone running back could remain healthy and productive for 17 games before making a significant long-term investment.
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It could wind up being a blessing in disguise that the sides couldn’t reach an agreement and talks have been tabled until the offseason. Lucrative second contracts for running backs are almost always regrettable investments, and Barkley’s recent ineffectiveness may give Schoen second thoughts about going down that path.
It has been weeks since Barkley has looked like the game-breaking force who emphatically announced that he was back after three injury-plagued seasons. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry in the first five games, compared with 3.6 yards per carry in the past six games. Even when Barkley rushed for 152 yards against the Texans in Week 10, that was a grinding effort that required 35 carries against a historically bad run defense.
It’s impossible to pinpoint one reason for Barkley’s dip in production, but his health is a concern. He hasn’t looked the same since injuring his right shoulder against the Packers in Week 5. He was running with a newfound ferocity before the injury, but that running style has been absent since the injury. It appears that he’s been trying to protect the shoulder at times.
Another theory is that Barkley’s workload is taking its toll. He’s averaging 20.4 carries per game after never topping 16.7 carries per game in his first four seasons. Barkley’s defining burst has been lacking as the season has progressed. He had five runs of 20-plus yards in the first five games but just two such runs in the past six games.
If injury and workload are the primary factors in Barkley’s decreased effectiveness, Schoen should have pause about an extension. Both should only become greater issues as Barkley ages.
Factors outside of Barkley’s control could be limiting his production. Defenses have keyed on him all season, but he’s become even more of a focus as the Giants’ passing game hasn’t kept opponents honest. There’s little deterrent to loading the box to stop Barkley against a wide receiver corps that no longer features Sterling Shepard, Wan’Dale Robinson or Kadarius Toney.
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Injuries up front could also be a cause of the rushing attack’s decline. When Barkley was rolling, left guard Ben Bredeson, right tackle Evan Neal and tight end Daniel Bellinger were key blockers. All three players have been sidelined since suffering injuries in the Giants’ Week 7 win over the Jaguars.
It would be easy if the Giants could identify one reason for Barkley’s slump, but the reality is all of the factors listed above have played a role. Schoen needs to weigh all of those dynamics, evaluate the final six games, then reassess his long-term plan for Barkley.
2. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka had a good opening script, coming out throwing when everyone expected the Giants to lean on Barkley. Kafka didn’t call a run play on the Giants’ first two drives. Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons acknowledged after the game that the Giants passed “way more” than he expected.
Kafka called smart, high-percentage pass plays, with quarterback Daniel Jones often faking a handoff, then rolling right to keep Dallas’ formidable pass rush off-balance. The Giants have a well-designed bootleg package, with a receiver often sneaking into the flat from the opposite side of the formation on what coach Brian Daboll calls a slide route.
Despite the Giants starting three backups on the offensive linemen, the Cowboys pass rush didn’t completely wreck the game the way it did in Dallas’ Week 3 win at MetLife Stadium. Jones was hit seven times Thursday compared with 12 hits in Week 3.
3. The Giants demonstrated an inexplicable lack of urgency when they got the ball with 8:53 remaining after the Cowboys opened up a 28-13 lead. The Giants, who used the no-huddle extensively in the previous two games, continued to huddle after every play — many of which were runs.
A mixture of runs and short passes gained 31 yards to move to the Dallas 44, but the Giants burned 3 1/2 minutes. The drive then stalled after an incompletion, a 10-yard sack, a false start, a 16-yard completion to Richie James and an incompletion on fourth-and-9. The Giants were still 37 yards from the end zone when they turned the ball over on downs with 3:12 remaining.
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“I think we were just trying to call plays that gave us the best chance to stay two-dimensional and not just make it a pass game there being down 15,” Daboll said. “We had a set time we wanted to score by. Are there times we could have been a little faster? Sure. I think we wanted to execute and give ourselves a chance to move the ball down and score.”
Daboll won’t say it publicly, but it seems like the coaching staff’s fear of running a straight drop-back passing attack caused them to avoid going up-tempo despite the situation. The Giants’ inability to run a conventional drop-back passing offense has been a shortcoming all season, and it’s nearly impossible to overcome when they fall behind.
GO DEEPER
Giants playoff hopes at risk after Thanksgiving loss to Cowboys
4. Jones finally unleashed some deep throws Thursday. Wide receiver Darius Slayton just missed hauling in a bomb on the Giants’ opening possession, but he capitalized on his next opportunity, soaring over cornerback Anthony Brown for a 44-yard gain to the goal line in the second quarter.
Jones’ pass on the deep connection was beautiful, especially since defensive end Chauncey Golston was in his face as he threw. Golston beat right guard Mark Glowinski on the play, which has been a regular occurrence this season.
There’s a notion that the Giants haven’t been able to throw deep because of their shoddy pass protection. But that play illustrated that it’s still possible even if the line doesn’t hold up.
The Giants put the deep shots into the game plan, Jones let them rip, and the Giants got a rare explosive passing play. That needs to be part of the offense for the rest of the season.
5. The Cowboys moved Parsons all over the formation in the first meeting with the Giants. But on Thursday, he lined across from Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas on 35 of his 38 snaps on the edge.
The Cowboys’ young star got the best of the Giants’ young star, as Parsons recorded two sacks and five pressures. Thomas, who was battling an illness, had allowed zero sacks and nine pressures in the first 10 games.
Parsons tweeted after the game that he “heard (Thomas) was the best” so he stayed on the left side all game.
Heard he was the best!! I stayed on His side all game!!
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) November 25, 2022
Parsons’ victory lap will only amplify his image as a villain to Giants fans, who will likely be haunted for years to come by the decision to pass on him in the 2021 draft. The matchups between Parsons and Thomas will be one of the most entertaining subplots of this rivalry.
6. It’s easy to get caught up in the frustration about a game that slipped away from the Giants. But it’s worth remembering the expectations coming into Thursday’s matchup for the severely undermanned squad.
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Three of the six Giants who played all 64 offensive snaps Thursday weren’t on the active roster on cut day. Center Nick Gates, who replaced an injured Jon Feliciano, was on the physically-unable-to-perform list until Week 8. Thursday marked Gates’ first start since the gruesome leg injury he suffered last September.
Jack Anderson, who was claimed off waivers from the Eagles after cut day, became the fourth player to start at left guard. Right tackle Tyre Phillips, who was claimed off waivers from the Ravens after cut day, made his fourth consecutive start at right tackle in place of Evan Neal.
The situation was similar on defense, with three of the top four players in snaps on Thursday added after cut day. Safety Jason Pinnock, who was claimed off waivers from the Jets, and cornerback Nick McCloud, who was claimed off waivers from the Bills, played every snap in place of Xavier McKinney and Adoree’ Jackson. Linebacker Jaylon Smith, who was signed off the street in Week 4, has taken over as the Giants’ top inside linebacker and played a season-high 91 percent of the snaps Thursday.
The Giants’ personnel department has done a nice job finding hidden gems this season, but those players are better suited for support roles. It’s tough to win when players signed off the scrap heap are counted on to play every snap against a roster as talented as Dallas’.
7. The Giants didn’t have a sack for the second straight game and the fourth time this season. Their 20 sacks are the eighth fewest in the league.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence leads the Giants with five sacks. No one else on the team has more than two.
Rookie edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux had the best game of his career Thursday with nine pressures, which is tied for the seventh most in a game this season. Still, Thibodeaux didn’t record a sack, allowing Prescott to spin away and scramble for 5 yards on second-and-9 on the Cowboys’ opening drive of the second half.
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As much as some devalue sacks, that was a huge play. A sack would have put the Cowboys in third-and-long. Dallas instead converted on third-and-4 and kept alive a drive that ended in a touchdown.
Thibodeaux has just one sack this season, but that total is bound to increase if he continues to rush the way he did Thursday. The Giants’ pass rush desperately needs the jolt it could receive from outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari, who is expected to return next week from the calf injury that has sidelined him for seven games.
8. The Giants’ margin of error is so thin that every error is magnified. Twice, Jamie Gillan, who has struggled mightily with touch this season, dropped punts near the goal line that could have been downed. But McCloud couldn’t corral the ball before it crossed the goal line in the first quarter and inexperienced gunners Trenton Thompson and Marcus Johnson failed to locate the ball as it hit at the 5-yard line and bounced into the end zone early in the fourth quarter.
9. The Giants have lost 11 of their past 12 meetings with the Cowboys and six straight in Dallas. The Cowboys have averaged a 30.5-17.8 win in those six games at AT&T Stadium.
The talent discrepancy has been stark during the teams’ recent meetings. Dallas has drafted exceptionally well in recent years. The Cowboys have 12 players they drafted from 2018 or earlier still on their roster, compared with just two for the Giants (Shepard and Barkley).
10. Wide receiver Odell Beckham’s much-hyped free-agent tour is finally set to commence. Beckham is scheduled to visit the Cowboys on Dec. 5, according to Fox Sports. The Giants are ahead of the Cowboys in Beckham’s visit order, according to CBS Sports, but no date for that meeting has been reported. Daboll declined to share any information on the team’s plans with Beckham.
The Giants have mostly kept a low profile with their interest in their former star, while the Cowboys have applied a full-court press publicly. Dallas owner Jerry Jones told reporters that he spoke to Beckham on Thursday.
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It will be interesting to see how much all of the interest in Beckham is reflected in contract offers. Teams first must inspect Beckham’s left knee after his second torn ACL in two years. It’s hard to imagine the Giants will make a significant investment in a 30-year-old with that injury history, but their intentions will be revealed once he makes his visit.
(Top photo: Wesley Hitt / Getty Images)