Team Grades: Giants' Beckham Worth The Wait, Big Blue Defeats Falcons 30-20
By Curt Macysyn
New York Giants' wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. waited a long time to get on the playing field, but Beckham's interlude pales in comparison to head coach Tom Coughlin's hiatus from a winning record. Both parties had a coming out party on Sunday, as Coughlin and Beckham celebrated a comeback 30-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
For more than two months, Giants' rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. was relegated to an after-thought, as the speedster from LSU nursed an injured hamstring. Inserted into the lineup this week, Beckham provided spark that catapulted the New York Giants (3-2) over the .500 mark for the first time since 2012. After a solid first half performance, the Atlanta Falcons (2-3) wilted under the pressure and lost their tenth road game in their past 11 tries away from the Georgia Dome.
OFFENSE: B+
The main story coming out of this game was the performance of two Giants' rookies, Odell Beckham, Jr. and Andre Williams. Beckham, in his NFL debut, caught four passes for 44 yards, including a leaping 15 yard touchdown grab in the fourth quarter that put the G-men on top for good. Williams, who came on for an injured Rashad Jennings, ran for 65 yards and caught two passes for another 18 yards. Williams is a strong runner, an attribute he showed on his third quarter touchdown and an important third down carry in the fourth, just prior to Josh Brown's game-icing field goal.
Another rookie, guard Weston Richburg, had another solid game for New York. The converted center has progressed nicely as a starter since taking over for Geoff Schwartz, who was injured in the preseason.
Preston Parker led the Giants' receiving corps with three catches for 61 yards, including a 42 yard grab, which helped set-up the Giants' first score. Victor Cruz had an average day with three catches for 22 yards, and perhaps Cruz will begin to thrive with Beckham in the line-up moving forward. Hopefully tight end Larry Donnell benched himself in fantasy football this week, as he had no catches and just one target this week.
Rueben Randle had another Rueben Randle-type game, with a touchdown catch, but he also dropped a couple other passes, including what should have been a touchdown prior to his three-yard TD grab.
Eli Manning was 19-30 for 200 yards and two touchdown passes. Manning did not turn the ball over and had a quarterback rating of 104.9, which makes for three straight games of 100+ quarterback ratings (all wins).
DEFENSE: C+
The Giants' defense clamped down nicely on wide receiver Julio Jones in the second half. The dynamic wideout from the University of Alabama had 88 receiving yards in the first half, but just 17 yards after the break. Holding Jones out of the end zone was a key to the game, even if he had an off-the-charts one-handed grab in the first half. Cornerback Trumiane McBride had seven solo tackles, and linebacker Jacquian Williams had 13 total tackles for the G-men. The problem with Williams' statistic is that he made many of his tackles after the fact.
Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul did a sleep walk through the first half but came alive in the second half, leading a front four that put pressure on Ryan throughout the latter stages of the game. Big Blue only had one quarterback sack of Ryan, that by defensive tackle Johnthan Hankins on an important fourth-down stop late in the game. Hankins has been a solid contributor in place of Linval Joseph, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings in the off season.
The Giants' defense loses points because of safety Quintin Demps careless fumble after his third quarter interception that was recovered by Atlanta's Jacquizz Rodgers. Luckily Demp's ill-advised turnover did not cost New York on the score board. The defensive unit also loses big points through safety Antrel Rolle's missed tackled that resulted in Antone Smith's 74-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter. Not only did Rolle miss the tackle along the sideline, cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie made things worse by playing the part of spectator and not hustling to the ball. The Giants dodged a bullet in that these mistakes were not fatal.
The lack of a consistent pass rush should be a concern for the Giants, especially since Atlanta's offensive line had three (count them) new starters this week. And the defense's mistakes could prove more detrimental as the team faces Philadelphia and Dallas in the next two weeks.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
If special teams consisted solely of the punter and place kicker, the G-men would grade an A+ every week. Punter Steve Weatherford continues to be a weapon for the Giants, and he kept return specialist Devin Hester at bay with three punts for a 57.7 average. Hester did have a 23-yard punt return, but that was the highlight of his afternoon.
Kicker Josh Brown continued to be perfect on the season in field goal attempts, despite being challenged with kicks of 49 and 50 yards. Brown's kickoffs also limited Hester to a 20.0 return yard average, and Jacquizz Rodgers had a single ten yard return.
The special teams unit losses a full grade due to Preston Parker's kickoff fumble after Atlanta's tying touchdown in the first quarter. Luckily for Parker, the Giants' defense stiffened and limited Atlanta to a Matt Bryant 20-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead. Now both Parker and Demps have fumbled on kickoff returns, and this is becoming a major sore spot for the Giants.
Another half grade deduction for Jason Pierre-Paul's running into the kicker penalty that gave the Falcons a first-down on fourth and four in the third quarter. Fortunately for Big Blue, Atlanta could not capitalize on the serendipity.
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Curt Macysyn has been covering the New York Football Giants for the past two seasons for Examiner.com. Born and raised in northern New Jersey, Curt has followed and covered the New York Metropolitan sports scene for 35 years. He attended Seton Hall Prep School in South Orange, NJ and is a graduate of Rutgers University, New Brunswick. His work can be found on aExaminer.com.
