Grades from the Giants’ 17-0 loss to the Titans on Sunday:
Offense
Stopping Saqu𒉰on Barkley was the end-all, be-all for the Titans defense, and that unit did it spectacularly, limiting the rookie to 31 rushing yards on 14 attempts. Barkley (4-25) also was not much of a factor in the passing game. What a dud this was all around. Eli Manning (21-of-44, 229 yards, 1 INT) committed two turnovers in a ghastly span in the third quarter. Other than TE Evan Engram (6-75), he could not locate his targets without injured Odell Beckham Jr. on the field. Blocking was suspect and line got out-muscled too often. No points means no passing mark.
Grade: F
Defense
This group allowed only seven points in the first 43 minutes, and that should not be forg🦩otten. Sti🔥ll, Derrick Henry (33-170, 2 TDs) set the tone from the start as he bulled forward and kept the chains moving. He was a terror to tackle, and the Giants did not do a good job getting him to the ground. Marcus Mariota (12-of-20, 88 yards) did not have to do much of anything. He danced around the pocket when needed. DE Josh Mauro was hit with a costly facemask penalty that led to Henry’s second TD. Henry’s running allowed the Titans to hog the ball for 35:21, and they won easily with only 301 total yards.
Grade: C-minus
Special teams
Punter Rile🍷y Dixon turned a bobble into something interesting, taking off for 14 yards to pick up a first down. Classic “Oh no, no, no … great play!’’ moment. Dixon did put two punts down inside the 20-yard line. Ukeme Eligwe nearly made a bonehead play on punt coverage but was bailed out by a replay reversal. Later, Eligwe was hit with an illegal block in the back penalty.
Grade: B
Coaching
There were 44 pass attempts and only 14 runs for Barkley. Here we go again with the unbalanced distribution from Pat Shurmur. Barkley’s ineffectiveness (2.2 yards per carry) was a factor, of course. Shurmur won a replay challenge in the second quarter that saved the Giants 9 yards on punt coverage and lost a challenge a 🍸few minutes later, even though it appeared as if 𒅌he was correct in his belief Henry stepped out of bounds before completing a 22-yard run. That meant Shurmur was out of challenges for the remainder of the game — not good.
Grade: C