Giants-Seahawks ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’: Giants waste an opportunity

The Giants of New York on Sunday he could not follow the formula “keep the games closed and capitalize on the mistakes of the opponents’ fourth quarter”, falling Seattle Seahawks, 27-13. Let’s come to our traditional “Kudos & Wet Willies” review.

Congratulations to …

Nick Gates – It was only five shots, but the fact that Gates can play football is worthy of “compliments”. The fact that he impacted as a tight end jumbo, throwing the key block on Saquon Barkley’s 1-yard landing run, in those five shots made him even better.

Darius Slayton – Slayton was the only wide receiver Daniel Jones could count on Sunday. He had five catches in six targets for 66 yards. Four of Slayton’s catches resulted in early downs, including a 21-yard that he took from a Seattle defender.

Leonard Williams – Big Cat was a force. He had eight tackles, his first layoff of the season, one tackle by loss and five – yes, five – quarterback wins. He practically lived in the Seattle backfield.

Tomon Fox – On Sunday there was a dominant rookie defender on the pitch for the Giants. It was not the absolute number 5 choice Kayvon Thibodeaux. Fox, a non-drafted free agent from North Carolina, equalized Williams for team lead with eight tackles – two losers – playing just 27 snaps. Fox took advantage of injuries and is making his way into the Giants’ defensive plans.

Micah McFadden – Prior to Sunday, round five rookie pick had played only four defensive snaps in the previous three weeks, none in the past two weeks. He played 27 snaps against the Seahawks and made an impact with his first career layoff, four tackles including one by loss and a quarterback.

The Giants made an interesting defensive change on Sunday, moving Jaylon Smith to MIKE. This put Tae Crowder at WILL and Crowder (only 22 snaps) played less than McFadden.

Jamie Gillan – The left-handed gambler had a great day. He bet six times, averaging 53.3 yards with a net of 47.7 per punt. He dropped two punt points inside the 20-yd-line and narrowly missed having a mammoth 69-yard punt shot down at the 1-yd-line. However, I must mention a personal pet nuisance. Gillan hit one of those rugby-style punt on Sunday and I hate them. He points the ball like an NFL punter, please.

Wet Willies at …

Richie James – Once upon a time, James was a really good story for the Giants. Now, after a couple of James’s mistakes on punt returns led to 10 points in Seattle on Sunday, Giants’ Twitter wants to cut him. James had a 42-yard punt return nullified by a penalty Sunday, but he now has three fumble punt returns this season and has only six receptions in his last five games. James had a concussion after Sunday’s second fumble.

Tire Phillips – I didn’t see the Pro Football Focus grades, but I didn’t think Phillips played well starting in place of the injured Evan Neal. There were two false starts and what appeared to be many Seattle passersby running around Phillips.

Wide receivers not named Slayton – Wan’Dale Robinson had two catches for 15 yards. Marcus Johnson played 56 snaps and produced a single hold for 3 yards. David Sills, who is playing less and less, had only one catch for 5 yards in just 10 shots. James played four snaps and was not targeted. It’s not enough production to allow the Giants to play a good offense against good teams.

Early attack – As in most games this season, the Giants started sleepy on offense. They went three and out on their first three possessions and only had 46 yards of total attack at half-time. The Giants’ only points came with a 2-yard “drive”. Attack always seems to play urgently later in the game. They need to find some in the early stages.

Kwillies at …

Adoree Jackson – Jackson was brilliant on Sunday … until he was. Jackson created the Giants’ only half-time point by taking the ball off Tyler Lockett and recovering at Seattle’s 2-yard line. He’s also had a couple of breakups.

But … don’t you hate it when there’s a but? For three quarters, Jackson was a hero. So, well, not a hero. Jackson was the victim of Lockett’s 33-yard touchdown pass winning in the fourth quarter, biting hard on a fake Lockett. In truth, he was also a victim of Lockett in the third quarter, but Lockett dropped what should have been a similar 33-yard touchdown pass.