Good
morning
New York Giants
Hats , New York Giants fans!Today is not only Monday, the start of your
work week, it is Kyler Murray Decision Day. The Oklahoma quarterback and Oakland
A¡¯s outfielder has to announce on Monday whether or not he will enter the 2019
NFL Draft. The Giants, of course, hold the No. 6 overall pick and whether or not
they would select Murray his entrance/non-entrance into the draft could have an
impact on who is available tothe Giants when their turn to pick arrives. There
is tremendous debate in the scouting community over how early Murray, smaller
than a traditional quarterback, should be selected in the draft. Some believe he
is a top 10 pick, others aren¡¯t even sold on him as a first-rounder.The A¡¯s
could complicate Murray¡¯s decision as they have been given permission by Major
League Baseball to offer Murray a major league contract. Murray has already
signed a minor-league deal with Oakland and MLB rules prohibit drafted players
from immediately signing major-league deals. The rules also prohibit teams from
giving players minor league contract and then immediately upgrading those to
major league contracts, which would place players on the team¡¯s 40-man
big-league roster.ESPN adds:Ex-Giants first-rounder Eli Apple is thriving with
Saints | New York PostThe ex-Giant is ¡°super happy¡± to be with the New Orleans
Saints, one victory away from playing in the Super Bowl. The Post writes:NFL
Draft 2019: Inside the battle between Clemson's Clelin Ferrell, Alabama's Jonah
Williams - CBSSports.comI don¡¯t know about you, but when it comes to judging top
draft picks I love looking at games where two of them go one-on-one. Both
Ferrell and Williams could be in play for the Giants, so this is a
must-watch.2018 NFL Draft Classes Ranked by WAR | NFL Analysis | Pro Football
FocusThe Giants finish No. 2 on this list, and it¡¯s not all Saquon Barkley.9
players who have probably played their last game in Eagles green | Who won¡¯t
return in 2019? | NJ.comAny of these players ¡ª aside from Nick Foles ¡ª interest
you?James Bettcher¡¯s first season came with giant limitations - New York Giants
Blog- ESPNAssessing Giants' many offseason needs by position, and what Dave
Gettleman can do - NY Daily NewsHow Giants can extend Eli Manning¡¯s career like
Broncos did for John Elway, says Tony Romo | nj.comDon¡¯t forget!NFL Draft
prospect profiles begin running today. We also continue our position-by-position
look at the 2018 Giants. So, come on back! It¡¯s one of those seasons for the New
York Giants. Nothing¡¯s been going particularly well andeven games that end with
a close score don¡¯t feel all that close when they happen. That was the case with
the 20-13 loss to Washington on Sunday.While neither team played great,
Washington had the game in hand for the majority of the game, at least according
to win probability.These are some of the most important plays of the game by Win
Probability Added (WPA) and Expected Points Added (EPA), per data provided by
nflscrapR. Explainers here (WPA) and here (EPA).Both WPA and EPA presented from
the perspective of the offense.Going deep to Beckham - 1:19 remaining, first
quarterEPA: 5.35 | WPA: 16.6 percentAt the end of the first
quarter
New York Giants
Hoodie , the Giants were already down 7-0 and the offense wasn¡¯t doing
much. It took a 3rd and 17 deep in their own territory for the Giants to throw
their first deep pass to Odell Beckham Jr. Even though it took a bad situation
to get there, the play worked out. Eli Manning was able to step up in the pocket
and fire a pass to Beckham down the left sideline, who was covered one-on-one by
rookie Greg Stroman. Beckham drew pass interference and was taken to the ground,
but still made the catch for a gain of 44 yards. The pass was followed by a
Saquon Barkley run for no gain, a sack on second down, and a 4-yard pass to
Barkley on third-and-15. The Giants did not have a bigger win probability swing
or expected points gain on offense for the remainder of the game.A bad read
intercepted - 6:40 remaining, second quarterEPA: minus-3.79 | WPA: minus-12.3
percentThere was a threat of a score in the middle of the second quarter. The
Giants faced a second-and 11 from the Washington 12-yard line. They had a trips
look to the left with Barkley also offset to that side. Manning faked a handoff
to Barkley and fired to Beckham, who ran a quick dig route from the middle of
the three-man side. The problem was safety D.J. Swearinger, who looked like he
was going to be in man coverage on Evan Engram, did not drop back and instead
made an easy play on the ball for an interception.Manning was locked on Beckham
through the play-fake and even had the chance to see Swearinger break back to
Beckham before the ball was released. When the safety stayed with Beckham, there
was a brief opening to hit Evan Engram in the end zone, but Beckham was the only
read. Also, if you¡¯re wondering why the Giants struggle in the end zone ¡ª aside
for the interception ¡ª a 3-yard dig on second-and-11 tells some of that
story.One sack of many - 12:41 remaining, third quarterEPA: minus-2.63 | WPA:
minus-9.2 percentManning was under consistent pressure throughout the game. Per
Next Gen Stats, he averaged 2.52 seconds to throw, third-lowest among
quarterbacks in Week 8. That led to seven sacks ¡ª however, the fastest
Washington sack was only 3.3 seconds after the snap, so it¡¯s not as if those
sacks were coming impossibly fast, like, say, some of J.J. Watt¡¯s in the Houston
game. But
still
Customized New York
Giants Jerseys , there was a lot of pressure and the biggest sack from a
win probability standpoint came at the start of the third quarter.The Giants had
a third-and-5 from the Washington 48. Preston Smith (94) blew past Nate Solder,
almost caused a strip-sack, and forced Manning to step up in the pocket.
Linebacker Josh Harvey-Clemons (40) came on a blitz and while Saquon Barkley and
Will Hernandez got him to the ground, Harvey-Clemons was able to reach out and
take Manning down when he stepped away from Smith.What really made the sack so
big wasn¡¯t just a bad third down play, it was the loss of yards at midfield and
the potential for fourth down. Even if the Giants had gained no yards, a
fourth-and-5 from around midfield warrants a shot at going for it. But with the
loss of 7 yards, the Giants were not going to try to convert a
fourth-and-12.Richardson levels up - 11:02 remaining, third quarterEPA: 3.69 |
WPA: 13.3 percentOn the following drive, Washington faced a third-and-6 from its
own 19. With a stop, the Giants could have forced a punt with good field
position. It did not go that way. Washington created separation out of a trips
bunch to the right and Paul Richardson was wide open for a 25-yard gain. It was
a well-schemed levels concept, which runs a similar route to different levels of
the defense.Richardson (the inside man in the bunch) and Josh Doctson (the
middle) both ran corner routes with Doctson going deep and Richardson going
intermediate. Cornerback Grant Haley followed Doctson deep, which left a big
hole for Richardson behind linebacker Tae Davis. Another long field goal - 4:56
remaining, third quarterEPA: 2.12 | WPA: 7.9 percentWashington put the margin up
to a touchdown with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Dustin Hopkins kicked a 53-yard field goal to put Washington up 10-3, which at
that time felt insurmountable given how the Giants¡¯ offense had been playing. It
was the fifth field goal of 50 or more yards hit against the Giants this season,
which ties the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins for most in the
league.Collins knocks it out - 0:55 remaining, third quarterEPA: minus-8,21 |
WPA: minus-22.6 percentIn the closing minute of the third quarter, the Giants
got a gift in the form of a turnover. Washington was in scoring range with a
first-and-10 on the Giants¡¯ 17. Adrian Peterson took a handoff and was
immediately met by Olivier Vernon, but Peterson was able to spin away. But
Landon Collins charged downhill and knocked the ball out of Peterson¡¯s hands.
Vernon picked the ball up and ran 43 yards before being caught by Alex Smith.By
WPA and EPA, there was no bigger play in the game. Engram comes up empty - 14:23
remaining, fourth quarterEPA: minus-3.44 | WPA: minus-8.5 percentThe next Giants
drive ended with no points on a failed fourth down attempt. On a fourth-and-3
from the Washington
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www.authenticsnewyorkgiants.com ,
the play worked out just as the Giants would have hoped. With Evan Engram on the
outside and a stacked release with Beckham, the tight end found a hole in the
zone right at the first down marker. The pass went right through Engram¡¯s hands
and the Giants turned the ball over on downs.Deep to Barkley, DPI - 5:12
remaining, fourth quarterEPA: 2.99 | WPA: 8.1 percentOne of the benefits of
going deep is the possibility of a pass interference penalty. It may not be the
main goal, but it gets the job done. Joe Flacco has gotten through the past
couple seasons on the underthrown deep ball DPI.The Giants¡¯ longest play of the
game on offense turned out to be a DPI call on a deep pass to �checks notes
�Saquon Barkley? On a first-and-10 from the Giants 14, the offense came out in
an empty look with Barkley out wide to the right. Barkley ran a go route and
after some maneuvering in the pocket, Manning ripped a deep attempt down the
field. The pass was a little short, but safety Montae Nicholson (35) was in no
position to make a play on the ball and interfered with Barkley. It was a
46-yard penalty and got the Giants out from deep in their own
territory.Barkley¡¯s average air yards per target was still just 1.6 in this
game, but outside of this deep attempt he had targets that came eight and nine
yards past the line of scrimmage.Get the ball to Beckham - 4:59 remaining,
fourth quarterEPA: 2.44 | WPA: 9.5 percentThroughout the season, the Giants have
struggled with the balance of getting Odell Beckham the ball with room to run
after the catch and getting Beckham the ball down the field. Sometimes both can
be attained. On the same drive as the Barkley DPI, the Giants had a
second-and-10 from Washington 40. Beckham ran a route that broke in at the first
down marker and put him in a hole in Washington¡¯s zone coverage. Manning threw
the pass past the sticks ¡ª a rarity for him in this game, per Next Gen Stats his
average pass was 2.8 yards behind the sticks ¡ª and Beckham was able to take it
21 yards after the catch for a gain of 32 down to the Washington 8.The Giants
got down to the 4 and peaked with a 28.2 percent chance to win thanks to another
pass interference penalty, but a one-yard run from Barkley and incomplete passes
to Barkley and Bennie Fowler brought up fourth down. Instead of going for a
touchdown to bring the score within a field goal, the Giants kicked a field goal
from the 3 to go down seven.Peterson clinches it - 3:16 remaining, fourth
quarterEPA: 5.94 | WPA: 7.8 percentWashington basically clinched the game on the
next drive with a 64-yard touchdown run from Adrian Peterson. The play was
perfectly designed and executed. Both center Chase Roullier (73) and right guard
Brandon Scherrf (75) pulled to take out Tae Davis and Landon Collins. Those
blocks and a big hole gave Peterson just Curtis Riley to beat in route to the
end zone. He scored.The Giants did drive for a touchdown on the next drive, but
it took 13 plays and just under three minutes and the team still trailed by a
touchdown after the score. When the Giants started that drive, they had just a
2.4 percent chance of winning the game.