Grading the Giants following Sunday’s 17-9 loss to the Rams

Offense

Horrible first half, better second half and still no touchdowns. Unacceptable. Daniel Jones (23 of 36, 190 yards, 1 INT) continues to do just enough to entice you and more than enough to lose the game. Late interception was forced and a bad decision. Wayne Gallman (6-45) provided a little spark in the running game. Devonta Freeman (11-33) is still rusty with his reads. Lack of big plays from the receivers is glaring. Golden Tate (4-20) struggled. Evan Engram (6-35) has yet to break out and only one moment — a 33-yard catch — for Darius Slayton. Cam Fleming and Kevin Zeitler got called for false start penalties in the first quarter. Cannot blame the crowd noise for that. A sailed shotgun snap by Nick Gates forced Jones to leap to prevent a turnover. Gates hung in versus Aaron Donald. Line allowed five sacks, but only one after halftime.

Grade: F

Defense

Shredded on the first drive and then some excellent work, up until the end. Run defense (58 total yards) was strong and there were promising signs from CB Ryan Lewis. Blake Martinez (13 tackles) drops guys in their tracks. Solid coverage on the back end led to a Kyler Fackrell sack. Fackrell later dropped Malcom Brown for a 1-yard loss. DT Austin Johnson flashed. He forced a fumble on Gerald Everett and later surged up the middle for an 8-yard sack. DT Dalvin Tomlinson had a pass deflection and chased down Brown for a 2-yard loss on a screen. Busted coverage between blitzing Darnay Holmes and Julian Love led to big Cooper Kupp TD to seal the deal. The Rams were averaging nearly 30 points a game; this should have been good enough to win.

Grade: B+

Special Teams

Tate had a 15-yard punt return in the second quarter. Adrian Colbert missed a tackle that allowed Raymond Calais to take the ball out of the end zone for a 41-yard kickoff return early in the fourth quarter. Punter Riley Dixon twice pinned the Rams inside their 10-yard line. Graham Gano continues to be money, with three more made field goals. Unfortunately for the Giants, he is their only source of points.

Grade: B

Coaching

On fourth down near midfield, trailing by one point, Joe Judge went conservative and opted to punt the ball away. It did not work out for him or the Giants. His team shook off a brutal start but could not close the deal. Jason Garrett’s offense produced six points and 67 total yards in the first half. He has to get his group out to faster starts. Defensive machinations by Patrick Graham are paying dividends. He does not have a dominant player but his personnel usage was able to keep the Rams stifled for long stretches.

Grade: C