The Giants.com crew breaks down the 34-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16.
John Schmeelk: A young quarterback getting his first NFL start was always going to be a big hill to climb. The issues with the Giants' offense haven't been all on the quarterback position, and there was never a silver bullet that was going to fix all them at once.
It doesn't mean there couldn't have been improvement, but the success of quarterbacks also depends on what is going on around them. According to Pro Football Focus, the Eagles got pressure on Giants quarterbacks on 40% of their drop-backs on Sunday, with Jake Fromm having an average time to throw of only 2.6 seconds. It is hard to function in an offense when that happens. The execution needs to be better in all phases.
Dan Salomone: Defenses don't always dictate when and where they are going to take the field, but they can decide how they do it. The defensive side of the ball kept the Giants in the game, but it was only a matter of time before the dam broke with an offense that punted on eight of its first 11 possessions. The other three ended with a field goal and two interceptions, the first of which came on the opening drive of the second half. The Eagles promptly turned it into a touchdown. A quick three-and-out on the next possession led to a Philadelphia field goal and a 10-point game, which felt like a much deeper hole for a team that has averaged 11.5 points over six games since the bye week.
"That can't be a situation where all the sudden it feels insurmountable," coach Joe Judge said after the game. "We just have to go ahead and play one play at a time, one drive at a time and keep playing the game."
Judge added, "[The defense] did a lot of things to keep us in the game today. Then obviously when you can't do anything offensively to get the ball moving, that sets you behind and there's not too much more that the defense can do to hang on there."
Lance Medow: Through 15 games of the season, the Giants are averaging 16.5 points per game (tied for 30th in the NFL) and the offense has produced no more than 21 points 12 times and 10 points or less in four of the past six outings. When you have that type of a track record, the last thing you can afford to do is give favorable field position to the opposition and that, unfortunately, is what happened in Sunday's loss to the Eagles.
Tied at 3, the Giants opened the third quarter with the ball. But on the second snap, Jake Fromm was picked off by Rodney McLeod, which gave the Eagles the ball at the New York 21. Philly capitalized with Boston Scott's 3-yard TD run - yet it was still very much a game. But after the Giants went three-and-out, Jalen Reagor returned a punt 39 yards to the Giants 21. It was déjà vu all over again. Although the Eagles settled for a field goal, the trend continued as on their next possession, they started at their own 43 and marched five plays for another TD and a 20-3 lead. If your offense struggles to produce 20 points, the margin for error is very small.
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