The New York Giants won a thriller in MetLife Stadium last night, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 10-7. This was a defensive battle for the ages, with six turnovers between the two teams. Here are my takeaways from this thriller:
New York Giants Week 14 Takeaways
Ereck Flowers Needs to Have His Role Changed
Ereck Flowers has the physical tools to succeed in the NFL. However, it seems that after each game, he gets worse and worse. Last night was the tipping point for a dreadful season for him. He was always out of position and allowed Eli Manning to get blindsided. That is possibly the worst thing that can happen to your franchise quarterback. Manning could easily get hurt out there with all the hits he is taking. Flowers needs to either be benched or moved to the right side where he will not be letting Manning get hit from behind.
The Giants signed Will Beatty, and I think it is now time that he gets a chance to protect Manning’s blind side again. At this point, can it really be worse than what Flowers is doing? Coach Ben McAdoo needs to make a change and fast. Manning is playing some of his worst football, and a lot of it could be attributed to the fact that he has no time to throw in the pocket. If the Giants want to actually start scoring on offense, they need to make a change to Flowers’ role.
$200 Million Well Spent
Where does one even begin with describing how the defense played last night? Words cannot describe how well they played as a unit. At the time, I felt both Janoris Jenkins and Olivier Vernon were panic buys and the Giants overspent on above average players. This is why I will never be a general manager, because Jerry Reese hit a home run. Vernon had the difficult challenge of being blocked by Tyron Smith, the best left tackle in the game. He still managed to put a ton of pressure on rookie quarterback Dak Prescott. Prescott had very little time to throw and looked rattled all night long.
Jenkins also played a lights out game. He covered Dez Bryant and held him to one catch for ten yards on nine targeted. Jenkins also had an interception as well as a forced fumble. He had Bryant on an island all night long. Jenkins also deflected a crucial pass intended for Dez Bryant on fourth and ten with the game on the line.
No Jason Pierre-Paul? No Problem
Jason Pierre-Paul has arguably been the Giants best defender up until his injury during last week’s game. It was expected that the Giants would struggle without him, but that was far from the case. Rookie Romeo Okwara stepped into the JPP role and played incredible. He was relentless on the pass rush, having a sack and three quarterback hits, along with a team high eight tackles and a pass deflected. He is no JPP, but he sure looked like it last night. Along with Okwara, Landon Collins had a great game. He made a few crucial tackles with the game winding to a close. He seems to always be involved in the play, and is a quarterback’s nightmare.
The defense as a whole looked very good last night, going up against the best offensive line in the league. Besides a few big runs by Ezekiel Elliott, he was held in check. If this pass rush can keep up what they did last night, they can definitely carry their defense into the playoffs and make a big run.
