Analyzing the 2023 Giants season, plus biggest offseason storylines

The Giants made the playoffs a year ago. They beat the Vikings in the first round. They entered this season believing they were capable of accomplishing the same, maybe even going further.

That did not happen.

The Giants finished 6-11, their playoff hopes dashed after a 2-8 start.

So what went wrong for New York this year? Where must it improve for 2024?

Here’s the Giants’ season in review…

What went right

Not much. The Giants regressed in almost every possible way from their playoff season a year ago. They thought they’d found their franchise quarterback in Daniel Jones — they have not.

They thought they’d infused their offense with additional playmakers — they did not. They felt their defense was better than a year ago — they were not. They thought they’d closed the game between themselves and the others in the NFC East — they did not.

There was a month of fun with undrafted quarterback Tommy DeVito, but about all you can praise is the development of some of their youth. 

Kayvon Thibodeaux, despite having a low overall pass-rush rate of 8.8 percent (NextGen), finished with 11 1/2 sacks. That ties the most by a Giants defender since Leonard Williams (11 1/2), and was one off Jason Pierre-Paul’s 12 1/2 in 2014.

The Giants also saw some progress from receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. Last year’s second-round pick returned from offseason knee surgery to catch 60 passes for 525 yards and one touchdown in 15 games.

What went wrong

There’s quite a lot, but nothing more pressing than quarterback. Jones enjoyed the best season of his career in 2022 when he threw for 3,205 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions, adding another 708 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

He capped the year leading the Giants to an upset victory over the Vikings in the first round. The Giants believed he’d turned a corner, so GM Joe Schoen signed him to a four-year, $160-million extension.

The ROI on the contract hasn’t been ideal.

Jones played six games for the Giants…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analyzing-2023-giants-season-plus-161500125.html

Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-01-08 16:15:00

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