Takeaways from New York Giants' Week 12 Win

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The day when the New York Giants officially retired Michael Strahan's number 92 jersey, the Giants played some inspired football. The Giants dealt with a week of turmoil within the coaching staff and rumors swirling about the long-term future within the organization. Most didn't think that the Giants can muster anything against the streaking Philadelphia Eagles. But the Giants fought and clawed their way to a 13-7 victory and sent Giants fans home happy. Let's break it down.

Defense played inspired football

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The Giants defense came to play and picked up the Giants offense to get the win. After giving up 30 points to the Tampa Bay Bucs on Monday Night Football, the Giants turned around and yielded only seven points to a hot Eagles offense. While there were issues with the Giants stopping the Eagles rushing attack, the Giants still won the game by winning the turnover battle. The Giants forced a season high 4 turnovers including three interceptions by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. This was the Giants 8th straight game with a interception, the longest active streak in the league.

The Giants played without Logan Ryan as he was placed on the COVID-19 list. Over the course of the game, the Giants lost CB Adoree’ Jackson (quad injury) and CB Darnay Holmes (chest injury). Rookie CB Aaron Robinson and safety Julian Love played out of position to cover up for the injuries. Despite the injuries, the secondary played one of their best games of the season. Xavier McKinney continues to impress as he tallied another interception against Hurts. McKinney is showing athletic talent to be an excellent hybrid safety.

One of the Giants interceptions was a key turnover to end the first half. The Eagles were driving to score a touchdown to close the first half, which has been a major issue with the Giants this season. Giants notoriously have given up touchdowns in the closing minutes of halves. But linebacker Tae Crowder stepped in front of a rollout pass from Hurts to end the drive and the first half. The Giants gave up no points in the first half, the first time they've done that this season.

The Giants defense was gashed for 208 yards and over 6 yards per carry. Jalen Hurts ran for 77 yards himself on designed runs. But when it counted the Giants came up with a big play late in the 4th quarter. With the Eagles driving on a potential game-winning touchdown drive, DT Dalvin Tomlinson forced RB Boston Scott fumble to give the ball back to the offense.

New Offensive Coordinator, same offensive issues

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The Giants made headlines by removing Jason Garrett as offensive coordinator, and installing Freddie Kitchens as the interim offensive coordinator. The idea was to inject life into the offense, get the players more involved, and find favorite plays to run on offense. But the issue still remains on offense; rushing attack struggled with the offensive line, limited creativity in play calling, and redzone struggles. The Giants scored less than 20 points for the 7th time this season and were 0-6 in those games until Sunday vs the Eagles. The Giants recorded less yards compared to the Eagles, 332-264 and this included being outrushed 208-70. The Giants however did possess the ball more than the Eagles (32:02 compared to 27:58). Controlling the clock and not turning the ball over will always give you a chance to win. But scoring only 13 points in total is not going to win you very many football games.

The first drive of the game saw the offense get a little creative with the flea flicker screen pass to tight end Evan Engram. The Giants moved the ball into Eagles territory, but had to settle for a field goal as they couldn't punch it in from the red zone. The offensive line struggled to open up holes for Saquon Barkley and consistently protect the quarterback. Why they only gave up one sack, the line including Nate Solder really struggled. Solder was beaten on offensive run plays all day and not having their blocking tight ends Kyle Rudolph and Kaden Smith didn't allow them to run the ball effectively either.

On Sunday, the Giants focused on getting their playmakers involved in the offense. The Giants ran 58 offensive plays against the Eagles, and 25 of them were called for or targeted either Saquon Barkley or Kenny Golladay. It's nice to see the offense try to get the ball to their best players and let them help the offense. However, Kenny Golladay looked lost or dare I say uninspired at times. He mustered only 3 catches for 50 yards as he was targeted 7 times ( the most targets he's seen since week 4). His numbers would have been more impressive if not for a couple drops where he looked lost in the passing tree, and a red zone target in the end zone where he couldn't come up with the catch. But getting Golladay involved in the offense was clearly a key to the success for the Giants and Kitchens tried to feed him.

Protecting our house, MetLife

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The Giants were able to pack the stands with Giants fans as they honored the 15 year career of Michael Strahan. The jersey retirement likely helped keep Eagles fans out of the build, which was a worry for some leading up to this game. The Giants responded to win their third consecutive home game this season. This is the longest home winning streak since they won their last 6 straight in 2016, coincidentally their last winning season. Add to the fact that the three home wins this year matches their home victory total from last year and you can start to say we are protecting our house.

The Giants are 3-3 at home, but also have two more home games in the division. They have two rematches on December 19 against the Dallas Cowboys and a January 9 date with the Washington Football Team. The Giants are 4-0 at home against division foes under head coach Joe Judge.

Key 4th Quarter drive

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The Giants struggled to move the ball for most of the game against the Eagles. The Eagles started to gain momentum after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter. A critical drive for the Giants came early in the 4th quarter. The Giants possess the ball with a little over 10 minutes to go. The Giants proceeded to have a 12 play / 70 yard drive that chewed up over 7 minutes of time off the clock.

While the drive ended with the field goal, it was key to keeping the Eagles off the field and giving the defense time to breathe. There were critical plays in the drive including a third and three catch to Golladay for 18 yards that kept the drive going. However on a 3rd and 2 play from the Eagles 16, a false start penalty pushed the Giants back 5 yards. The next play ended in an incompletion and the Giants had to settle for a field goal. More red zone troubles that has haunted this team, but the drive was critical to giving the Giants momentum back.