4 things we learned from the Giants’ 34-7 loss to the Falcons

The latest meeting of the Overpay-Your-Quarterback-And-Then-Get-Rid-Of-Him Club took place today at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Founding member Howie Roseman was scheduled to give a keynote presentation on “Jonesing on Your Sunk Cost Fallacy” but had to cancel at the last minute. New York Giants GM Joe Schoen was happy to fill in as his replacement, saying, “Jones-ing is right up my alley.” Guest speakers also included Denver Broncos GM George Paton, who spoke on “Admit It - You Had No Idea Russell Wilson Could Still Play Either,” and Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry, whose talk was titled, “Aren’t All Contracts Fully Guaranteed?” The meeting was convened in Atlanta because GM Terry Fontenot was on the verge of taking a bold step toward applying to join the club, benching starter Kirk Cousins in the first year of his $180M contract and contemplating releasing him with $90M in dead money.

First, though, the Atlanta Falcons had to see how rookie draftee Michael Penix Jr. performed in his first start, and what better team for him to face than the one that could have drafted him at No. 6? What did we learn from the Giants’ 34-7 loss to the Falcons?

What did you think of your team’s execution? I’m in favor of it

That question and answer has been attributed to a reporter interviewing John McKay, the head coach of the 0-14 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after yet another dismal loss, though it’s not clear that he actually said it. You couldn’t blame Brian Daboll, though, if he sympathized with it.

It’s a feature of losing teams that have given up even though they don’t think they’ve given up. They begin a game in spirited fashion and hang in there for a while, but after things start going against them, they mentally pack it in even if they don’t realize it. It happened last week vs. Baltimore. The Giants trailed by only seven points late in the second quarter, but the Ravens scored just before halftime to go up 21-7 and the Giants just went through the motions in the second half. It happened today, too. The Giants actually had a 7-0 lead in this game, a rare occurrence this season. Then, still ahead 7-3, Drew Lock got pick-sixed by Jessie Bates, and after that the floodgates opened. The second half was mostly an afterthought.

The thing is, the Giants’ execution is terrible. They look like a poorly coached team on both sides of the ball. They had 10 penalties for 85 yards, compared to three for 30 yards for Atlanta. Ultimately this has to reflect on Brian Daboll, though I’m sure he’s done everything he can to sustain motivation. Still, this type of play is what gets coaches fired. Let me count (some of) the ways.

Malik Nabers has to learn what an illegal shift is

We see it over and over, and over, again, sometimes more than once in the same game. Malik Nabers shifts to the other side of the formation, doesn’t get set, and is flagged. Today it cost him a nice gain on a pass that came his way.

It doesn't really matter much with the score 34-7, but Malik Nabers has head 2 illegal shift penalties today for not getting set. He's had a number of those this year. #NYGiants — Ed Valentine (@edvalentine.bsky.social) 2024-12-22T20:29:53.485Z

That’s Malik Nabers’ 5th illegal shift this season. No other player has more than 2, and only two players even have 2. — Doug Analytics (@Doug_Analytics) December 22, 2024

Nabers still finished with 68 receiving yards and is closing in on 1,000 yards for the season, but he would have already passed that mark if he’d corrected this blind spot in his game.

Forget what we said last week about Evan Neal

After the Ravens game, I pointed out out that Pro Football Focus had given Neal not good, but at least a decent, pass blocking grade, and Ed actually wrote a story about his improvement since recovering from his surgery and getting back into the lineup at right tackle.

Uh...we take that back. Bad Evan Neal was back this week. The “highlight” play came just after halftime with the Giants only down 17-7. Drew Lock dropped back to pass. As far as I can tell, Lock intended to throw a quick slant to Nabers, who was lined up on the right side. A slant would explain why Neal (seemingly) attempted a cut block, to create a clear passing lane for Lock. However, Neal whiffed on the block, guard Greg Van Roten played Gaston to Neal’s Alphonse by letting defensive tackle Zach Harrison blow right by him, and Harrison blocked Drew Lock’s pass, which was intercepted by Matthew Judon for the Falcons’ second pick-six of the day:

Drew Lock 2nd pick 6 of the day pic.twitter.com/zd78KinVAy — Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) December 22, 2024

Neal was also called for three penalties. It wasn’t his worst game, and it wasn’t as bad as his first two years, but you have to think that we’re are seeing his final games at the tackle position.

This season provides perspective on the 2025 quarterback class

The agonizing question for Giants fans has been whether the Giants made a mistake by not taking a quarterback with the No. 6 draft pick this year. Most of the fretting has been about their failure to trade up for Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, but that’s misplaced - Washington was never going to trade down with a division rival, and New England clearly didn’t intend to trade down either unless they got a Deshaun Watson-to-Cleveland-like haul in return.

The legitimate question is whether the Giants erred by taking Nabers instead of one of the three QBs who were still on the board when they picked. All three of those quarterbacks went in the six picks following the Giants’ pick, even though months before the draft, all of them were considered bottom of Round 1 or early Round 2 prospects. J.J. McCarthy is still TBD because of his meniscus injury, though he looked good in the pre-season. Bo Nix has settled in nicely as Denver closes in on a playoff berth, although he does a lot of short passing.

Today we got to see Michael Penix Jr. start an NFL game for the first time. Overall he played well and under control, going 18 for 27 for 202 yards. He didn’t have a TD pass and he was intercepted once (Kyle Pitts’ fault, not his), and he only threw deep a couple of times. And the Giants rarely pressured him after the first couple of drives. Still, as a debut, the Falcons will take it, and few will be surprised if he develops into a good NFL quarterback.

That’s interesting from the perspective of the 2025 QB class. It has been derided as not being of the caliber of the 2024 class (though not the dumpster fire that the 2022 class has been). Dane Brugler of The Athletic, for example, has Cam Ward as his QB1 but only No. 16 on his big board, with Jalen Milroe No. 22 and Shedeur Sanders No. 23. He’s said that none of this year’s quarterback prospects is in the same class as the first three that went off the board this April and that all of them are more like, or just below, the second group of three.

Yet QB prospects always rise in the draft. Brugler had McCarthy No. 21, Nix No. 44, and Penix No. 52 in his final big board, yet they were all off the board by No. 12. And more to the point, though it’s very early, there’s no sign yet that any of them are a bust at the NFL level. Minnesota, Atlanta, and Denver didn’t worry about that possibility. As the Giants continue to have the inside track on a top 2 pick, perhaps it’s a good idea for them, and us, not to overthink things. If either Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders is on the board when they pick, go for it.

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