Some NFL passing attacks were so explosive Sunday that a fan prone to hyperbole might wonder if the Giants could reach those same numbers in a month’s worth of games.
Wait a minute … where’s the exaggeration?
The Chiefs scored 41 points, the Dolphins totaled 726 offensive yards and the Chargers’ Keenan Allen hauled in 18 receptions during respective Week 3 wins.
The Giants’ combined three-game offensive totals include 43 points, 760 yards and a team-high 12 catches by Darren Waller.
The Giants will finish September ranked in the bottom five in the league in points per game, yards per game and completions of 20 yards or more (six).
Not exactly the fireworks advertised after trading for Waller, signing Parris Campbell and drafting Jalin Hyatt to add to a returning nucleus of Saquon Barkley, Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Seven of those top-eight playmakers entered the season healthy, too, so there was supposed to be less stress on head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to call plays that squeezed every drop out of a cast of weapons assembled from a lot of spare parts.
How then did the Giants manage their lowest yardage total (150) in 10 years during the Week 3 loss to the 49ers?
“We didn’t make enough plays,” quarterback Daniel Jones “When you play a good team like that, you have to be crisp. There were some plays across the board I’d like to have back.”
Of course, the issues in need of attention before Monday’s game against the Seahawks run deeper than executing a few plays.
“Just three games in, I think, there’s obviously still room for improvement,” said Robinson, who efficiently produced four catches on 11 snaps in his season debut against the 49ers and should be in line for a bigger role. “I don’t think we’re a finished product or anything like that. We just have to keep working, keep taking the steps forward and everything will come our way.”
In an effort to cut down on the “15-, 16-play” methodical scoring drives the Giants relied on last season, general manager Joe Schoen’s offseason focus was upgrading speed in hopes that yards after catch would increase the league’s least-explosive offense (28 completions of 20 yards or more).
And yet Campbell (minus-0.6) and Slayton (minus-0.4) are producing fewer yards after catch than the analytics project based on factors such as speed, separation and the ratio of blockers to tacklers in space, according to NextGenStats.
Hodgins (0.1) and Waller (0.1) are contributing negligible gains.
Of the 135 NFL pass-catchers who have seen at least eight targets, Campbell is the only Giant ranked among the top 97 in terms of separation created (3.4 yards per route).
Waller (2.6), Slayton (2.0) and Hodgins (1.8) rank No. 98, No. 130 and No. 133, respectively.
Then again, how can receivers run smooth routes to completion when the pocket is collapsing before they are out of their breaks?
“Sometimes things take time,” said safety Xavier McKinney, who spoke highly of the offense’s potential after head-to-head training camp battles and isn’t wavering. “And I think it’s one of those things right now. But I think we’ll be a lot better.”
Jones, whose 11 scrambles are fourth-most in the league, is the quarterback who has faced the most pressures (56) while playing behind three different starting offensive line combinations in as many games.
“It goes back to everybody: running backs, quarterbacks, offensive line, even some of the play calls,” Robinson said. “Not everything’s going to be perfect at all times, and we just have to make things work sometimes. Obviously, we still believe in our O-line.”
By adding those targets and not signing Barkley beyond this season, the Giants signaled an intent to shift into a pass-first offense behind their $160 million quarterback.
With his improved cast of weapons, Jones is averaging a career-low 5.8 yards per attempt. He has nearly as many interceptions (four) on 97 throws as he did last season (five) on 472.
And the first game without Barkley — who is sidelined by a high ankle sprain — resulted in the Giants’ fewest rushing attempts (11) since 1989 instead of running back by committee.
It’s already clear that recapturing last year’s magic touch won’t be easy.
“You have a baseline of a system,” Daboll said before the season, “but just because one play looked good one year really has nothing to do with the next year.”
The Giants still need to find what’s going to look good this year. Fast.
