Giants Vs. Cowboys, Pro Football Focus Review

For the past couple of seasons I have given you the plus/minus numbers from nearly all New York Giants games. Again this season I am going to bring you game numbers from PFF for Giants games, but my hope is to bring them to you in a more fun, and more informative, way.

How I do this might be a work in progress. Let's try something a little different, though.

Good, but not good enough

Eli Manning had the best offensive rating for the Giants (+5.0) and Jason Pierre-Paul had the best defensive rating (+5.5).The loss can't be blamed on either of them, but it is still a loss.

Answering the tight end question

Martellus Bennett played 54 of the Giants' 56 offensive snaps. Bear Pascoe played 12. So, why was Pascoe on the depth chart last week as the starting tight end? Bennett caught four balls and ended up +3.0, second-best to Manning.

Victor not victorious

Victor Cruz dropped three passes and had two penalties. He ended up with a -4.7 PFF grade, second-worst of any Giant on Wednesday night.

Practice? Who needs practice?

Linebacker Michael Boley did not play at all in the preseason and barely practiced leading up to Wednesday. He played 37 snaps, though, intercepted a pass, and had a +3.3 PFF rating.

Falling off the bridge

Since we were talking about the Giants' faulty bridge earlier we will reserve this category for the worst players on a bad night. Corey Webster took defensive dishonors, per PFF, with a -3.4 score. Right tackle David Diehl took top dishonors overall, checking in with a -6.0 score that included surrendering two sacks and five hurries.

PFF said this about Webster:

"The plays that Webster gave up though raise bigger question marks over a group of cornerbacks that already looked thin due to the continuing injury cloud hanging over second year corner Prince Amukamara. He bit on a double move for Ogletree’s long touchdown completion (ending up absolutely nowhere close to the play), gave up a long completion to Dez Bryant, and allowed four of his completions to be converted into touchdowns or first downs. The consolation for Giants fans may be that Webster also started last year slowly (-2.8 coverage grade in Washington) before putting in a strong season."

About Diehl, PFF said:

"Diehl (-6.0) put in the type of performance we have become accustomed to over the last few seasons. What’s more it seems that the Giants are all too aware of this if the amount of help he was given is anything to go by. In spite of the signing of Martellus Bennett, one of the premier blocking tight ends in the league, the Giants still chose to use William Beatty as a sixth offensive lineman and each time he was right next to Diehl. That was in addition to the Giants keeping Bear Pascoe and Bennett in to block five times to Diehl’s side, while Ahmad Bradshaw was left into help out on 12 plays (and a further three called back for penalties). This begs the question as to how long the Giants can keep Diehl in the starting lineup."