PFF grades: Good, bad and ugly from Giants’ loss to Tampa Bay Buccaneers

One of the interesting things for me about Pro Football Focus grades is to compare them to my weekly ‘Kudos & Wet Willies’, which I generally try to do without either a second look at the game or a peak at how PFF scored Giants’ players. I want ‘K&WW’ to be my raw reaction to what I saw.

There are always some things that surprise me when the PFF grades come out. The biggest one this week? An absolutely UGLY [yes, that’s U-G-L-Y all CAPS] 12.1 pass-blocking grade for Shane Lemieux. I did not see that coming. On top of which, I didn’t think PFF grades could go that low.

I know Lemieux, as described by Geoff Schwartz, was at fault on this sack:

Fine. Schwartz knows far more about offensive line play than I do. A 12.1 pass-blocking grade from PFF, though? That’s ridiculous. PFF assigned 5 pressures to Lemieux in 49 pass-blocking snaps. Factor in an adequate 53.6 run-blocking grade on 25 snaps and Lemieux finished his first start with a not good overall grade of 34.6, with only Levine Toilolo (29.9) lower.

I’m going to stick with my belief that there was a lot to like about what Lemieux did against a really good Tampa Bay front, and that I want to see more. There was this, where he and Andrew Thomas bulldozed a path for a Wayne Gallman touchdown:

Speaking of Toilolo, why did the Giants sign him to a two-year, $6.2 million deal? He’s an eight-year veteran blocking tight end who isn’t blocking very well (30.8 pass-blocking and 58.1 run-blocking for the season). It’s wasted money. Not a lot, but it’s still wasted money.

Want another ugly grade?

Cornerback James Bradberry earned a 36.1, worst on the defense. That would seem to coincide with my decision to give Bradberry a ‘Wet Willie.’ Bradberry had two pass interference penalties, a passer rating against of 129.2, and gave up 18 yards after the catch on 4 allowed receptions in 6 targets, one of which went for a touchdown. Not a good night.

Want good news on the defensive side? Rookie Carter Coughlin played only 4 snaps, but had a sack, a hurry and a 90.6 grade. Leonard Williams had a sack, a quarterback hit, a hurry and a really good 85.7 grade. Trent Harris (77.3 in 15 snaps) and Devante Downs (77.1 in 14 snaps) contributed nicely.

Want some good news on the offensive side? Matt Peart had a 71.0 overall grade in 24 total snaps and didn’t allow any pressures in 14 pass-blocking snaps. Andrew Thomas had his best pass-blocking grade (65.7) and best overall grade (64.3) of the season.