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New York Giants and Jets Week 5 in ONE WORD
ONE word to describe the New York Jets and New York Giants week five games. Followed by a few more words, because this is a blog, not a sound byte.
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After Week 5 of the NFL season, New York teams are now 5-4-1 collectively. Actually 9-5-1 if you count Buffalo, but we do not count Buffalo around these parts. Both the New York Jets and New York Giants played GRITTY in week five, but with slightly different results. Can you you believe the Giants are still in first place?
New York Jets Week 5 in ONE WORD: WATCH NOW – Just ONE Word Only
How competent are the New York Jets this season? Can the New York Giants win their division? Todd loves the Giants and Dan loves the Jets. They both must take the proverbial podium and speak truth into the microphone. Also proverbial.
New York Jets and Giants Week 5
Where has the New York Giants’ running game been?
Todd Salem: The main coverage of New York’s Week 5 tie will revolve around Washington’s end-game blunder and the fumbles: there was Cam Skattebo’s overtime fumble, the Commanders’ own OT fumble that they recovered, as well as Isaiah Likely’s goal line fumble that was ruled a touchdown. Between fumbles and missed kicks (one XP for WSH, three FGs for NYG), maybe one could blame the weather as being a huge factor.
But with the weather being a mess yet again, it makes me wonder why the Giants’ running game isn’t being used more and/or performing better.
In the second half, the Giants were down multiple scores. It only makes sense they turned heavy to the passing game, ending with Jameis Winston throwing the ball a whopping 54 times by game’s end. But in the first half, with the rain coming down, the Giants could not move the ball. It’s now been a constant since Jaxson Dart went out.
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Let’s remember, prior to the season, New York was going to be a run-heavy team. They had three good running backs. (They now have four pretty good running backs; a situation so unlikely that they end up making one inactive every week.) They had a quarterback who liked to run and was good at it. They signed a head coach (John Harbaugh) and offensive assistant (Greg Roman) who both love running and have been excellent at it in the past. On top of that, the offensive line was supposed to be solid, and the receivers were not. It all added up.
And yet, through five games, the Giants are nothing more than middle of the pack in rushing yards per game; they are 24th in yards per carry. Lead back Skattebo, along with the fumbling issues (four fumbles, one lost), is averaging a putrid 3.6 yards per carry, and is fifth-worst in the sport in yards over expectation according to Next Gen Stats.
Then there’s the line. Skattebo is 39th out of 43 qualified runners in yards before contact per rush, meaning 38 other backs get more space opened up by their line on average than Skattebo has thus far. That would make sense if he was facing constantly stacked boxes, but he’s not. It helps explained why NY has already benched its starting center and turned to Bryan Hudson.
I expected the Giants offense to struggle once Dart went out. What I didn’t expect are the struggles to be mostly because of a lack of a running game. Winston has gotten better each week, and the rushing support has not followed. Up next are the New Orleans Saints, currently giving up the third-most rushing yards per game in the sport. Something’s gotta give.
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Dan Salem: I never viewed Skattebo as a starting running back, but rather an excellent complementary back. Because the Giants have 3-4 good running backs, so you say, this is the ideal situation for a split between Skattebo and another player. Both can thrive, neither gets over worked, and the defenses can’t keep up. None of this has materialized.
Perhaps New York has a bad offensive line, but that would truly be a damning statement. They’ve been working to fix their offensive line for so long now that it’s pretty sad for it to still be the problem. At some point you have to look at the actual running plays and how you’re using the players on your team. Whatever the Giants are doing is not working, but they are not good enough to win by throwing the ball.
On paper New York appears like a bruising offense, but are they utilizing multiple tight ends? How about a fullback? Do they run plays with two or three running backs out there at a time? You may not trick a defense with these formations, but you certainly gain a blocking advantage for your running game. All in all the Giants have been standing still, not losing, but not improving either. Because they are in first place in a bad division, New York simply needs to get a little better to hold onto their lead. I expect a change to spark the run game. Something needs to.
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Was this a breakout performance for the New York Jets’ pass rush?
Todd Salem: In another rainy afternoon game, the Jets routinely put Deshaun Watson on the ground in a 17-12 victory. They accumulated a gargantuan eight sacks (including a sack hat trick from rookie David Bailey), 10 tackles for loss, and 13 QB hits.
As weird as it sounds, though, my answer is no. It didn’t feel like the pass rush was the biggest culprit of the Jets’ big game. There were myriad factors, including the messy weather and Watson being a dingus. Watson dropped the ball on his own early in the game, gifting the Jets a sack. He held the ball for long stretches, falling into others. The NY front also gave up some big lanes for Watson to scramble, as he accumulated a sizable 40 yards thanks to careless gap responsibility. The rest of the defense may have played the largest factor.
QBs holding the ball for a long time is often thanks to no one being open. Despite having sensational rookie receivers on both sides, veteran Jerry Jeudy, and up-and-coming tight end Harold Fannin, Cleveland couldn’t generate much of anything in the passing game. Minkah Fitzpatrick and the rest of the secondary broke up seven passes and limited Watson to just 4.7 yards per attempt. It was easily his worst game of the season.
New York Giants Week 5 in ONE WORD: WATCH NOW – Just ONE Word Only
On the rushing side of things, if we take out Watson’s scrambles, the Browns finished with 56 rushing yards on 18 carries. There was nowhere for them to go. It was an all-around great defensive showing. The pass rush was impressive, but I don’t think its performance was the catalyst; it may have been the outcome.
Dan Salem: The Jets defense controlled the entire game and keeps getting a little better each week, in one area or another. This was not a breakout performance because the defense has been playing really well. But against a dingus QB they were able to take full advantage. New York lacked a pass rush last season, as well as the ability to blanket receivers in the secondary. They have both this season.
The Browns are not a great team, but they are not pushovers either. New York was able to control the game without a ton of offense, which is impressive. Geno Smith continues to play well, even if he held the ball a bit too long in this particular game. What I liked most from the overall performance was watching this team learn how to win.
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We mentioned this back in September and now it’s coming to fruition. The Jets could not close out the Packers, but they did close out the Browns. We saw New York nearly beat Green Bay and get trounced by Chicago, only for the Packers to trounce those same Bears. All of these teams are so close and matchups matter immensely. Learning how to hold a lead and how to win games is the only way to get better. I’m seeing it on the field for the Jets.
I’m cautiously optimistic about New York’s ability to beat New England. The Patriots have been erratic this season, but found some consistency these past two weeks. So long as the Jets defense keeps Drake Maye off balance, New York will have a shot to win. This isn’t a good team yet, but they are at least trending in the right direction.
Meet our Sports Writers:
Dan Salem is Lead Editor and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X, TikTok and Instagram. His latest film ‘Alone’ is now on Amazon.
Todd Salem is a Staff Writer and Contributing Editor at BuzzChomp. He’s also a champion of fantasy football and fantasy baseball, dominating leagues for over two decades. Comment below on his unfiltered opinions.
New York Jets and New York Giants Week 5 – This Is The End
Photo Credits: jetsxfactor.com via Getty Images and nytimes.com (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
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