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The New York Giants lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 16. The NFC East matchup was boring and mostly even through the first two quarters, with a halftime score of 3-3. The Eagles found their wings and put up 31 points in the second half, while the Giants only recorded seven. Philadelphia took the home win with a final score of 34-10, officially knocking New York out of playoff contention. Let's take a look at the top three takeaways for the Giants following the crushing loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
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Giants Week 16 Takeaways
3. Need a reliable leader
Obviously, a major concern for the Giants going into Week 16 was their lack of a quarterback. Daniel Jones has been out of commission for New York since suffering a neck injury in Week 12 against Philadelphia. That is the last time the Giants won a game this season, which proves the point I'm about to make.
Week 16, as well as Week 13, 14 and 15, proved that this Giants team is unable to win without the right leader. In this case, it looks like Jones is the man. Fortunately for the Giants, Danny Dimes is sticking around long enough for him to recover from his most recent injury and put in work for New York. The organization is keeping him, and head coach Joe Judge, for the 2022 season, per Adam Schefter.
2. NY needs some offensive depth
There's no doubt that the past few weeks in the NFL have been insane and unexpected. Along with the injuries that the Giants were already dealing with, COVID-19 also depleted their game day roster. However, New York struggled with depth even before the Omicron outbreak in the league — and it showed on Sunday.
It looked like the Giants were going into Week 16 with a simple game plan: give Saquon Barkley the ball. He had 15 rushing attempts, but only 32 total yards. Why? It's way too easy to defend a team when you know exactly who they are giving the ball to. The Giants have other offensive weapons, like Devontae Booker and Kenny Golladay, but they don't seem to be relieving the pressure on Barkley.
In the Week 16 loss, the Giants scored only 10 points: a field goal and a late game touchdown. This is even lower than their season average of 16.5 points per game. That being said, something needs to change, and New York needs to pick up a reliable rusher or receiver in the off season.
1. That's a wrap
Since they lost, the Giants were officially ruled out of playoff contention. The Eagles pretty much put a Christmas bow on the Giants' season, wrapped it up, and handed it to Joe Judge. That being said, it's time for the Giants to focus on the future. There are two games left for New York: Week 17 at the Chicago Bears and Week 18 against the Washington Football Team. So many players are already hurt; why not bench the rest of the starters for the last two games? There is no sense in risking a late season injury to guys like Saquon Barkley. Play the rest of the year like it's preseason, and start looking ahead to next season.
