Stock up, down after Giants' 28-3 loss to Eagles
The New York Giants took one on the chin in East Rutherford on Sunday afternoon, getting humiliated by Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-3, in front of their booing hometown fans.
The loss drops the Giants to 2-5 on the season and effectively ends any unlikely hopes they had remaining for an NFC East title or playoff appearance. Now they'll spend the remainder of their season playing for their jobs instead.
Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 7 loss? Let's take a look.
Stock up: NT Dexter Lawrence
As good as Dexter Lawrence is, you have to feel bad for him wasting away in a Giants uniform. On Sunday, he recorded another 2.0 sacks, giving him 9.0 on the season which is both a career-best for him personally and the current league lead. He wrecks everything an offense tries to do and dominates in a way we've never seen a nose tackle dominate. Literally ever.
Stock down: CB Deonte Banks
Second-year cornerback Deonte Banks knows he messed up. Again. The problem is that his lack of effort is a growing trend and it appeared more than once on Sunday. Much will be made of him pulling back on a long Jalen Hurts scramble but there were multiple other plays where he avoided contact, made zero effort, and allowed the Eagles to rack up unearned yards. This can not continue.
It's tough to watch on multiple levels... pic.twitter.com/eYwiTFxTmr
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 21, 2024
Stock up: LB Brian Burns
It's difficult to find any reasons for optimism or praise after Sunday's debacle, but linebacker Brian Burns deserves a ton of credit. He recorded another sack in the absence of Kayvon Thibodeaux and was solid against the run (the Eagles tended to run away from him and toward Azeez Ojulari) but that's not the reason he deserves a tip of the cap. Burns was clearly laboring due to a groin injury and was obviously in a lot of pain but unlike some of his other teammates, he refused to quit.
Stock down: Head coach Brian Daboll
Sunday's offensive game plan was doomed to fail from the start. The run-pass discrepancy in the first half, the long-developing plays down the field when the offensive line couldn't protect, and the decision to start Joshua Ezeudu at left tackle were all horrible calls. The designed QB runs when Daniel Jones was already taking a beating also raise some eyebrows. As does a late-second-quarter decision to go conservative and take a field goal as opposed to a shot into the endzone. And inserting Drew Lock into an already lost game with many other starters sitting out to "create a spark?" That makes zero sense. And if you're in the "blame everything on DJ" camp then how could you not blame Brian Daboll for sticking with him?
Stock up: CB Andru Phillips
Rookie cornerback Andru Phillips had himself another solid game with two big flash plays. Both came near the line of scrimmage as he worked his way through traffic and made a tackle for a loss. One came against the Wildcat where he blew up Saquon Barkley for a loss, and the second was on a bubble screen where he crashed down on DeVonta Smith behind the line of scrimmage.
Stock down: Offensive line
The loss of Andrew Thomas proved to be more devastating than anyone could have imagined. Joshua Ezeudu struggled as his replacement, to the surprise of no one but Brian Daboll, while the remainder of the offensive line also chipped in for their worst performance of the season. Greg Van Roten played especially poorly. They couldn't pass protect, they couldn't run block, they couldn't pick up blitzes... They couldn't function at all. Full stop.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Stock up, down after Giants' 28-3 loss to Eagles