It was a rough year for Big Blue in 2018, but there were some good signs
Big Blue 2018 Kool-Aid Rewind: Chapter One
The Giants’ 2018 season was bad, but it wasn’t all bad. Glimmers of hope for the 2019 campaign showed up in Giant games and in the performance of their top offseason acquisitions on teams across the NFL.
With training camp only two weeks away, the Daily News will chronicle the 2018 season week-byweek to highlight the positive that might foreshadow success this fall.
Welcome to our Big Blue Kool-Aid Rewind.
1. NOW YOU SEE SAQUON, NOW YOU DON’T
Saquon Barkley has called his 68-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars his favorite run of his rookie season.
It was his first career NFL TD. He broke four Jags tackles as he strafed and danced outside then up the sideline behind a terrific block by Sterling Shepard. Mostly, though, it was a thrilling sign that even when the Giant offense was lifeless, all it took was one handoff to Barkley to get them back on their feet, despite their 20-15 home loss.
Barkley averaged only 2.2 yards per carry on 17 of his 18 rushes for a total of 38 yards, including just eight carries for 12 yards in the first half, but broke his jaw-dropping 68-yarder to push his yards per carry average to a misleading 5.9.
This pattern would continue throughout the season behind Dave Gettleman’s struggling and developing O-line, as Barkley also got his feet wet and learned to run more downhill.
His explosiveness was undeniable from the jump, though. It showed up in his league-leading 16 rushes for 20-plus yards and seven rushes for 40-plus yards (Cleveland rookie Nick Chubb had the second-most runs of 40-plus yards, with four).
2. MOVES LIKE MANNING
Eli Manning actually showed solid mobility in the first half against the Jaguars. It didn’t receive much attention because one big play came back due to a penalty, and his immobility reared its head in a rough second half behind an overwhelmed Oline.
But file these highlights away, because Pat Shurmur moved Manning around the pocket a lot in a better offensive performance against Indianapolis in Week 16, for example, and Manning’s execution of these Week 1 plays are glimpses of why.
Manning scampered outside right on 2nd and 17 from the Giants’ 7-yard line on their first drive and threw a 34-yard strike to a leaping Evan Engram, negated by an Ereck Flowers hold.
Manning also stepped way up in the pocket with both defensive ends closing in to force a 30-yard Jags pass interference penalty on Odell Beckham Jr. on the final drive of the first half. And four plays later the QB did an amazing spin move to avoid Yannick Ngakoue’s jailbreak rush and hit Beckham, even though it went for a two yard loss.
Then on the first drive of the second half, Manning executed a play-action rollout to the right and threw deep again for Engram. Jags safety Tashaun Gipson was called for holding despite knocking the ball down.
The loss came with a lot of frustration for Manning, with an interception returned for a Jags touchdown, two missed throws to an open Beckham for would-be TDs, and zero TD passes. The Giants lost despite James Bettcher’s defense forcing seven straight Jacksonville punts in the second half.
We’re focusing on the positive here, though. Manning was mobile enough to create a few plays that weren’t there in Week 1, and his head coach would bank on that in later gameplans.
3. IT’S GOLDEN, JERRY, GOLDEN
The Detroit Lions mostly were a disaster in a 48-17 Week 1 home loss to the Jets, but future Giant receiver Golden Tate had seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown, including three catches for 50 yards and a TD, all in a span of four plays to open the second half and tie the game, 17 apiece.
Tate caught a 26-yard out and up from Matt Stafford after beating Buster Skrine up the left sideline. Tate sat down in a zone on the next play for a four-yard reception. Then he scored a 24-yard TD on a short completion to beat a Jets blitz that left the middle of the field wide open. Jets free safety Doug Middleton had no chance at making the only open-field tackle Tate had to elude in order to score.
The Lions emphasized Tate coming out of halftime to get themselves back in the game. Tate’s ability to be a threat both underneath and downfield shows up in this sequence and will factor into how the Giants use him in 2019.
4. SPICY PEPPERS
The Cleveland Browns’ Jabrill Peppers — packaged to the Giants this offseason as their starting strong safety in the Beckham trade — returned from a mid-game injury to recover a fourth-quarter James Conner fumble and return it to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 1-yard line.
Peppers appeared to fumble the ball out of the end zone as he was tackled by Ben Roethlisberger on the rain-soaked field at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns kept the ball, though, and Peppers’ return set up a Carlos Hyde TD run to cut the Steelers’ lead to seven and set up an eventual 21-21 Week 1 tie between the AFC North rivals.
The Giants are counting on Peppers being this opportunistic and capable on the ball, as well.
5. HOLD HIM FOR KEVIN
Browns right guard Kevin Zeitler (No. 70), swapped to the Giants for Olivier Vernon this spring, helped bully Steelers Dlineman Stephon Tuitt out of the hole on Hyde’s TD run.
Later, Zeitler provided solid pass protection as Tyrod Taylor capped the Browns’ comeback with a 38completion to Rashard Higgins and a 17-yard TD pass to Josh Gordon.
Zeitler is not only here to upgrade the blocking in front of Barkley; he’s also known for sealing a clean pocket on the interior for the quarterback. He showed examples of both in this rivalry.