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Film Review: Breaking down Giants vs. Jets

The Giants lost to the Jets, 34-27, on Sunday. It was the team's sixth consecutive defeat.

Here's what I saw on the film:

*The Giants first drive ended in a three and out. On a third and eight, Jamal Adams and Jordan Jenkins combined for a sack. Jenkins was able to get to Daniel Jones with a bull rush, and Adams came off the right side on a blitz.

*The Giants struggled to run the ball the entire game. There was little to no room for Barkley to run and he finished with just one rushing yard on 13 carries. He had eight rushes for eight yards in the first half, and five for -7 yards in the second half.

*In spite of the lack of production in the run game, coach Pat Shurmur was balanced on his first down play calls. In the first half, the first down play selection was even between run and pass, and overall the Giants threw it 15 times and ran it 11 times on first down throughout the game.

*Even though they struggled on early downs, the Giants managed to convert five of their 10 third downs of nine or more yards. Jones is developing a nice chemistry with Darius Slayton on routes outside the numbers to convert some of those plays.

*The Giants scored a touchdown on their next drive after converting a 3rd and 9 on a pass to Bennie Fowler and moving the sticks on a defensive pass interference against Darius Slayton on 3rd and 10. On the play after the interference penalty, the Giants ran a play action pass on first down that completely fooled the Jets. Rhett Ellison caught a short pass and picked up 31 yards. Fowler was wide open down the field and could have scored but Jones went for Ellison instead. The Giants scored on a five-yard completion to Slayton as Jones had plenty of time to throw from the pocket. The Jets only rushed three and the Giants offensive line blocked long enough for Slayton to separate and create a passing lane for Jones to hit him for the score.

*Spencer Pulley started for Jon Halapio (hamstring) and Nick Gates replaced Mike Remmers (back) at right tackle. According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Gates allowed just one sack and one hurry. Eric Smith replaced Nate Solder (concussion) at left tackle in the second quarter, and PFF charged him with three sacks and three quarterback hits allowed. Overall, the Jets finished with six sacks; they had a total of 13 heading into the game. According to PFF, when he was under pressure, Jones completed only five of twelve passes for 22 yards.

*The Giants scored a touchdown on their next drive. On a 4th and 4, Slayton took an outside release on Jets cornerback Nate Hairston but still managed to get across his face on a slant. Hairston tripped as he flipped his hips, and Jones put the ball right on him to let Slayton catch and run it into the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown. The Giants did not convert on the PAT attempt because of a low snap.

*On their next drive, the Giants couldn't convert a 4th and 1 on a quarterback sneak from their own 39- yard line. They failed to get push up the middle and Jamaal Adams came over the top to pull Jones back from the first down marker. Adams was a playmaker all game, and whether it was in the run or pass game, he made play after play. He finished with nine tackles, two sacks, a pass defended, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery he returned for a touchdown.

*On the final drive of the half, the Giants were in a third and four, and ran a play with multiple shallow crossers but with the Jets played zone and defended it well. As Jones waited for someone to open up, Jenkins came off the left edge and sacked Jones.

*The Giants second half began the way their first half did. After gaining nine yards on second down, Shurmur called for a play action pass on 3rd and 1. The Jets rushed six against six Giants blockers and got home before Jones got the ball out to one of the open crossers against cover-one defense. Adams ran through an attempted block and ripped the ball out of Jones' hands and ran in for the touchdown.

*The Giants scored on their next drive on a wide receiver screen to Golden Tate. Cody Core blocked cornerback Brian Poole, Rhett Ellison put a block on cornerback Arthur Maulet, Kevin Zeitler sealed linebacker Brandon Copeland and Nick Gates dove at the legs of Marcus Maye to clear the path for a 61-yard touchdown. Tate was untouched. It looked like the Giants completed a two-point conversion, but Tate pushed off his defender and was called for offensive pass interference. Aldrick Rosas proceeded to miss a 43-yard extra point.

*The Giants had three big third down conversions on their next drive. On a 3rd and 3, Barkley lined up on linebacker Brandon Copeland one on one, and Barkley beat him on an outside route. Barkley turned the corner and gained 22 yards. Jones converted a 3rd and 11 on a perfectly timed hitch route to Slayton. Jones released the ball before Slayton had stopped and turned for the ball. On 3rd and 3 from the 15-yard line, Tate separated on an in-cut from a Fowler rub route and Jones hit him for a catch and run touchdown. The Giants converted a two-point conversion on a perfectly thrown crossing route to Fowler from Jones.

*On the Giants' next possession, Jenkins forced Jones to step up in the pocket and into the grasp of Nathan Shepard to force a punt on a 3rd and 10.

*Jones extended the Giants next drive on an impressive 11-yard run on a 3rd and 10. He broke a Copeland tackle before spinning off and past linebacker James Burgess for the first down. Folorunso Fatukasi forced a four-yard loss on the next play, and Jones was pressured by Jenkins into an incompletion on 2nd down. On 3rd and 14, Slayton was stopped two yards short of a first down.

*The Giants next drive was short-circuited when the Giants failed to pick up a pass rush game between Burgess and Steve McClendon in the middle of the line. Burgess blitzed and freed McClendon to sack Jones. Burgess was also credited with half a sack on the play.

*More pressure from the Jets front forced the Giants to go three and out on their next drive. Jenkins came off the left edge for the sack on third down. The Giants didn't get the ball back until there was 18 seconds remaining in the game.

*The Giants defense managed just two sacks. Coming into the game, the Jets allowed a higher percentage of sacks on their dropbacks than any other team in the league. The Giants did pressure Darnold consistently, with 16 pressures on his 33 dropbacks. According to PFF, Darnold performed fairly well under pressure, going 7 of 14 for 96 yards. The Giants had six quarterback hits and 12 hurries to go along with their two sacks.

*The Giants blitzed on 16 dropbacks and played more man to man than they have played in recent weeks. According to PFF, Darnold was 7 of 13 for 83 yards, was sacked twice and ran for 24 yards on dropbacks when the Giants blitzed.

*The Giants rush defense was dominant. Dexter Lawrence, Dalvin Tomlinson, Leonard Williams and B.J. Hill were all very good against the run. Linebacker David Mayo contributed to the run defense, as well. Jets running backs finished with only 51 yards on 22 carries. The Giants consistently won up front in the run and pass game.

*Jabrill Peppers was active, especially early in the game. He sniffed out a screen pass for a two-yard loss on the fifth play of the game. Later in the drive, he stopped Le'Veon Bell for a one-yard loss on a run play. On the first play of the Jets' second drive, he pushed Bell back into the quarterback to force Sam Darnold out of the pocket and throw the ball away.

*The big play for the Jets on their first drive was an 18-yard completion from Darnold to Jamison Crowder to convert a 3rd and 11. Darnold got the ball out before the blitz could get home, and Michael Thomas just missed getting into the passing lane and knocking the pass away. The other key play on the drive was a self-inflicted wound. On a 3rd and 1, Markus Golden lined up offside to give the Jets a first down. Two plays later, Darnold kept the ball on a read option and ran it in from two yards out for the touchdown.

*The Jets converted a 4th and 1 on a fullback dive by tight end Trevon Wesco. Darnold made two nice throws under pressure to get the ball in the end zone. On a 2nd and 9, Markus Golden was dragging Darnold down by the waist but he managed to get the ball out and complete it to Robby Anderson on a deep cross for a first down. On his 3rd and 6 touchdown pass, Crowder won on a crossing route and managed to avoid Alec Ogletree and Antoine Bethea when he cut back and got into the end zone. Dexter Lawrence pushed the pocket into Darnold's lap, but he stepped up and made an accurate throw on the move.

*The Giants defense caught a big break on the Jets third drive. The Jets ran a flea flicker, and wide receiver Vyncint Smith was open on a deep post. Darnold overthrew him by about a yard and what could have been a touchdown was an incomplete pass. Markus Golden got a free run to the quarterback on 3rd and 13 and the Giants got off the field.

*Darnold completed a 30-yard pass to tight end Chris Herndon after rolling away from pressure on the Jets next drive, but the Giants defensive line forced a holding penalty on left guard Alex Lewis. The Jets had to punt. A Leonard Williams pressure forced an incompletion to end the Jets next to last drive of the first half, and kicker Sam Ficken missed a 54-yard field goal attempt.

*The Giants forced a three and out to start the second half. A Peppers blitz forced Darnold to move in the pocket, and into Lewis, who was being rushed by Tomlinson. Five Giants were around Darnold when he went down, and Tomlinson was credited with the sack. Antoine Bethea broke up a pass to Robby Anderson in the cover-two hole to prevent a 3rd and 11 conversion.

*The Giants got the Jets into a 3rd and 7 on their next drive, but Darnold found a hole to run through after Bilal Powell picked up a Deone Bucannon blitz. He ran for 24 yards before sliding to the ground. On 3rd and 8 three plays later, Alec Ogletree timed his blitz up perfectly to open a hole for Peppers to blast Darnold and force an incompletion. This time, Ficken made his 53-yard field goal to pull the Jets to within three points.

*The Giants were victimized by chunk plays on their next drive. After an 11-yard completion on first down, Darnold stepped up in the pocket to avoid a blitzing Peppers and hit Crowder on a crossing route. The play went for 25 yards. The Giants played cover-one on the next play, and Darnold threw it deep to Anderson down the left sideline. Baker played inside technique and was in fairly good position, but he did not get his head around to find the ball. A defensive pass interference flag put the ball at the Giants one-yard line. Bell ran it in from there for the touchdown.

*Two big pass plays set up a Jets 35-yard field goal to give them a seven-point lead on their next drive. Wesco caught a 15-yard pass on a cross off a play-action bootleg on 3rd and 1. On the next play, the Jets ran play action again. Darnold stepped up in the pocket to avoid Golden coming off the edge and hit Demaryius Thomas, who was wide open on a deep cross. The play went for 47 yards. The Giants allowed only six passes of 15+ yards, but three came in the final 16 minutes of the game.

*The Giants defense forced two three and outs to close the game, but the Giants offense couldn't take advantage with scores.

*The Giants special teams again put the offense in a bad position to chase points. The Giants' first extra point attempt was aborted due to a low snap, and Aldrick Rosas missed a 43-yard PAT early in the third quarter.

View the best photos from Sunday's game against the Jets

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