The New York Giants finally picked up their first win of the season on Sunday night in Denver. The Giants defeated the Broncos 23-10, in their most impressive showing of the season. The Giants finally played a complete game on all three phases of the ball. Here are five takeaways from the Giants Week 6 win.
1 Evan Engram Is The Real Deal
With all three of his top receivers hurt, Eli Manning turned to rookie tight-end Evan Engram as his “go-to” offensive weapon. Engram hauled in five of Manning’s eleven total completions for 82 yards and a touchdown. His seven targets were more than the entire Giants receiving corps who totaled six targets. An excellent play design featuring a couple of rub routes, and Eli roaming to his right resulted in Engram’s touchdown catch. Engram will be the feature pass catcher in the Giants offense at least until Sterling Shepard returns to action. If he continues the pace he is on now, Engram is set to break all-time NFL rookie tight-end records.
2 Mike Sullivan Should Continue Calling Plays
Ben McAdoo finally swallowed his pride and handed over the play calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. With Sullivan calling plays, the Giants offense relied on the run game more. In fact, Eli Manning threw the ball only eleven times on 54 total plays. Despite only picking up 266 total yards, the Giants offense looked a lot better than in past weeks. With Sullivan at the helm, the offense was clearly far less predictable. Over 70% of the time, the Giants used 12 personnel a much better look than the usual 11 personnel. Sullivan should keep
3 Orleans Darkwa Earned the Starting Running Back Role
Orleans Darkwa has been a bright spot in the Giants offense the past couple of weeks. Sunday night against the top run defense in the league in Denver, Darkwa broke out. He ran the ball 21 times for 117 yards, and caught his only target for 13 yards. The 117 rushing yards were the most Denver has given up this season. Darkwa also ran for more yards than Melvin Gordon, LeSean McCoy, Ezekiel Elliott, and Marshawn Lynch combined ran for against the same defense.
4 Eli Apple Came To Play
Eli Apple has been picked on at times for his lack of ball tracking skills. In fact, in Week 5 against the Chargers he was benched. The Broncos game planned around that as Apple was targeted a total of ten time Sunday night. However, the section year corner out of Ohio State only allowed 38 yards, broke up a pass, and recovered a fumble on the night. With Dominique Rodgers Cromartie suspended, the Giants needed Apple to show up and he did just that.
5 The Giants Are Capable of Playing a Complete Game
This Giants win was the first time all season we saw New York put together a complete game in all three phases of the game. The offense, defense, and special teams were all clicking. Aldrick Rosas drilled three of four field goal attempts and made both of his extra point attempts. His only miss came when the Broncos blocked one of his field goal attempts. The defense played very well, as Janoris Jenkins forced a pair of turnovers including a pick-six, and the run defense came up big stopping the Broncos with a goal-line stand. The offensive line remained in control against the top defensive line in the game, limiting them to only three sacks. Where was this Giants team from Weeks 1-5?
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