3 facets of the Giants' game that must be fixed ahead of Monday night's Seahawks matchup

When the Giants boarded their plane in Arizona and headed to San Francisco, they knew what awaited them in California: the vaunted 49ers. Playing the Niners is a tall task even when fully healthy, but the Giants were down four starters – Saquon Barkley (ankle), Ben Bredeson (concussion), Azeez Ojulari (hamstring), and Andrew Thomas (hamstring) – in New York’s 30-12 loss.

Given all of the variables Big Blue had to overcome, the team’s play Thursday was admirable. They trailed 17-12 after Matt Breida's third-quarter touchdown, but the wheels came off in the fourth quarter.

The first-half game script played precisely how the Giants wanted, yet they still trailed 17-6 at the half. Some of that could be blamed on bad officiating, but the Giants made many mistakes.

If the Giants want to get their season back on track next Monday night when they host the Seattle Seahawks, they must improve in these three crucial areas.

Missed Tackles

On Thursday night, the Giants missed an unfathomable 16 tackles, bringing up their missed tackle total to 29 on the season. Bobby Okereke, Micah McFadden, Jason Pinnock, and Tre Hawkins each missed three tackles against the 49ers, while Xavier McKinney missed two and Kayvon Thibodeaux missed one.

The widespread tackling problem indicates two different issues: New York's tackling technique is poor, as well as its effort. Big Blue's defense showed a lack of will in the first six quarters of its season, and that problem persisted Thursday night.

It's fair to assume the Giants were fatigued and worn down in the second half, as the defense was on the field for over 39 minutes.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the 49ers gained 201 yards after the catch Thursday. For comparison's sake, the Giants had 150 yards of total offense. Missed tackles make it much harder to win because possessions get extended and it can be demoralizing to a defense.

Luckily for the Giants, tackling woes are fixable. They must clean them up before the likes of DK Metcalf and Kenneth Walker III come to town.

Third Down Defense

The Giants have been unable to get off the field on third down this season, which was evident in San Francisco. The 49ers went 9 of 16 on third down. On each of the Niners’ three touchdown drives, they faced a third down, converted, and later scored.

New York's defense has allowed opposing offenses to convert on third down 48.7 percent of the time this season, seventh-worst in the NFL. What’s most concerning are the third-and-long conversions. Big Blue allowed three conversions of third-and-eight in the first half alone.

During San Francisco's first touchdown drive, Big Blue allowed the Niners to convert a wide receiver screen to Deebo Samuel for a first down on third-and-15. Later in that drive, New York allowed Christian McCaffrey to convert a third-and-13 on a running back slip screen. Neither play was complex, and both were designed to get short yards to set up a punt and a field goal attempt, but they ended up extending the drive.

Big Blue also allowed four first downs to be converted via penalty, all of which happened on third down, negating stops.

Offensive Line Play

Like the Week 1 game against Dallas, Daniel Jones had no time to operate in San Francisco. According to PFF, New York's quarterback was pressured on half of his dropbacks and had an average time to pressure of just 2.2 seconds.

In addition, the Giants’ pass-blocking performance was graded as the third-worst pass-blocking game since 2020. All five of New York's starting offensive linemen earned PFF grades below 46.

The porous offensive line led Big Blue to utilize a non-innovative offensive plan consisting of quick, short passes, which went for short gains if they were completed.

only took two deep shots in the game, both of which were to Darren Waller, and neither was completed. Jalin Hyatt changed the momentum of the Arizona game by catching a deep ball to start the second half, but he was not targeted Thursday. Jones didn’t have time to even think about deep receivers.

The Giants allowed 10 sacks over the season's first two weeks, the most in the NFL, and gave up another two on Thursday. Jones was pressured 18 times and hurried another 15. Simply put, the offensive line isn't giving its quarterback or team a chance to succeed.

The health of Thomas and Bredeson will be critical to watch over the next week, as New York desperately needs its best tackle and best guard back in the lineup.