Jalin Hyatt made the two biggest offensive plays of the Giants’ Week 2 comeback in Arizona, but the rookie speedster still played only 16 snaps in Thursday night’s 30-12 loss at San Francisco.
It’s hard to understand that kind of personnel decision, even with Brian Daboll’s offense logging just 50 uninspiring snaps and the Niners controlling time of possession, 39:10 to 20:50.
“I don’t think we had very many snaps on offense in general,” Daboll said Friday morning on Zoom. “I think we had 45 or 46. So there’s a plan for Jalin, a plan for all the guys. And based on personnel that we choose to use on a given play, it could be more, it could be about the same. So we’ll keep on giving him reps and hopefully we have more than 45 plays in a game.”
So was there a plan for Hyatt to have a larger role that the Giants never got to in the game?
“No,” Daboll said. “What I’m saying is on the call sheet you have however many plays, and they’re tagged with different personnel groups. And those are the plays that we called and the personnel groups we used.”
In other words, the Giants had to help their patchwork offensive line against the 49ers’ ferocious pass rush. That meant often using two tight ends and receivers who are better blockers or reliable on shorter routes.
“It was a delicate balance with that defensive line that they’ve got,” Daboll said after the game. “You have to decide how many guys you keep in to help out the protection to make sure you can get off more vertical routes versus getting it out a little bit quicker.”
That said, the Giants did put three or more receivers on the field on 26 of their 46 offensive snaps. Darius Slayton logged 42 snaps at receiver, followed by Isaiah Hodgins (33), Parris Campbell (21), Hyatt (16), Wan’Dale Robinson (11) and Sterling Shepard (two).
Slayton led the Giants with 32 receiving yards on three catches. Campbell had a team-high six catches for 24 yards.
Daboll and OC Mike Kafka did dial up two deep shots to Hyatt in the middle of the second quarter. They actually schemed him wide open toward the left sideline on first down at the Giants’ 25-yard line, trailing 10-3 with 7:49 to play in the half.
But Daniel Jones couldn’t get the ball out to Hyatt on either play because he was under pressure from the left side of the Giants’ offensive line too quickly.
“We called a fair amount of [downfield shots], whether they’re high-Vs, crossers, middle posts,” Daboll said. “A couple of times we had them and the protection leaked. They covered them.”
Hyatt also failed to come back to the ball and keep his route alive when Jones scrambled outside to the left to extend the first down play.
Daboll was asked if Hyatt isn’t playing a lot yet because he still faces a rookie learning curve.
“No,” he said. “I mean, we put him in plays to try and target him. We will continue to do that. We’ll continue to work, and we rolled all our guys in there last night.”
Jones said the offense simply failed to capitalize on chances or extend drives, which limited their ability to get playmakers like Hyatt on the field and involved more often.
“I think we are always trying to make plays and get the ball to those guys, so [we] have to look at where there could have been opportunities to do that and do a better job with that,” Jones said. “He’s a dynamic player, and we didn’t have enough plays, period. We didn’t possess the ball well enough, didn’t convert third down. I think had we done that better, it would’ve been more opportunities for everybody.”
NO TIMETABLE FOR SAQUON
Two days after Daboll claimed Saquon Barkley might play against the 49ers, the Giants’ coach wouldn’t say if he believes the running back can return to face the Seattle Seahawks in 11 days.
“We’ll see,” Daboll said. “He’s been getting better. We’ll see where he’s at. I’m not going to give it a timetable. I just know that since it happened, each day he felt a little better.”
Daboll was asked about the news that Barkley’s right ankle sprain is a “high” ankle sprain and whether that injury makes a return more difficult.
“I’d say he was considerably better,” Daboll said. “I talked to him the day I talked to you guys, and the next day he just said I don’t think I’ll be able to go. I said, ‘Okay, we’ll rule you out and we’ll see where it goes next week.’ But he’s walking around.”
Daboll said Barkley’s absence was no excuse for Thursday’s horrendous offensive output.
“No excuses with anybody that missed the game or who played,” the coach said. “We have to go out there, compete and try to win our football games. There’s no excuses.”
COACHING QUESTIONS
Daboll has made strange or questionable late-game decisions in each of the first three weeks.
Against Dallas, he left Jones in the game for too long while the Cowboys’ defense teed off on the Giants’ quarterback. Against Arizona, Daboll committed a penalty by calling two consecutive timeouts and bought the Cardinals five extra yards for a final-play Hail Mary.
Then on Thursday, after Jones was intercepted on a tipped pass intended for Darren Waller, Daboll called three timeouts on the 49ers’ ensuing drive so he could put backup QB Tyrod Taylor in the game with three minutes remaining.
Why did Daboll do that?
“I wanted to give Tyrod an opportunity to try to get a drive, try to finish, play 60 minutes,” Daboll said.
Interesting answer. Obviously, Jones and the starting offense were terrible, but to suggest he needed Taylor and a change to finish the game and play 60 minutes was noteworthy, if not odd.
DABOLL DRAGGING AFTER DEFEAT
The long flight home, the time change and a mostly sleepless night had Daboll dragging and sounding down during an unusual 11:30 a.m. Friday Zoom audio call.
Had Daboll slept at all?
“No,” Daboll said. “I didn’t get back until about 8-8:30. Not too much sleep. So a lot of things that need to be done. Talk with the coaches later. Such is the case on long trips.”Daboll’s answers were short and unspecific.
Why did Jones only have two rushes for five yards in a game without Barkley?
“We had a few of them in the game plan [and] didn’t get to them. That’s the reason,” Daboll said.
How come the defense hasn’t taken a step forward in year two?
“I’d say really in all three phases, we’ve got to do a better job, everybody,” the head coach said.
Do the Giants need more from their big investments on the defensive line, such as Leonard Williams, Dexter Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux?
“Yeah, I’d just say we need more from everybody,” Daboll said. “Coaching, playing, everybody.”
This was the demeanor, tone and message of a coach who was both exhausted and searching for answers.
SILVER LININGS
Punter Jamie Gillan had maybe his best game as a Giant, including a 60-yard bomb just inside the sideline to flip field position with the offense pinned against their own goal line early in the second quarter. Gillan’s 49.0 net punting yardage in the game was his highest in two seasons with the Giants and the third-highest of his career in games with three or more punts. … Second-year inside linebacker Micah McFadden had a monster game with team highs in three major categories: 10 tackles, nine solo tackles and four tackles for a loss. The defense’s tackling was poor, but McFadden was a bright spot.
