Giants’ playoff drought is over | The five biggest reasons for their return to the postseason
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It is well documented that the Giants went through some turbulent times after the departure of Tom Coughlin, who led the team to five playoff appearances and two Super Bowl titles during his 12 seasons as head coach.
Yes, Ben McAdoo took the team to the postseason the following year in 2016, but that turned out to be the exception.
The rule became one losing season after another with three head coaches — McAdoo, Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge — being shown the door.
But now, thanks to a fast 7-2 start and a 38-10 victory Sunday over the hapless Indianapolis Colts, the Giants are headed back to the postseason, where they will try to win a playoff game for the first time since the 2011-12 season when Coughlin led the fourth-seeded 9-7 Giants to another stunning Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots.
Here are the five biggest reasons for the Giants’ return to the postseason:
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1. Joe Schoen
During Dave Gettleman’s four years as general manager, the Giants went 19-46 and his list of missteps were the primary reason why. The Giants waited about two seasons too long to fire Gettleman, but it sure appears as if they picked a winner when they brought in Schoen, who had spent the previous five seasons as an assistant GM with the Buffalo Bills.
A bad salary-cap situation prohibited Schoen from doing too much in free agency this offseason, but he masterfully improved the roster with some under-the-radar additions, including a few that came in the middle of the season.
His major offensive free-agent additions in the offseason were left guard Mark Glowinski from Indianapolis and center Jon Feliciano from Buffalo. Richie James was a bargain-basement addition from San Francisco after missing all of last season. All three have been major offensive contributors. Glowinski has been one of two offensive linemen — Andrew Thomas is the other — to start every game and Feliciano has started 15 of 16 games at center.
James was brought in to be the punt returner, but his 50 receptions are the most among the team’s wide receivers and his 493 receiving yards are second only to Darius Slayton. He had just 38 catches for 689 yards in three seasons with the 49ers.
The Giants’ biggest free-agent defensive addition in the offseason was outside linebacker Jihad Ward, who had played under defensive coordinator Wink Martindale in Baltimore. Because of injuries to Azeez Ojulari, Ward has started 10 games and, before Sunday, was just 13 defensive snaps away from his career high of 636, which came in his 2016 rookie season. Veteran defensive tackle Justin Ellis has been a valuable part of the defensive line rotation.
In-season free-agent additions Fabian Moreau and Jaylon Smith were plugged into starting roles on Wink Martindale’s defense and Landon Collins’ role as a hybrid safety has increased during the Giants’ stretch run.
Schoen’s first draft class has been a mixed bag. Kayvon Thibodeaux, the fifth overall pick, was the star of the Giants’ biggest win of the season down in Washington and he clearly has the potential to be the team’s next great pass rusher, but Evan Neal, the seventh overall pick, has had a difficult rookie season at right tackle.
Two separate knee injuries robbed second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson of any chance to make a major impact, but fourth-round pick Daniel Bellinger has emerged a presence at tight end. Injuries have made it difficult to get a great read on Schoen’s first draft class, but the rookies certainly played a part in getting the Giants back to the postseason.
2. Brian Daboll
The head coach should get some consideration for the coach of the year award because the Giants were not supposed to reach the playoffs in his first year. Talk to his players who were around for the lean years and they will tell you that they had a different feeling about things as far back as the team’s mini-camps during the spring.
While Schoen did a good job of making the most of his limited salary-cap resources, Daboll did a terrific job of assembling his first coaching staff. With Mike Kafka joining the staff as the offensive coordinator after five seasons with Andy Reid in Kansas City and with Martindale bringing in his blitz packages from Baltimore, it has made for a nice union of influence from winning franchises, especially when you factor in Daboll’s time with New England, Buffalo and the University of Alabama.
Perhaps Daboll’s smartest move was turning the play calling over to Kafka, which has allowed him to act as the team CEO, closely overseeing the offense, defense and special teams during the week while doing a solid job with things like clock management and replay reviews during the game.
3. Daniel Jones
Let’s face it, Schoen showed his own level of skepticism when he declined to pick up the $22.384 million option on the fifth season of Jones’ rookie contract.
Schoen and Daboll wanted to see firsthand what Jones was all about before paying him and the quarterback delivered his best season. The numbers will not knock anybody out, but anybody who watched Jones play this season understood what he meant to this team.
Jones’ greatest weakness during his first three seasons was turnovers and this season it was his greatest strength.
“I think I’ve improved in some of those decision-making situations,” Jones said. “Protecting the ball is a big part of the game at this position. I’ll try to keep doing that as well as I can. But a lot of credit to our group – I think when you protect the ball, that’s a group thing. We’ve got to be on the same page, a lot of trust in the receivers being in the right spots. They’ve done a good job doing that, and good job with the coaches also.”
The immediate result of Jones’ best season has been a Giants’ playoff berth. The future result will either be a lucrative new contract or a franchise tag, which could be worth more than $32 million for the 2023 season.
4. Saquon Barkley
In addition to Jones, Schoen and Daboll also wanted to see what they had in their star running back before entering into contract negotiations. Like Jones, Barkley answered by having a spectacular season. The Giants are seventh in the NFL in rushing and Barkley’s resurgence as a premier NFL back is the primary reason why.
Barkley entered Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts as the league’s fourth leading rusher and sixth in yards from scrimmage. His 10 touchdowns were ninth in the league.
The fifth-year running back went through a four-game slump in Weeks 11 through 14, but bounced back with a big game in a win at Washington and has played well ever since.
Schoen was impressed enough with Barkley during the first half of the season that the general manager talked to the running back about a contract extension. Those talks will undoubtedly resume after the season. Barkley has made it clear that he wants to remain with the Giants.
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5. Dexter Lawrence
While the offense has run all season through the duo of Jones and Barkley, the defense has been anchored by fourth-year Lawrence from the nose tackle position.
The 2019 first-round pick had shown glimpses of greatness during his first three seasons, but not nearly enough of them. This season he has become a force in the middle against the run and a force up the middle against the pass. He leads the team with a career-high 7 1/2 sacks, including one Sunday against the Colts, and his high level of consistently terrific play earned him a spot on the NFC Pro Bowl team for the first time in his career.
His salary will rise to $12.4 million next season as part of his fifth-year rookie option that the Giants picked up, but it’s also possible the team could opt to sign him to a contract extension during the offseason.
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Bob Brookover can be reached at rbrookover@njadvancemedia.com.
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