It was great to see the best high school football players in New Jersey compete for their NJSIAA group championship at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Most of these players will never see the NFL, so the chance to play in front of a large crowd at an NFL stadium must have been the thrill of a lifetime.

Oh, that was last week? What game was played at MetLife today? Really, it was an NFL game? Who were all these players?

The jerseys said it was New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints, but many of the names were unknown, especially the ones wearing blue. Both teams were hit by injuries. You wouldn’t have expected a classic game… and you would have been right. The two offenses represented a show by Alphonse and Gaston – “You’re scoring, no sir, please, you’re scoring…” – worthy of the banner flying from the plane flying over MetLife and the Evokes the mood of 1978.

However, did we learn anything from the Giants’ 14-11 loss to the Saints?

There’s a reason Drew Lock isn’t a starting QB in the NFL

Lock started two games for the Seattle Seahawks last year. In the first game, he went 22 of 31 yards, two TDs and two INTs in a loss to a San Francisco team that nearly won the Super Bowl. The following week, he went 22 of 33 for 208 yards and a TD…at the end of a game-winning drive against Philadelphia. As a sophomore starter at Denver, he threw for 2,933 yards and 16 touchdowns – not starting caliber, but certainly good enough to be a backup quarterback. He even looked okay in the Giants’ opening period against Dallas, bringing them within a touchdown of tying the game late in the fourth quarter.

This Drew Lock was nowhere to be seen today. He appeared nervous from the opening moments, was inaccurate on most of his passes (21 of 49 with and intercepted) and made several bad decisions, none more obvious than when he broke away on third down with a lane in front of him for the first down score, and after a few meters, inexplicably turned directly into a group of defenders.

The Giants really miss Andrew Thomas

Yes, Daniel Jones wasn’t the answer. Yeah, neither are Lock and Tommy DeVito. And yes, I realize that correlation is not causation. But consider this:

2023: Andrew Thomas is injured in the first quarter of the first game. The Giants go 2-8 in their first 10 games, with Thomas out most of the time and mostly getting limited snaps when he returns. He returns full-time in Game 11, and the Giants are 4-3 the rest of the season, with wins over two playoff teams, Green Bay and Philadelphia.

Giants fans largely attribute this to Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito playing better than Jones. Additionally, Evan Neal was injured and replaced by Tire Phillips during this time. It’s an issue with multiple variables, but Andrew Thomas’ absence must be part of the explanation.

2024: The Giants start 2-3, with an impressive performance in Seattle where the passing game is NFL-caliber. In the fourth quarter of next week’s Cincinnati game, the outcome of which is still in doubt, Thomas is injured again and is out for the season. The Giants are 0-8 since then. To be honest, the tackling situation with him this time wasn’t as bad as it was last year. Jermaine Eluemunor moved from the right side and was doing well until he also got injured. Chris Hubbard replaced him and was a disaster and was eventually replaced by Josh Ezeudu… who actually played pretty well this week (aside from the false start in the last minute).

Still, you could see today how little confidence Drew Lock had in his pass defense and bailed out at the first sign of pressure. Part of that was due to internal pressure, but part of it came from Evan Neal. It’s not clear how many deeper pass routes there are in this offense. For example, according to Next Gen Stats, Malik Nabers only ran two balls past 20 yards today and Lock only threw six balls past 20 yards out of his 49 attempts. Even looking back at the Carolina game, the one time Daboll took a long shot was a flea flicker… and Jones still couldn’t get the ball out.

Regardless of whether Ezeudu or Phillips is the answer at backup tackle, nothing is better in the Giants’ offense than having Thomas anchoring the left side. No matter who the QB is.

Tre Hawkins exists

Remember Giants 2023 training camp? It appeared as if Joe Schoen had rebuilt the Giants’ secondary in one draft, with Tae Banks fitting in nicely as the new CB1 and Tre Hawkins III, a sixth-round pick, turning in a surprisingly hard-fought performance. He played well enough that Wink Martindale decided to move Adoree’ Jackson to the slot and start Hawkins at CB2. Then the real games began, Hawkins gave up 21 receptions on 26 targets for 330 yards (126 YAC) and three touchdowns and just one pass breakup and ended up on the bench.

Hawkins appeared to be headed for obscurity this season, having only played in one game before (the emphatic loss to the Eagles). But necessity is the mother of invention, and with Tae Banks and Dru Phillips out due to injuries, Shane Bowen had to rotate with his cornerbacks and Hawkins got his first start of the season.

He didn’t disappoint us. Hawkins was competitive at the catch point, something rarely said about the Giants’ CBs this season. He gave up three completions in six targets for just 30 yards, just 3 yards after the catch and a passer rating of 25.0. Most importantly, he defended a pass in Game 13 and scored the Giants’ first interception of the season. Granted, it wasn’t Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed for New Orleans today, but it was still promising space for a cornerback who needs all the help he can get. This is the Giants, of course…Hawkins was shaken and left the field in the fourth quarter.

The interior defensive line wasn’t bad

No Dexter Lawrence, no Rakeem Nunez-Roches, no DJ Davidson today in an interior defensive line that wasn’t great when they were out there. Instead, it was Elijah Chatman, Jordon Riley, Elijah Garcia, Cory Durden and Casey Rogers. Oof.

However, it wasn’t terrible. The Saints finished with 92 yards rushing on 33 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per carry. The Saints’ longest run of the day was 16 yards. Derek Carr was okay, 20 of 31 for 219 yards and 1 TD, but not great – he has excelled five times this season.

The Giants didn’t lose this game because they couldn’t stop the Saints’ offense. They lost because Drew Lock couldn’t move the offense through the air.

Malik Nabers is a soldier

Nabers didn’t have a spectacular game. He caught 5 passes on 10 targets for just 79 yards and did not have a touchdown. But this guy is a gamer. We all know he’s struggled with injuries, but he was out there breathing life into this moribund offense, especially in the fourth quarter when the game was on the line.

Maybe the Giants will ultimately regret not selecting a quarterback with the No. 6 pick this year. However, if they do become a competitor, Nabers will be one of the main reasons why. He deserves a win today.