Darius Slayton has been around long enough to know what that looks like and feels like when he's at a loss.
“That's right,” he said Monday. “Yes, I think so. That's why I can tell the difference.”
Slayton, Daniel Jones and Dexter Lawrence are the Giants' longest-tenured players and were all selected in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Slayton has seen some good (a 2022 playoff team) and a lot more bad during his time with the Giants. He was often the pass-catching leader for an offense that ranked near the bottom of the league.
He and his teammates are back in the lead, averaging just 15 points per game, tied for 30th in the league with the winless Jaguars.
This is nothing new for Slayton, but he sees signs of hope for the offense this season compared to past years when the numbers and atmosphere were more challenging.
“I don't know if you remember the national championship game between Alabama and LSU in the mid-2000s, but it was like the worst offensive game of all time because neither team could score over 50 points. ” Slayton said of the BCS title. Alabama won 21-0 in the January 2012 game. “That's not us. If it were, it would be 'we're in hell.' Nothing progresses. You can't move the ball. ”
“We were able to get into scoring position a lot of times against Dallas. We scored on every drive in the first half, and there were some moments in the second half where we were in scoring position. If we had executed better, we would have been in scoring position a little bit more. This shows us that we are close to scoring position and it's just a matter of finishing from there. , we're getting there. If we don't get there, we don't have a chance in the first place. What we want to focus on going forward is, “Okay, we're good until we get there.'' I've put in the work, and when I get there, I have to finish it.'' ”
Yes, the Giants will remain on the field offensively. His time of possession of 31 minutes, 07 seconds per game is 10th best in the league. In the first four games, there were 10 three-and-outs (on 41 possessions), which isn't great, but it wasn't as bad as these parts either.
The Giants are also moving the ball. He has 12 trips in the red zone, tied for 15th in the league.
They're certainly not great, but they're also not terrible, with six touchdowns. His 50 percent success rate in the red zone is tied for 17th in the league.
“If you watch our games, you know we're moving the ball every game,” right tackle Jermaine Elemunah said. “Obviously, we could have moved the ball a little better in the Vikings game, but we were still moving the ball in that game. If you look at the Vikings right now, a lot of teams struggle with that defense. I think we played pretty well against them, but we weren't clean enough, we didn't execute well enough. But look at the other three games, all three of those teams on the field. We moved the ball up and down. And all three of these teams have very good defenses, so I think we're pretty close and I think we'll see that this week.”
And now I'm thinking about something completely different. There are some statistical indicators that indicate the Giants are not that close to breaking through.
They rank 27th in yards per play with 4.7. They rank 32nd and last in rushing yards per attempt at 3.4. They are tied for 25th in passing yards per pass attempt at 5.8. Their six turnovers are tied for sixth in the league with four other teams.
Last weekend, the Giants were given a chance to fight back after a disappointing 20-15 loss to the Cowboys, giving them a break before Sunday's game against the Seahawks in Seattle.
The Giants are 1-3, alone in last place in the NFC East, largely because their offense continues to disappoint.
“You start to notice, especially when you watch the NFL, that sometimes you think everything is going well for some team,” Slayton said. “For example, in the previous Bills, [Sunday night] They were rolling. I think they put up almost 40 points, or at least 30 or more points every game. And last night they played the Ravens and they looked like they were in hell. That's what the NFL is like.
“Sometimes because of the media and the highlights and stuff like that, you get this perception of, ‘There are bombs falling over Baghdad.’ It just goes to show that this league is really competitive. It’s not just about slamming on the brakes.”
At this point, the Giants will settle for finding enough points to beat someone.
