By the Numbers: New York Giants
The New York Giants have been playing professional football since 1925, and in the 99 seasons they have won eight championships, including four Super Bowls, and own a 717-654-34 record as a franchise. The Giants are currently having one of their worst seasons in the history of the franchise, having reached the playoffs just twice since winning Super Bowl XLVI to finish the 2011 season. Here is a look at the Giants by the numbers before Sunday afternoon’s game against Dallas.
3 – In nine games against Dallas, Saquon Barkley has found the end zone just three times. All three touchdowns coming on the ground, where Barkley has rushed for 515 yards on 107 carries and added another 293 yards receiving on 43 catches in those games against the Cowboys. The Cowboys defense has gotten the better of Barkley, holding him to just under 90 yards per game in their big NFC East battles, while he has averaged 97.7 yards and scored four touchdowns in seven games against Philadelphia and averaged 128.0 yards and scored six touchdowns in nine starts against Washington.
11.2 – The Giants are the lowest scoring team in the NFL through nine weeks. They have scored just 101 points, just over 11 points per game and have failed to score double digits in four games this season, including the 40-0 shutout to open the season against the Cowboys. They put up 31 points in a win over the Cardinals in Week 2, but have since scored 16 points or less, including a 14-7 win over the Commanders in all their games. If the Giants continue their pace and finish with 190 points scored this season, it will be the second worst 17-game season in professional football history behind only the 1925 Chicago Bears and their 158-point season. It would be the 11th time in the Super Bowl era a team would score 190-points or less in a season.
80 – Giants inside linebacker Bobby Okereke leads the team in tackles and is tied for eighth in the NFL with Minnesota’s Camryn Bynum and Jordan Hicks and Buffalo’s Terrel Bernard, and they are just a few behind the New York Jets’ C.J. Mosely, who has 82. Okereke also has nine tackles for loss, tops on the Giants defense and good for ninth in the NFL. He has six passes knocked down, two forced fumbles, one interception and one quarterback hit. Those six passes defensed are tied with Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, Jacksonville’s Devin Lloyd and the New York Jets’ Quincy Williams for the most passes knocked down by a linebacker this season. Okereke is just one of two players in the NFL this season with 80-plus tackles and six-or-more passes defensed.
171 – That is all the yards the Giants offense could earn against the Cowboys defense on a rainy Sunday night at MetLife Stadium in the season opener for both teams. The Giants did rush for 108 yards but running back Saquon Barkley had just 51 of those yards on 12 carries while quarterback Daniel Jones had another 43 yards running for his life. The Cowboys racked up seven sacks of Jones, who completed 15 of 28 passes for 104 yards and two interceptions, for 47 yards in losses. The Giants offense ran 65 plays in the game, averaging just 2.63 yards per play.
961 – In six years of college and professional football, Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito has attempted under 1,000 passes. He has completed 611 of the 961 attempts in 39 games over five years in college – four years at Syracuse (26 games) and one final season at Illinois (13 games), and two relief appearances this season with the Giants. DeVito, who has completed 17 of 27 passes for 174 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions, will be making his first NFL start on Sunday afternoon against Dallas. He finished his college career at 15-16 in 31 starts, with 6,516 passing yards, 43 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
2,331 – Because the Giants offense has been so bad this season, their punter is having a nice season. Jamie Gillan leads the NFL with 2,331 yards in punts this season, just in front of the New York Jets’ Thomas Morstead (2,270) and New England’s Bryce Baringer (2,158). But because he has had to punt 50 times, he has just 46.6-yard average, which is good enough for 21st in the NFL through nine weeks. Gillan has pinned teams inside the 20-yard line 17 times this season, which is tied for sixth in the NFL with Tampa Bay’s Jake Carmarda, Baltimore’s Jordan Stout and Washington’s Tres Way and behind Baringer, who leads the NFL with 22.