Giants-Steelers “Kudos & Wet Willies”: Winners and Losers of Monday Night Football

Let's review the New York Giants' tough but error-filled 26-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night in our unique “Kudos & Wet Willies” style.

A big compliment to…

Tyrone Tracy – The rookie is clearly the Giants' RB1, and giving him the opportunity and some room to work shows that you don't need the No. 2 overall pick in the draft to run the ball well.

Tracy had 20 carries for 145 yards. He had explosive carries, like his 45-yard touchdown run. He had tough runs, gained yards and dragged tacklers with him. This child is good. It's a shame the Giants will likely be without him this Sunday against the Washington Commanders as he has a concussion and this will be a short week.

Azeez Ojulari – Two more sacks for the fourth-year edge defender who continues to make a splash in the absence of Kayvon Thibodeaux. Ojulari finished the game with two sacks, two quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and seven total tackles.

Bobby Okereke – Fourteen tackles, one forced fumble/recovery that gave the Giants a chance late in Monday's game, one half-sack. Okereke played with ferocity on Monday night.

Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns – I’m going to lump these two defensive stars together. Statistically speaking, neither had a dominant night. However, they were both powerful and their presence was felt. Lawrence had four tackles and a quarterback hit and seemed to allow his teammates to make a lot of plays. Burns had a sack, a tackle for loss and three quarterback hits.

Lawrence and Burns are also both becoming powerful leaders in the locker room:

Darius Slayton – Four catches for 108 yards for Slayton, who is always a comfortable target for Daniel Jones. Slayton had catches of 43, 36 and 18 yards.

Wet willies too…

Deonte Banks – Where do the Giants go with their 2023 first-round pick?

The third time was the unlucky one for Banks. After being publicly and rightly criticized twice for a lack of performance, Banks was yanked from the field in the second quarter on Monday night. The Giants were apparently unhappy with Banks' tackling.

“I just thought it needed a little more during this series,” Daboll said.

Run the defense – The Giants entered the game averaging a league-worst 5.4 yards per rushing attempt. Things didn't get any better against the Steelers. Pittsburgh ran 31 times for 167 yards, exactly 5.4 yards per attempt. The Steelers had 81 of those yards after one quarter – on just nine carries. The Giants can talk about run fits and gap responsibility all they want. Aside from Dexter Lawrence, they simply don't have enough talent on defense.

2-point conversion decision AND play call — I hated the decision to score two points after Tracy's 45-yard touchdown run that made the score 23-15 with 10:07 left in the game. I know analytics say you should aim for 2 points because if you convert you'll only be six points lower. I don't like it. Convert the extra point kick and you're seven behind. This gives you the opportunity to score a point or two if you score again.

I also hated the play call. The Giants tried to set up some kind of picket fence with several players in front of wide receiver Malik Nabers. However, no one except the Steelers' Alex Highsmith moved when the ball was snapped, and Highsmith stopped the play.

That led to this reaction from quarterback Daniel Jones:

And there was the following reaction in the Manningcast:

Pass protection – The Giants did what they could to protect Daniel Jones. They started Chris Hubbard at left tackle in place of Josh Ezeudu and ended Ezeudu's reign as Andrew Thomas' replacement after one game. They played a lot of quick passes. They helped Pittsburgh's edge defenders as best they could – except for the one play where Daniel Jones couldn't get the defense right.

Still, the Giants gave up four sacks. Jones was hit repeatedly, officially twelve times, and became increasingly uncomfortable as the night went on.

Punish – The Giants had 11 penalties for 65 yards. Only two of them were against the defense. They had a number of unforced errors with illegal shifts, illegal formation, false starts and delay of game penalties. In the third quarter, there were illegal deferment and delay-of-play penalties on consecutive snap attempts.

All of these little things show a lack of discipline and attention to detail.

Punt cover — Somehow special teams always seems to have something to do with close Giants losses. On Monday, the Giants gave up a game-changing 73-yard punt return touchdown to Calvin Austin with the score tied at 9-9 heading into the third quarter.

Yes, I know the Steelers could easily be held accountable for running into the kicker. But they weren't. And the Giants' coverage players couldn't do what they were supposed to do – contain the returner and make a tackle.

Kwillies to…

Daniel Jones – I can hear a lot of BBV readers screaming that Jones deserves a “Wet Willie.” I will respectfully disagree, although I understand the point of view.

Jones did a lot of good things Monday night. He played with hardness. He played with passion. He threw for 264 yards. He made a number of excellent throws, including some that made for explosive plays. He had a supposed touchdown pass to Chris Manhertz that was taken off the board by an illegal shift call by Malik Nabers.

And yet you could also see all the things that drive you crazy about Jones and will ultimately lead to the Giants moving on from quarterback at the end of the season.

Jones missed a third-down throw to Darius Slayton that could have been a big play. He didn't line up the defense properly in front of a strip sack by TJ Watt and left right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor out to dry. He sailed a game-winning interception over Devin Singletary's head when he seemed to get nervous in the pocket.

In my opinion, Jones did a number of things on Monday that he deserves credit for. In the end, however, as was all too often the case for Jones in his Giants career, he couldn't do enough to get his team a win.