“Kudos & Wet Willies”: There’s a lot of praise after the Giants’ only home win of 2024

As you might expect, there were plenty of heroes in the New York Giants’ 45-33 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Let’s get to the Kudos & Wet Willies and look at the long list of players who deserve praise and the handful who don’t.

A big compliment to…

Malik Nabers – Wow!! That’s all I can say about Nabers’ game on Sunday. The rookie wide receiver caught seven passes for a career-high 171 yards. He had two touchdowns, one of 59 yards and one of 31 yards. In both cases he created a large part of the yardage himself.

Nabers now has 104 receptions this season, one shy of the rookie record of 105 set by Puka Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams last year. Las Vegas Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers has already surpassed Nacua’s record. He has 108 receptions.

The Giants’ franchise record for receptions in a season is 107, set by Steve Smith in 2009.

Nabers also surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, becoming the first Giants receiver to reach the milestone since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018. With 1,140 receiving yards, Nabers needs 165 yards to break Beckham’s franchise rookie record of 1,305 yards.

Tyrone Tracy – The rookie running back did his part on Sunday, joining Nabers with more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Nabers and Tracy were the only rookie duos to total more than 1,000 yards, alongside Abner Haynes and Johnny Robinson (Dallas Texans/1960) and Marques Colston and Reggie Bush (New Orleans Saints/2006).

Tracy now has 1,057 total yards (780 rushing, 277 receiving) this season, despite gaining just 70 yards in the Giants’ first four games.

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images

Drew Lock – Boy, what a difference good quarterback play makes. Lock completed 17 of 23 passes for 309 yards, the fourth 300-yard passing game of his six-year career, and posted a phenomenal 155.3 passer rating. He also scored five touchdowns, the most of his career (four passing, one rushing).

“I think if you play well at quarterback, you have a chance in every game,” head coach Brian Daboll said.

The Giants’ 45 points were their highest since a 41-35 win over the Washington Redskins in Week 16 of the 2019 season, more than five years ago.

As we know, the Giants will likely be looking for a new franchise quarterback this offseason. Lock’s performance on Sunday, in which he got the ball out quickly and accurately and made plays with his feet when necessary, offered a glimpse of what the Giants could look like with a quarterback who can do such things regularly.

Lock played poorly in last week’s 34-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and was pleased with Sunday’s game.

“It means a lot. I knew it was in me. I knew we could go out and do it,” Lock said. “It takes everyone. That’s the quarterback position. It takes everyone and these guys busted my ass today. As it was last week, I didn’t reach my level. I’m not playing at the level that Dabs demands of me or quarterbacks Shea (Tierney) demands of me. It was disappointing, yes. But we regrouped, fought all week, rehabilitated, learned, practiced, came out here and it just worked out the way it should have.”

Again, it’s amazing what a difference good quarterback play can make.

Rakeem Nunez-Roches – Maybe it’s a small thing, but Nunez-Roches’ sack of Flacco in the first quarter was his second of the season and marked the highlight of his career. Nacho also had a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss.

Jason Pinnock – The safety seemed to hover around the line of scrimmage all afternoon, making 10 tackles.

Ihmir Smith-Marsette – Smith-Marsette opened the second half by taking the first kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. This was the Giants’ first kickoff return touchdown since Dwayne Harris in Week 7 of the 2015 season against the Dallas Cowboys. Smith-Marsette has had a nice season for the Giants since replacing the injured Gunner Olszewski as the primary returner.

Brian Burns – The Giants’ best remaining defensive player showed up multiple times when it mattered most on Sunday. He finished with six tackles, including three for a loss, and a quarterback hit on a third-down pass that helped force an incompletion.

Passport blocking — How about an amazing coincidence? If you pass the block well, the quarterback has the opportunity to play better. Lock was never looted and was only hit once. The Giants’ pass blockers were accused of allowing just five runs in the unofficial Pro Football Focus ratings.

Ty Summers – Summers is a career special teamer who was forced into action at inside linebacker by injuries to Bobby Okereke. His 11 tackles were the most in his six-year NFL career.

Wan’Dale Robinson – The diminutive slot receiver played big on Sunday. He had five catches in six targets for 71 yards and a 5-yard touchdown catch. The one ball Robinson didn’t catch should have been an easy completion, as he dropped a pass at the Giants’ 45-yard line and New York held on to a 35-33 lead late in the fourth quarter.

Robinson responded with an 18-yard reception on the next play. Then, three plays later, he had a 35-yard catch-and-run in which he did his best Mark Bavaro impression, using his full 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame to get past would-be tacklers and over to run.

This resulted in a touchdown that put the Giants back in the lead by two points with three minutes to play.

Dane Belton and Dru Phillips – Each defensive back had interceptions, the Giants’ first multi-interception game this season. Belton also had eight tackles and two passes defended, while Phillips added six tackles and one pass defended.

Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images

Wet willies too…

The tank – Well… I was trying to tell fans and BBV commentators that the Giants didn’t intentionally lose games to get a better pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They simply were and are not a very good team.

On Sunday, however, there was a flurry of explosive plays. There was Smith-Marsette’s 100-yard kickoff return. There were 59- and 31-yard touchdowns from Nabers, a 32-yard touchdown from Darius Slayton and a 40-yard run from Tracy. Including the kickoff return, there were six plays of at least 20 yards and two more of 19 yards.

They intercepted Flacco twice and recovered a fumble without turning the ball over themselves.

The result is that they no longer control the No. 1 pick in the draft. They are the No. 3 seed at this point and could fall even further if the Cleveland Browns lose to the Miami Dolphins.

Fourth decision – Had the Giants trailed in the game, I would have supported Brian Daboll’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Giants’ own 42-yard line late in the third quarter. However, the Giants were ahead 28-20. They also didn’t run the ball well, with Tracy’s 40-yard run being pretty much the only successfully timed run they had all day.

Predictably, Tracy was stuffed for no gain and Indianapolis took over. The defense forced a punt, so the decision wasn’t costly. However, I would have preferred a punt since the Giants were winning at that point.

Deonte Banks – Banks committed defensive pass interference penalties of 44 and 19 yards, which led to 10 Indianapolis points. He also fell victim to a 49-yard completion throw from Alec Pierce.

Run blocking — Tracy had that 40-yard run in the first quarter. Otherwise, he had 19 carries for 19 yards. It was a very Saquon Barkley-esque line, largely because they had no place to run. The early Pro Football Focus grades show that every offensive lineman except Jake Kubas has below-average run blocking numbers.

Kwillies to…

Kayvon Thibodeaux – The third-year edge rusher boosted his stats within the final two minutes with a strip sack of Colts quarterback Joe Flacco. He only had one other tackle and one quarterback hit in the game. If it seems like I’m holding Thibodeaux to a high standard, then I am. In my opinion, the No. 5 overall pick in the draft needs to make a more consistent impact.

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