This article is part of our NFL Observations series.
******** Eli!
Daniel Jones has struggled with turnovers and sacks over his first two years, but in his defense he was the most pressured QB in the league coming into the game, and he had made some big throws and plays with his legs. But this was the worst game I've ever seen him play. Not only did he throw two senseless picks, but he missed a wide open Darius Slayton on at least two would-be big plays, didn't check down to a wide open Dion Lewis and this despite the Giants doing a great job up front against a tough defense. I've always defended the guy, but the Giants need to get a QB in the first round next if there's a good one available when they pick.
- Jones made one good throw, the closing TD to Golden Tate, and could be a decent fantasy option when the opponents get soft heading into your fantasy playoffs Week 12.
- Wayne Gallman (12-44-0, 1-1-18) looked competent, hitting holes and running decisively against the league's top rush defense.
- Evan Engram (10-5-61) made one nice catch and run at the sideline, but often he wasn't open when Jones targeted him. Sterling Shepard (10-8-74) was good on the short stuff, and it was unclear, despite the announcer's insistence, whether he had any chance to catch up to Jones' overthrow on a deep ball.
- Slayton (9-5-56) had a huge catch and run on a busted fourth down play that kept the game alive, had a ton of air yards and torched the Tampa secondary all day. Jones just couldn't get enough air under the ball on one play and didn't see him breaking free on the other.
- Tom Brady had all day to throw and largely took what was given to him.
- Ronald Jones (7-23-0) got work early and even caught four passes for 23 yards, but didn't see much action late, after a fumble due to a low throw that was more Brady's fault than his. Leonard Fournette (15-52-0, 6-3-19) wasn't effective, either, but saw a lot of work in the second half with the Bucs trailing.
- Mike Evans (7-5-55-1) and Rob Gronkowski (4-4-41-1) led the team, while Jaydon Mickens (8-5-36) and Scotty Miller (6-3-35) had targets, but probably won't for long with Antonio Brown arriving next week and Chris Godwin at some point soon.
- The Bucs secondary got exposed, something better teams will exploit.
- The refs were abominable, and at least four terrible calls went against the Giants, a phantom hold that called back a first-down run, a ridiculous personal foul on a DB when Cameron Brate ran into him, a shaky PI and the picked-up PI flag on the game-tying two-point conversion.
