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Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers was far from flawless on Sunday and like his fellow receivers, frequently appeared confused by Brian Flores’ coverages. However, unlike his counterparts, Nabers made things happen when little else seemed to function offensively. He went up and won a contested catch, settled into space nicely on a few plays, and finished the game with five receptions for 66 yards.

Head coach Brian Daboll took over the offensive play-calling and you could have easily convinced us it was Joe Judge handling that role. Beyond the suspect and, at times, flat-out terrible decisions, Daboll’s team was completely unprepared for the game. They were undisciplined, had issues with drops, missed several tackles, and there were blown assignments all over the field. It was not a performance reflective of good coaching and Daboll deserves as much of the blame as the players themselves.

There wasn’t much to praise about how the Giants performed on Sunday and pickings were quite slim. In his debut, Devin Singletary did about as much as he could with the limited opportunities he had. His production certainly didn’t match that of Saquon Barkley and that will unfairly be the gauge, but Singletary finished the game with 52 yards from scrimmage on 14 touches.

Whether Daniel Jones keeps his beard or not, the pitchforks are coming for him. He was victimized by bad play-calling, confused receivers, and less-than-stellar offensive line play but he did nothing to elevate those around him. He made several poor decisions, missed a handful of wide-open targets, tossed an inexcusable pick-6, and was unable to generate any kind of mismatch with his legs. This is as good as it’s going to get for him in New York, so he had better figure it out immediately. The clock is ticking.

There was next to nothing to praise about the defensive performance on Sunday but once again, nose tackle Dexter Lawrence looked like a man among boys. Perhaps what was most telling was how successful the Vikings and quarterback Sam Darnold were when he was off the field. Back on the field, he’s the only defensive player who produced, recording three tackles (two solo, one for a loss), one QB hit, one sack, and one pass defensed that led to an interception.

With the presence of Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns, many expected Kayvon Thibodeaux to be shot out of a cannon. Instead, he would have been essentially invisible if he hadn’t committed a crushing third-down penalty that eventually led to points for the Vikings. He was so ineffective that at one point in the third quarter, he was benched in favor of Azeez Ojulari. Thibs finished the day with one QB hit and that was it.

Wan’Dale Robinson wasn’t overly productive on Sunday until garbage time and some of that was partially his fault. Brian Flores confused the heck out of the Giants’ offense, the receivers in particular, but more often than not, Robinson ran himself open and was just missed. He had one pass bounce off the ground in front of him, another sail way over his head, and others that just didn’t come his way. But even before the garbage time production, he warranted a tip of the cap.

• P Jamie Gillan
• K Graham Gano

• CB Deonte Banks
• CB Nick McCloud
• WR Darius Slayton
• LB Brian Burns
• OL Greg Van Roten
• DC Shane Bowen