What if I told you an offense this week had eight plays inside their opponent’s three-yard line, but in those eight plays, they netted a total of -1 yard and wound up with 3 points?
You’d probably think I was making that up.
But that was the Giants' goal-line offense in Week 1.
On their second drive of the game, trailing 7-0, the Giants had first-and-goal at the Commanders' eight-yard line.
It was a perfect opportunity to tie the game and put pressure on the heavy home favorite.
But the Giants lost two yards on first down, threw an incompletion on second down, and got to the Commanders' two-yard line on a QB scramble on third down.
Luckily, instead of a fourth-and-goal from the two, the Giants got a first-and-goal at the two because of a Washington penalty.
Then, an incomplete pass on first down, a one-yard loss on second down, an incomplete pass on third down, and a field goal on fourth down from the two-yard line.
In total, seven plays from inside the 10-yard line, 6 total yards, and 3 points to show for it.
Later in the game, the Giants had a first-and-goal from the Commanders' three-yard line.
Russell Wilson threw 4 straight incompletions, and the Giants turned the ball over on downs.
That’s a total of 11 plays from inside the 10-yard line, 6 total yards, and 3 total points.
If that doesn’t sound bad enough, the Giants had eight plays from inside the Commanders' three-yard line and, in total, lost 1 yard.
Inside the three-yard line, the Giants averaged -0.66 EPA per play, the worst of any team in any game over the last three seasons with a minimum of 7 offensive plays.
Unfortunately, this isn’t surprising for the Giants.
They rank dead last in EPA per play inside the three-yard line among all teams over the last three years.
On average, they record -0.58 EPA per play, #32 in the NFL.
The average is +0.13.
The Giants have scored touchdowns on just 63% of drives that get inside the three-yard line over the last three years.
That ranks dead last in the NFL.
This has been a glaring weakness for the Giants, and it’s not new.
We know they score touchdowns on just 43% of their red zone trips the last three years, worst in the NFL.
But the Giants also severely lack in explosiveness.
Only 28% of their touchdowns come from outside the red zone, #31 in the NFL.
So, this level of futility inside the red zone is absolutely crippling their chance of winning games.
