Nov 10, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants tackle Will Beatty (65) defends as quarterback Eli Manning (10) drops back to pass against the Oakland Raiders at MetLife Stadium. The Giants defeated the Raiders 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

By now, you have probably heard of, or are familiar with, Pro Football Focus — the premiere NFL performance grading site. If you are interested in how they get their grades, here is the detailed explanation from their site.

Is the system perfect? No, but it does give a good glimpse of players who performed well, and others who did not, from week to week in the NFL.

Here is a look at some of the Giants PFF grades that stood out on the offensive side of the ball from their 30-17 trouncing of the Houston Texans, on Sunday.

Offensive Line Dominance – Every Giants offensive lineman recorded a positive grade on Sunday. Franchise left tackle, Will Beatty, had an outstanding 3.1 grade, and a 1.8 in pass blocking.

Rookie, Weston Richburg, had his best game as a pro, with an overall 2.4 grade, and 1.2 in pass protection.. Center, J.D. Walton, also had his best game as a Giant, recording an overall 2.5 grade, and was the Giants highest rated run blocker at 1.7.

Right tackle, Justin Pugh, had the lowest overall scored game for the Giants offensive lineman at 0.6, but he also had the toughest match-up with one of the most dominant defensive ends in the league, J.J. Watt. Pugh’s -1.2 pass blocking grade was the only negative grade for the Giants offensive line, but he dominated in run blocking posting a 1.5 in that area.

Overall, the Giants’ offensive line grades confirmed what we all saw from the Giants on Sunday, their offensive line for the first time this year looked like a cohesive unit. They flat out dominated the line of scrimmage, evidenced by the 193 rushing yards Giants’ running backs tallied. They also did a fantastic job keeping Eli Manning’s pocket clean, giving up only 1 sack and 2 hurries. If the line can play like this week in, and week out, the Giants will have many more chances to put up 30+ points.

Who knew Larry Donnell could block? – One of the big knocks on Giants young tight end, Larry Donnell, is that he struggles blocking. Donnell has been fantastic in the passing game, tied for 4th in the league among tight ends with 18 receptions. PFF gave him an overall grade of 1.3 on Sunday, with an astounding 2.7 for run blocking. Donnell had what could have been a costly early fumble, but it’s good to see that he didn’t let that stop him from helping out the team in other areas.

Cruuzzzzzzzz’in to Victory – Victor Cruz broke out of his early season malaise with his best performance of the young season hauling in 5 receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown. His strong performance earned him an overall 1.3 grade from PFF with a 1.8 in the passing game. The Giants offense sorely missed Cruz’s big play ability in the first two games of the season. Cruz should be a natural fit for McAdoo’s offense, and hopefully more performances like Sunday’s will follow for the Giants star wide-out.



“It was also good to see Cruz back to his big play self, the Giants offense will need more vintage “Cruzzzzzzzzz” big plays if they want to continue putting points up.” – “James Pennisi

– As I mentioned up top, PFF’s system is not entirely perfect. Rashad Jennings, who ran for, recorded a -0.5 overall grade, and only a 0.4 rushing grade. Honestly, I am not sure how that is possible, Jennings looked fantastic on Sunday, and was a big key as to why the Giants won that game. I can’t explain this one.

A couple of struggles – Rookie running back, Andre Williams, continues to struggle in the regular season, posting a -1.1 overall grade against the Texans. Williams, who looked fantastic in pre-season, just has not looked like the same player in the regular season. He seems more tentative hitting the hole, and his lack of burst is a lot more evident.

Fullback, Henry Hynoski, only had 19 snaps, but posted the worst overall grade among Giants offensive players at -1.5. Hynoski just doesn’t look like the same dominant fullback he was before his injuries last season. It also doesn’t help that it must be hard to get into the game flow for him in this new offense where he is used a lot less than he used to be.

Final Thoughts

I am still very surprised by Jennings’ PFF grade. I had expected him to be one of the higher graded Giants before I looked up the grades. The offensive line grades are right where you would expect them, that unit really did a fantastic job on Sunday. I am sure Eli Manning and Rashad Jennings are both hoping for more quality blocking like they received against the Texans. It was also good to see Cruz back to his big play self, the Giants offense will need more vintage “Cruzzzzzzzzz” big plays if they want to continue putting points up.

Next up, the Washington Redskins.