Tag: Dane Belton

5 players who could have bigger roles for Giants in 2024

These five players could have bigger and more noteworthy roles for the New York Giants during the 2024 regular season.

The New York Giants finished a disappointing 6-11 in 2023, failing to follow up their encouraging 2022 when they went 9-8, won a Wild Card playoff game, and advanced to the NFC Divisional round.

They hope to turn things around in 2024. If they are to do so, they’ll need to get contributions from some of the younger players on their roster who have not yet established themselves.

Here are five players who should have bigger roles in 2024 for the Giants.

Giants injury report: Jason Pinnock continues to miss practice

New York Giants safety Jason Pinnock missed his second day of practice on Thursday and seems unlikely to play in Week 18 against Philly.

The New York Giants returned to the field on Thursday for their first full practice of the week after conducting a walkthrough on Wednesday.

For the second consecutive day, safety Jason Pinnock was sidelined due to injury and appears unlikely to play on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. If he doesn’t, he’ll be spelled by Dane Belton, who registered three takeaways in Week 17.

Belton also missed practice on Thursday, but his absence was unrelated to injury.

Meanwhile, rookie center John Michael Schmitz returned to practice on a limited basis and could play in the team’s season finale.

The Giants’ full Thursday injury report can be found below:

Did not participate: S Jason Pinnock (toe), S Dane Belton (not injury-related/personal)

Limited participant: OL John Michael Schmitz (lower leg), CB Detone Banks (shoulder), LB Carter Coughlin (shoulder), CB Darnay Holmes (foot), QB Tyrod Taylor (back)

Full participant: N/A

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Baldy Breakdown: Giants’ Dane Belton a defensive star in Week 17

Brian Baldinger broke down Week 17 film and focused on New York Giants safety Dane Belton, who he called the “defensive star” of the game.

New York Giants safety Dane Belton was thrust into unexpected action against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17 after Jason Pinnock left the game with an injury.

Belton responded with three takeaways — two interceptions of Matthew Stafford and a recovered fumble. It should have been enough to secure a Giants victory, but self-inflicted wounds ultimately led to their doom.

Retired offensive lineman and current NFL analyst, Brian Baldinger, broke down the film and honed in on Belton specifically. What he saw impressed him — and the most impressive thing he witnessed had nothing to do with Belton’s takeaways.

“Backups are just one play away from being a starter,” Baldinger said. “Dane Belton was a defensive star (for) the Giants. The backup who stepped up, who was all over the field all day.”

Giants head coach Brian Daboll, like Baldinger, was impressed with the takeaways but appreciated Belton’s effort above all else.

“I know he had the turnovers, but the one play that I was really impressed with is the play that they broke out for the long gain on the hitch route and his chase, to run down there and to finish, he showed some good long speed. Again, running to the ball when you think a guy might score, I just thought the effort he had on that play was indicative of what the young man is about,” Daboll said.

It was a relatively quiet season for Belton but he seems intent on going out on a high note.

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Stock up, down after Giants’ 26-25 loss to Rams

Whose stock is up and whose is down following the New York Giants’ Sunday afternoon loss to the Los Angeles Rams?

The New York Giants couldn’t get out of their own way in Week 17, repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

As a potential game-winning field goal sailed wide left with only seconds remaining, reality sunk in. The season was already lost but now it’s going down in the flames of frustration.

The chance to play spoiler was lost as the Los Angeles Rams hung on to win, 26-25.

Whose stock is up and whose is down after the Week 17 defeat? Let’s take a look.

Giants report card: How we graded Big Blue in Week 17 loss

The New York Giants fell to the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25, in Week 17 and the Giants Wire team grades reflect that performance.

The New York Giants were defeated once again, this time on New Year’s Eve by the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25.

The Giants nearly pulled off the upset but fell short twice — once on a late two-point conversion attempt and another time on a potential game-winning field goal. The Giants now fall to 5-11 and third in the NFC East.

Here’s a quick breakdown of what we saw during the game and how we graded the Giants in this loss.

Giants-Rams Week 17: Offense, defense and special teams snap counts

The New York Giants lost their Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Rams. Here are the snap counts on offense, defense and special teams.

The New York Giants could not overcome themselves on Sunday, falling to the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25, in a game that featured countless self-inflicted wounds.

It was a maddening display of Murphy’s Law — whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. And it was a theme that played out over all four quarters.

The Giants cost themselves with several huge penalties, missed kicks, dropped passes, poor throws, bad play calls, and just about everything and anything else you could think of.

Here are the snap counts that contributed to the Giants’ most recent defeat.

Offensive snaps: 74
Defensive snaps: 62
Special teams snaps: 30

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard took just five snaps in what’s likely his second-to-last game as a Giant and he dropped a pass that hit him right in the hands. That is not an ideal way to end a career so, hopefully, he gets one final opportunity in Week 17.

With Deonte Banks out, it was Nick McCloud who got the nod, taking all 100 percent of the snaps (joined, once again, by safety Xavier McKinney and linebacker Bobby Okereke). Rookie Tre Hawkins remains relegated to special teams play.

Safety Dane Belton saw 46 snaps in place of the injured Jason Pinnock and certainly made that pay off.

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Giants can’t overcome self-inflicted wounds, fall to Rams, 26-25

The New York Giants couldn’t get out of their own way in Week 17, handing the Los Angeles Rams a 26-25 victory.

The New York Giants (5-10) played host to the Los Angeles Rams (8-7) at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon in a clash between two of the NFC’s most storied franchises.

The Rams entered the game winners of five of their last six while the Giants came in losers of their last two games.

The Giants were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16 while the Rams came in as the NFC’s sixth seed.

No one knew what to expect but what they got was one of the most entertaining football games of the year — even if it was rather ugly and ended poorly for the Giants.

Giants vs. Rams Player of the Game: Dane Belton

The New York Giants fell to the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25, on in Week 17 and safety Dane Belton is our Player of the Game.

The New York Giants fell to the Los Angeles Rams, 26-25, on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

This was a nail-biter and the Giants had several opportunities to win this game but fell short several times in the last couple of minutes. The defense came up big several times to keep this one close and no other play was more impactful than Dane Belton.

The Iowa safety was easily the player of the game on New Year’s Eve. He was responsible for three turnovers as he recovered one fumble and picked off Matthew Stafford two times. He returned the two interceptions for 22 yards and was great in coverage all day.

It was great to see the second-year safety get more time in the spotlight as the Giants have no postseason aspirations. He seemed to fit the Wink Martindale defense perfectly with his versatile play style.

Belton got his opportunity due to Jason Pinnock suffering an injury early. He should be the starting safety moving forward and should get serious consideration as the permanent option in 2024.

Belton is the first Giants defender with three takeaways in a single game in nearly 10 years.

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Studs and duds from Giants’ Week 17 loss vs. Rams

Here’s a look at the studs and duds (and studly duds) from a 26-25 loss for the New York Giants against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17.

The New York Giants entered Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams as 5.5-point underdogs and with nothing to play for, having been eliminated from playoff contention a week ago.

However, you wouldn’t have been able to tell by how hard the Giants fought for all four quarters. There were many self-inflicted wounds but their effort can not be questioned.

Unfortunately, for a team that is already shorthanded and personnel-deficient, those added unforced errors were too much to overcome. And while they hung in with the high-powered Rams, they ultimately fell, 26-25, on a missed field goal with only seconds remaining.

Here is a look at some of the studs and duds (and studly duds) from the Week 17 defeat.

NFL slaps Giants’ Saquon Barkley with big fine for simply running the ball

The NFL has fined New York Giants RB Saquon Barkley more than $21K for simply doing his job and running the football.

The officiating was atrocious and one-sided in a Christmas Day game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles, and many expected the Giants to receive some apologies and acknowledgments from the league.

As it turns out, the Giants did receive some FedEx packages from the NFL this week. However, they weren’t the anticipated “our bad” letters.

Instead, several Giants were fined for various “infections” throughout the game. The most egregious was a $21,855 unnecessary roughness fine levied against running back Saquon Barkley for simply doing his job.

We call that theft, ladies and gentlemen. The NFL reached into Barkley’s wallet and stole 21 grand from him.

Barkley will almost certainly appeal that fine and win, similar to Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs earlier this year.

Meanwhile, safety Dane Belton was also fined $5,923 for unnecessary roughness. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ($16,391) and safety Sydney Brown ($5,807) were similarly fined — Hurts for an attempted horsecollar tackle on cornerback Adoree’ Jackson at the tail-end of his pick-6.

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