The rest of the Giants should find out where Justin Pugh does his furniture shopping.
Whatever is in Pugh’s couch seems to have done the trick.
Pugh, who was a free agent before reuniting with the Giants less than two weeks ago, came “off the couch,” as he joked in his “Sunday Night Football” introduction during the team’s 14-9 loss to the Bills, and turned in the best performance the team’s offensive line has had in weeks.
Going against the best pass-rushing group in the league, his performance helped spark the unit’s best showing as a whole.
It perhaps provided a new blueprint for the Giants, one that must now become a building block — not an exception.
Pugh started at left guard before quickly moving to left tackle for the rest of the game after Joshua Ezeudu exited with a toe injury in the first quarter.
“[Pugh’s] only been here a short time, he’s been up here in the mornings getting extra time with [offensive line coach] Bobby [Johnson],” head coach Brian Daboll said on a Zoom call Monday morning. “Based on where we were at last week, it was a conversation that we had going into the game about, you’re here, but you could be here, you could be here, you good with it? He’s a true pro.”
Playing in his first game since Week 6 last year, Pugh had 38 pass-blocking snaps at left tackle, a position he hadn’t played since 2017.
He allowed just three pressures, according to NextGen stats.
That pressure rate allowed — 7.9 percent — marks the lowest any Giants left tackle has recorded this season.
The status of Ezeudu, who has been filling in out-of-position at left tackle for the injured Andrew Thomas, does not look promising given the way he needed to be carted off the field on Sunday.
Regardless, Pugh made a case he should start at left tackle until Thomas is healthy.
First, he’s certainly made the case he should be signed to the active roster off the practice squad, which he returned to at least momentarily on Monday.
Pugh has two practice squad elevations left, though he is not protected while on the practice squad.
The Giants waived Jalen Mayfield on Monday, leaving an opening on the 53-man roster — likely for Pugh.
“Pugh came in, I don’t know when’s the last time he played a football game but he played a damn good football game,” receiver Darius Slayton said after the game. “At left tackle, the hardest position to play. The offensive line, they’ve been getting killed by people on the outside for the last four weeks, they came out and fought their ass off.”
The stability Pugh provided seemed to galvanize the rest of the offensive line.
Quarterback Tyrod Taylor was pressured on just 6.8 percent of dropbacks, according to Pro Football Reference, by far the team’s lowest mark of the season and a dramatic improvement from allowing Daniel Jones to be pressured on 40.7 percent of dropbacks the week before.
After Pugh moved to left tackle, the Giants pieced-together line was, from left to right, Pugh, Mark Glowinski, Ben Bredeson, Marcus McKethan and Evan Neal.
Facing nightmarish circumstances, and a Bills defense that entered with an NFL-high 21 sacks, the group performed admirably.
McKethan had been benched prior to the game, and had even practiced this week at tackle with how depleted the unit is before being thrust into guard.
Glowinski had been benched earlier in the season, but rookie center John Michael Schmitz’s shoulder injury returned Glowinski to the lineup at guard.
It also moved Bredeson to center, which isn’t his natural position. Evan Neal, whose struggles have become a central story this year, received his highest grade of the season (57.1) by Pro Football Focus.
Neal, whose struggles have become a central story this year, received his highest grade of the season (57.1) by Pro Football Focus.
“I never in my whole career have been a part of something like that,” Pugh said after the game. “It’s just a testament to the guys we have in the room, the fight we have in the room, guys doing whatever it takes to go get a win.”
With Thomas and Schmitz unlikely to return for next week’s clash against the Commanders and their daunting pass rush, the Giants will likely return to the same configuration.
Beyond following the same offensive line blueprint, they must now follow the same quarterback blueprint.
Daboll repeatedly praised Taylor for getting the ball out quickly to avoid pressure, something Jones had previously come under criticism for.
“[Taylor] got the ball out of his hands even when there was some pressure,” Daboll said. “Even if there is leakage, if you get it out on time, guys are creating space in zones. … Tyrod did a good job of hitting his back foot and letting it out. It all works together.”
