Giants takeaways, report card from NFL Week 9 loss to 49ers

Grading the Giants’ 34-24 loss to the 49ers on Sunday:

1. Seeing so much red in the seats meant loads of Giants fans put their tickets up for sale and 49ers fans staged an impressive takeover in the sections behind the visiting bench. There were cheers when Christian McCaffrey broke tackles and the familiar hoots when fullback Kyle Juszczyk rumbled with the ball. There were chants of “Defense … defense,” when the Giants had the ball. “That was interesting,” Jaxson Dart said. “I’ve never played at a home game where I felt like it was kinda lopsided in that department.” This was Week 9 in a season that runs through Week 18. There are four more home games after this, and it figures to get even worse for the home team as far as seeing and hearing fans from the other side having their say and having their way.

2. This is a continuing issue that we have raised in the past. Why has the coaching staff soured on Tyrone Tracy? We get it. When rookie Cam Skattebo was available, it made some sense to give him the bulk of the work in the backfield, and yes, Tracy did miss two games with a separated shoulder. He is healthy now, and Skattebo is gone for the season. So, why does Tracy get five rushing attempts and Devon Singletary get eight? Singletary (8-43) was fine and Tracy (5-18) did not get much done, but Tracy is much more of a big-play threat, and he is coming off a solid rookie year.

3. Co-owner John Mara went out of his way during the pregame to walk over to Dexter Lawrence, shake his hand and say something to the massive nose tackle. No doubt, there were words of support after a turbulent week for Lawrence after he was hit with the “nobody respects you anymore” critique by Giants Ring of Honor member Carl Banks. Perhaps this would be the spark to light Lawrence’s fire? Nah. He did have a tackle for a loss of 1 yard on McCaffrey, but he also was called for a holding penalty in the third quarter on a McCaffrey run to hand the Niners a first down. Lawrence spent the day going against Matt Hennessy, a backup center, and finished with the one tackle for loss and that was it. No quarterback hits or sacks.