When placing blame for what’s wrong with the Giants, make sure the finger pointing starts at the top.
A 24-10 loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday night, in front of a capacity crowd for the home opener at Met Life Stadium, has fans scratching their heads in disbelief and frustration.
After another embarrassing performance in front of a national audience, the Giants find themselves at 0-2 to start the season.
Much like the week before in Dallas, the Giants’ offensive line was atrocious.
The Lions sacked Eli Manning five times.
Giants Have Giant Problems All Over
Like Jon Gruden on ESPN constantly reminded us, the Giants run an offense with an emphasis on timing. But Manning has had zero time to pick up his head, much less go through his progressions in order to find an open receiver.
Manning, unlike his counterpart on the Lions, Matthew Stafford, doesn’t have the quickness to constantly escape the pass rush. There were a handful of times where Stafford was able to use his feet to avoid trouble and gain positive yards. Meanwhile Manning, at 36 years old, was target practice for the Lions on this night.
This isn’t to poo-poo on Eli Manning. I’m not hopping on the ‘Is Eli done?’ bandwagon, even though it’s beginning to pick up steam.
The blame for this team’s offensive struggles isn’t entirely on Manning. Just like the fault isn’t entirely on a ground game which only produced 54 yards total between three running backs.
Odell Beckham Jr. returned to the field, but only had four catches for 36 yards.
Then there’s Brandon Marshall.
Marshall was a little more active than his one-catch Giants debut against Dallas a week ago. But his drop in the fourth quarter, on a beautifully thrown pass from Manning, eventually led to a game-breaking 88-yard punt return for a touchdown by Detroit’s Jamal Agnew.
But the receivers are also not entirely at fault.
As I wrote in an earlier post prior, if the Giants don’t figure out what to do with their offensive line, they can forget any talk of competing for a Super Bowl. They won’t even make the playoffs.
Eli Manning won’t be able to take hits likes this for too much longer if the Giants don’t figure out their offensive line struggles. (Image Credit: Jim McIsaac)
A Giants Offensive Line Which Has Looked Offensive
Left tackle Ereck Flowers was bad again. Lions’ defensive end Ezekiel Ansah recorded three of Detroit’s five sacks on Manning. Watching Ansah repeatedly blow by Flowers at the line, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
It was that bad, it’s been that bad with Flowers since the Giants drafted him.
Flowers has become the poster boy for all that’s wrong with this team’s offensive line. They can’t pass-protect and they can create lanes for the run game.
Those are the primary responsibilities of the position.. Hence, the problem.
On their way to 0-2, the problem remains the same. The O-Line is a mess and it impacts the entire offense. #GiantsPride
— Anthony Rushing Jr. (@TonyRushingNY) September 19, 2017
The run game will never get going, which will make the Giants one-dimensional and predictable. Opposing defenses will continue to focus on Manning whenever he drops back to pass. However, his uneasiness in the pocket will prevent him from ever getting in tune with his receivers.
There will be more three and outs, this will lead to more time on the field for the defense.
Until the Giants figure out their issues on the line, this destructive chain reaction will continue.
But this isn’t all on the offensive line either. Well, the blame has to start somewhere, right?
It’s time to look at who’s calling the plays and who put the team together. Giants general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Ben McAdoo is where the blame begins.
Reese’s decision to bring back this offensive line, with little to no changes, can’t be ignored anymore.
It’s time for Giants general manager Jerry Reese (left) to start answering questions about his offensive line. (Image: Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports)
Then there’s McAdoo. He was right to hold Manning accountable for his delay of game gaffe which cost the Giants field position in the red zone. But his play calling also has to change.
On the Giants only touchdown drive, Manning got rid of the football quickly and without hesitation. With that line in front of him, this is going to be the only way the offense will find any rhythm to it.
McAdoo has shown he’s not afraid to criticize his quarterback in front of the media, so then it shouldn’t be a problem for him to make sure Manning gets rid of the football quicker from here on.
Reese and McAdoo can also put their heads together and come up with a better solution at left tackle than Flowers, because this just isn’t working.
It’s one thing to stand by a player who’s clearly struggling to figure it out, but at what point do you start thinking about the rest of the team?
It Doesn’t Get Easier
The schedule doesn’t do the Giants any favors. A divisional road game against the Philadelphia Eagles is next, followed by another road game against Tampa Bay.
But if there’s going to be a blame game for what’s gone wrong with the 0-2 Giants, there’s plenty to go around. Just make sure you start at the top.
