Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo (Image Credit: AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)
If the Giants and Ben McAdoo are looking to prove they’re not quitting on this season, they’re going to need a different approach. It certainly seemed that way during their 51-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Giants looked like a team already planning out their vacation plans. They certainly didn’t look like they were ready to play a football game.
The Rams are a good football team, there should be no more debates about this. This is a well-coached team, with a young franchise quarterback, playmakers at running back and wide receiver, and a game-changer on defense.
In other words, the Rams are everything the Giants are currently not.
The Giants are missing Odell Beckham Jr., the injuries to their roster were body blows to their season, and the offensive line remains a joke. These issues are not why they embarrassed themselves against the Rams.
Nothing better summarizes the fall of the Giants than the second quarter of this game. On a third and 33, the Rams called a screen play likely just to make for a manageable fourth down. Jared Goff hit Robert Woods and, 52 yards later, found himself in the end zone celebrating a touchdown.
How an NFL defense allows a touchdown there is beyond me. Woods ran right through the Giants’ defense; the secondary took terrible angles on the play. They looked out of position and eventually shell-shocked.
Just as inexcusable was the Giants allowing Goff to find Sammy Watkins for a 67-yard touchdown pass which basically put the game away before halftime. Again, the secondary, specifically Landon Collins, looked caught off-guard.
The body language from Dominque Rodgers- Cromartie, after Woods scored again on a four-yard touchdown pass, said it all. Woods was wide open in the end zone when Rodgers-Cromartie was in coverage on another receiver. He turned and saw Woods and could only throw his hands up in disgust.
In that one gesture, Rodgers-Cromartie likely summed up the feelings of every Giants’ fan this season.
Effort shouldn’t be taught, it’s either there or it’s not. No matter what anyone on the Giants say about this game, there’s no justifying lack of effort and players continuing to blow their coverage assignments.
After the game, McAdoo spoke having to keep fighting and learning about people during times like this. The Giants could be looking at McAdoo exactly the same way. And it’s not just McAdoo, it’s the entire coaching staff and general manager Jerry Reese.
If I’m the Giants, I’ve seen enough to know major changes must take place after the season. They probably won’t, but it can’t hurt to start now.
Because no matter what they say to convince anyone otherwise, they look like a team which has already pulled the plug.
