As the reeling 5-3 Giants prepared to face a resurgent San Diego Chargers team in a game that Tom Coughlin would ultimately gift-wrap for the Chargers in the final two minutes, talk out of the Giants locker room suggested that Big Blue viewed the upcoming game as “Their Super Bowl.” Maybe I read too much into it, but the description of the San Diego game as the Super Bowl was one of the most disheartening quotes that I had read this season. The Giants had been coming off of one of the worst losses to the rival Philadelphia Eagles in recent memory, and yet a game with little to no tie-breaking implications was all the sudden the Super Bowl? Granted, the Giants experienced a nine game long preseason that ended with them sitting atop the NFC East with a 5-0 record, but the need to hype the game against the Chargers highlighted to me just how lackadaisically the G-Men had been going through the 2009 campaign. To me, the problems plaguing the Giants are a product of 1. Injuries 2. Coaching and 3. (which goes back to 1 and 2) Attitude. For a season that doesn’t end in December, some of these problems must be fixed immediately.
The Giants have unfortunately been crippled by injuries throughout this entire season. Half the offense has been playing with diagnosed injuries, while almost nobody on defense has been playing at full strength. The Giants do not have a healthy running back better than Gartrell Johnson, who suffice to say is not championship-caliber. Our line play on both sides of the ball, the bread and butter for the last two years of success, has been mediocre at best and put us at a disadvantage, especially on almost every running play on offense and every passing play on defense.
I’ve made my frustration that has been accumulating with the Giants’ coaching staff no secret. Bill Sheridan has called a defense that often looks like an eleven-year-old Madden player who blitzes the kitchen sink on almost every down. On offense, we’ve developed probably the most predictable scheme in football, which I criticized in my preview of this year's offense, Week 3, Week 7, and Week 10. The Giants offense consists of a quick pass on 1st down, usually a run on 2nd down, a pass on 3rd down with anything longer than two yards to go for the 1st (run otherwise), followed by a run on first down (if we get it) and consecutive passes after the run goes nowhere. Personally, I feel like the offensive line’s regression from a strength into a weakness begins with the defense knowing what to expect on virtually every play… and it’s no different on defense. Last night on Denver’s first sustained drive of the game, I remarked to my dad while the Broncos had the ball in field goal range facing a 2nd and 5 that a screen pass to the right would kill our defense. Instead Denver picked up the first down by running the ball, but the play was called back for holding. On the next play, Orton hit Graham to the right on a screen that picked up 17 yards and put Denver in a very good position to take an early lead, a lead that would never be relinquished. If a 20 year old fan who hasn’t played a down of tackle football in seven years and hopes to see every play of the game once at full speed knows what is coming, doesn’t it seem plausible that the people whose job it is to stop whatever’s coming next might somehow have caught on to this pattern?
Finally, the Giants lack leadership on both sides of the ball. I came across this article recently which praised Jeremy Shockey for finally becoming a team player with the New Orleans Saints. While a nice story, I feel Pat Yasinskas completely misses the cause and effect. I view Shockey not too differently than I view Terrell Owens, an ultracompetitive winner who understands the necessity of utilizing his own capabilities in the recipe for success. This season the Saints have won against tough opponents by involving Shockey early and often. In Week 2 against Philadelphia, Shockey caught three passes on the first drive to set the tone. Week 6 against the then undefeated Giants, Shockey caught four balls for 37 yards and a score all in the first half. Against Miami, the Saints were down 24-3 before Shockey’s first catch; they won the game and scored on every drive Shockey caught a ball. To date, Shockey has accumulated 28 of his 39 catches in the first half. Of his 461 yards, 278 have come in the first half (96 second-half yards came in the Miami game in which the Saints offense was dormant during the first half). What’s more, all three of Shockey’s touchdowns this season have come in the first half. Shockey hasn’t complained this year because the Saints have run a successful offense, not because he has matured. He’s thriving, and the team is thriving. As he did in New York, he’s been a presence in the middle that has forced opposing defenses to leave Wide Receivers in man coverage, a recipe for Drew Brees to succeed every time. Shockey wanted to go to the Saints because he knew Sean Payton understands how to get a defense on their heels, an idea Kevin Gilbride has demonstrated zero signs of understanding.
Owens really isn’t much different. In Philadelphia, he killed Donovan McNabb after McNabb failed the team at the end, but imagine putting your own long-term health at risk, working your ass off, and defying all medical expectations for a shot to play in the Super Bowl. Owens did just that and caught nine passes for 122 yards. In the end, quarterback Donovan McNabb’s fatigue stopped Philadelphia from being able to score with enough time left to mount a realistic comeback after a failed onside kick. T.O. has been one of the best competitors the league has seen in this decade. He expects just as much from his teammates and coaches and isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers when things aren’t going well. It’s also worth mentioning that Owens had been succeeding in Dallas, even with a mediocre quarterback up until Tony Sparano, a coach of the year candidate in my opinion, stopped calling the plays.
Let’s now look at Kevin Boss, one of the best all purpose tight ends in football although with admittedly slightly less potential than Owens and Shockey. Since inheriting Shockey’s job, Boss has been nothing short of a warrior. He kills himself to make a play on every ball and is one heck of a run-blocker. He deserved much of the credit for both the running game and the offensive line’s effectiveness last season. Gilbride’s offense has completely mishandled Kevin Boss and the lack of looks are really the only thing that is keeping him from a well-deserved Pro Bowl bid. He provides the big target for Eli that I’d hoped to see from Ramses Barden (WHERE IS HE?) Boss has failed the Giants by being too much of what the media sees as “a team player.” He’s made the most of every opportunity he’s been given but hasn’t demanded the looks that he and the team needs to be at its best. Just think about how much better every single part of the offense can be when defenses realize just how dangerous the Manning to Boss combination is. Even if this conversation doesn’t happen through Drew Rosenhaus and the media, Boss needs to become a bigger part of the offense. He needs to become a leader and one of the most prolific tight ends as the regular season comes to its conclusion, he’s got the potential- all he needs is the chance.
Eli Manning has been struggling since the 5-0 beginning of the season. While he has been throwing some of the prettiest passes downfield, he has made mistake after mistake around the line of scrimmage. Last night, a miscommunication after a successful play to open the game forced the Giants to burn a timeout. More often than not, he misses running backs on screens. When Denver dropped up to 8 into coverage last night and still was able to apply pressure, Eli should’ve tucked the ball and made a play with his feet- look at all the success the Titans have had with their passing game since defenses were forced to respect the quarterback’s legs. But while Eli hasn’t been terrific, the Giants’ slide is really not his fault.
The Giants desperately need a new play-calling approach. I’ve called for Gilbride to be fired since the middle of last year and continue to insist that last year’s down the stretch collapse can be mainly attributed to him. The man lost out on a coaching vacancy to Tom Cable. That said, I feel like I owe Gilbride some credit. He’s made progress this season as a play-caller but deserves a lot of credit for developing Eli Manning into an elite downfield passer. I attribute Gilbride with correcting Eli’s early career problems under-throwing receivers. That being said, he is the offensive coordinator of an offense that did not look remotely coordinated last night.
Right now, someone needs to step up. The ten day rest leading up to the Dallas game really can’t hurt. 9-7 is not going to cut it this season given the number of atrocious teams in the league. The Giants have back to back home games against Dallas and Philadelphia, followed by a game at Washington. If this isn’t motivation to have the team playing with some fire, then the season is already over. On the other hand, if we can put together some sort of players-only meeting and come out attacking Dallas at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, then the NFC East is within Big Blue’s grasp. We’re not healthy, we’re not well-coached, and we’re not playing with the swagger and the spunk that we’ve had for the 113 weeks leading up to last night (for those counting at home that brings us back to halftime of Week 3 of the 2007 season). You can see it starting at the line of scrimmage on almost every play. Three intradivision wins will virtually guarantee a playoff birth. It’s the regular season, but if we don’t win here than there won’t be any such thing as “our Super Bowl,” although the choke job against San Diego could sum up the season very well.
Final Note: Lots of fans thought Sinorice Moss was going to be cut this preseason because he wasn't as explosive a threat as the other young Giants WRs. Moss ended the preseason with 2 touchdown catches against New England. Since then, he has a touchdown against Tampa Bay but has been a healthy scratch for most of the season. Please give him a chance to show what he can do!
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