In order to do this recap justice, we have to quote others, who succinctly capture the game's essence:
John Geraci: "We'll take that win, but it feels dirty. I feel like I cheated on my wife but didn't get caught."
Greg Colodner: "If you don't win a game where you get 5 turnovers and one is a pick six, your offense was not prepared."
Yes, every win matters, and this win counts just as much as the SF win. Yes, we are not about to give this one back. But when your defense is getting turnover after turnover and you fail to put away the opponent, you get what you deserve. The Giants DESERVED TO LOSE. Thankfully they did not. The Gmen are 6-2 and are in control as they enter the second half of the season. And they did it today without the help of Kevin Gilbride.
Small ball. We will say it till this NY Giants blog is BLUE in the face. There was no rhythm at all in the offense today, and the reason why is that Gilbride was either throwing deeper routes or running it up the middle. There was no balance. There was no DRIVE with time of possession. FACT: THE GIANTS DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE TOUCHDOWN DRIVE. The only TD they scored was on a turnover gift-wrapped by the defense. Add a JPP pick six and FIVE Lawrence Tynes FGs, and you get the story, Five FGs. Five F'G FGs. FIVE.
The Giants were 3-15 on 3rd down. Is there any better example of how the lack of small ball hurts the team than that statistic?
If there was ever a metaphor for this game, it was yet again on the penultimate Giants offensive drive. The Giants have been given YET ANOTHER turnover for a gift-wrapped scoring oppty. And the drive stalls for a FG. The Giants offense, with a 2 pt lead and 7 mins left, can seal the game with a TD. But that was not Gilbride's way. Instead of taking responsibility for the game, he put it on the defense, And if that was not enough, when the defense bent but didn't break, the Giants had the game in hand and all they needed THIS TIME was ONE F'G Gilbride first down. And the offense couldn't even manage that! Run Run Run Kick. I felt like I was time warped back to the wretched 1970s Giants offenses of decades past, when this franchise would snatch defeat on a regular basis with bullbleep like this. Could there ever be a better example of prevent offense than RRRK to kill timeouts/clock just enough to make you think it "had" to be done but NOT ENOUGH to get the JOB done?!
So Dallas got yet another opportunity, and if not for the fickle "finger" of fate, a Dez Bryant digit, we are in misery at how this team could possibly blow the game. We know how they almost blew it. And his name is Kevin Gilbride.
Let's give some props out in this win, The defense was at times porous, but I can't hold them completely responsible given how the offense was never really on the field. All the offense had to do was do its job and the defense would have had to face at least 2-3 less possessions. And let's not forget the turnovers created. Is it possible to win ANY game without the impact plays of Jason Pierre-Paul?!!! That leaping INT and TD was tremendous, and further camouflaged the offensive woes. Lawrence Tynes, Canty, and Keith Rivers all made their presence felt.
Have you ever thought- why is it that Eli Manning is so good at getting SO MANY of these 4th Quarter comebacks? Maybe it is because he is not only very good at delivering, but that the offensive coordinator so often fails to take responsibility in the first three quarters.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
