NYG 17 LA 10

The final score may as well read Landon Collins 17 LA Rams 10.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cEXuNyBUJA]

Consider that:
(1) Collins scored a TD on one INT +7
(2) set up a TD on his other INT/runback +7
(3) The D gave up a TD on the Rams 1st possession of the game due to a turnover at the 35 yd line -0 pts
(4) The D gave up a FG on the Rams 2nd possession of the game -3

So the Giants D was effectively +11 points today. The Giants offense conversion of the 1 turnover (of tremendous field position) into a TD is about the only thing they did all day. The Offensive play of the game was shockingly a 3rd run playcall that goes into the endzone because the Rams are expecting pass with (arguably 6 or) 7 men in the box in goal line.

In 7 games this season, the Giants Offense has come out sleepwalking in ~6 of them, and in the 7th vs the Redskins, they lost that one.

6-0 vs DAL
3-0 vs NO (Blocked FG for TD, held scoreless in 1st Half)
14-0 vs MIN
7-0 vs GB
10-0 vs BAL
10-0 vs LA

Look at this pattern. There are 3 teams here with winning records. The Giants are fortunate to have seen Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott in their first game as a professional football player, because the Cowboys have won their next 5 games. You cannot beat the good teams by starting slow each game in the NFL.

The Giants offensive stats for the entire game were anemic. 4 for 13 on 3rd down. 232 yards from scrimmage. 36 yards on 20 rushing attempts. They won this game because of net takeaways (4 vs 1) and only a few penalties (3, probably 4 total if you count offsetting).

Right around this time, we might get some readers to stay, hey quit complaining, a win is a win. The last time we heard that, it was vs the Saints and the Giants proceeded to lose the next 3 straight. The Giants have to improve, and this Offense is not improving. It is underachieving. I do not want to dissect every single playcall, but overall the playcalling is awful. The number of bad playcalls were palpable. The Giants are pinned down inside their 5 yard line on 2 successive drives (at the 5 and the 3 yard line) and they run out of a run set on both drives. Both runs are rejected soundly. Jennings for no gain. Jennings for a loss of -2 yards. I know that McAdoo is trying to pick up a few yards to push the possession out of the end zone, but it is transparent and there is no run blocking. Donnell misses his block on the 2nd series mentioned, blowing up the play. Repeating myself, the Giants TEs cannot block for sh*t.

Another example of bad play calling is near the end of Q2. The Giants are tied 10-10 and have an opportunity to do something with the ball with good field position at the 39 yard line with 1:24 left. This used to be Eli time. Now it is “Can we get into the locker room?” time. What starts out this drive? A quick lateral to Rainey, loss of 2 yards. It would have been a loss of -6 yards if not for a bunch of broken tackles created by Rainey. It is the wrong play call at the wrong time. How about going into a passing set with such limited time left, and throwing a flare to Rainey out of the backfield, having him running forward while the LBers are still back pedaling? He will have to make one guy miss, and we know he has the ability to make defensive players miss. Instead, he is greeted by ~5 defenders on the quick lateral and can only make 2 or 3 miss.

The offense did some good things, in that they kept many of Manning’s snaps to 3 and 5 step drops instead of the 5 & 7 variety which would have led to many sacks. The OL allowed zero sacks. This is not to say that there were not protection adventures back there. There were. But when you can’t hold your block for that long, that is the choice you have. Aaron Donald was held mostly silent, with only 2 QB hits. That is a major victory.

The Rams are not a good team. The Ravens are not a good team. Before the season started, we penciled in these games as wins, and indeed the Giants collected wins. So they got their business done. But the way they are getting their business done is not anything like what we were expecting.  The offense is sputtering and shows few signs of getting into a rhythm in games unless desperately asked by its head coach/playcaller. This is why we instinctively and intuitively understand that it is underachieving. The offense is simply not being asked to do as much as it can do. The urgency is not there. The attacking play calling is missing.

This week we will see Jerry Reese rolled out in his annual bye week presser. He will chortle how his team is 4-3 and in a good position for a second half run. But as we have noted time and again, it is the same spin year after year. In 2013-2015 he put lipstick on a pig. This year he will put lipstick on a duck. No, this is not 2013, where the Giants were 0-6 and climbed out of a hole by playing versus Barkley, Freeman, Tolzien and an MCL-injured Pryor. This is 2016, where the Giants beat Case Keenum, who threw 4 picks. So please do not listen to what Reese is selling, because we should not be buying. His OL is weak. His TEs cannot block. His LBers are inadequate. And the new Head Coach is not leveraging the one area of the team where Reese did invest heavily (OBJ Round 1, Shepard Round 2, Cruz FA contract). Maybe if Reese says that the team is in a position for a run IF they can improve… on that point we would agree.

As we look ahead to the Giants schedule, they have the Eagles (2), Bengals, Bears, Browns, Steelers, Cowboys, Lions, and Redskins. MANY of these games are winnable. If the Giants offense plays with attacking urgency, they are all winnable. If they play passive, like we see often in long patches, this team could lose many of these games. This is a not a very hard schedule. This is not a very strong NFL. So many teams this year that should win games lose them, owing to how there are very few good teams. The positive here is that the Giants can make some noise. But until we can see McAdoo discover this Offense’s identity (the WR West Coast offense), we should not let Landon Collins or Jerry Reese mask this consistent problem.