I was at a wedding for the 1st 3 quarters. The Giants could not seal the deal.
These were all of the elements noted in the preview:
Dallas outplaying the Giants (436 yds vs 289 yds)
Unga and Collins costing the Giants (they were the guys in coverage on the last 2 TDS)
Witten (who scored the last 2 TDs)
Giants having a turnover advantage as a way of somehow winning (3-0 TO advantage)
No pass rush (via 3rd party reports, having missed the game but hearing from others)
How could the Giants lose this game? Up by 3, 1st and goal at the 3, and you blow the game. I’m talking to myself. Apoplectic. On 3rd down, I have no problem throwing the ball. I want to WIN the GAME with SEVEN points. But Eli has to take a sack there and kill another 35 seconds, especially with NO target. ..and now, 7AM this AM and I see he took blame for this boner:
Said Manning, “It’s on me right there. That’s clock management. Obviously just take the sack, take the 40 seconds off the clock. Give them less time. That’s 100% on me . . . Can’t afford to throw it away. Got to sit in there and take the sack.”
We see this over and over again. It is the time that is more important in that situation than the score. Instead of Romo starting with 1:29 left on the clock, he would have started with ~50 seconds and no timeouts. How do you like the Giants’ chances that way? A lot better than with 1:29. Or better, how about just scoring a TD there. Or even going for it on 4th down (because my confidence in the Defense is near zero this early in the season)?
We won Super Bowl XLVI, and the Bradshaw TD gets glossed over, but once again Coughlin and Eli teamed up for another brain fart of possible epic proportions. The clock is the enemy, and you do not want to give the ball to Tom Brady with too much time. Yet Bradshaw is not told about taking it down at the 1 yard line. The circumstances are not that much different. Time is more important than points. It turns out that the defense was good enough on that night to stop Brady, but the lesson is never learned. I blame Coughlin less for the playcall than for NOT instructing Eli to only pass the ball if he has a clear option, otherwise take the sack. A sack from the 1 yard line does not damage the FG and needs to be PART of the passing decision if you go that route. Either you win the game with the pass (which has a better chance than the predictable run), or the clock runs 40 more secs after all is said and done. Nothing in between. (And btw, for you folks who thought “just run the ball,” our TE was HELD, MUGGED, or else we DO score 7 and the game is over.)
We keep hearing over and over and over again Coughlin taking the blame. He takes the blame for a lost teflon year after the Super Bowl. He takes the blame for 0-6 leading to 7-9 after playing vs 4 garbage QBs a year later. He takes the blame for last year’s horrendousness, including a loss to Jacksonville that sent them to 3-8. He keeps taking blame. He keeps accepting responsibility. It’s a long season and there is plenty of hope. But Giants fans are sooo tired of the Super Bowl teflon. No one in the professional world is allowed to show up for work based on successes from years ago and get a pass to keep making boner mistakes over and over.
Oh, and btw, I read that Preston Parker had 3 drops? And James Jones had at least 2 TDs that I know of for the Packers? Think that could have helped???
The Giants had a chance to steal a win and said no thanks. The Giants needed to cash this game because their players are going to get better later. Unga and Collins are going to get better. Flowers is going to get better. The Giants will improve. They just cannot afford to dig too big a hole in the first half of the season. Eli and Coughlin have to do a better job in game management at the end to not put Unga/Collins on the field with only a 6 point lead and 1:29 on the clock.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
