8 catches, career high 222 yards, and 2 touchdowns. It looks like the Odell Beckham Jr slump is officially over. And honestly, I’m not so sure it was even a slump to begin with. Through the first 5 games this season Beckham totaled 359 receiving yards, that’s only 69 less than his 428 though the first 5 games in the 2015 season. Now when you add in the week 6 production, he totaled 581 this year as opposed to 489 in 2015. The biggest difference is in the touchdowns as he reached the end zone 3 times in the first 5 weeks last season and only once this year in 2016. If Eli Manning doesn’t miss him in the end zone week 1 against Dallas and sees him on a deep route week 3 against Washington the narrative is completely different. A big game can go along way with how people perceive your success early in the season right?
Now that Odell is producing on the field, there’s not a lot of “Odell is a distraction in that locker room” talk going on any more, despite of all of his teammates having his back through his early struggles on the sidelines and with penalties. It was a convenient story for the Giants to have at the time because it overshadowed a lot of things going on with the team. But now that the story is dying down, the question we must now ask ourselves is, what’s really wrong with the Giants?
One of the biggest things that plagues the Giants, this season in particular, is the refusal to give up on the Ereck Flowers at Left Tackle experiment. I agree that the kid is very strong and has potential if he can get his technique right, but at this point in his career he should not be protecting anyone’s blind side. Most weeks he just looks over matched and speed rushers typically have their way with him. Last year he ranked as the worst tackle in the league according to pro football focus, and this year he doesn’t look any better so far. Sliding him to Right Tackle, at least until he can polish the deficiencies in his technique, would do the Giants very well. That’s having an effect on Eli Manning. He doesn’t trust his protection and seems to be looking to get rid of the ball quicker than ever this year which has cause him to be inaccurate throwing down field or too often resorting to his check down options.
Not sure of a clever way to say this so I’ll just keep it simple, the Giants cannot run the football. I’m not sure if it’s the lack of creativity in the play calling, the running backs inability to make people miss in space, the offensive line, or a combination of all three. Through 6 games they have totaled 456 rushing yards which is ranked 27th in the league, 3.6 yards per carry which is 25th in the league, and 76 yards per game which is 30th in the league. So again, the Giants cannot run the football. If they want to stop defenses from playing double high safeties to stop their passing attack, then they have to find a way to run the ball at least somewhat effectively in the next couple of weeks.
Is it me or does Giants General Manager Jerry Reese have a thing against linebackers? With all the focus that went into revamping the defense this offseason, the linebackers were basically an after thought. It’s been discussed every year around draft time that the Giants haven’t selected a linebacker in the first round since Carl Banks in the 1984 draft. Jonathan Casillas and Keenan Robinson have had their bright spots this season, but there’s no true game changer at linebacker on this roster. All of the top defenses in history have featured great linebacker play specifically in that middle linebacker position, from Ray Lewis to Patrick Willis and now Luke Kuechly. For the Giants defense to really take the next step, the linebacker position cannot be viewed as an afterthought.
The Giants have the ability to make or break any given Sunday for fans. But Odell Beckham Jr is certainly not the problem with this team. As he showed this week against Baltimore he has the talent to win you a game all by himself, but other teams in this league are too good to just let him beat them every week. The Giants have to let the kid have fun and grow along the way, and fix up some of the other problems around him if they want to be successful.
This article was written by Quan Jackson. Quan is a Lead Writer for Super Two Sports. From New Jersey, Quan is a NBA junkie. He earned his Bachelors degree in Sports Marketing from Saint Joseph’s University in 2014. Quan has previous experience as the lead NBA writer for http://isportsweb.com covering the Knicks and Nets. Follow Quan on Twitter for analysis and discussion.
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