2015 Tom Coughlin Math:
4 Turnovers + 1 Special Teams TD – Tony Romo – Dez Bryant = NY Giants Win
One tweet reminded us that this one felt like playing against Josh Freeman of Minnesota in 2013. Both QBs were in their first start for duty that was relinquishing a 2nd string failure (Cassel, Weeden). Both Freeman and Cassel looked like high school QBs. What a metaphor that tonight’s victory is Tom Coughlin’s 100th as a NY Giants head coach.
Here is more math:
Will Beatty + Victor Cruz = Tony Romo + Dez Bryant
By this one, we mean that the Giants offense misses its starting Tackle and WR the same way the Cowboys miss their starting QB and WR. When Harris had his slot slant route catch & run for 38 yards, it was a taste of what the world may look like when we can get a healthy Cruz back. The offense is stagnant. When one considers that the Giants scored 7 pts last week and 13 points this week (given that DRC/INT and Harris/KickReturn were 14 pts), it is remarkable that either game was won.
Yet here it is, Low Bar Tom is alive and well in his playoffs-or-bust 2015 season. The Giants are certainly buying themselves the time until Beatty and Cruz can get back. In a league where there are really only a few decent teams and the rest are all mediocre, there is still the opportunity for the Giants to somehow come together.
Let’s not kid ourselves about this 4-3 team. The Dallas Cowboys ran it right down the Giants’ D throat. They amassed 233 yards, 5.7 yards/carry. When they needed a 1st down in short yardage, they got one. The Giants LBers were toast, be it vs the run or in coverage. Thank goodness Cassel was Cassel, because it certainly wasn’t the Dallas WRs themselves giving the Giants fits.
Conversely, the Giants cannot get short yardage. Flowers, bad ankle and rookie, will be the guy to look for when this team needs 1-2 yards. But until that ankle makes him 100% we have to wait. He was generally excellent (with some help) vs Hardy.
Statistically, the Giants were outyardaged 3:2, firstdowned 2:1, and time of possessioned nearly 2:1. So don’t get infatuated yet with your Division leaders.
On offense, Geoff Schwartz allowed 2 sacks. OBJ was given additional coverage. Darkwa was effective in limited snaps. 300 yards total offense generated 13 points. That’s about right. Not acceptable, even without Beatty and Cruz.
Giants special teams were a mixed bag. Great was the TD off of a kickoff for the game winner. Great was the muff recovery off a deep punt which sealed the game. FG kicking reliable. But a kickoff was sent to the 40 yard line, and another was a stupid squib which was returned to the 31. That out of bounds kick to the 40 set up an easy score which could have easily been 7 pts had it not been turned back by an extremely gracious offensive pass interference call. (We get our fair share of losers, like DRC in Week 1 vs DAL, but this one went our way.)
So the Gmen can’t control the Line of Scrimmage, yet somehow they walked away with a win. If we did not have the prospect of Beatty and Cruz coming back, I would say this is just window dressing against a bad division in another sloppy year. But as long as those two players can be healthy enough for a late season charge, anything is still possible. The NFL is just not a league with dominant teams. So the team that improves the most and gets hot at year end can pull off the annual miracle. Younger players are getting snaps. Inexperienced and new players like Landon Collins and Brandon Meriweather are quietly building time and chemistry together. If the Giants can somehow hold it together and make the playoffs, they can win a shootout vs Brady or Rodgers IF guys like Cruz and Beatty put the offense where it needs to be. Frankly, it is the 2015 Giant ray of hope. The Giants are not a very good team but they are still in a position to dream. Strangely, this season is all about two players who have not yet suited up.
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