This blog writer holds himself accountable. We verify what we say and when we said it. It looks like our prediction of 10 wins and the possibility of a Super Bowl is more than a tad optimistic. What is going wrong? In a word, Ben McAdoo.
This past May we were fed utter horse manure by the public relations machine of the NY Giants. The narrative was coming straight from the Front Office of Jerry Reese that the young Offensive Linemen were getting better in the offseason and that all would be fine. This was in response to knowledgeable fans who were asking aloud why very little was done in Free Agency (backup DJ Fluker) and even less was done in the Draft (Adam Bisnowaty, Round 6, who did not even make the roster!).
See the pasted twitter thread for the exchange with Paul Dottino of WFAN, who proclaimed that the NY Giants Offensive Linemen “enhanced their efforts this off-season…I realize it’s not tangible to the fan base, but it’s true and expect to see the results.”
Well, the first game of the season arrived Sunday night, and we did not see the results. In fact, all we saw was more of the same putrid offensive line play that has pulled down performance for a half (regular) season of consecutive games.
There are two people who have to be held accountable for the dismal failure of the Offensive Line.
- Jerry Reese is the architect. He has mangled OL since becoming GM. The 2 Super Bowls he collected while GM had an OL that was built by Ernie Accorsi. In fact, by 2011, the OL was running on fumes, and when McKenzie retired and Snee’s back gave out, it was a complete disaster. If you think I am being too harsh, just go back to the Panthers game in 2013. That was a signature event in the downhill slide. That he could not provide meaningful backup or insurance at Tackle is either incompetent or negligent. Cue the tweeted sarcasm … “I just wish the Giants had been given a chance to address the offensive line this offseason.”- @billbarnwell
- McAdoo is the cook. He takes the ingredients that Reese has delivered and makes the meal. Problem is, we are fast becoming aware that just because McAdoo was a good Coordinator does not make him a good Head Coach.
McAdoo’s schemes have been abysmal. Why aren’t they Sullivan’s? Because it is McAdoo whom the Giants wanted to keep for continuity. So this is McAdoo’s offense. How do we know this? We answer a question with a question- Who is the guy on the sidelines who is calling out the plays with the big Diner Menu?! It is McAdoo. He has not delegated the playcalling, and the Giants Offense in turn is suffering mightily.
In the recap of the 19-3 loss, we explained what schemes are. They are more than just an abstract blame tool for fans. To reiterate quickly, we ask aloud where is the slant to Marshall? .. or Where is the max protect with blockers (Rhett Ellison and Shane Smith) brought in this past offseason by the architect? If the 2016 Giants could not block, in part because their FB was on IR and they had no blocking TE, ok, we understand. But now, the schemes still fail where Reese took care of those deficiencies. We want to know where the chips and doubles are to protect the pocket so that Eli is not getting pounded by the DL every play.
The Dallas Defense is not very good. Their secondary is new. They did not field their starting DL. Yet they used the 3rd least amount of (blitz) pressure by any NFL team last week (19.5%) and still got pressure consistently. The OL is poor, and no matter what the Reese PR is, it is not working. Shame on Reese for not drafting Laremy Tunsil. Shame on him for not making a more credible effort this season to do more for the OL. Shame on McAdoo for (wasting an entire offseason in) not scheming properly given the deficiencies in the roster. And shame on me for thinking logically that he could and would.
OBJ will be back. He will make a difference. But it will not matter unless McAdoo gives up the playcalling and helps out his OL with better schemes. There is plenty of football left to be played this season. It is up to McAdoo to make it work. If he cannot do that, he and his staff must be held accountable.
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