Are you feeling a wide range of emotions right now? Anger? Frustration? Depression? That’s okay, because this NY Giants blog is here to help you. Your emotions are very real and totally justified. I write for this blog because it is cheaper than psychotherapy. And you read this blog (in part) because the Giants will drive you nuts too if there is not someone here to tell you that your senses are correct and valid.
Do not let some in the media muddy the message. The Giants have had serial underachievement for quite some time. We saw it again Sunday afternoon in full regalia for the thirty thousandth time. Would you like further proof? That is what we do…
Odell Beckham: ‘it’s not good. We came out flat.’ #giants
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 29, 2015
Jason Pierre-Paul: “Their effort was more than (ours). They wanted it more badly.”
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoNYDN) November 29, 2015
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Prince Amukamara: “It looked like that first half wasn’t us. It looked like we had a bye week hangover.”
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoNYDN) November 29, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSo there you have it. Three players who build the case that the Giants did not show up. Oh wait, there’s more. It’s time for Coughlin to chime in:
“We `sleptwalked’ — whatever the word is,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.
So what does it mean when your team is flat, lacked effort, had a hangover and/or sleepwalked? It means you did not perform at 100% and did not win a game that could have been won. It means you the fan have witnessed another installment of Giants serial underachievement. Why is it serial? Because it is a relentless never-ending series of bad games sprinkled with some good games that make up continued mediocrity. We just finished writing a blog post after the Saints loss about Giants underachievement following that game. The story’s the same, the players who make mistakes changes, but there is Low-Bar-for-Tom taking responsibility each time, time and again. Blowing a game with mangled decisions vs Dallas in Week 1. Blowing another 10 point lead vs ATL in Week 2. Underachieving, playing down to the level of the opponent (sound familiar?) and escaping with a miracle win vs the lowly 49ers. Blowing a 10 point lead in the PATS game. Not showing up ready to play in a game that “only” had a divisional opponent and a vise grip on a playoff berth at stake. Every fan on twitter was aching about the disappearing act today. We know what sh*t smells like. At least OBJ, Amukamara, JPP, and Coughlin had the decency to respect our eyes and call it what it was. (I am sure if we had another bye press conference from Reese, he’d be telling us how we are sitting tied for 1st in the division. His pressers are so full of sh*t that it is a waste of time to keep passing it along.)
Schwartz is gone (for at least the rest of the season, as a Giant too?). He cannot stay on the field. Pugh and Richburg have injuries which are troubling… especially Pugh’s, which is a concussion that is lingering. Bad. Trouble. Let’s take a step back and remember that the offseason OL for 2015 was supposed to be Beatty Pugh Richburg Schwartz and maybe Flowers at RT. Today it was Flowers Hart Reynolds Jerry and Newhouse. Now I know what you are thinking- how are we supposed to win with that?! You are correct that injuries matter. Watching Newhouse at RT is a turnstile abomination who makes any DE look good. Despite that OL, there were still plenty of opportunities to win this game. If the Giants were sleepwalking today, then Reuben Randle was catatonic. His cuts were anywhere from sloppy (if you are charitable) to lazy and awful. I will go on record as saying that all 3 of Eli Manning’s INTs were not his fault. The first 2 were deflections that should have been caught for completions by the Gmen. And the 3rd was a Randle special that he did not fight for, adjust to, or run crisply at.
The Defense gave up 20 points despite a 3-0 turnover deficit. So as poor as the Giants were in many areas, the Redskins could have blown the doors off this game yet did not. The Redskins are simply not a very good team. The Giants were worse. This is the frustration. The Giants play up and down to the level of their opponent. That’s the hallmark of Coughlin’s teams. How can it be that the Giants can be competitive vs the Patriots and then lay an egg in the next game? How is it possible for a team in 2011 to be so inconsistent and absent, barely making the playoffs at 9-7 and then play up to the level of better teams? The way we answer that is to ask another question- would Bill Belichick be 5-6 with this team? The clear answer is- no bleeping way. Belichick would not have his team sloppy and losing so many games that they could have or should have won. Granted, Belichick is a high bar for comparison. But it is not as if to imply that maybe Belichick would be 6-5 or 7-4. He’d probably be 8-3 with this team. Or more. That difference is too wide for my standards. That’s the underachievement test. You know that Belichick wins plenty of games Coughlin has lost this season. Each and every season. Randle is not sleepwalking on Bill Belichick. That OL, as weak as it is, it is not doing as weak a job as it did today (Vereen led rushers with 15 yds. In pass protection, they yielded 3 sacks and 8 QB hits.) There is a level of concentration, execution and efficiency in a Patriots team that the Coughlin Giants routinely do not have. In short, we see consistency in others where we see mainly variability from Coughlin. Glimpses of good play generate mediocrity. Consistency generates more wins and playoff opportunities. The Giants had a very winnable situation today which would have put a vise grip on a playoff bid. Instead we got about 10 minutes of concentration and 50 minutes of somnambulism. That is underachievement, again. Those words are the ones of OBJ, JPP, Amukamara and Coughlin. It is bad football and it has to stop. Even if the Giants were to somehow get to 8-8 and get a playoff bid, I do not think it allows Mara to accept the status quo. Not after 3 4 years of teflon.
What is ahead now? The Giants play the Jets and Dolphins. They could win both or lose both. You tell me who shows up and I’ll tell you whether they win or not. Then the Giants play Carolina, Minnesota and Philadelphia. They could lose all 3. Winning 4 out of 5 looks extremely doubtful. 2 or 3 wins is most likely. 1 win is possible but less likely. So 7-9 or 8-8 looks like the ending. Mediocrity, thy name is Giants.
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