Going conservative in end costs Giants
EAST RUTHERFORD – After three straight losses, the season needed saving.
For most of the game, the Giants had sloppily played their way back to where they had finally taken the lead late in the fourth quarter. It was 17-14 and the defense, who was maligned the last three games for their atrocious play, was now slowing down the high-powered San Diego offense.
Phillip Rivers was looking to drive his team down for the game tying score, but his first pass over the middle was intercepted by Terrell Thomas, who took the ball down to the Chargers 4 with 3:14 remaining.
This was the chance for the Giants to close the game as Mariano Rivera did for the Yankees during their run to a World Series championship just four days prior. Punch the balls into the end zone to take a two score lead and erase the bad memories of the three games.
On first down, Brandon Jacobs got the hand off and plowed his way down near the 1, but the yellow flag came out and Chris Snee was called for a holding penalty that would back them up 10 yards.
Now it was first-and-goal from the 14, eliminating nearly all of the Giants goal line plays. Red zone offense all season has plagued them and the smartest observers could have predicted that this was not going to end well.
However, what played out over the next three plays is going to be the question as long as the season continues to go as south.
On first down, Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks on a wide receiver screen gaining nothing.
On second down, the Jacobs takes a shotgun handoff and runs up the middle for five yards.
You figured they were going to throw the ball into the end zone on third down now. There could be no other option, could it? Unless you have a special running play call in the book, getting nine yards isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
So what does Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride relay to Manning on third down? A running play!
Not just any run, but the same play that was just run on second down!
Instead of putting the ball in their $97.5 million quarterback to win the game, they handoff to Jacobs who gains five yards down to the Chargers 4, a strangely conservative call where they would now be forced to kick a field goal to take an insignificant 20-14 lead.
The difference between 17-14 and 20-14 when you are under two minutes is irrelevant. Either a field goal ties the game or a touchdown beats you entirely assuming the Chargers leave you enough time on the clock to come back.
Coughlin and the coaching staff (who have been either in a slump or all taking a mid-season vacation) somehow did not do deductive reasoning on this. As soon as Lawrence Tynes made the 22-yard field goal to make it a six-point game, and the feeling of an impending loss was coming.
Had they gone for a touchdown on fourth down, three things could have happened.
One, either they score and go up by two scores.
Two, they could have been stopped short and turned the ball over on downs.
Three, a turnover that either would have given the Chargers the ball.
By choosing not to throw the ball into the end zone and subsequently kicking the field, the Giants played to the old cliché of “playing not to lose”.
San Diego now had the ball at the 20 with 2:05 remaining and one timeout. Rivers, without needing to be conservative as many teams do when they are trailing by three points, was forced to go for broke.
At the Giants 49 with 1:04 left, Rivers found Antonio Gates for a first down to the 39, but when Justin Tuck could not get up and lay on the turf, the Giants were charged a timeout that became advantageous to the Chargers because it gave them time to regroup and they still have their own timeout.
Darren Sproles got free down the middle of the field for 21 yards, then Vincent Jackson beat Corey Webster for an 18-yard touchdown to tie the game, and kicker Nate Kaeding’s extra point gave San Diego the lead.
While all of Giants Stadium stood in stunned disbelief, not many people could really have been surprised. The seeds were planted for this loss on the last possession. Nine penalties for 104 yards and the inability to convert on third down situations (5-for-14) allowed this game to put be in this predicament.
The Giants are no longer a good enough team to overcome ineptitude and bad coaching decisions. Four losses in a row to good teams after whipping up on the equivalent of 1-AA squads eliminate any good feelings that you have about this team.
This is not the failure of one individual, but a collective breakdown from every facet and it all manifested itself in the last 3:14 of this game.
It may have taken the season with it.
The question becomes whether the Giants are even a good team anymore.
EAST RUTHERFORD – After three straight losses, the season needed saving.
For most of the game, the Giants had sloppily played their way back to where they had finally taken the lead late in the fourth quarter. It was 17-14 and the defense, who was maligned the last three games for their atrocious play, was now slowing down the high-powered San Diego offense.
Phillip Rivers was looking to drive his team down for the game tying score, but his first pass over the middle was intercepted by Terrell Thomas, who took the ball down to the Chargers 4 with 3:14 remaining.
This was the chance for the Giants to close the game as Mariano Rivera did for the Yankees during their run to a World Series championship just four days prior. Punch the balls into the end zone to take a two score lead and erase the bad memories of the three games.
On first down, Brandon Jacobs got the hand off and plowed his way down near the 1, but the yellow flag came out and Chris Snee was called for a holding penalty that would back them up 10 yards.
Now it was first-and-goal from the 14, eliminating nearly all of the Giants goal line plays. Red zone offense all season has plagued them and the smartest observers could have predicted that this was not going to end well.
However, what played out over the next three plays is going to be the question as long as the season continues to go as south.
On first down, Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks on a wide receiver screen gaining nothing.
On second down, the Jacobs takes a shotgun handoff and runs up the middle for five yards.
You figured they were going to throw the ball into the end zone on third down now. There could be no other option, could it? Unless you have a special running play call in the book, getting nine yards isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
So what does Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride relay to Manning on third down? A running play!
Not just any run, but the same play that was just run on second down!
Instead of putting the ball in their $97.5 million quarterback to win the game, they handoff to Jacobs who gains five yards down to the Chargers 4, a strangely conservative call where they would now be forced to kick a field goal to take an insignificant 20-14 lead.
The difference between 17-14 and 20-14 when you are under two minutes is irrelevant. Either a field goal ties the game or a touchdown beats you entirely assuming the Chargers leave you enough time on the clock to come back.
Coughlin and the coaching staff (who have been either in a slump or all taking a mid-season vacation) somehow did not do deductive reasoning on this. As soon as Lawrence Tynes made the 22-yard field goal to make it a six-point game, and the feeling of an impending loss was coming.
Had they gone for a touchdown on fourth down, three things could have happened.
One, either they score and go up by two scores.
Two, they could have been stopped short and turned the ball over on downs.
Three, a turnover that either would have given the Chargers the ball.
By choosing not to throw the ball into the end zone and subsequently kicking the field, the Giants played to the old cliché of “playing not to lose”.
San Diego now had the ball at the 20 with 2:05 remaining and one timeout. Rivers, without needing to be conservative as many teams do when they are trailing by three points, was forced to go for broke.
At the Giants 49 with 1:04 left, Rivers found Antonio Gates for a first down to the 39, but when Justin Tuck could not get up and lay on the turf, the Giants were charged a timeout that became advantageous to the Chargers because it gave them time to regroup and they still have their own timeout.
Darren Sproles got free down the middle of the field for 21 yards, then Vincent Jackson beat Corey Webster for an 18-yard touchdown to tie the game, and kicker Nate Kaeding’s extra point gave San Diego the lead.
While all of Giants Stadium stood in stunned disbelief, not many people could really have been surprised. The seeds were planted for this loss on the last possession. Nine penalties for 104 yards and the inability to convert on third down situations (5-for-14) allowed this game to put be in this predicament.
The Giants are no longer a good enough team to overcome ineptitude and bad coaching decisions. Four losses in a row to good teams after whipping up on the equivalent of 1-AA squads eliminate any good feelings that you have about this team.
This is not the failure of one individual, but a collective breakdown from every facet and it all manifested itself in the last 3:14 of this game.
It may have taken the season with it.
The question becomes whether the Giants are even a good team anymore.
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