After loss, Giants season slowly falling apart
DENVER – Like the rest of us, each Giants player's eyes were glued to the television set during the early portion of the day.
They saw as the Packers calmly dismissed the Lions in Detroit and as they prepared to take on the Broncos later in this night, they witnessed the Cowboys making short work of the hapless Raiders at home.
Things were clear for the Giants now with both the playoff contenders winning.
Win or fall behind further.
Armed with this information, they promptly went out and played their worst game of the season.
Sure, there were losses to New Orleans and Philadelphia, but those teams were better than the team taking the field against the Giants on Thursday night. This Broncos team was losers of their last four games after a 6-0 start.
As the Giants left INVESCO Field after the Broncos drubbed them 26-6 to drop them to 6-5, if you drew the conclusion that the team was disillusioned, played as if they were disinterested, simply unprepared, or all of the above, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth.
For the fifth time in their last six games, they were losers on the field. Considering that they were a coin toss loss away last week from having lost to Atlanta the week before, several things has become evident.
One, the Giants padded their early season wins against bad competition, masking their deficiencies.
After close inspection, Washington, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland are legitimately four of the eight worst teams in the league. Combined, they total 10 wins and 31 losses. Almost everyone else in the league has beaten up on the team. It was just by coincidence the Giants had them lined up back-to-back-to-back early in the season thus inflating their record much like a college team.
Two, the Giants are not as good as we all think.
You can only use the excuse “We are better than this” for so long before it is not true anymore. Since the first loss in New Orleans, to a man this is what each Giants players has said over the last six weeks. The results however, do not bare this out.
As each game has played out, it has become obvious that the team can no longer bully opponents with their power running game. For whatever reason, the offensive line has not been able to open up the same holes this year as they have in the previous two or three seasons. This unit statistically is the most cohesive in the league, yet without getting old, they have played as if they are in decline.
Perhaps it is not Brandon Jacobs’ fault that his season has not been good. The same unit that created holes for running backs and gave Eli Manning plenty of time to throw the ball has collapsed without reason.
Without being able to run the ball, the game has been on Manning’s to win and without having much time to throw the ball, you can expect him to find many players open.
The clearest illustration came in the second quarter when Manning got pressure up the middle and sacked at his own 11-yard line by DJ Williams for a nine-yard loss. On third down, Denver brought pressure and cornerback Andre Goodman had a free run to the Giants quarterback.
Luckily, Manning was able to get the pass off without taking a safety in the end zone, but it was clear that the offensive line was just not the same.
On defense, this is clearly not the same group from the past two seasons. A combination of the loss of former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the new wrinkles that Bill Sheridan is implementing, and the players that are either injured, coming back from injury and not performing, or simply underperformance have all come together to make this defense among the NFL’s worst in the last six weeks despite what the statistics say.
No longer do they get consistent pressure on the quarterback. The linebackers do not have the speed to cover. The secondary is exposed because of the play by the front seven. Setting a tone and dictating the game is something they cannot do anymore.
On third downs, they cannot get off the field. When the opposing teams get inside the Giants 20, nearly 75 percent of the time, they score touchdowns. When it comes to holding a lead, they cannot do that either.
This is of course before the poor kickoff coverage and enigmatic kicking of Lawrence Tynes.
Add all of those elements together and you have a mediocre football team and not one that had Super Bowl aspirations when the year began.
It comes to a point when either they are underachieving or simply not good enough to perform to the expectation level that they themselves have set.
With each first down the Broncos had last night on the ground. With each pass thrown to an open receiver, and the most embarrassing of them all coming in the fourth quarter when no Giants defender was within 8 yards of receiver Brandon Stokley when quarterback Kyle Orton found him on a 17-yard touchdown strike to make it 23-6, it was the final straw.
Now they find their season potentially on the line at home in 10 days against the Cowboys. Win that game and they can breathe for another week.
They no longer control their own playoff fate and must now rely on other to do the work for them.
A loss next Sunday may provide the final nail in the Giants season coffin.
This year is free-falling fast and has no end in sight.
DENVER – Like the rest of us, each Giants player's eyes were glued to the television set during the early portion of the day.
They saw as the Packers calmly dismissed the Lions in Detroit and as they prepared to take on the Broncos later in this night, they witnessed the Cowboys making short work of the hapless Raiders at home.
Things were clear for the Giants now with both the playoff contenders winning.
Win or fall behind further.
Armed with this information, they promptly went out and played their worst game of the season.
Sure, there were losses to New Orleans and Philadelphia, but those teams were better than the team taking the field against the Giants on Thursday night. This Broncos team was losers of their last four games after a 6-0 start.
As the Giants left INVESCO Field after the Broncos drubbed them 26-6 to drop them to 6-5, if you drew the conclusion that the team was disillusioned, played as if they were disinterested, simply unprepared, or all of the above, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth.
For the fifth time in their last six games, they were losers on the field. Considering that they were a coin toss loss away last week from having lost to Atlanta the week before, several things has become evident.
One, the Giants padded their early season wins against bad competition, masking their deficiencies.
After close inspection, Washington, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland are legitimately four of the eight worst teams in the league. Combined, they total 10 wins and 31 losses. Almost everyone else in the league has beaten up on the team. It was just by coincidence the Giants had them lined up back-to-back-to-back early in the season thus inflating their record much like a college team.
Two, the Giants are not as good as we all think.
You can only use the excuse “We are better than this” for so long before it is not true anymore. Since the first loss in New Orleans, to a man this is what each Giants players has said over the last six weeks. The results however, do not bare this out.
As each game has played out, it has become obvious that the team can no longer bully opponents with their power running game. For whatever reason, the offensive line has not been able to open up the same holes this year as they have in the previous two or three seasons. This unit statistically is the most cohesive in the league, yet without getting old, they have played as if they are in decline.
Perhaps it is not Brandon Jacobs’ fault that his season has not been good. The same unit that created holes for running backs and gave Eli Manning plenty of time to throw the ball has collapsed without reason.
Without being able to run the ball, the game has been on Manning’s to win and without having much time to throw the ball, you can expect him to find many players open.
The clearest illustration came in the second quarter when Manning got pressure up the middle and sacked at his own 11-yard line by DJ Williams for a nine-yard loss. On third down, Denver brought pressure and cornerback Andre Goodman had a free run to the Giants quarterback.
Luckily, Manning was able to get the pass off without taking a safety in the end zone, but it was clear that the offensive line was just not the same.
On defense, this is clearly not the same group from the past two seasons. A combination of the loss of former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the new wrinkles that Bill Sheridan is implementing, and the players that are either injured, coming back from injury and not performing, or simply underperformance have all come together to make this defense among the NFL’s worst in the last six weeks despite what the statistics say.
No longer do they get consistent pressure on the quarterback. The linebackers do not have the speed to cover. The secondary is exposed because of the play by the front seven. Setting a tone and dictating the game is something they cannot do anymore.
On third downs, they cannot get off the field. When the opposing teams get inside the Giants 20, nearly 75 percent of the time, they score touchdowns. When it comes to holding a lead, they cannot do that either.
This is of course before the poor kickoff coverage and enigmatic kicking of Lawrence Tynes.
Add all of those elements together and you have a mediocre football team and not one that had Super Bowl aspirations when the year began.
It comes to a point when either they are underachieving or simply not good enough to perform to the expectation level that they themselves have set.
With each first down the Broncos had last night on the ground. With each pass thrown to an open receiver, and the most embarrassing of them all coming in the fourth quarter when no Giants defender was within 8 yards of receiver Brandon Stokley when quarterback Kyle Orton found him on a 17-yard touchdown strike to make it 23-6, it was the final straw.
Now they find their season potentially on the line at home in 10 days against the Cowboys. Win that game and they can breathe for another week.
They no longer control their own playoff fate and must now rely on other to do the work for them.
A loss next Sunday may provide the final nail in the Giants season coffin.
This year is free-falling fast and has no end in sight.
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