Loading ...The New York Giants dropped to 2-2 and 0-2 in the division in brutal fashion on Sunday night, as they were about three yards short of being 3-1 on a Lawrence Tynes 54-yard field goal attempt. Ramses Barden became the scapegoat late in the game. After the Giants got two pass interference calls in their favor, Barden committed an offensive pass interference that put the Giants out of field goal range. My question was – why are the Giants going deep in that situation to begin with? That type of unnecessary risk is something you rarely see from Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin in late game drives.
Today, we take a close look at the Giants' week four loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and what we saw in all phases of the game from Big Blue.
Key Reason for Loss: Poor offensive execution and decision making
First and foremost, the third down offense was just some of the worst we've seen from this Giants offensive unit in quite some time. Two for ten on third down is not going to keep you in many football games, yet the Giants still had a shot to win this game on the final drive. The running game continues to fail to be an asset for the offense which certainly isn't helping their third down production.
Eli Manning had an interception in the red zone that took points off the board after what was the Giants most impressive drive of the night to that point. Finally on the final drive, we saw something extremely rare – as Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning both made what look to be poor decisions in hindsight. They've been so good in late game situations over the past couple of seasons that it was almost shocking to see Manning throw a dangerous ball towards the end zone when the Giants had a 44 yard field goal attempt in hand, and even more shocking perhaps that Tom Coughlin did not insist that the team run the football on that second down and pick up a couple more yards to put the kick very comfortably in Lawrence Tynes range. Instead, Manning took a risk and threw the ball down the sideline, Nnamdi Asomugha got in good position to pick it off and Ramses Barden committed an offensive pass interference costing the Giants ten yards on the kick.
These are things you rarely see from this Giants football team in close games and in the fourth quarter.
GAME POSITIVES
- Very quietly, Prince Amukamara had one of the best 60 minute performances of his young career. He did an extremely solid job when matched up with Jeremy Maclin and I saw a lot of physical play from him on the outside.
- David Wilson is a flat out threat on kick returns and he's added a brand new element to this Giants football team in the field position game. If he gets the slightest crease he can get skinny and explode through the hole with his speed and power to break through arm tackles. He was a huge positive coming out of this game, it was extremely disappointing to see the Giants come up with just 17 points with the type of field position he gave New York on the night.
- Domenik Hixon looks like the Domenik Hixon of a few years ago when he was a real big play threat on the outside for this Giants offense before his ACL injuries. He's very quick and crafty and clearly can make plays when he gets one on one matchups. Victor Cruz also played well for New York, proving to be a real Eagles killer with nine more grabs against them and a touchdown.
- Steve Weatherford was solid as you've come to expect from him with a couple of punts dropped inside the twenty along with a sixty yarder.
- Stevie Brown has brought another physical presence to the Giants secondary. A lot of intense, active play from him.
GAME NEGATIVES
- 20% on third down. Can't say it enough – that's just not going to cut it. Especially for a talented offensive group like this.
- The Giants couldn't run the ball or stop the run on Sunday night. That's an understatement. The offensive line got very little push in this game, and defensively – LeSean McCoy was getting far too much space on the outside to make defenders miss as there was a real lack of discipline in the Giants front seven in terms of containment, particularly from Osi Umenyiora.
- The first time this year that Eli Manning makes it into this section of the game review, as his interception in the red zone and risky throw down the sideline to Barden on the final drive proved to be two big daggers for the Giants in the fourth quarter.
- The offensive line has got to play more physical and smarter. It's becoming a theme here with this group and that's got to be a concern for head coach Tom Coughlin. Holding penalties at inopportune times, and an inability to force defensive linemen back in the red zone where the offense needs the big guys most. Extremely disappointing play.
- Look, Tom Coughlin, by my estimation, is one of the three best coaches in the game without question. That being said, even he made some mistakes Sunday night – particularly on that final drive when the Giants went to a deep throw on the second down and then didn't attempt a third down play after the offensive pass interference that put them back ten yards. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, but at the very least the Giants should have avoided taking a shot on a bad matchup for them in Ramses Barden vs Nnamdi Asomugha on the outside. They were already in reasonable field goal range. Throw the check down for five or run a draw and spike the football and your chances increase dramatically in that situation.
- Where is Justin Tuck, and where is the consistency from this Giants pass rush? This is the bread and butter defensively and it's just been a very inconsistent unit all year. The Giants are not going to be an elite football team without the pass rush playing at a much, much higher level.
PLAYER OF THE GAME – WR Victor Cruz
Nine receptions, over 100 yards, and another trip to the end zone for Cruz who really shows up for these divisional football games. Regardless of where he lines up and who he's matched up with, Cruz finds a way to be a headache for opposing defenses. Nice job from start to finish.
Game balls
KR/RB David Wilson, WR Domenik Hixon, CB Prince Amukamara
OVERALL PERFORMANCE GRADE
It's just as surprising as it is disappointing that the Giants offensive attack and pass rush have both been extremely inconsistent this year. Eli Manning lighting up the scoreboard and the Giants defensive ends creating havoc – that was the recipe for success for this Giants team down the stretch last season and they have not had that on a consistent basis this year.
Giants really shot themselves in the foot in this game, but they also were not able to slow down LeSean McCoy and the offense came up with an unacceptable 17 points after getting great field position all game thanks to the electric play from rookie David Wilson on special teams.
Don't blame Ramses Barden for this one. He felt that the ball might be intercepted and what he did was understandable in my mind. That being said, it probably should have never got to that point. The good news is – the Giants very rarely mismanage those situations and often things go the other way.
But New York lost this game on the ground, in their third down inefficiency, and the shortcomings in execution and decision making late in the ball game. That's what it comes down to.
Grade: C+
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Excellent job. My only disagreement is I think the OL performance was mixed. Philly might have the best DL in the NFL so I think the OL should be expected to struggle some. I thought they held up well in the second half. They made some mistakes and generated little push in the running game. But I thought between ok and solid is were their performance should be graded.
Nt sure Phillies DLine is the best in NFL, Top 3 yes. With a healthy Chris Canty I take ours over theirs all day every day.
JPP> any player on their roser
Canty> any DT on their Roster
Landfill=> any DT on their team.
I think Jenkins is as good as Canty is in all honesty. Linval is better than both of them.
I did say might. In theory I take ours too but so far we have played like far from the best. And Canty’s absence doesn’t account for the low level the DL has played at.
I know Tuck and Osi have received a great deal of criticism for their play Sunday night. But JPP is also deserving of far more criticism for his performance than he’s been given.
He was pretty much a non-factor all night. Invisible in the pass rush and consistently undisciplined against the run.
I largely attributed much of his poor performance to extra attention from the Philly blockers. Turns out I was mistaken. I found the following over at the NFC East focused forum, Blogging the Beast:
“Of his 29 pass rush opportunities, JPP had 1-on-1 matchups with Todd Herremans or Demetress Bell on 16 of them (55.2%). Giving one pass rusher extra attention on 45% of his rushes is a significant amount of attention to give one player, but it was far less than I had anticipated. As noted above, Bell was beaten once, but that was it for the entire night. I thought the Eagles offensive tackles did a stellar job handling JPP 1-on-1.”
What was supposed to be the one of the Giants’ biggest individual matchup advantages turned out to be little more than a stalemate. That JPP was unable to do more against two very average tackles is disappointing to say the least. In light of that, I’d have to place his performance on the negative side of the ledger, every bit as bad as that turned in by the far more maligned Osi and Tuck.
Looking on the bright side, the Giants only lost by two points on a night when their offensive MVP and defensive MVP both played poorly. I’d like to think that’s an anomaly that we won’t see happen too many more times, if at all.
http://bloggingthebeast.com/2012/10/03/film-review-the-eagles-ol-with-an-assist-from-the-game-plan-turned-jason-pierre-paul-into-a-near-non-factor/#more-6460
Look again. JPP was constantly causing McCoy to bounce around, nobody else on that line could tackle.
yeah not so sure about this assessment.
Hey, I’m thoroughly familiar with the usual talking points re: the D-line.
Osi is an overrated, one-dimensional stiff, so all criticism of him is fair game.
Tuck is perennially banged up and prone to periods of existential crisis, so all criticism of him is fair game.
JPP is the bestest, most awesomest defensive presence in the game today, and the suggestion that he may not have lived up to that billing for even a single game is the height of apostasy.
I’m not sure, though, how anyone can take issue with the idea that JPP was largely a non-factor against Philly. He could not win one-on-one matchups against two average to below-average tackles. I saw him lose contain on at least three running plays in the second half (which may well have been due to exhaustion from over-use)
I’m sorry, that’s a poor game. By most metrics, he played little better than a JAG. By his own standards, he downright sucked.
It happens. He’s not perfect and he’s certainly not above reproach. I expect him to play better – especially if Fewell can figure out how to give him more of a blow in games going forward.
Nice post norm. In fact, this will be the thrid time I’ve posted this, and likely will be the 3rd time the collective G101 narrative won’t allow a rational rebuttal (or even a response at all):
For anyone actually curious about real statistics, the Eagles ran:
Left 10 times for 33 yards (3.3/per)
Middle 6 times for 39 yards (6.5/per)
Right 20 times for 119 yards (6.0/per)
The two biggest runs coming on the first drive of the 3rd quarter off the right end where all-world JPP and captain Justin Tuck call home. Prior to those 2 runs, McCoy had about 6 yards or something like that.
Which one s it BBG Season ending IR or a boo boo. You’re all over the place…
Whose your Source? Chris Mortenson:-)
BigBlueGiant says:
October 2, 2012 at 3:04 PM
i dont wanna be the one to spill the beans on this but….
Word is that Nicks will be IR’d and require surgery.
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BigBlueGiant says:
October 2, 2012 at 3:05 PM
Hope that source is wrong, But the source is coming from a very accurate place as well as person.
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BigBlueGiant says:
October 2, 2012 at 3:08 PM
didn’t mention what his situation will be about being IR’d.
It came from someone who is a PA at the HSS.
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BigBlueGiant says:
October 2, 2012 at 3:11 PM
we can only hope that it’s not season ending.
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BigBlueGiant says:
October 2, 2012 at 3:15 PM
i didn’t wanna say it, but I’m hearing it’s that’s what the injury is….
Again, no extent to the knee or the exact Injury has been told to me… Except that it will likely require surgery and he’ll miss sometime.
BigBlueGiant says:
October 3, 2012 at 11:27 AM
I will add this…
my source at the HSS did indeed confirm a meniscus tear. However, he said he wasn’t sure of the severity and that Nicks likely will NOT need surgery.
Reply
Demo, If I knew what the facts are 100% accurate, i’d call ESPN and let them know.
my source is someone who is a Physician Assistant at the Hospital For Special Surgery and who has been in the operating room with Dr. Warren numerous times. All that was mentioned was that it IS the Mensicus, but they can’t reveal the extent of it.
I only think that it’s the giants who are determining how to play their cards with Nicks now. And not the Dr’s.
Again, If this proves to be false info, Which it could be, I apologize, but I do trust her expertise on this matter as she’s more in tuned to medical science and what is going on more than any of us.
Again, We will wait and see.
Next time you get a bit of inside info don’t share it.
Both teams are good teams with some devastating strengths and are capable of making the other guys look silly at times. We lost this game because the competitive difference between the Giants and Eagles is thinner than a coat of paint and we boneheaded the ending. That’s it. Had it been a 44 yarder and if Tynes had made it, Eagles fans would be gnashing their teeth over their inability to cover kickoffs and stop anybody from going down the field with ease for a FG whenever they want to, and that they can’t score TDs in the Red Zone.
All things considered, it should be a great rematch in our building later in the year.
Nice analysis Haz, but old news by now.
Review tapes, clean up the errors, and get ‘em corrected.
On to Cleveland.
One thing has suddenly become apparent. Reuben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan are getting a real shot at influencing this game. Barden won’t play, and it sounds like Nicks is, at best, a game day decision, so those two will be getting a LOT of reps in practice this week and having the chance to prove at least one of them can handle the #3 wide receiver duties. Let’s hope this turns out well.
The one thing about injuries, especially for fans like us here on 101 is what get to see if some of these players we have been saying are good can really play. So we get to see heavy doses of Randle and/or Jernigan; Hill, Sash and/or Brown; Kuhn and/or Austin; Williams or even some Paysinger; maybe even Cordle or Petrus. It seems that even more than many would want we will get to see the most of the roster play significant roles this season. For example Jernigan went from “a waste of a roster spot” to a key part of the WR rotation in a few days and Steve Brown went from I didn’t know he was on the roster to he’s not bad.
For the most part players that have had to take bigger roles have played very well. The only exceptions thus far are Kuhn, Austin and Tryon. Hopefully this will continue to be a trend.
As I stated before if we can just survive the first half with a 5-3 record these injuries can end up a positive because thus far everyone injured is expected to return. Plus most of the injuries don’t look to be out more than a week or two save for KP and possibly Nicks. It some ways this year we are trying to rebuild and reload at the same time. We have many young players in positions they weren’t manning during our playoff run last year. This team is a work in progress. We just have to win enough games while we are getting out the kinks out that we can make our presence felt when we do get healthy and our young players have some experience.
With these new injuries it really makes that roster spot for Sash even harder. Even if Benard still plays, he’s banged up he needs more of a blow than normal. Which makes it hard to cut Kuhn especially since Austin seems even less ready for 3rd DT duty. The CBs are still banged up which makes Tryon somewhat safe. With Bass and Snee banged up that could make Petrus more valuable and needed. Steve Brown seemed sure bet to be cut 2 weeks ago but he’s played well the last 2 games and now KP is injured while Rolle is also banged up.
The 2 players both who I like but seem to have the least value right now are Scott and Ojomo. I wonder if we would make that type of move. I hope not but I think it’s possible. Ojomo is really hard because even if he has signifcant upside, he’s probably 2 DE injuries away from even getting any real snaps.
It seems like the simplest move is to IR (8 weeks) KP or Nicks (if the rumors are true) if either injury is a 6 week type injury. The reports say 3-6 weeks on KP and on this new IR you can practice after 6 weeks and play after 8. I know Diehl has a similar injury to KP and appears more on the short end of that timetable but he’s a OL player whereas KP needs to run around.
Hey, i know that It’s been talked about here before, even I had mentioned it, but with all these injuries EVERY single season how come the giants don’t even look into another Strength and Conditioning coach?
I think in the final analysis we’re not any worse than anyone else. It just seems that way because we’re so familiar with the Giants.
3 days after Eli takes the blame for his bad end game throw, which is met by “Eli never throws his teammates under the bus (except Manningham against SF last year)”:
@HubbuchNYP: Eli agrees that Reuben Randle needs to work harder and prepare better. Interesting coming from Manning, who rarely criticizes teammates.
Wow.
This whole Randle thing has gone viral.
Not sure I like the idea of the franchise QB publicly calling out a raw rookie who is still getting his feet wet in the NFL. I’d think these things are best handled behind closed doors.
I’m guessing everything else they’ve tried hasn’t worked. There’s probably a bit of frustration coming out in those statements. It has to be difficult to watch some rook dogging it.
there was a real lack of discipline in the Giants front seven in terms of containment, particularly from Osi Umenyiora. This is something that we see over and over , Osi sucks people…