The New York Giants, with a stunned coaching staff, a falling apart offensive line and an overrated defensive front, aren’t the only team that is still win-less in the 2013 NFL season, but have looked as bad or worse than the rest of the league up to his point, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get much better anytime soon.
No one is going to look worse than the Jacksonville Jaguars this season, with a total of 28 points so far this season, but the Giants seem to be the next in line. Things can’t get much worse than losing 38-0 to the Carolina Panthers, almost the worst shutout loss in franchise history, as the turnover machine named Eli Manning kept trying to make something happen against a team that has one of the weakest secondary units in the NFL, or so the Giants have been told.
It’s hard to asses how bad the Giants have fallen over the last two years because Tom Coughlin, and the rest of the coaching staff simply seem in some sort of shock from the beginning of this season. If a loss to the Dallas Cowboys is something to be accepted, their performance the following week against the Denver Brocnos and simply not showing up to the game in Charlotte was completely coming from left field.
I thought that we were in a position today that we would be able to put our best foot forward. But we never gave ourselves a chance, competitively, to be in the game. We didn’t win the physical battle against Denver either. And clearly, offensively, we lost the physical battle today as well. I expect everybody in that room to fight with the same passion I have, and I’ll be looking hard for those who are not.
The Giants aren’t the only team in the NFL to fall asleep after years of success. Going back to last season, they’ve lost 8 of 11 since Halloween, when they opened their Super Bowl defense with a 6-2 record, looking like one of the best teams in the NFL. But it’s more than just Jason Pierre-Paul coming back slowly from injury, or anything individual. The last two years the Giants have failed to notice the cracks in their offensive line which has turned into one big gaping hole, or the declining quality of their defensive line, letting Osi Umenyiora go without actually finding a suitable replacement.
Justin Tuck has been terrible, and the linebackers have absolutely no effect on the game. However, the guys protecting Eli Manning, who was sacked 7 times against the Panthers, including six in the first half, are doing terribly.
The left tackle Will Beatty was probably the main man to blame as the Panthers smothered Manning again and again, causing him to throw his eighth interception of the season. Having a relatively small left tackle is a risk, which doesn’t seem to paying off for the Giants. Right tackle Justin Pugh is a rookie; Chris Snee is getting old, weak and slow, while David Baas has always been a disappointment.
With that happening on both ends of the football, it doesn’t really matter that David Wilson is a great runner who needs to get his fumbling problem in check, or it doesn’t matter that Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks are waiting for passes. Manning doesn’t have time to get them the ball, which makes their expensive presence almost redundant at the moment, unless they also chip in and try to save Manning from pass-rushing opponents.
As with the Steelers, the Giants were stuck too much in the past. No league chances as quickly as the NFL does, and the Giants were caught napping, and probably a bit over reliant on Eli Manning’s ability, which has always been overrated. Once the safety blankets have been taken off, there isn’t anywhere for him to hide as well.