The New York Giants suffered a deafening loss to the New Orleans Saints by a score of 33-18, and while the score indicated the defense played poorly, it was actually the offense that forced their hand.
In the first half, the Giants’ defense managed to contain the Saints to four field goals on four red-zone trips. Most of which were at the hands of the offense who couldn’t gain any momentum and struggled to give the defense decent field position on punts.
Here are three concerning observations in regard to the New York Giants’ overall team:
1.) The offensive line
Despite pouring $15 million into left tackle Nate Solder and another $5 million on right guard Patrick Omameh, the Giants’ offensive line has seemed to remain dismal. The right side has struggled to pick up stunts and lock down their man, and center John Greco had a tough game after a solid performance against Houston.
But, the issue that I have perceived is the lack of ability from quarterback Eli Manning. Now, there’s no doubt that Manning can still succeed under the right circumstances, but the Giants are far and away from what he requires. At this point, the offense is better managed by a semi-mobile quarterback that can use his legs to extend plays. If Big Blue falls to a 1-6 record, I would like to see rookie QB Kyle Lauletta get a shot at the starting job.
Back to the line – next offseason the Giants must allocated more resources whether it be draft picks or cap-space towards a solid right tackle. While Chad Wheeler seems to be holding up a bit better than Ereck Flowers, his presence is not elite, maybe not even average. Omameh has been better, but communication on the right side seems to be holding the entire line back.
2.) The pass rush
Is it concerning to think that rookie DL B.J. Hill has been the Giants’ most effective pass-rusher this season? Considering they have Lorenzo Carter, Connor Barwin, and Alec Ogletree, it’s tough to imagine that the supposed interior lineman would be the team’s best rusher to date. Now, we know that Olivier Vernon will ultimately return and offer immense value against the pass and run, but at this rate it will have been four weeks before he even touches the field on game-day – that’s a quarter of the season.
Against the Saints, the Giants recorded just one sack and two quarterback hits. That’s unacceptable against a team that thrives off of Drew Brees’ arm.
3.) The play calling
If I were to tell you that the Giants didn’t take a single shot more than 20 yards down field against the Saints, what would you think? The Saints have one of the league’s worst secondaries, and after the game, Ken Crowley, a cornerback for New Orleans, stated that several deep balls were missed by Manning.
Teams have beaten the gold and white by simply throwing the ball deep and exposing their single high-safety look. The Giants couldn’t even manage to get one pass down field…why? Because they put so much pressure on Manning, which is the recipe for success against the Giants, that they ultimately only needed to play soft zone coverage the entire game to pull off a win.
Head coach Pat Shurmur needs to get more creative with his play calling and stick to the run game. Saquon Barkley had only 10 rushes, but he picked up 44 yards on the ground averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Running the ball on first down gives the offense some breathing room, and we didn’t see much of that in an embarrassing loss to the Saints at home.