New York Giants: New Year, Same Problems In Jacksonville Loss

New York Giants, Ereck Flowers
Sep 11, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Giants offensive tackle Ereck Flowers (74) blocks Dallas Cowboys defensive end Benson Mayowa (93) in the game at AT&T Stadium. New York won 20-19. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Giants underwent an offseason overhaul, but they made some of the same old mistakes in their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There were improvements, of course, but not enough to get the win over the reigning AFC South champions. They kept fans on the edges of their seats with a close game, but they didn’t do enough to actually finish strong and gt the touchdown that they needed.

Where did things go wrong?

Check out what fans are saying on Twitter, and you’ll see that Ereck Flowers is taking a lot of heat following the season opening loss. Flowers was moved to the right side this season but had a rough time in his first regular season game as the main man at the right tackle position. Some have blamed the loss on Flowers, and whether or not that’s the case, the performance didn’t leave a good impression.

Flowers has been a controversial figure since being drafted by the Giants, with the more optimistic fans asking for him to be given time to develop and the more pessimistic ones labeling him a bust as soon as his second season. But where is the acceptable cutoff point for how long Flowers should have to better his game? That’s a heavily debated subject, but going into the 2018 season, it looks like Flowers will be a liability once again.

Then again, the Jaguars defensive line won battles in other places, too. Calais Campbell had a great game and beat others such as Nate Solder and Will Hernandez, too. Flowers performed poorly, but the performance wasn’t unique to himself. Saquon Barkley picked up his first regular season touchdown as a Giant, but he could have done more if the tackles gave him more room to safely make outside runs.

Barkley had 106 yards, but there were too many times when he was stopped with no chance of picking up a good gain. You could also make an argument that Eli Manning looked good in this game and that he could have won the game for the Giants with better pass protection. It’s the same story as last year, when supporters of Eli argued that he simply hadn’t been given much help from the rest of his team.

Lastly, the end of the game was somewhat demoralizing. A muffed punt return robbed the Giants of a chance to win the game with less than a minute on the clock, and even if that chance would have been slim, it would be nice to at least have a shot.

It’s still too early to write off the team, and that’s not the point of this article. Only one game has passed, and it’s a long season. Not only that, but Jacksonville was a good enough team to make the conference championship round during the playoffs. Losing to a team like that isn’t the end of the world, but the underlying trend of the exact same problems carrying over into this season isn’t encouraging.

After all, the offensive line had the biggest changes during the offseason. If the problems remain going forward, it means the team will have spent both money and a second round draft pick for little gain on the field.