Now, we can probably think of several reasons the New York Giants recorded their first defeat of the season to the Jaguars, but one is unfortunately glaring.
Right tackle Ereck Flowers was the primary reason the Giants struggled on offense, recording two penalty calls on the first three plays of the game. The first was a tripping call on the very first place to put the Giants 10 yards back, and the second a holding penalty that negated a big 40-yard reception by Evan Engram.
Flowers successfully stalled the Giants on offense and couldn’t contain Yannick Ngakoue or Calais Campbell. The Jags have one of the league’s best defensive fronts, and it showed against a newly formed offensive line for Big Blue.
Ereck Flowers being Ereck Flowers ? pic.twitter.com/rUsmbEtRYL
— Gayle Saunders (@EagleSessions) September 9, 2018
Here’s a short clip that sums up Flowers’ performance on Sunday afternoon. He was consistently beat and forced Manning and the offense to rush through plays. When Manning had time he was able to efficiently manage the game and make plays, when he was under pressure everything fell apart.
https://twitter.com/barstooltweetss/status/1038873758247911424
Here’s another play where Flowers doesn’t even land a finger on the pass-rusher, completely beat him on the outside and getting to Manning in less than two seconds.
On this play, Manning throws a pick-6 that puts the Jaguars 11 points ahead. Do you want to know the worst part? Behind Flowers is Chad Wheeler. There’s no support for the entire season, we are stuck with arguable the worst starting tackle in the league.