Loading ...The New York Giants played some terrible football on Sunday. Not only did Eli Manning throw three interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown), but Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Vincent Jackson had his way with the Giants defensive backfield throughout the game. In short, the Giants appeared flat, and defeated for three quarters of the game.
However, in typical Eli Manning fashion, Big Blue scored 25 points in the fourth quarter to secure a thrilling 41-34 victory. While the Giants defense had their issues throughout the day, this unit came up big when it counted.
Needless to say, the Giants are not going to win many more games if they turn the ball over three times. There is a lot this team needs to improve upon if they want to survive the NFL's toughest schedule. That said, a win is a win, and the Giants needed one badly today.
Let's take a look at the good, the bad, and the mixed from today's matchup.
Good
The Running Game- Ahmad Bradshaw went down early in the game with a neck injury. However, Andre Brown provided a much needed spark to a Giants offense that looked lethargic in the early goings. After David Diehl went down for the game, holes seemed to open up in the run game. Brown went on to average 5.4 yards per carry for the remainder of the game. The third-year product out of NC State ran with power between the tackles and provided a semblance of balance to a Giants offense that has lacked a consistent rushing threat.
Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz- The Giants dynamic receiving duo put on a show. Cruz was consistently open in the middle of the field, and scored his first touchdown of the season on an 80-yard pass from Eli Manning. He was a man on a mission today.
Hakeem Nicks had his way with Bucs cornerback Aqib Talib for most of the second half. Despite nursing an ankle injury, Nicks came up with a huge 50-yard reception that put the Giants in position to win the game with under two minutes to play. He caused consistent matchup nightmares on the outside for the Bucs throughout the game.
Jason Pierre-Paul- JPP was all over the field today. He came up with his first sack of the season on Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman. With that, he also came up with eight tackles on the day. While the Giants pass rush was inconsistent throughout the day, JPP was a force for the entire game.
Bad
Pass Rush- The Giants had trouble generating a consistent pass rush without blitzing. In fact, both of Big Blue's sacks came when defensive coordinator Perry Fewell called for at least five men to rush the passer. However, the Giants were unable to put pressure on Josh Freeman with soley the front-four down linemen. This is the second game in which the pass rush has been sub-par, so this may be an issues to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Injuries- The Giants suffered three key injuries early on in the game. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw left with a neck issue, wideout Domenik Hixon suffered a hit to the head and right tackle David Diehl left with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Andre Brown and Will Beatty came into replace Bradshaw and Diehl, respectively. Both players actually provided a boost to the Giants offense. However, the Giants need these players come back healthy to avoid becoming thin offensively.
Red Zone Offense- The Giants took five trips to the red zone and came out with field goals on four of them. With that, the only reason they came out with a touchdown in the red zone was because the Bucs allowed Andre Brown to score in an attempt to get the ball back late in the game. Eli Manning missed a wide open Ahmad Bradshaw in the first quarter that forced the Giants to kick a field goal, and the Giants dropped several passes that should have been caught. This aspect of Big Blue's offense must improve if the team wants to beat the elite squads on their schedule.
Mixed
Eli Manning – Eli Manning threw three interceptions, one of which was returned 60-yards for a touchdown. However, he went on to explode in the second half to wind up with 510 passing yards for the game. As frustrating as it was to watch Eli potentially throw the game away in the first half, he played lights out in the fourth quarter. He won't be able to throw three interceptions and win many more games, but Eli did just enough to get the Giants a win today.
Martellus Bennett- Martellus Bennett dropped some key passes today, two of which would have resulted in touchdowns. However, he caught a huge 33-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning in the fourth quarter that gave the Giants a seven-point lead with under four-minutes left in the game. Bennett came up big when it counted, but he needs to improve his pass catching ability going forward.
Corey Webster- Webster got torched by Vincent Jackson several times throughout the game. He was a complete liability in the secondary at times, and did not look like he had improved from his poor Week one performance. However, he came up with a big interception on an ill-advised Josh Freeman pass. Webster needs to play better one-on-one coverage in the coming weeks.
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Bennett’s arm was pulled down on that 1 drop.
I would add OL under the good as well. Showed up when they had their best 5 out there.
The bar is set rather low though.
Who cares how low the bar is? The OL played WELL; 0 sacks, 600 yards of offense, with a 5+ YPC rusher.
amazingly Krow will find a negative with that though
Easy Karnak … save some of that prognostication for Thursday… well Friday.
glad to see you let go of your ankles long enough to post..
The Lord of Later … The Angel of Afterwards .. Yes yes come in now and tell us how you had it all figured. Why should this game thread be any different.
The Seahawks are absolutely jacking up the Cowboys. Sean Lee just got smoked by Golden Tate on a peel back block. Ware got de-cleated by Turbin earlier too.
Looks like Dallas shot their load last week and out all they had into that game. They are getting man handled
Diehl being injured : B.I.D.
Tuck and Osi? Where are you 2?
Corey Webster? What year is it? ’06 or ’11?
Andre Brown is Rodney Hampton……at least for a week
Bennett is going to break our hearts more than once this season
Time for Barden or Randle to shine
Randle could be our punt returner
Wilson needs to start showing something
Wilson needs a chance first.
Thank God for Andre Brown. I knew that kid was for real. And Eli just kept plugging away. I mean 510 yards? First time I’ve seen a Giant QB actually win a 500 yard throwing day game.
This is the first time I can recall a Giant team winning a game when the QB threw three INT that all lead to TD’s.
The Giants defensive backfield is in serious trouble. Because Webster and who ever else they put opposite him SUCK….big time. The Giants will almost have to draft another corner next year.
The will also have to draft an offensive tackle and guard. Then pull the trigger on a STUD MIKE backer. That means your first four picks Jerry…OK?
Hopefully, Bennett and Rivers can be re-signed long term.
Bottom line, as of this minute the New York football Giants ANE NOT a playoff caliber football team. That might change, but right now I do not see how.
I disagree on the CBs. Hosley played well on his side when he was on the outside, and they have a 1st rounder waiting to play again.
I also think almost all the big plays were with single high safety and passes down the sideline, which is what always burned them last year too. Safeties were nowhere within reach on key TB deep passes.
Part of that is Fewell’s need to bring guys down with no pass rush. But part of it is simply having one deep safety, they can’t always help over top.
Paging the pass rush!
Our Oline is actually better on here than many want to admit.. Once Brown came in and started hitting holes hard, we had a running game. Dirt has ben saying this was the case so Kudos to him. We put up like 600yds of offense today, pretty sure that doesnt happen behind a bad offensive line
Our Secondary however is atrocious. Heard a stat on ESPN that the Giants are the worst team in the league since the start of last season in the Nickel defense which is horrifying considering we play more snaps in that formation than any other. We have given up more yards, Receptions and TD’s in the nickel than an team in the NFL. Prince and Hosley need to step up soon or we are in for a very stressful season. Most concerning is that we were only rushing 4 yet constantly getting beat on the outside. Not sure if maybe we were crowding the short passing game that captain check down Josh Freeman lives off of?
That play at the end of the game was bush league and something Shiano will regret sooner if not later. Even his players were embarrassed by that . Shiano is trying to hard and it is unfortunate
Kudos to TC letting him have it
Do you think Schiano called for that play?
No, all eleven guys got in a 4pt stance and fired into our OLines knees on accident..Come on kid, of course that was coached. It was horse crap.. Shiano is a tool bag and I was a big fan of his up to that moment
Let’s all jump off the “Webster sucks” bandwagon. It’s only been two weeks, and it’s not like the guy hasn’t been an elite corner for the past few years.
he has been, but he’s been equally terrible the last 2 games. I have faith he will rebound but it is a concern
Andre Brown will be an interesting story next week
Also, as far as the pass rush is concerned, we DEARLY miss Chris Canty. The guy takes up so much space with his enormous size and wreaks havoc with extraordinary athleticism for a man of his stature. When he (hopefully) returns, I suspect the pass rush will improve.
This is a really valid point.
A valid point by Valid. lol
I thought papa Coughlin was going to kick Shiano’s a$$ there for a minute.
And Shiano would have been very deserving. What a maroon this guy is.
Under the negatives we should have the first 34 pages of the Va*ina monologue called today game thread. Luckily The giants players and coaches have more heart fire, passion, determination and fight than some of our “fans” do.. This team never gives up or stops fighting,coming back time and time again to win huge games. Yet amazingly after 2 Super Bowls in 5 years some of our “Fans” need only a bad quarter or two to start insulting the players and coaches and talking about how heartless this team is.. I actually know Cowboy and Eagle fans that talk less Ish about or hurl less insults at the Giants then some of the Clowns on this blog do..
And you do too. You’re a stalwart … a bullwork … once the deed it done you’re a tiger.
U never appreciate real time angst
Tend to agree here. I’m as negative as anybody, but I tend to stay away from the game threads because the negativity makes it even worse.
My comments today were these:
1) That this game would be fine if Eli stopped with the turnovers. He did, and we won.
2) I also speculated whether or not we were seeing the decline of Webster. He’s looked slow and lost out there to start the season. Dunno what to make of it, but I’m hoping he snaps out of it and gets back to his normal self.
3) The OL looked much better when Beatty was at LT and Locklear was at RT.
Yep, Kujo nailed it..BTW Angst is one thing..Having no sack , heart or faith is another..
Only you have it so covered. The Swami of post game. So wise .. So knowing .. So late.
LOL! Once gain…. Its not about having it figured out..Its about not acting like a little B*tch every time this team struggles.. Its about having an ounce of faith in a team and an organization that has proved so much and bought so much joy the last 5 years…But by all means, keep giving up on them and calling them heartless, gutless cowards week after week..That act never gets old.