The Giants did not play as terrible as the final score would indicate:
My thoughts:
1) Terrell Thomas really held Wes Welker in check; Welker was nearly invisible for the majority of the game and his only real catch of significance was his touchdown catch, which was really more peyton manning fooling thomas than Thomas being beat.
2) Based on the strong play of our secondary against Welker and the Broncos passing game, Denver adjusted in the 2nd half, going to a bigger package and running the ball on our edges which really exposed our linebackers. Herzlich is really awful; all he does is make a decision based on which way the offensive line is moving and run right into the center and gets flushed out of the play. He has no real recognition skills, is slow, and his power is useless if he just runs right into the offensive line. Paysinger is also a weak tackler, he's decent in coverage, but he lacks any strength and I saw Moreno carry him for extra yards on more than one occassion.
3) The game was really decided on 4 plays late in the 3rd Quarter and early in the 4th Quarter: (1) The Giants missed a tremendous opportunity to recover a fumble by Demmaryous Thomas; Mundy should have just jumped on it rather than try to pick it up, if we got that turnover then the game might have been markedly different. (2) A few plays later on a 3rd and long, Peyton Manning escaped a sack and was able to nab a first down which prolonged the drive and eventually Denver scored. (3) A fluke play in which the pass ricocheted off the defenders foot and ended up being intercepted by Denver, giving Manning a short field in which he eventually scored. (4) The Punt return by Trindon Holliday all but sealing the Denver win. If these four plays happened differently, the game would certainly have never been so lopsided.
4) Our offensive line did a terrific job pass protecting, Eli was not pressured a great deal and had decent amount of time to find open receivers. However, the run blocking was atrocious, as good as Pugh was in pass protection, he whiffed on several blocks; Snee is slow and doesn't look to be taking proper angles; Baas, Boothe, and Beatty were OK, nothing really stood out about their play, which I suppose is a good thing.
5) Eli Manning threw for 362 yards, but his total would have been even higher if some of those defensive penalties were simply catches, either way the outcome is the same, but it did show just how explosive our offense can be. Denver had to hold, interfere with passes, and illegally block routes to keep our passing game in check. However, as many have pointed out, we need to establish more of a short to intermediate passing game, simply so we can chew up more of the clock, limit turnovers, and Eli seems to get better when he throws a string of completions. As for as the interceptions goes, 3 were really not terrible decisions; the foot pick was a total fluke, the end zone at the end of the game is a garbage pick, and the one at the end of the first half seemed to be a miscommunication with the receiver. I'm blanking on the fourth one, but I think it was another end zone shot. Either way, I'm confident in our passing game working things out.
6) Herzlich really really sucks
7) I really like Brandon Myers, he has terrific hands, is a good intermediate route runner and I like his rapport with Eli. I think he's a solid addition, don't love his blocking, but he is a good outlet receiver.
8) Tuck, Kiwi, and JPP were fairly invisible for the majority of the game. There were a few pressures, but they both need more strategies. JPP relies way too much on his bull rush. I saw him push Clady back several times, which is impressive, but Clady simply found his footing and JPP just stood there trying to bat the ball down, he needs to mix up his pass rush style.
9) I think we're going to crush Carolina next week. I think the team has a lot of good things going for it, we just need to work out the kins.
You can say that about any game in any sport.
"If Mays hadn't hit that Grand Slam in the eighth inning off of Koufax, the final score would not have been so lopsided."
Many of our players are not very good, so these bad plays happened.
but, yeah, it's hard to complain about 13 receptions in two games (second most among TEs, behind only Graham)
You can't pin "no short-intermediate pass game" all on the coaches. Eli has to at least look at those options...especially when you need 10yds on third down-you don't have to always go for the home run.
The int at the end of the half was the same thing...
Frustrating.
I also am not too worried about the LB. Paysinger had a good game, IMO. When the Broncos went to the outside running game, they completely exposed the Giants DEs...none of them were any good at the POA..that's going to make any LB look horrid.
Herz is not good, though. I do agree on that.
I also thought the interior of the line was miserable in pass protection. Eli made them look much better than they were by sliding in the pocket. The pocket was pushed back in his face all game long. All of their successful blitzes came up the middle. That seems to be the plan for defeating this offense this season: blitz up the middle and cover the deep ball.
We complained about Osi on running plays...did you see Kiwi on the two 20 yard runs?
There is no pass rush from this guy....
Our OL was terrific? Define terrific?
Brandon Myers has all those catches...just like in Oakland....and now we know why....mop up passes....in the clutch when needed, can't get open on third and short, trips over his own feet, drops balls, and I swear he would lose a sprint with Ballard...
It takes a little time and practice.
1) Myers' blocking may hurt us more than his receiving helps us, but it's easier to teach blocking than to teach "good hands"
2) Randle's careless goal-line fumble hurt a lot. I still Still STILL don't understand why any player EVER doesn't secure the ball across the line.
I want to believe we will jell, but we do not have the personnel, it is a fact of life here.
Write this year off, get some good drafting for next year.
I sincerely hope someone can toss this in my face come February, but I don't think that is going to happen.
Just one slight disagreement. The D Thomas/Mundy play that was recovered by the Broncos. Peyton got the team lined up quick so they did not review that play. I think it was an incomplete pass. If we did recover the fumble, it would have been overturned on replay.
Otherwise, I think we got our asses handed to us by one of the best teams in the NFL. Luckily we don't play teams that good every week. We can compete for the division, and that's what we will do.
they gave him time to throw..and his throws were being
forced at times...he throws too hard on short passes.
The worse thing as I think I saw another reporter say
was 3 or more lob passes.INT'd the others way too long..
Murphy should be getting a deep ball..Eli was off last
night...since we have no run game, he better do some
overtime drills w/ receivers....on another note...
Reese could have gotten a better back than 34
Cam in MO : 7:59 am
be ready to hit the right stick.
It takes a little time and practice.
God dammit, I was too slow...
But guess what...that's the NFL. The games are decided by a handful of plays.
And the Giants made none of them yesterday, while the Broncos made nearly everyone.
Don't be fooled, we are a subpar football team right now, and the worst part is our offense which has become very predictable and one dimensional due to the horrible running game.
Still plenty of time to correct it, but they need to correct it soon.
No mention of Hynos,I who clearly isn't healthy. I thi k the run img game sucks in big part due to the TEs and RBs horrible blocking.
Reese really sucked and foresaked the impact of Bennett.
I'll add in the first quarter deep in our zone it looked as if Jacobs who got crushed on the run, seemed Pugh missed his blocker or snee confused the assignment.
Looked l,e the play was for pushback to pull as he did and snee to take the outside rusher, who h he didn't. Miscommunication by someone.
Wow.
The defense really hasn't been an issue. The DB's have put the clamps on some very good WR through two games, but we are turning the ball over and not controlling the ball, so the D is on the field too much and that's where the points come from.
Now, I don't know if its a lack of health in Bass/Snee, or maybe Diehl has to come in a provide a push in the run game, but they have to get it going.
I thought he was less than adequate.
And I want to see him make a catch where he has to take a hit.
The replay clearly showed this was not a catch. Peyton hurried his team to the line before it could be challenged. If the Giants recover the "fumble" Denver has enough time to challenge the catch. Denver would still have had the ball less 15 yards.
We got smoked like a pinner at a college party.