they were averaging close to 400 total yards per game through the first three games. They were still turning it over of course, that never seems to change but they were moving the ball. Granted, the Giants didn't face any great defenses but the offense was much much better through 3 games than its been since. To further this discussion it's worth noting that as much as I didn't love the 2014-2015 offensive teams they were competent and professional. So you had two years and 3 games where the O looked OK. Maybe even explosive.
After week 3 the offense went completely in the tank save for one game against the Ravens where Beckham went completely nuts. Every other game the offense sucked. They put up yards at philly but most of that came in garbage time. Home wins against the Bengals and Bears saw the offense play OK. Not good, but OK. Keep in mind both those teams sucked last year.
The drop off since game 3 has been dramatic. WTF happened? What changed? Did Eli get hurt? He sure as hell didn't look injured in January at Green Bay. Did Eli take a few shots early on last year that subsequently led to a business decision mentality? Did the Vereen injury last year really have an impact? Is Vereen the same player today that he was early on last year. Did the OL regress? Did the league figure out McAdoo's offense? Is it a little bit of everything?
This fucking sucks. This offense is worse than 2013! I defended McAdoo because they won last year and we all figured that with some new replacements over the dead weight the offense would improve. It hasn't. Through two games it's worse than any that I can remember.
What the hell happened? There have been instances where plays can be made. Eli misses a guy. Then he hits a guy and the ball is dropped. Then the OL falls apart on a critical drive. Then the RB misses a hole or fails to break a tackle. Then a critical penalty. Then a brutal indecisive sequence where the O seems to be confused.
This is McAdoo's first true crisis unless you count 2-3 heading into the Ravens game last season. To me this is worse. Doubt is creeping in. They are losing their confidence right before our very eyes. You can see it.
Forget the short term thinking and trying to save the season. That's all well and good but really we don't want the wheels to completely fall off here and have McAdoo on a death watch heading into next season. This team needs to find its identity and battle this season. Remember the 2006 Giants? That was a brutal year but they battled. They sowed the seeds for a tough championship team. That was a sneaky good season. That can still happen here.
This is McAdoo's offense. This is Eli Manning who has been playing for 14 seasons. We are running out of excuses here. When you run out of excuses....things go scorched earth. Scary. We don't want that.
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The entire team's attention to detail is poor, low IQ football.
The opportunities are short passes. Receivers aren't breaking tackles. Being held short of the down markers.
Doesn't help that the OL isn't good on its best day. But I think the Giants are getting fooled right before our very eyes. I think they felt that Eli was still an elite QB that could cover up warts and as of this moment, that's not happening. The warts are winning.
Eli has not been quite the same since... - ( New Window )
The opportunities are short passes. Receivers aren't breaking tackles. Being held short of the down markers.
They have played weak teams since then and they still haven't played to the level they displayed first 3 weeks of 2016. Dallas fucking sucks and yet the last two games the Giants made them look like the 85 Bears.
OL has digressed.......Vereen looks to be a shell of the player we signed up for. The Marshall signing, so far, looks to be a push when compared to Cruz (although Cruz would give you the big play - see New Orleans game).
I think the scheme, along with the players running it, is playing right into opposing defenses. Other than OBJ, no player garners any respect as a real threat with the route trees we are using.
And Eli - who can still throw it - is being wasted because of the lack of protection and philosophy. You're asking Eli to perform like you'd want Trevor Siemian to perform. And Siemian probably is the better fit with a short and quick passing game. Simple, quick throws that doesn't put you at risk and lets the receivers/backs do the work.