...shit for last night.
I'm no Eli apologist on this site, never have been. But this isn't primarily about a lack of QB mobility. This is about a franchise's 7-year failure to create an offensive line worthy of the name.
Last night, Barkley was being drilled as soon as he touched the ball. His rushing stats sucked, but we would never say HE sucked! And that's because he is plagued by the same thing that's plaguing Eli:
The worst offensive line in the NFL.
The playoffs are for others; not this team. My only hope this season is that Eli does not go down with a succession of concussions, or something worse.
Saquon Barkley; OBJ... great, great football players. But what is their value when your team is playing without an offensive line?
And that brings me to John Mara: The buck stops with him and since the last Super Bowl his performance has been abysmal. He has made watching the Giants unbearable.
That's the dilemma we faced. The one we face now is that the first two games make it look like we missed again. Time will tell, and it's early, but my biggest sinking fear is that we may still be in the same boat after this year. We couldn't fix the entire line in one off season, but did we fix any of it?
Regarding Eli, he's good enough to be part of a winning team, but he's not going to carry the team. personally, I think he was only able to elevate the team above the sum of the parts on a limited basis, and now that he's older, the 'it' factor has abandoned him.
The next NYG QB isn't on the roster, and the Giants have to make it a priority to find one. Unfortunately, they will likely be drafting high enough next year to get one.
This. 1000%
That's the dilemma we faced. The one we face now is that the first two games make it look like we missed again. Time will tell, and it's early, but my biggest sinking fear is that we may still be in the same boat after this year. We couldn't fix the entire line in one off season, but did we fix any of it?
Regarding Eli, he's good enough to be part of a winning team, but he's not going to carry the team. personally, I think he was only able to elevate the team above the sum of the parts on a limited basis, and now that he's older, the 'it' factor has abandoned him.
+1
Just feels like a breakout game from the offense is coming soon...
Just feels like a breakout game from the offense is coming soon...
LOL
So would a more elusive QB be effective? Marginally. Is Eli a good match for a crappy line? Off course not. But given any time he can be effective. The bile about him being scared or soft or holding the Giants back is really sad. If I were him, I would retire today before he gets hurt. He (despite his looks) is a tough SOB that got battered last night. He (and the Giants) deserve better.
I think the point is averaging 2.5 YPC is an indictment of the OL rather than Barkley.
We have to hope that is a chemistry and cohesion problem that will lessen as they continue to play together. Hernandez is also a rookie. But the end result right now is that teams are getting pressure and controlling the LOS with just four or five DL, meaning they can drop six or seven into coverage. That produces checkdowns and dump offs which lengthen the field.
The old saw goes to get your blockers before you get your running back, but Giant management ignored this. Barkley, the best running back
prospect since Adrian Peterson, was supposed to pick up yardage on his own.
And maybe there’s a reason that you play your first team in preseason, especially when you have a lot of new players. Great, no injuries in preseason because no one played, but then when the games count your offense is running around like a headless chicken.
I think in 2 games, the first man to touch him has only brought him down 3 times.
There were several plays last night where he made 3-4 guys miss and still has to fend off another wave just to get a 5 yard gain.
Halipio just seems to lack awareness most of the time - looking to the left with no one in sight while a blitzer runs right past him on the left. On the first and goal from the 3 - toss sweep to Barkley, he snaps the ball and his man blew right past him.
I'm hopeful that the veteran Greco can stablize this group. How in the Hell the coaches thought Halipio was better than Jones is a real mystery.
Barkley was overhyped and management bit on it. They thought that they could immediately get a running game even with little or no improvement in run blocking.
A very costly mistake. By the time they fix the O-Line, Barkley will have taken a pounding for three or four seasons.
As things stand now, by the time we put a decent OL together (if we ever do) Eli will be done.
No plan.
But I think Shurmur needs to be thrown into the mix. Frankly, and granted it's only two games, I have a hard time differentiating him from McAdoo. At least McAdoo had the excuse of missing many key components.
Agree. Just not to the Dline though...