The New York Giants didn’t start the 2014 NFL season quite like they had hoped, dropping their opener to the Lions in an embarrassing fashion, 35-14.
The Giants looked subpar in every facet of the game, totaling just 197 yards of offense while surrendering 417 to the Lions. New York averaged just 3.5 yards per play, displaying an offensive group that did not look comfortable in the new scheme implemented by offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
With a nightmarish Week 1 game in the rear view mirror, the Giants are set to square off with the Arizona Cardinals in the MetLife Stadium home opener. If the G-Men have victory in mind, here are five adjustments they will need to make.
Blitz more
The Giants’ pass rush was a major concern heading into the season. After a Week 1 beatdown at the hands of Matthew Stafford and the Lions offense, the pass rush appears to be a bigger issue than many thought.
They forced 15 hurries of Stafford but were unable to lay a single hit on the former No. 1 pick, according to Pro Football Focus. The lack of pressure enabled the 26-year-old quarterback to pass for 346 yards and two touchdowns despite strong coverage by the Giants’ secondary for most of the evening.
It’s clear a simple four-man rush isn’t going to get the job done, especially with defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka struggling to generate any sort of push on his side. As a result, the Giants should look into utilizing blitz packages that force the opposing quarterback to get rid of the ball quickly. With ballhawks in the secondary like Antrel Rolle, Stevie Brown and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, the G-Men could reap the benefits in the turnover game.
Catch the football
Earlier this week, wideout Victor Cruz made his thoughts known on what he thinks needs to be done to help the offense do better: Get him the ball.
There’s just one thing Cruz is ignoring: Eli Manning did get him the ball. In fact, he threw it to him six times over the course of the game. Cruz caught two for 26 yards, but also dropped two passes that could’ve gone for positive gains when the Giants really needed it.
Of the Giants’ seven players to make a reception, only two graded positively by PFF. Cruz was the game’s worst, earning a -2.0 mark.
Rueben Randle, who Cruz also said needed to get more targets, was targeted three times with two receptions for just one yard. He was the second-worst receiver with a -1.5 mark.
Going forward, the Giants will need to include these two receivers more. But both must put more effort into getting open and catching the football when it hits them in the hands, as do the rest of Manning’s receivers—the G-Men had four drops in total Monday night.
Know the assignment
It’s understood that the Giants are working in a new offense, so it’s going to take time for all of the players to get it down 100 percent. But in a defensive scheme led by Perry Fewell that has been in place since 2010, there is no excuse for some of the miscues that popped up against Detroit.
Specifically, the poor play in coverage by safety Stevie Brown and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on at least two occasions. The biggest of those was Calvin Johnson’s 67-yard touchdown reception, when both players got caught looking into the backfield on a Matthew Stafford scramble and—unfathomably—forgot about the NFL’s best wide receiver streaking down the middle of the field.
Rodgers-Cromartie had Johnson in man coverage. Brown was covering the deep zone. Both forgot their assignment and the Giants paid the price. That first Lions touchdown set the tone for an embarrassing performance across the board for the G-Men in the 2014 season opener.
The season has only just begun, but guys should have a better understanding of what their assignments are on a given play. Losing sight of that often results in big-time plays for the opposing team, which they learned the hard way. They must execute better going forward.
Execute
Which leads to the next point: The Giants must commit to better execution. The coaches can draw up the greatest game plan in the world, but it will be all for naught if the players are unable to make it happen on the field.
Linebacker Jon Beason voiced the same belief in an interview with the media Tuesday.
“You play 60 snaps or whatever it was yesterday and if every guy who plays has one or two mental [mistakes], you can’t win a game that way, unfortunately,” Beason said. “That is a problem, but it is a problem that we can control.”
Tom Coughlin has become so repetitive in discussing the Giants’ need to have better execution, but the 68-year-old head coach is right. Sometimes, it’s simply a lack of execution that keeps New York from playing at the caliber they are capable of.
Protect the quarterback
It’s obviously easier said than done, but offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and offensive line coach Pat Flaherty desperately need to find a way to provide quarterback Eli Manning with time to stand in the pocket and make throws down the field. While No. 10 may not have had his greatest game, just about any NFL quarterback would have trouble throwing with two or three rushers in his face on every play.
Fully expected Eli to be a bounce back QB this season, but I dont think even Peyton could succeed behind this line
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) September 9, 2014
Moreso than anything else, protecting Manning will be the Giants’ key to victory against the Arizona Cardinals and throughout the season. It showed in the rare instances he had time to throw and, were it not for four dropped passes and a miscue by Larry Donnell which resulted in an interception, his stat line was actually not that terrible all things considered (18-of-33 for 163 yards and one touchdown).
Backup Ryan Nassib improved leaps and bounds during the preseason, but he’s not ready to lead an NFL offense. If the offensive line can’t make the necessary improvements to protect Manning however, an injury to the 11-year veteran could force the Giants to call on Nassib much sooner than originally expected.
