Giants vs. Falcons: Mismanaging Clock, Situations Do In Big Blue

By Kenneth Teape | Sep 20, 2015

Another week, another game the New York Giants blow in horrible fashion.. For the second consecutive week, the Giants held a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter, and for the second consecutive week they left the field with a loss. The culprit once again was extremely poor clock management.

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In a very similar situation to the once they faced last week against the Dallas Cowboys, the Giants once again faltered trying to hold onto a lead. With under 4:30 remaining in the game, the Giants offense held a four point lead with a chance to put the Falcons away. For some reason, Andre Williams was tasked as the clock killing running back, and gained only one yard on first down.

On second down Eli Manning completed a two-yard pass to Larry Donnell, putting the Giants in third-and-long. This is when the Giants showed teams another way to not manage the clock correctly. Coming off the Falcons’ second timeout, the Giants’ offense was unable to get set up in an appropriate time, and received a delay of game penalty. As if third-and-seven wasn’t bad enough, the Giants now put themselves in an untainable third-and-12. They ran a quick pass to rookie Geremy Davis, picking up only five yards and being forced to punt.

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One question; where are your playmakers? Williams has proven time and time again he is not much more than a plodder and not ideal when you are trying to move the ball and eat clock. Where is Rashad Jennings or Shane Vereen? Also, if you are going to attempt passes, why is the ball not going to your most talented player in Odell Beckham Jr.?

Running only 1:12 off the clock, the Giants handed the Falcons back the ball with plenty of time. They didn’t need much of it, as they cut through the Giants defense like a hot butter through knife. It would have gone even quicker had a Julio Jones touchdown from Matt Ryan not been overturned, forcing the Falcons to run two more plays before Devonta Freeman punched it in.

While the Falcons didn’t give the Giants a ton of time, as their drive started with only 1:04, the Giants had two timeouts at their disposal so nothing in the playbook needed to be discarded. When Beckham Jr. drew a 30-yard pass interference call, the Giants were in great position at midfield with two timeouts and about a minute left to play.

Sep 20, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (13) runs for a touchdown during the first half of their game against the Atlanta Falcons at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

One would imagine that the Giants would try getting the ball into Vereen or Beckham Jr.’s hands once again to make a play in the middle of the field. Or try a draw play with Jennings or Vereen to try catching the Falcons off guard. With two timeouts, the possibilities were plentiful for the Giants with their whole playbook available to them.

Guess how many timeouts the Giants ended the game with? If you guessed two, you got it right. Despite having two timeouts, Ben McAdoo called deep drop backs for Manning. The results were disastrous, as Manning overthrew a stretched out Donnell up the seam. He then targeted third-string tight end Jerome Cunningham up the left sideline, with the ball floating through the air and falling to the ground short as he was hit on the play.

Manning was then crushed on third down, avoiding an intentional grounding penalty because Preston Parker was in the vicinity, but the Giants were called for an illegal touching when Geoff Schwartz looked like he attempted to catch the pass.

So in fourth-and-long with the game on the line, the Giants drew up a play for

Beckham Jr.

Parker, even though it looked like Manning fired high over Donnell again. Either way, the result of the play was another drop by Parker, whose total now stands at at least five through two games, each one more important than the last.

So the Giants record moves to one of the toughest 0-2 records to be seen. They held 10-point leads in consecutive weeks and found a different way each time to lose the game. But, the common theme thus far for the Giants, is their inability to effectively manage the clock and situations during the game.

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