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New York Giants: Despite Win, Offense Still Struggles

By Nikhil Potpally

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For two consecutive weeks, the New York Giants were able to secure a 4th quarter lead and turn it into a win. Unlike last week, today’s win was against a quality team, the Buffalo Bills. In spite of winning 24-10, the Giants’ offense still struggled and limped its way across the finish line.

Oct 4, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) blocks Buffalo Bills strong safety Bacarri Rambo (30) as New York Giants running back Rashad Jennings (23) runs the ball in the endzone for a second half touchdown at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Giants beat the Bills 24 to 10. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Whereas the Giants should really be 4-0 and leaders of the NFC East, the offense failed to keep up yet again. Credit for today’s win should go almost entirely to the defense, which managed to have some resemblance of a pass-rush and was able to get key stops on 4th down. The Giants were able to score points off turnovers and for four straight weeks, the defense kept them in the game. The run defense was able to contain Karlos Williams, a promising rookie starting for LeSean McCoy, and have established themselves as a solid run defense. In prior weeks, the Giant defense wasn’t able to apply pressure and allowed too many big plays. This week, the defense truly shined, and made up for the offensive struggles once again.

The offense didn’t really establish momentum during any part of the game, and relied much on Buffalo’s penalties. Coming into the game, the Bills’ defensive line was arguably the best in football. After the first series, the Giants lost starting tackle Ereck Flowers and all hope seemed lost. However, the Bills pass rush wasn’t a major factor in today’s win and the offensive line was able to step up. The same cannot be said for the rest of the offense.

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For the majority of the game, the best player on offense looked like Dwayne Harris. The running game was never established and Eli Manning looked out-of-sync with his receivers. Miscommunications and wrong routes were evident throughout, but no vertical passing game was observable. I would’ve thought that coordinator Ben McAdoo would test the Bills’ defense at least once with a deep ball down the middle to Odell Beckham Jr, but even that wasn’t attempted. When the fourth quarter arrived, the Giants hadn’t separated themselves from the win, and the Bills had a chance to take control.

The turning point of the game was Rashad Jennings‘s 51-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. This gave the Giants a two score lead after the two-point conversion and at the time, the game looked secure. Not to take credit away from Jennings, but a touchdown on that drive could have been non-existent if the Bills tackled him in one of their three chances. A short screen found its way into the end zone along the sidelines, and the Giants were able to breathe a sigh of relief. That lucky play doesn’t morally make up for the bad rest of the drive, even if it did result in a touchdown. The offense was never really able to penetrate the Bills’ defense today and was largely helped by costly Buffalo penalties. With under five minutes to go in the game, the Giants had given the Bills an opportunity which they failed to capitalize upon. Memories of previous weeks were flashing back to some fans.

Down the stretch, with around 4:00 left in the 4th quarter, late-game time management issues arose for the Giants. Even if this is lost in the win, it’s still fair to point out their decision-making flaws. Instead of running down the clock as much as possible with a 14-point lead or having the Bills burn their three timeouts, the Giants threw the ball on two consecutive plays. After a short screen to the running back on 1st down, the Giants failed to continue running down the clock. On 2nd down, Manning threw a pass to Beckham in the end zone, resulting in an incompletion. On the next play, Eli threw in the direction of Rueben Randle, but the pass was intercepted by Stephon Gilmore. The Bills ended up getting the ball with 3:51 to go and three timeouts, and once again Giants fans were on the edge of their seat.

Instead of running off an extra 80 seconds from the clock and eventually kicking a field goal, the Giants did not shave any time off the clock and turned the ball over. At worst, the Bills would have been forced to burn their timeouts in effort to stop the clock, but the Giants by then would have clinched the win with a field goal. Instead, an unnecessary pick on a bad play-call gave the Bills the ball around their 30-yard line with all three timeouts left.

This lack of clock management is unacceptable in Week 4, especially after similar miscues in the first two weeks cost them precious wins. Had the Bills scored a touchdown and recovered an onside kick, fans would be fuming right now. After Weeks 1 & 2, fans know that this series of events isn’t as unlikely as it seems.

Lost in the win was the lack of production by the offense. Take away the 51-yard touchdown and the offensive stats look more unimpressive. Today’s win was largely attributed to the defense and their ability to rise up to the challenge. Not having to face McCoy and Sammy Watkins helps, but the defensive heart was demonstrated today.

On the other side, the offense still requires major improvement. A Victor Cruz setback doesn’t bode well for the passing game, and the receiving corps looked thin today. Harris and Beckham suffered temporary injuries, and the depth was severely lacking. I don’t think these two wins mean that McAdoo doesn’t deserve to be on the hot seat anymore. The offense hasn’t clicked all season and time management problems haven’t been corrected. The defense has thoroughly outperformed the offense in all four game thus far, and the offense is looking far from dynamic.

Except for this. This looked dynamic, even if it didn’t count:

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