Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Giants: Familiar Problems Continue to Plague Big Blue

By Nikhil Potpally

facebooktwitterreddit

Remarkably, the New York Giants are leading the NFC East after Week 5. In spite of this, the team is far from perfect. We’ll explore some common problems which have affected the team all-year and what kept the Giants from being 5-0.

4th Quarter Defense

The Giants have the honor of allowing the most fourth-quarter points in the NFL through five weeks. As good as the Giants defense looks through the first three quarters in every game, their fourth quarter defense has been horrible. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has some serious work to do in order for the Giants to be taken seriously, because once the Giants start playing good teams, they won’t be as lucky as they have been until now.

Their pass defense has been bad in general, but it reaches a new low in the fourth-quarter.

Drops

Whether on offense or defense, it seems like every week someone drops key catches. Even without Preston Parker, new players are dropping the ball left and right. Dwayne Harris dropped a crucial catch yesterday. Larry Donnell dropped/bobbled some passes through the first few games (but he redeemed himself yesterday).

On defense, Jonathan Casillas dropped an interception a couple weeks ago.  Uani Unga dropped multiple interceptions throughout the season. Landon Collins dropped an interception that could have clinched the game yesterday. Drops are something that this team needs to fix immediately because it older gets harder once the cold weather approaches.

Crunchtime Play Calling/Time Management

Granted, it is hard to have worse clock management than Weeks 1 & 2, but since then, the Giants have sporadically shown bad instances of this. Yesterday, Eli Manning threw an interception at the end of the first half. I don’t know why he was throwing a fade-type route to Odell Beckham when he was tightly guarded, but the play calling needs to be better in that situation. A field goal could have given them a bigger lead before receiving the ball to start the second half.

More from New York Giants

During the game-winning drive, Eli got lucky when an interception by the 49ers was overturned because the ball hit the ground. On the same drive, a timeout was granted when it appeared that no one explicitly called for one. I’m not sure whether Eli was giving receivers hand signals or whether he was asking Tom Coughlin whether to call a timeout. In either case, they shouldn’t be foolish enough to have a signal that resembles a timeout signal, or Eli should know the two-minute drill better and know whether to call a timeout or not on his own.

Roster Depth

To be honest, Jerry Reese has done a terrible job with roster depth this year. The Giants are not prepared for injuries, especially at key positions. During the final drive yesterday, there was a point when the Giants’ best receiver on the field was Shane Vereen. Rueben Randle and Beckham were sidelined with hamstring injuries, so the Giants had Myles White, Dwayne Harris, and Geremy Davis lined up wide.

Until Beckham came in and drew the pass interference penalty, the Giants heavily relied on Vereen for receiving yards. Reese did not construct his receiving corps well and was not prepared at all for injuries. The receiving corps is only one area where the Giants lack depth. The offensive line, linebackers, and corners also are areas of concern.

I wonder how Reese feels about letting James Jones go, when he was their best preseason receiver, who is now lighting it up in Green Bay.

Injuries

This ties in with the previous point, but many players are getting injured, especially in areas where they cannot afford to lose any players. Victor Cruz still hasn’t played a snap this year. Randle is dealing with injuries and came out of yesterday’s game. Beckham gave the entire stadium a scare when he hurt his hamstring. If he misses any time, the offense will be as bad as that of the Cowboys without Dez Bryant. Jon Beason suffered a concussion, and may be on the verge of missing more time. Daniel Fells suffered a MRSA infection and is out for the season.

More on Empire Writes Back: Giants-49ers Full Team Grades

The Giants are facing many problems which are keeping them from playing at their best, but still find themselves leading the NFC East. Their whole division has problems, so the Giants are currently the best of the worst. Most likely, 9 or 10 wins will be enough to win the division this year.

Unless they straighten out these recurring problems, I don’t think the Giants will continue be as lucky as they have been when they begin to play good teams.

Next: Giants First Quarter Season Grades

More from Empire Writes Back

Home/New York Giants