New York Giants’ Offense Struggles Once Again Under Ben McAdoo
Just when fans thought head coach Ben McAdoo would place more emphasis on Eli Manning’s throwing arm, the lackluster offensive performance against the Los AngelesRams was a step backward.
One week after showing flashes of aggressive playcalling, the New York Giants‘ reverted back to their conservative offense and struggled once again against the Los Angeles Rams. The Giants did not even attempt one deep ball in Sunday’s game and again put out an unimpressive offense.
Based on his “success” as an offensive coordinator, McAdoo did not deserve to become head coach of the Giants. In 2014 and 2015, the Giants won a combined total of 12 games. McAdoo benefited immensely by the play of Odell Beckham Jr, and was erroneously given credit for making the offense dynamic.
While everyone in the front office was drooling over Eli Manning‘s “high” completion percentage, they ignored the fact that this was due to a conservative system that did not take many downfield shots. It was not McAdoo’s play calls short passes that led to gaudy offensive numbers, it was Beckham’s greatness alone. A thirteen-year-old kid playing Madden could call plays for Beckham and achieve equal offensive production as McAdoo did.
In spite of lacking experience and success as an offensive coordinator (really, what did he achieve?), John Mara promoted McAdoo to head coach this offseason. The offensive struggles this year are more glaring, but they were no different than in previous years under McAdoo.
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Red zone offense was never good under McAdoo even during his time as an offensive coordinator. McAdoo likes to design screen plays and short passes outside the red zone, but throws this all out the window when the offense is in goal line situations.
Instead of relying on an unestablished and ineffective run game, he should create slants or drags for his stud wide receivers. The Giants leave far too many points on the field, settling for field goals after being unable to score touchdowns. Prior to Sunday, the Giants were 5-for-14 in the red zone. Many of the offense’s touchdowns this year have come from outside the red zone, and this trend cannot continue.
Another issue is that the Giants offense cannot score points against bad defenses either. Against a depleted Cowboys’ defense, they put up 20 points. Against the woeful Saints, they could not score an offensive touchdown. Against the Redskins, their offense struggled when the game was on the line.
Against a good Vikings defense, they could not score until the game’s outcome was already decided. Against the Packers, the offense could not cash in easy opportunities. Against a depleted Ravens defense, the offense struggled until they shifted to aggressive playcalling. Against the Rams, they only scored one offensive touchdown and won because of the defense.
Whereas McAdoo is to be blamed for the conservative play calls, he was not the man who built this roster. General manager Jerry Reese has not done much to help the offense and has given the offense minimal depth outside of WR.
The Giants did not have a good starting offensive line to begin the season, and the lack of depth is showing. With Marshall Newhouse injured, Bobby Hart is the next man up. Both Newhouse and Hart are backups on any other team, and the fact that they are starting for the Giants says enough about Reese.
Aside from the offensive line, Reese has not provided Manning with any reliable tight-end weapons. Manning has often utilized a tight-end as a red zone option in the past, but Will Tye and Larry Donnell are not impacting games this year.
Donnell was coming off a serious injury and even when he was healthy, he was frequently bobbling balls and dropping them. Tye was an undrafted free agent last year and he shouldn’t have been inserted into a major role this season. By failing to secure a solid tight-end (a la Jared Cook) during the offseason, Reese deprived Manning of another potential receiving target.
The conservative offense is concerning to many fans, but so is the way the Giants have struck out so far with their big offseason splurges. Janoris Jenkins, for all his “shutdown play”, has been burned at least once per game and gives up big plays. Olivier Vernon‘s production has been non-existent thus far (one sack) and has not lived up anywhere close to his $85M contract. They have zero safety depth and their starting linebackers would be bench players on other teams.
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I don’t think the Giants can beat a good team unless their offense leads the way, and without aggressive playcalling, this offense fails to reach its potential. With so many weapons to choose from, it’s baffling how McAdoo is scared to go deep with Manning as his QB.
Unless their defense continues to keep them in games, the Giants will not make the playoffs this year because of their underachieving offense.