New York Giants Again Prove that They Cannot Defeat a Good Team

With the offense continuing to struggle yet again for the 12th consecutive game, the New York Giants confirmed Sunday that they are not capable of defeating a quality team.

Entering the Week 13 match-up against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a record of 8-3, it was easy for fans to get disillusioned by the team’s “success”. Following the loss, these fans came back down to reality and came closer to accepting that the 2016 Giants are fool’s gold.

The Giants were never a good team this season and merely took advantage of a favorable schedule. For however good their defense is, their offense is the complete opposite. The six-game win streak? All against average and below average teams. Against good teams? The Giants are 1-4.

Let’s quickly analyze the six-game winning streak. The Giants beat the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, and Cleveland Browns. None of those teams are serious playoff contenders (with the possible exception of the Ravens), and yet the Giants’ performances were ugly in each game. Even against lousy teams, their offense was unable to fire on all cylinders.

This is not something you’d like to see from a Wild Card team. At 8-4, winning the NFC East is very unlikely, considering that the Dallas Cowboys are 11-1. In fact, I have no confidence that the Giants can defeat a playoff-caliber team. When looking at the Giants’ four losses, you can see why.

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They lost to the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers. As we sit here today, the Vikings and Packers are quickly slipping from the playoff picture, whereas the Redskins and Steelers have not met their expectations. The Giants’ ineptitude on offense is absolutely inexcusable, considering all of the talent on the roster.

We can sit around blaming the playcaller, Ben McAdoo, but the offensive problems extend beyond the coach. Eli Manning has not been the same player as he was in previous years, and regardless of his completion percentage, he has not played well in this offense.

News was made of Manning apologizing to rookie Sterling Shepard for not throwing him the ball against the Browns, but instead, Manning should be apologizing to the team for his bad decision making. A few of his 12 interceptions were not his fault (tipped balls), but he’s also lucky that he doesn’t have more. His two picks against the Steelers destroyed any chance for momentum and were reflective of his 2015 interceptions: bad decisions at inopportune times.

Aside from the interceptions, Manning’s decision making needs to improve in other aspects as well. He has been overly conservative this season, settling for far too many check down passes and screens. Quite often, we don’t see Manning targeting receivers not named Odell Beckham Jr. Victor Cruz has pretty much been ignored in recent games and was not even targeted once against Pittsburgh (but I don’t think Manning will be apologizing to him this week).

This offensive line is a major factor, and their poor play is the cause for the lack of running game. The line’s depth was questioned beginning the season when people expected John Jerry and Marshall Newhouse to get beat often. What they did not expect is for Ereck Flowers to continue his struggles.