New York Giants Team Grades vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Coaching Staff Grade: D
This was a tough game for the coaching staff. The Giants did not seem fully prepared from the start, which is never a good thing. Their execution throughout the afternoon was poor and that partly falls upon the coaching staff.
The offense is an absolute mess. The Steelers are far from a juggernaut on that side of the ball but looked like the Steel Curtain against the Giants. They were stifled all game as Ben McAdoo abandoned the run way too early. He talked about finding balance throughout the week but ended up rushing only 14 times compared to 39 passes.
His play calling was rather poor all game as well. McAdoo has shown some aggressiveness going for it on fourth downs, but there is a time a place for that. He left at least six, if not nine, points off the board with fourth down attempts. In a game that the offense was struggling, taking three points when down 14-0 early in the second half instead of going for a touchdown was a poor decision.
His two other fourth down attempts made little sense either. If you know you are going to go for it, gaining some yards to make it a manageable conversion makes sense. Instead, he called for plays to get it all on one play, leaving the offense on the field on 4th-and-13 and 4th-and-9; one time Manning threw an interception and the other he was smothered in the backfield.
It was disappointing outcomes and poor decision making as the Giants had great field position both times. Manning’s first interception was brutal, but it can be questioned by Larry Donnell was on the field as the target inside the red zone with all of the options the Giants have in the passing game.
The offense falls on McAdoo’s shoulders and has to figure something out. Steve Spagnuolo has his unit ready week in and week out and there is only so many times they can bail out the offense. They tried their best against the high-powered Steelers offense, even forcing two turnovers, but offense didn’t come near to holding up their part of the deal.
Next: Giants vs Steelers Recap, Highlights, Final Score, More
If the team performs like this against the Dallas Cowboys expect another disappointing outcome. The Giants cannot play like this against good teams and expect to come out victorious. They snuck by the likes of the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns playing like this, but they will be met with another rude awakening next week against the Cowboys and throughout the remainder of the season if they repeated their performance from Pittsburgh.