New York Giants: Odell Beckham Jr. Miami Trip Gives Unwarranted Pass To Other Struggles

The New York Giants struggles are getting an unwarranted pass because of the Odell Beckham Jr. Miami trip and post-game reaction to the loss.

The New York Giants had a tough game against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers blew the Giants out in their much-anticipated Wild Card game, as they overcame some early struggles to take control of the game. Not surprisingly, a ton of focus is being placed on wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham Jr. garnered some unwanted attention earlier this week when he and his fellow wide receivers decided to spend their day off in Miami. They did not break any rules, as head coach Ben McAdoo gave the players Monday off. But, it was a decision that Beckham Jr. would rue following the game.

The only way for that Miami trip would not be brought up was if Beckham Jr. had a good game. Even had the Giants lost, as long as Beckham Jr. had a good game it would be difficult to blame the loss on that trip. Well, the Giants lost and Beckham Jr. was a reason why.

Beckham Jr. struggled right out of the gate. He had a crucial drop on third down on the Giants opening series of the game. Had he caught that pass, the Giants would have been in field goal range to take an early lead. Things only got worse after that.

Beckham Jr. would suffer another drop on the following drive, one that would have resulted in a touchdown for the Giants and a 7-0 lead. Instead, the Giants had to settle for a field goal and 3-0 lead. It was only the first quarter, but Beckham Jr. already had multiple drops, only the third time in his career that has happened according to ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini.

In a game of this magnitude and against a team as strong as the Packers you need to make plays when they present themselves. Beckham Jr. was not the only one to blame, as Sterling Shepard was also credited with a drop on a pass that would have also gone for a touchdown. Again, the Giants settled for a field goal, going ahead 6-0.

Already that is, at worst, 11 points left on the board by the Giants receivers. A 17 or 14 point lead changes this game drastically. Instead, the Giants only led by six and surrendered that lead on the Packers first touchdown of the game. The Packers would never look back, as they ended up blowing out the Giants 38-13.

It was a game of missed opportunities highlighted by the underwhelming showing from Beckham Jr. The most explosive player on the Giants roster was held in check for a second time this season by a banged up and struggling Packers secondary. Beckham Jr. would catch only four passes for 28 yards on 11 targets.

That is the second-lowest yardage in a game for Beckham Jr. in his career according to ESPN Stats and Info, with his career-low coming earlier this season against the Minnesota Vikings.

Because of the trip and his subsequent no-show, all of the focus is on Beckham Jr. post game. Things were only heightened with his post game antics. Beckham Jr. reportedly banged his head against lockers and punched a hole in a wall, which has drawn major attention from all media outlets.

Do a quick search for the Giants and that will dominate the news. All of the stories focus on Beckham Jr.; whether it be what he reportedly did after the game or how the Miami trip impacted his performance. On the Giants ESPN team page alone there are seven posts focused on Beckham Jr.; SEVEN!

There is no question that Beckham Jr. is an emotional player; he clearly cares about his craft. But, when is enough, enough? This may come as a surprise to some people based on the coverage, but there was a lot more than went wrong in the game that Beckham Jr.’s struggles. While people focus on Beckham Jr.’s he is merely part of the reason for the Giants loss; not the sole reason.

Beckham Jr. brought a lot of attention upon himself because of his antics, but he was not the only player dropping Eli Manning passes. The drops are very uncharacteristic for Beckham Jr., who had only two games previously in his career with multiple drops.

Beckham Jr. was not out there playing safety, allowing Randall Cobb to sneak behind the defense on the Hail Mary pass. Had Beckham Jr. been in the game, there is a chance he knocks that down; he has already done it previously this season.

Beckham Jr. was not playing cornerback getting picked apart by Aaron Rodgers; that would be Trevin Wade and Eli Apple struggling to pick up the slack left behind by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.

While his play hurt the Giants, it can be argued that the special teams hurt the Giants more than Beckham Jr.’s drops did. Points are not guaranteed; there is no guarantee that Robbie Gould would have knocked down a field goal had Beckham Jr. caught the third-down pass on the opening drive; he could have missed the kick or a turnover could have ensued. What did result from Giants shortcomings? The Packers easily winning the field position game.

The special teams were a disaster for the Giants all game. Brad Wing struggled punting, and the Giants had issues covering kickoffs and punts. The Giants return game, on the other hand, did nothing all game, with Bobby Rainey‘s misread on a kickoff being the punctuation mark; Rainey caught a kickoff along the sidelined and his momentum carried him out of bounds at the three-yard.

The special teams edge the Packers had was a huge reason for the Giants lack of success. Without a running game, the Giants became one-dimensional very quickly, making things much easier for the Packers defense to dissect.

But you won’t see people discussing those topics much. Everything will focus on Beckham Jr. and what he did Monday before the game and the hours right after the game. Focusing on those aspects gives an unwarranted pass to the other areas of the game that the Giants struggled in against the Packers.

Maybe it was a choice Beckham Jr. preemptively made to take the blame and attention off his teammates; his actions have clearly changed the attention of media and fans alike.

Next: New York Giants Team Grades vs Green Bay Packers

Whatever the reason may be, there were a lot of reasons that the Giants lost the game. Focusing on the Miami Trip as the main reason is a copout for the rest of the players that weren’t on that trip but didn’t show up to play Sunday. Football is a team game; they win as a team and lose as a team. Singling out Beckham Jr. makes little sense no matter how much of the attention that he brings upon himself.