Well Giants fans, the “trap game” unfortunately arrived. Nothing was working for Big Blue on Sunday, and it showed in all facets of the game. The O-Line, D-Line, Special Teams, Barkley, and (yes) even Jones did not have the best showings. Before the Jones bashers come out to play, he showed he can throw deep on several instances in bad conditions (back shoulder throw looks nice). The mystery of the lack of coach commitment to the pass was solved thanks to the multiple drops and game sealing fumble by a WR (not Jones’ limitations). QB INTs happen to the best of them, and every NFL team has had a “WTF” game against inferior competition this year (so chill). The one group that had their worst game of the year was clearly the coaching staff. Here is what went wrong…
- Using Adoree Jackson in the return game. NEVER use your CB1 in the return game or risk your secondary’s success. Daboll used him there and now the secondary is thinner than ever.
- Choosing to start Shane Lemieux over Josh Ezeudu at LG. Shane’s run blocking prowess doesn’t remotely offset his liability in pass protection. He should never start a game in the NFL again.
- Refusing to abandon the run. Not even going to elaborate here.
- Not spiking the ball to stop the clock and give yourself another quick throw to get in FG range. End of 2nd quarter decisions have been an issue all year, actually.
- Kind of like #3, but running on 3rd and long. In all fairness, we saw why they don’t want to pass when they don’t HAVE TO (WR fumbles/drops), but you must on 3rd and long regardless.
This is not to demonize them, especially given our 7-3 start. However, they must be held accountable for their follies when they happen like any part of the team. This is a mostly young coaching staff, and they are going to make mistakes like anyone else. This is more of a friendly reminder that even miracle workers have their bad days at the office. The injuries are piling up and a couple of them could have been prevented with better decisions on the starters for the game. Nonetheless, Id imagine they will learn from these things like any human would and do their best to prepare for a ferocious Dallas team on Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed for a competitive game given the injuries and talent deficiencies at several positions.