Brandon is catching hell for no-show
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l The Giants were one of six teams unable to score in double digits. On opening weekend last year, only two teams didn’t score in double digits. What’s happened with the offenses? It goes back to the shorter offseason, the lack of two-a-day practices, the reduction in practices with pads and coaches not playing their starters for more than three or four quarters total in the preseason.
l The Saints have every right if they want to complain this week about disparity in preparation time compared to the Patriots for their game Sunday in New Orleans. The Patriots played last Thursday night at home. The Saints played Monday night in Minnesota. The NFL computer misfired on that one.
l The Dolphins beat Hurricane Irma to Miami last weekend and traveled to Los Angeles after their home opener against the Bucs was rescheduled.
The Dolphins are practicing at the Cowboys’ summer home in Oxnard, Calif., to prepare for Sunday’s game in the home debut of the Los Angeles Chargers. IT DID NOT take long for Giants fans to become disillusioned with Brandon Marshall.
“Has @BMarshall been found? I was really worried last night! #AmberAlert,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
Marshall retweeted and replied, “People are so mean… . Oouchhh.” Mean, but accurate. The Giants wide receiver was nowhere to be found on Sunday in an embarrassing 19-3 loss to the Cowboys to open a season filled with Super Bowl expectations.
Marshall finished the game with one catch for 10 yards, which came in garbage time, and was targeted just four times as concerns continue to grow for a Giants offense already surrounded with plenty of question marks.
“We got to start faster. We got to be more efficient,” Marshall said after the game. “If we do that, who knows how the game goes? There’s opportunities for other guys. Offensively, we just didn’t do a great job today.”
It’s just more of the same problems for the Giants, who have now failed to score 20 points in seven consecutive games, which includes last season’s NFC wild-card loss to the Packers. Yes, the Giants were missing Odell Beckham Jr. on Sunday, inactive due to a sprained left ankle, but Marshall — who they signed to a twoyear, $11 million deal in the offseason — was expected to step up as the No. 1 receiver. Instead, he was non-existent. “I think it was a product of a lot of things,” coach Ben McAdoo said Monday on a conference call. “There may have been times where you’re trying to get him the ball, but couldn’t get it to him for one reason or another. … It’s not just one factor, you can’t just point to one thing. It was a variety of things. We certainly want Brandon to get a touch earlier than he got a touch.”
It’s noteworthy that Marshall and Eli Manning were unable to get a full preseason of work together due to Marshall’s shoulder injury, sustained against the Browns.
The lack of chemistry appeared evident on a third-andlong play in the fourth quarter when Manning stepped up under pressure to avoid a sack and found an open Marshall to his left.
Manning’s throw led Marshall up field, where there were no defenders, but he failed to adjust and the ball went off the wide receiver’s hands for an incompletion.
While some may say the throw could have been better, Marshall knows he has to come up with that catch.
“We have high expectations in the wide receiver room,” Marshall said. “Whether it’s one hand, two hands, the finger tips, we expect to come down with the ball and make that play.”
Yet, when asked about his chemistry with Manning being a problem, Marshall dismissed that as an issue. “I’m not worried about that,” Marshall said. “I’m worried about the offense being more efficient and starting faster.”
Marshall is staying optimistic . “It’s disappointing, but it’s a long season,” Marshall said. “That’s a division foe and they played a hell of a game. So we’ll see him again come winter time and we’ll be prepared and be ready.”