O-line will be put to test today vs. Big Birds
PHILADELPHIA – There is no way Giants GM Jerry Reese was able to watch the exciting finish to Thursday Night Football’s 41-39 Rams win over the 49ers. Reese could not have subjected himself to watching Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth stand pass rushers up straight for four quarters without feeling nauseous or dizzy.
Whitworth, 35, was the top left tackle on the free agent market this offseason. The Giants obviously looked into upgrading the position, but the best read on their inaction is that they weren’t willing or able to pay the steep price required to land the biggest fish.
The Rams and Vikings were most persistent, per ESPN, and the Rams ultimately won Whitworth with a monster three-year, $33.75 million contract and $15 million guaranteed, including a $5 million signing bonus.
Watching Rams second-year quarterback Jared Goff on Thursday night had to be difficult for any Giants fan to watch, let alone the team’s general manager.
There was Whitworth often completely isolated on the left side, firmly stopping his man in his tracks, taking care of business and giving Goff time to survey the field.
The Rams scored 41 points on Thursday night, all on offense. The Giants have scored 13 total points through two games.
And the absence of a player of Whitworth’s caliber on the Giants’ offensive line threatens to derail them again on Sunday in what Jason Pierre-Paul on Friday called a “must-win” against the Philadelphia Eagles (1-1), who boast one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.
Officially, the Rams’ Whitworth surrendered zero pressures Thursday night on 33 pass blocking attempts, per Pro Football Focus. And Whitworth’s PFF grade through three games is 81.8, ranked ninth out of 71 NFL offensive tackles, with zero sacks allowed and just one pressure surrendered in 87 pass blocking snaps.
The Giants’ tackles, meanwhile, have been major problems through this 0-2 start, as they predictably were going to be at some point after last season’s consistent struggles.
Left tackle Ereck Flowers, the man Whitworth would have replaced, carries a 40.9 PFF grade, 58th out of 71 tackles, with four sacks allowed, the second most in the NFL among offensive tackles.
Right tackle Bobby Hart, after being benched late last season, had a terrible opener in Dallas, worsened by a sprained right ankle. And then Hart aggravated the injury on the second snap of Week 2, which will force him essentially to miss a second straight game on Sunday.
It is harsh but true to point out that Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence (five tackles, 1.5 sacks, two tackles for loss, two QB hurries vs. Hart) and Lions end Ziggy Ansah (six tackles, three sacks, three tackles for loss, three hurries vs. Flowers) have started building Pro Bowl resumes solely off their performances against the Giants’ tackles.
And on top of that, while left guard Justin Pugh was the Giants’ first backup tackle to replace Hart mid-game Monday, here is how much work Pugh said he received at the tackle position in preseason: “None.” How is that possible? Ben McAdoo’s explanation Friday for not giving Pugh a refresher course at tackle was: “We feel confident developing the young players on the roster. We felt moving Justin out and getting (Brett) Jones in (at left guard) was the best chance to keep our best five on the field. It’s not who’s the next best tackle; it’s who’s the best five. That’s the question.”
Right, but McAdoo’s explanation only highlights how little useful depth Reese added at his offense’s primary position of weakness to help this team immediately. To repeat: Reese did not replace his starting tackles, nor did he add depth McAdoo could pull from if those below-average tackles kept struggling.
Pugh used to be a tackle by trade, so at least it’s not foreign to him.
Still, Pugh admitted there were some plays Monday “I wish I could get back,” mainly because “a couple of those little nuances (that) I have forgotten since I haven’t been out there in a long time.” It is a different position. Planning for Pugh to play there without preparing him for it is crazy.
McAdoo, meanwhile, continues to not give Flowers enough help on the left side. Ansah kept teeing off one-onone against Flowers, without meaningful adjustment by the head coach until it was too late.
McAdoo’s postgame rationale as to why he didn’t help Flowers initially was further frustrating. He said “we tried to give (Flowers) some help as the game went on” but that “initially we were focusing on the other side. We had our left guard playing right tackle.”
So, to review, the Giants didn’t prepare Pugh to play tackle even though they trusted him more than anyone else to move there if a starter went down. And then, when Pugh inevitably had to move there, McAdoo is claiming he spent so much time focused on that, it took away from help he could give initially to Flowers? The Giants also, by the way, did not appear to give Pugh loads of help on the right side, as McAdoo suggested.
Sunday against a fierce Eagles pass rush, though, the coach has to give Flowers more help, maybe with a heavy emphasis on two-tight end sets, which can provide more capable bodies to slow defensive ends.