NO-GO ON ‘O’
Eli Manning has no answers when it comes to the Giants’ Thanksgiving flop
Eli Manning is not used to this style of football.
At 2-9, Manning has never experienced a season this bad throughout his career, and to make matters worse, the offense he leads is at the heart of the problems.
The Giants accounted for just 170 total yards of offense while Manning completed 13 of 27 passes for 113 yards in Thursday’s 20-10 loss to Washington. They managed just three points on offense while the defense scored a touchdown on an interception.
“The defense is playing well, keeping us in games and especially some second half of games. We just haven’t been able to move the ball, not been able to get first downs, not being able to get completion and it’s frustrating,” Manning said via conference call. “It’s not the style of football I’m used to playing. Not being able to complete the ball, so yeah it’s frustrating.”
The Giants, while decimated by injuries, have gone through leaps and bounds to fix the offense.
Last week they attempted to incorporate trick plays in the opening drive, and earlier this season head coach Ben McAdoo handed over play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan.
Sullivan has put a greater emphasis on the run, but that has not panned out the way they had hoped.
“We were talking about the style not being efficient, not being explosive,” Manning said. “But it is a different style and it is a little bit more run, run and then throw it on third down. So yeah it’s different, but hey, it can be effective, it can work…we still got to do our part and finish that job and convert on those third downs.”
Possibly the most maddening part about the offensive struggles is that it is because the Giants simply just cannot execute.
“We’re not forcing things, we’re not sloppy,” Manning said. “Everybody has their part in it. It’s not one person, we’ve had drops, I’ve missed some throws, we’ve had some mistakes up front. Everybody at different times contributing to our lack of success.”
Part of the problem, at least in Thursday night’s game, is that Manning is surrounded with inexperienced receivers.
His most reliable option, rookie tight end Evan Engram, is going through some struggles and dropped three passes.
Meanwhile, his most veteran receiver is Roger Lewis, who has played in just 24 games and was not a starter until Week 6 this season.
“Their first time doing this, late in the year on a short week. You got young guys playing, that can happen,” Manning said.
Added McAdoo: “Last night was an example, young players playing on a short week and they played like it. We need to get more out of the younger players on our roster.”
So how do they do that with five games left?
“It just comes down to everybody being that much more focused,” said Manning. “It’s been a tough year, and with five games left this is about your pride…we’ve got to find a way to come together and find ways to excel our play and win some football games.”