Big Blue set to host Redskins after week of changes
A new era is on the horizon for the 1-6 Giants. They traded cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle Damon Harrison this week, and more moves are likely coming before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
But many players insist this is the nature of the business, and it has little impact on the locker room and preparation for the 4-2 Washington Redskins, who come to MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
“It’s tough, but there’s other guys in this locker room who now have the opportunity to go out and do what they love and have the opportunity to make plays for this team,” wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. said. “They have to do that and they have to step up. Like I said earlier, it’s a business. As hard as it is waking up and seeing some of those things, it’s the business side of all this, so all we can do is keep going, keep playing with who we have.”
Nine games remain, and head coach Pat Shurmur has given no indication that the staff intends to play rookie Kyle Lauletta at quarterback this season.
But after last Monday night’s 23-20 loss in Atlanta, hope for the Giants’ offense is dwindling. The Falcons’ defense entered that game ranking last in points allowed, last in third-down percentage, second-to-last in yards per play on first down and thirdto-last in red zone touchdown rate.
And still, the Giants were a dysfunctional mess. Eli Manning compiled exactly one third of his 399 passing yards in the final 7:30, when the Giants trailed 20-6 and had yet to reach the end zone.
New York went 2-for-5 in the red zone. Both scores occurred when Atlanta led by double digits late in the game.
“It’s just execution,” Manning said. “Sometimes we had the plays a little off here and there. We’ll look at it hard and try to get a great game plan. We’ll see what Washington is doing, and just make sure we got good plays and everybody knows exactly what we need to do.”
The biggest missed opportunity for the Giants was on their opening drive of the third quarter. Trailing 10-3, Shurmur opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal at the 1. Manning rolled right and instead of targeting Beckham, who had separation from his defender in the flat, threw across his double to a well-covered Scott Simonson over the middle for an incompletion.
“Odell was open immediately, but from Eli’s view he didn’t see the guy trailing him,” Shurmur said. “And the one thing about that play, and Eli and everybody knew it is, we really had four options on that play, so you go through the progression … and that just goes into the decision-making of the quarterback that is doing it at game speed.”
Still, the largest problem is the Giants’ lack of consistency with down and distance. The offense gained two yards or fewer on 14-of-21 first-down plays, which helps explain why 6-of-12 third-down attempts required eight yards or more for a first down.
The first half was particularly troubling for the offensive line, which allowed four sacks as running back Saquon Barkley rushed for only eight yards.
Left tackle Nate Solder and left guard Will Hernandez, who have been the most viable aspects of the leaky line, were responsible for the first three sacks.
“I thought that the speed of the game affected me, personally, at the beginning, and I think that can happen against good, fast pass rushers,” Solder said. “You kind of catch up to the speed and you don’t ever want to have that happen. So going into this game, they have fast guys as well, and they have plenty of speed. You got to come out there fired up, ready to go off the first snap, and not make those early mistakes that you have to overcome.”
The Giants, who have scored 20 points or fewer in four of seven games, may have little choice but to schematically deploy more pass protection.
On third-and-11 on their opening drive in Atlanta, Manning was forced to dump the ball off to Barkley six yards behind the line of scrimmage because the offensive line collapsed almost immediately and the Falcons blitzed with a slot corner. There was no extra protection up front.
By contrast, a 51-yard catch by Beckham in the third quarter came on a play where the Giants kept eight men in to protect.
The Redskins are coming off a 20-17 win against the Cowboys. They currently allow the fifth-fewest total yards per game (325.7).
“We’re playing with effort, we’re playing with heart, we’re playing our butts off, we’re believing in each other, but at the end of the day, we’re not executing,” Barkley said. “If we can figure that out, our record would be a lot different right now. You can’t control that, you can only control this week, and this week we got to come out against a very, very good defensive team.”