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11:01:00 PM EST
Shit
Today the Giants looked as if they were playing in early September. This 41-17 loss to Minnesota at home was not only reminiscent of the Giants first home loss to Green Bay, but it looked as if the team was out of sync in the way a team that hasn't practiced enough might look. This is the way a lot of teams look in the first two games of the season.
But it's late November and Eli Manning and his receivers couldn't get on the same page all day. One might wonder if it was a given receiver, if it was the receiver's fault, but when you see it happen with Shockey and Moss and Toomer and Burress it can only be the quarterback's fault. Eli Manning looked as bad as ever today and he was facing the worst passing defense in the NFL. How does this happen?
First, Eli has been reliably inconsistent. It has been his most frustrating trait. He can look like an All-Pro at times and then look like a rookie. Today fell into the latter category.
Second, Minnesota blitzed the hell out of the Giants all day. Why? Because the Giants never proved they could handle the blitz. Ben Leber. Ben Leber. That son of a bitch was in Eli's face all day.
Third, when the offensive line was proving ineffective against the Vikings blitz it was shooting itself in the foot with penalties. I think David Diehl got flagged four times, twice for illegal formation. That he means he lined up incorrectly. He lined up incorrectly. That's just stupid football.
The defense played pretty well with two exceptions. On the second play from scrimmage they gave up a sixty yard touchdown pass to Tavaris Jackson and Sydney Rice. That's significant. Giving up a bomb like that from Brady to Moss is one thing, but Tavaris Jackson to Sydney Rice? Bad move.
The only other defensive negative for the Giants came in the Vikings first drive of the second half. The Giants took the second half kickoff and scored a field goal. The Vikings then took the ball for nine and a half minutes and kicked their own field. The Giants defense needed a stop, instead they let the Vikings negate the Giants' field goal and kill most of the third quarter in the process.
Those two drives aside, the Giants defense played well. The Giants offense was responsible for twenty-eight of the Vikings points. That's inexcusable. It takes a game that should have been a win and turns it into a shocking loss.
This game against a good team still sucks but at least you can see where a better team can take your team out of its game. The Giants took themselves out of this game.
To see this kind of performance when we are thinking about the playoffs is unnerving. It is reminiscent of meltdowns from recent seasons. It raises questions that should have been answered already. Doubt has reared its ugly head in the Meadowlands.
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11/28/07 12:44 AM