Truth be told, I am not looking forward to this post at all. So I’m going to keep it short but sweet and post the absolute most crystal clear indicators of where the Giants lacked in their loss to the Colts Sunday night.
| GIANTS | COLTS | |||
| Total First Downs | 13 | Total First Downs | 24 | |
| Time of Possession | 24:54 | Time of Possession | 35:06 | |
| Third Down Efficiency | 3/11 – 27% | Third Down Efficiency | 4/11 – 36% | |
| Net Yards Passing | 137 | Net Yards Passing | 250 | |
| Times Sacked (Number-Yards) | 4 – 24 | Times Sacked (Number-Yards) | 1 – 5 | |
| Pass Comp-Att-Int | 13 – 24 – 1 | Pass Comp-Att-Int | 20 – 26 – 0 | |
| Average Gain per Passing Play (includesSacks) | 4.9 | Average Gain per Passing Play (includesSacks) | 9.3 | |
| Fumbles (Number-Lost) | 3 – 2 | Fumbles (Number-Lost) | 3 – 1 | |
| Touchdowns | 2 | Touchdowns | 5 | |
| Field Goals (Made-Attempted) | 0 – 0 | Field Goals (Made-Attempted) | 1 – 1 | |
| Red Zone Efficiency | 0/0 – 0% | Red Zone Efficiency | 3/4 – 75% | |
| Goal To Go Efficiency | 0/0 – 0% | Goal To Go Efficiency | 2/2 – 100% |
OFFENSE
– First Downs: Eli Manning summed it up best the other day, when you can’t make first down’s you’re not going to win games. The Giants could not move the ball for several reasons Sunday night – all of them critical components to execution: poor run blocking, poor pass blocking, poor play calling, again poor blocking — just poor execution all around.
I really scratch my head on this one, everyone saw the Texans demolish the Colts two weeks ago by running the football… so with the glimpses of success you were having running Bradshaw to the outside, why didn’t we see it a lot more and from the very beginning? I really have to wonder why the Giants abandoned the run early in the game when there was still an opportunity to keep it close, particularly when the offensive line was only giving Manning 2 seconds or less to throw the ball. Slow it down, keep the Colts offense off the field, find a way to run the ball — play Giants football. We saw it only after the game had gotten out of hand and Ahmad Bradshaw was one of the only bright spots of the night. After watching the game a second time around, I still don’t understand the offensive game plan.
– Third Downs: I’m pretty sure those 3 first downs came on short passes to Steve Smith, something I thought we’d see a whole heck of a lot more of Sunday night. We didn’t and I have no idea why the Giants feel they are above these short, quick, high percentage passes for third down or any other down for that matter.
What gets me is that I went over the reasons why the Giants would find success throwing to Steve Smith this week and it seemed the only time the Giants got anything going was when Eli connected to Steve Smith on those short routes. Eli looked like he could have gotten into a rhythm if they stuck with it like that- but they didn’t. Smith’s interception coming off the deep ball took a huge toll and the Giants turned it over yet again when already down 14-0. High percentage plays that eat up the clock and keeps the Colts fired up offense off the field are much better than one long gash attempt thrown into triple coverage. Just sayin…
– Net Yards Passing: See “third downs” above. If you’re going to abandon the run game, a great way to get yardage is utilizing short and quick passes, especially when your offensive line isn’t giving your quarterback any time to throw the ball.
– Times sacked: 4. I’m amazed it wasn’t 20. Probably one of the worst offensive line performances I’ve seen from the Giants in memory, recent or otherwise. David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie, just… wow.
– Turnovers: 1 INT, 3 fumbles. Turnovers lose ballgames. Enough said.
– No Field Goals, No Red Zone appearances, No goal to go attempts. Why is this relevant? For a team’s offense in 2008 and 2009 to be among the leagues most prolific in red zone appearances to not have so much as a field goal attempt… it’s just an indicator about how absolutely putrid the offense was. And by the way, I’m sure the great field position the Colts were given all night really went over well with the Giants defense………. Not.
DEFENSE
– 1 sack. There was absolutely no pressure put on Peyton Manning, so plain and simple there was just no chance to win that battle.
– 24 first downs for the Colts. They moved the ball effortlessly from the very beginning of the game. There were a couple series after the 7-0 start though where the defense showed some resolve, but after the Giants offense failed to produce points on their first several drives it became clear they were fighting battle that was already lost.
– DBs vs LBs. 160 yards on 43 rushing plays were given up on the ground by the Giants, and because the Giants thought the Colts were going to pass first, linebackers didn’t play for the first 24 minutes of the game. And for all that time the Giants defense was dominated by the Colts offense. The DBs couldn’t stop the Colts run game, and yet there was no adjustment made to the scheme. What is the explanation for that? Take a wild guess, because after that first half of football I’d gone through every rational thought I could come up with and nothing seemed to jive with what I saw on the field.
– Michael Johnson. In for one play at safety for a shaken up Kenny Phillips and he gave up a touchdown over the top to Dallas Clark. Could someone keep this guy off the damn field?!?!
That’s all I can take this week folks — stats don’t lie here. It was just a lousy performance all around by the Giants offensively and defensively. Great news for Matt Dodge though, he can stay another week.
Oh and by the way, Brandon Jacobs threw his helmet into the fan-filled stands and was fined $10,000.