Delayed Gut Reactions, Titans Edition
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- Can the Giants receivers figure out a way to catch the damn ball when it hits them right in the hands?! Hakeem Nicks set the tone for the day when his would-be catch from Eli Manning got turned into a high flying trapeze act – get the circus reference? Eli ended up with 2 INTs on the day, but the first one at least makes his 2010 total of 6 INTs seem excessively cruel. That’s 4 that have been caused off tipped balls, all of which were incredibly catchable passes.
- Manning’s desperation to get points on the board may explain his second INT on the day, that left handed travesty to Kevin Boss with seemingly the entire Titans secondary in coverage. Eli — I understand your frustration to get the passing game going by taking some chances, but just go down. Take the tackle for 1 yard gain, minimize any chance of mistake and take your 3 points on a chip shot from Tynes.
- Speaking of minimizing mistakes, the Giants ended up with 11 penalties, 5 of which were personal fouls, and they ended the day with 3 turnovers. Careless play doesn’t begin to describe the platter this very winnable game was handed to the Titans on.
- Execution on offense. The Giants offense for the most part played much better than last week. On offense Eli threw for nearly 400 yards, Bradshaw had over 100 total yards on the day including a vintage 2008 screen pass that always seems to get first downs (great play call Gilbride), and Kevin Boss had a vintage ‘Mark Bavaro’ style catch and run for 55 yards that took all 11 Titans to bring him to the ground. Inside the green zone though, 2 turnovers gave the Giants little chance to capitalize on the progress made via the rest of the field. The Giants out-gained the Titans by 200 yards… but there is little to show for it.
- In the trenches, Diehl and McKenzie are going to be hotly debated players this week. On one hand, Diehl has proven two weeks in a row that he can’t handle fast pass rushers without help… that is going to be an issue that needs to be addressed ASAP. As for McKenzie – a veteran player drawing personal fouls after the play is over is just plain out of character, and I think DUMB or STUPID is the exact phrase I’m looking for there. Koets did a fine job from what I saw filling in for Shaun O’Hara. And will Shawn Andrews be someone the Giants are going to work in more this week for a potential switch to one of those tackle positions? We’ll see (said in Coughlin-esque tone).
- Ahmad Bradshaw, love the enthusiasm and the heart. Way to pound the rock. But you need to listen to Coach and get that ball high and tight. I love you’re make em miss style — but coughing it up on the 5 yard line is gut wrenching after you worked so hard to get it down there and in position for a score. Secure the ball from now on in that situation. The chop block call, I could go either way on it. When I first saw the call I was outraged, but if he was engaged you can’t take that kind of hit anymore. And that one hurt with Manning hooking up with Manningham for 45 yards.
- Execution on defense. For the majority of the game, Chris Johnson was kept in check. Had the offense taken care of the ball and capitalized on their opportunities, I doubt Chris Johnson would have achieved that 100+ yard mark. So run stopping was adequate until the Giants failed to put point on the board. Not much QB pressure but Young and the Titans only had 16 attempt via the air vs CJ2K taking 32 attempts on the ground. The safeties played a very physical game, and I like what I saw from Kenny Phillips. Antrel Rolle drew a personal foul, not the way to lead by example. CB Corey Webster, where has your former self from 2007 and 2008 gone?
- Special teams. All of ya — next?!?!!!