Mid-Season Review: New York Giants

Oct 19, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; New York Giants quarterback

(10) throws in the pocket for a second quarter touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Over at Giants.com, it’s also the bye-week… so they decided to put together a mid-season review for the New York Football Giants.  John Schmeelk and Paul Dottino are your hosts as they breakdown the Giants into three videos: Offense, Defense and Special teams.

The Giants themselves are 3-4. How did they get there? Here’s a reminder of the season thus far:

Giants Nation: Faints

Giants Nation: Explodes

Giants Nation: Slowly pieces back together

Giants Nation: Looks in the mirror, fixes its hair

Giants Nation: Watching Super Bowl Highlights

Giants Nation: Catatonic Shock

Giants Nation: Suicide Watch with a side of WTF

Wow, let’s review.

Everyone remembers that beginning, two quick losses. 0-2. It was brutal.

Then of course, the Giants went on the three game winning streak, starting with beating an undefeated Texans team. It was promising. The Giants beat down the Redskins and got a victory over an Atlanta team that has since fallen apart. How can you argue with three wins in a row?

A shut-out?

That’s a good argument, and that’s exactly what happened as the Eagles humiliated the G-Men on national prime time TV. In front of the world, it was a blanking for the ages.

To follow it up, the G-Men lost a close one to the Dallas Cowboys, but really lost steam in having a great 2014 football campaign. The Giants started it out with long time guard Chris Snee retiring, Will Hill was removed from the team in the offseason. Injuries plagued everyone from Jon Beason to Odell Beckham Jr.

Remember Trindon Holliday?

Yeah, neither do we. What about Geoff Schwartz?

Injuries have been tough on this team, but their heart and soul was ripped out when Victor Cruz was injured for the season. Trumaine McBride was also lost for the year the same game, it’s just been that kind of season for the G-Men and John and Paul have been discussing it all at Giants.com.

Now understand, the Giants site is going to be extra nice as they want you to buy tickets, so GMEN HQ will provide you with translations from their realistic BLUE Kool-Aid. First up:

Special Teams

They start off by talking about Michael Cox and his impact on the Dallas Cowboys game. And breakdown some stories like Quintin Demps returning, or what a beast Steve Weatherford is. But the majority of the time is spent on OBJ and how much he should be used in the special teams game. With the duo suggesting that OBJ would make an impact in special teams, but the Giants also need to be protective of how he is used and how often.

Mid-Season Report Card: D

While Steve Weatherford is a great Punter in image, the Giants could improve in this area. Granted, he has 12 punts inside the 20 and a long of 71, so the stats aren’t bad.

The trouble here is that the Giants are punting too much. They aren’t losing games by a field goal, they’re losing games by at least two possessions. Pinning opponents deep in their own territory will be key for the Giants if they do punt, but mainly the Giants want to see this unit less and less.

The Giants have punted 36 times, their opponents have punted 29 times. This pattern needs to favor the Giants moving forward.

Also Josh Brown is perfect this season, the Giants need to utilize their weapon more, by getting into field goal range and accumulating more points early in games.

Defense

The guys point out the inconsistencies, injuries and how they get pushed around against the run.

They talk about how not having continuity at spots like linebacker with Jon Beason, and how the defensive signal caller being in and out affects the defense and what they want to do each week. Paul and John look to Jason Pierre-Paul and suggest that he’s back. Why wouldn’t they, JPP had a great game. However, saying he’s back should reflect a “W” on the scoreboard. That said, JPP has improved over the course of the year. The Giants need him for all he’s worth against Indy.

Like the guys said, the secondary is depleted. They say it’s not an excuse, but it does help fans understand why the defense is being shredded by big plays.

Mid-Season Report Card: D-

In the NFL, you have to be able to slow down elite offenses. Against the Lions, Cowboys and Eagles, the G-Men failed to get this done.

At Giants.com, injuries may be an excuse, but this team has won two super bowls in the past seven years. It should have the depth in place to make it work, that’s why you have a 53-man roster and drafts every offseason — to reload.

The Giants must look to their training staff, doctors and how they do things to attempt to understand what is happening to their players. In the end, it’s on Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin to build a team that will stay healthy and win. Fans don’t care how that is done, it just needs to be done.

For this defense to get out of borderline failure mode, it needs to attack the opposing QB with four down linemen and defend more passes. They also should look into playing Robert Ayers more, he is playing the best, why not use him?

Offense

Paul and John conclude that Andre Williams lack of experience, combined with the inconsistencies of the offensive line have caused a good portion of the teams running back woes. They also mention the injuries here.

David Wilson retired before the season started, Rashad Jennings exploded, only to get banged up and not be available. Victor Cruz is 30% of the Giants offense and he’s gone. Once again, the guys talk about injuries and focus on the positives…

Such as pointing out that Geoff Scwartz will be back and that technically, Eli Manning is having a good year and that pass protection has been a Giants strength vs. the rushing offense.

(Except for that Philly game… ahem)

They talk about Ben McAdoo and the West Coast Offense, implying that the system was starting to click, but injuries and bad offensive line play stalled it out.

Mid-Season Report Card: C+

The Giants at one point scored 105 points in three games, that’s why the get the C+.

Make no mistake, without Victor Cruz, this offense isn’t very good. Without Rashad Jennings too, it’s borderline substandard. The talent is there, the execution in the moment consistently is not.

And that’s not good enough for the NFL.

Moving forward at Indianapolis on November 3rd, the Giants need to regain Rashad and work on their rushing offense. If they can beat Andrew Luck and company, it’s back to 4-4 and relevance. If they lose, 3-5 speaks volumes about their chances.

The bye week came at a perfect time — time for the midseason report — a time this year that signifies the teams GIANT need to get its head out of its rut.