Grading Giants offense and defensive strength after week 2

Grading Starting Offense B

Objectively, the statistics ring truer than the opinions of teams’ experts’ grading.

In the 27-10 preseason loss against the Miami Dolphins, the Big Blue made the Dolphins look like a great team. They made the offense seem potent and limited the Giants offense to a single touch down. From the Giants’ point of view, it was pollyannic. It was McAdoo’s first time as head coach who managed to keep the game winnable until late in the game. The Giants looked like they had a strong pass rush early on in the game. In short, they seemed to have potential to have a winning season despite a loss with their second string quarterback.

Week 1 and 2

In Week 1, the Giants largely unreformed by not controlling possession of nearly 2:1. The Cowboys used home field advantage to come within one point within the Giants’ lead. In the defense of Manning, he utilized Beckham, Cruz and Sterling effectively. The Cowboys defense could not manage to adequately defend all three receivers which enabled Manning’s quarter bake rating to increase to over 110.

Last week, the Giants did not run the ball to their potential. Rashad Jennings is a star running back who has succumbed to injury. An alternative would have been to look to effectively manage the offensive line to allow Jennings to find gaping holes to work with.

Manning excelled in his passing game (368 yards) although he did not take advantage of all the opportunities to score. Manning must be able to convert in third down situations as he has done in past seasons. This would allow the Giants to enter the red zone and increase their chances of finding Beckham or Cruz in the end zone.

As ESPN.com first reported, Beckham will face Josh Norman who will be a wall to Manning’s plans. The Washington Redskins are closely monitoring Norman.

"“We’re going to let him earn the $75 million,”"