New York Giants: McAdoo must fight off criticism
By Curt Macysyn
Deep in the bowels of Gillette Stadium, Bill Belichick probably has more than a few critics.
Those folks are the same ones who say it’s too hot, or too cold. They look down their noses if a free item doesn’t meet their standards. You know the type. In that respect, New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo shouldn’t obsess about the critics. They will always exist.
That’s not say he should not be concerned about the current state of affairs of his team. At the core, McAdoo should own most of the existing problems. Need we be reminded that in 2016, he inherited a much better squad than his predecessor, Tom Coughlin, was stuck with.
Curiously, we forget that McAdoo continues to learn on the fly. The whirlwind period that saw his elevation to head coach was breathe-taking. He went from quarterbacks coach in Green Bay to head coach of the New York Giants in only two seasons. He spent a mere two seasons as offensive coordinator at any level.
Under any measurement system, that’s lightning fast to become a head coach, lert alone an NFL head coach..
Under the microscope
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post raised the issue of play-calling, and its impact on the entire team. Now, if there’s one thing that all New York Giants fans should understand is tinkering.
Designated scapegoat, former offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride got fired back in the day. The same guy who helped win multiple Super Bowls, lost his edge apparently. And McAdoo strolled into a pretty good situation.
Let’s not forget that the beginning of McAdoo’s tenure coincided with the drafting of Odell Beckham either. It’s a key point that speaks to the track record of a coach. At this point, no one can say for sure what McAdoo is, sure there are guiding principals, but not much else to go on.
Blaming his play-calling is for the bar crowd. Often times, play-calling complaints simply rationalize poor player execution. On the other hand, we could have scrutinized the Giants game plan in advance of last Sunday, but let’s save the play-calling complaints.
And Schwartz’s concern about the play-calling revolves more around time management than actual play-calling.
"“When a head coach doubles as the play-caller, it can narrow his view of the field. Small things fall through the cracks. The game-management aspect of the job — more vital now than ever — can get sloppy when the man in charge has his eyes fixed on a large laminated sheet in front of his face.”"
Bingo.
The questions that we must ask are: How does McAdoo the play-caller impact McAdoo the head coach? Does play-calling cloud McAdoo’s thinking about personnel? Right now, he seems to be playing his own version of Tin Cup. He’s going to do things his way, and only his way. If McAdoo gets fixated on being a right fighter, then it may become a long season.
New York Giants
The future is now
Remember this, it was not so much that the G-Men lost to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. It was how they lost to the Dallas Cowboys. The Giants had more than enough time to figure out what they wanted to do with Beckham out of the line-up.
Running back Paul Perkins carried the ball seven times. Receiver Brandon Marshall was not targeted enough. There was no vertical passing attack. Quite frankly, it looked a flag football team wrote the game plan down on a cocktail napkin before the game.
Keep in mind, the same problems we have seen for a year continue to pop up continually. And if the problems are correctable, then the preseason should have been longer on game repetitions for starters, than competitions for back-up positions.
And no one is asking about how training camp was managed? How many actual snaps did quarterback Eli Manning play with new wideout Brandon Marshall? Playing together develops chemistry, which the duo didn’t have on Sunday night.
How much time did the offensive line play together, because if this is McAdoo’s group, then they should have played the lion’s share of each of the four preseason games. The only tried and true way to improve is under game conditions.
McAdoo will have every opportunity to right the ship, and he needs to shuffle deck of the operation. And his play-calling has become his safe space, hopefully not to the detriment of the entire operation.