Imperfect offense finally comes alive as New York Giants drop Texans

In the NFL, you don’t have to be perfect every game. It’s a lesson the New York Giants should remember.

Surely, the feelings of New York Giants fans ranged from euphoria to relief on this September afternoon. On a dark, dank and rainy Sunday in the Metropolitan area, there was a ray of sunshine in this otherwise cloudy NFL season, as Big Blue handled the Houston Texans 27-22.

There’s no doubt that head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Dave Gettleman came into the 2018 season with a game plan. But after two games, some of that script had to be thrown in the trash.

For example, last week, the offense made a concerted effort to get the ball into the hands of running back Saquon Barkley against the Dallas Cowboys. With the investment the team has in the Penn State rookie, that philosophy certainly made sense. Except for the fact that the Cowboys were ready for the dump-downs, and Barkley’s 14 catches amounted to only 80 receiving yards.

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That’s less than six-yards per dump off and plenty of abuse on the body of the talented halfback.

This week against the Houston Texans, the roles and ratios were more in line with what will achieve offensive success for the New York Giants. The running backs ran the ball, and the receivers caught the ball.

On this afternoon, Barkley had, within the confines of the offense, 82 yards on 17 carries, including a stout 15-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter that jump started the G-Men. Barkley added a 24-yard burst to his ledger, as well as five catches for 35 receiving yards.

Truthfully, Barkley’s production was not earth-shattering, but it doesn’t have to be, with the likes of receivers Odell Beckham and Sterling Shepard, and under-appreciated tight end Rhett Ellison in the fold.

Wheeler gets starting nod, Eli shines

Getting your first NFL start, against former defensive-player-of-the-year J.J. Watt normally amounts to disaster. But at some point after last week, Shurmur decided that rolling the dice with Chad Wheeler represented the New York Giants best option for an improved offensive performance.

Wheeler certainly wasn’t perfect against Watt, but the overall play of the offensive line took a big step forward in Houston. Watt got a hat-trick of quarterback sacks against the G-Men, and Big Blue gave up four on the afternoon. But this week at least there was hope, where previously hope didn’t exist.

After four seasons of the possibilities, and disappointment, of Ereck Flowers at tackle, the reality of a new day manifested itself with the young offensive lineman from USC.

Is Wheeler the permanent solution at right tackle?

Shurmur approached this question with one game at a time philosophy, per Giants.com:

"“It is super important that [the offensive line] plays hard and plays together, and I thought they did that. A couple times, he got beat, but Chad fought his way through it. I’ll have to watch the film in detail. I hate to say that. I thought for the most part he competed and battled, so we’ll see where we go from here.”"

In addition to battling the Texans defensive front tooth and nail, the offensive line gave Eli Manning a reprieve of another sort. The idea that Manning wouldn’t spend the entire post-game preaching patience, may have spurred the wily old veteran to focus on his own performance. Truthfully, for those who said Manning was done, should understand that on this day he significantly outclassed his colleague, Deshaun Watson.

Conversely, the shoe was on the other foot, as Watson looked harassed and confused for most of the contest. Watson could only complete 11 of 21 targets to his two best wideouts, DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller (sound familiar?). A garbage time touchdown by Lamar Miller made the game look closer than it actually was.

Don’t expect Manning to go 25-29 for 297 passing yards each week, but this game could represent a benchmark of sorts for both Manning and the New York Giants offense. With Manning in full control of the offense, Odell Beckham grabbed nine passes (on ten targets) for 109 yards. Sterling Shepard provided a secondary threat that’s crucial for both Manning and Beckham.

Shepard caught the game-clinching touchdown, as Manning progressed away from the double-covered Beckham, who was originally the primary target on the play. He chipped in with six catches, on seven targets, for an important 80 receiving yards.

Yes, Big Blue still has to clean up its quarterback protection, but with two new starters on the offensive line this week, let’s give it a chance at least. The biggest takeaway from this game was the simple fact that if everyone does his job, then the New York Giants will win their share of football games. It’s not about perfection, it’s about bouncing back from adversity. In that vein, the G-Men were perfect this week.