New York Giants outclassed by Tennessee Titans, lose 17-0

For New York Giants fans, this game represented a significant milestone.

While the team had won four out of their previous five games, the New York Giants did not have a signature win. After all, even against the Chicago Bears, Big Blue faced back-up quarterback Chase Daniel. And Daniel figured prominently in the final outcome through his lack of ball security and ill-timed pick-six.

This week, the G-Men were supposedly on equal footing with the Tennessee Titans. Both teams have first-year head coaches, and the rainy weather at the Meadowlands, seemingly telegraphed that the rushing attack was of paramount importance.

No worries for the team who possesses all-world running back Saquon Barkley. Coming into this game, could you find anyone who wouldn’t take Barkley and the New York Giants over the enigmatic Derrick Henry and the Tennessee Titans?

Wrong!

Henry rushed for 170 yards on a career-high 33 carries, as the Titans dominated Big Blue from start-to-finish in a 17-0 victory.

Rebuild far from complete

As the debate over drafting Barkley continues to rage, let’s just say this: you can’t unring that bell. So Barkley will remain a New York Giants player for the foreseeable future. We will have to defer judgement on the wisdom of the Barkley versus quarterback question for the next four seasons and two games.

Let’s see who general manager Dave Gettleman comes up with as a successor to Manning first. But it’s fair to say at this point, that the NFL playoffs may continue to be a pipe dream for Big Blue with quarterback Eli Manning under center.

Yet to hear analysts like Trent Green and Bruce Arians, you would think that Manning’s play was a big nothing-burger.

For his part, Barkley ran the ball 14 times for 31 yards (2.2 yards per carry). If anyone out there suggests that the G-Men abandoned the run too early, please see a neurologist, you must have bumped your head.

Obviously, Titans head coach Mike Vrabel challenged his defense to stifle Barkley, and leave it up to Manning and the Odell Beckham-less receiving corps to pick up the slack.

Manning went 21-44 on the afternoon, which calculates to a 47.7 completion percentage. That stat may have worked in the 1970’s, but not so much right now in the NFL.

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Manning wobbles

Almost every NFL pregame show continues to opine about the future of Eli Manning. Most of the guys making commentary haven’t watched Manning play week in and week out. It was obvious that Trent Green hasn’t. He was almost incredulous that Manning received any criticism this season.

And surely today’s game was a function of the poor weather conditions at the Meadowlands. Except that once upon a time, Big Blue had a coach who thrived in this type of “Giants weather”, so he could exert dominance at the line of scrimmage.

Yeah, dominance like the Titans exhibited today. In these elements, absent the ability to will the rushing attack to be productive, the Giants needed a quarterback who could manage the game.

They weren’t so fortunate.

After the Giants dodged a major bullet, when Tennessee kicker Ryan Succop missed a 43-yard field goal after a long Titans drive to open the game, Manning and head coach Pat Shurmur seized the momentum by going three-and-out in their first series.

Nothing says ill-prepared than a long opening drive, followed by a three-and-out. Simply put, it looked like Vrabel’s troops were ready and motivated, and the New York Giants were back on their heels, where they remained for most of the game.

Later on, with the game hanging in the balance at 7-0, Manning threw his patented costly turnover that negated the chance to get points on the board via a field goal attempt. By the way, kicker Aldrick Rosas has not missed a field goal this season.

The very next series, as the G-Men were trying to get an offensive flow going one more time, Manning got caught up in the Titans pass rush and fumbled away any opportunity for victory at the 14-yard line. This time, Henry bulled in again from 1-yard out, and the fat lady was warming up her voice.

Despite these wobbles in front of their own eyes, analysts still can’t fathom from where the criticism comes. Now, there will be a fair amount of fans who criticize the officials, offensive line, game plan, play-calling and weather. Perhaps, those folks are decreasing in numbers, as Manning continues to fail the eye test.

The reason a team prefers a veteran quarterback is the simple fact that their acquired wisdom sometimes allows them to figure out a way to win a ballgame when things aren’t clicking offensively.

Can anyone remember that last time that happened with Big Blue?

While you think of that answer, let’s remind everyone that the last time the Titans shut out an opponent was Christmas of 2000, when they shut out the Dallas Cowboys 31-0. Happy Holidays.