State of the Franchise: New York Giants

The Situation:

The Giants current situation is this, the team is 6-5 after an @#$ whooping Monday night against the Saints. This upcoming week the Giants will face the 11-0 Green Bay Packers. So lets just go ahead and say this team will be 6-6 after this game. Its a wrap for the Giants this year. This team will finish 8-8 or 9-7.

What has gone right in 2011?:

The play of QB Eli Manning this year has been phenomenal despite injuries and inconsistency at the WR and TE positions. So far this season Eli has passed for 3,358 yards and has thrown 20 touchdowns which has lead to a quarterback rating of 95.6 which is a career best for Eli. Eli has been making good decisions with the ball this season and hasn’t forced the ball a lot into those tight coverages like he did last year.  

WR Victor Cruz has made the Giants forget all about ex Giant WR Steve Smith who decided to sign with the Eagles this off-season. Cruz has been remarkable. Cruz has 55 catches for 957 yards on the season with a 17.4 average. Cruz is a solid route runner and has more speed than Smith.  But the only knock on Cruz is the consistency factor. A couple of weeks ago in the game against the 49ers Cruz dropped a couple of crucial wide open catches.

Special mention goes to the play of DE Jason Pierre-Paul who has 10.5 sacks on the season. What I love about the play of Pierre-Paul is that he goes hard on every play and his motor doesn’t stop.

What has gone wrong in 2011?:

If you look at the history of the New York Giants, the Giants running game has always been tops under current head coach Tom Coughlin. This season the Giants running game has been abysmal. The Giants are dead last in the NFL in rushing averaging 82.3 yards a game. The offensive line has failed to create holes for running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. I know many Giants fans are disgusted with the way Brandon Jacobs has been running the football but its hard to find success when no holes are being created for you to run through. I was never a fan of C David Baas who the Giants signed this off-season. Baas is decent but that’s it. He lacks toughness and isn’t a great blocker. The Giants should of never gotten rid of C and G Shaun O’Hara and Rich Seubert. I know the Giants are getting old on the offensive line, but if some things aren’t broken then no need to fix it.

On the defensive side of the ball the Giants have had numerous breakdowns in coverage. A lot has to do with communication in the secondary. There has been to much inconsistent play from the cornerbacks and safeties. CB Corey Webster has been solid, but has struggled with tackling. Just play the tape of Monday nights beat-down against the Saints. CB Aaron Ross has been picked on and beaten repeatedly at the line of scrimmage. Ross struggles with man to man coverage. He plays that old school Ray Buchanan coverage which is 10-15 yards off the line. I hate corners who play that typeof coverage like they don’t trust their skills or are scared to get burnt. S Antrel Rolle does more talking with his mouth than actually making plays on the field. S Deon Grant needs to be an analyst with me. His NFL career is done. He lacks speed and instincts. He always seems to be a step too slow to the football.

The Giants need LBs who can cover as well. I know LB Michael Boley (the Giants best LB) has been hampered by a nagging hamstring injury but the Giants need the next man to step up. The problem is the Giants don’t have good quality depth. The Giants need speed at the LB position.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Killdrive, I mean Kevin Gilbride needs to retire or give up his play calling duties. The Giants have too much talent on offense to struggle or to have drives that go three and out. As a die hard Giants fan I am so sick of seeing vanilla Utah Jazz style offense which is boring. That type of offense shouldn’t exist especially when you multiple playmakers at the skill positions. It sickens me to see the Giants move the ball so well in the two minute offense. It has all of us Giants fans asking to see more of f Eli and the Giants offense in the two minute offense set.

The Solution:

Don’t get me wrong, the Giants are a talented football team. What this team is lacking is pure speed at key positions. The Giants need to start drafting physical players who play with a nasty mean streak. The Giants need LB’s and Safeties  who can cover TE’s. The Giants need to add some solid guards and tackles who create running lanes for running backs. I know most people blame the Giants 2011 season on injuires, I don’t. The only major injury that hurts us was losing CB Terrell Thomas, who is the Giants most physical corner. Losing MLB Jonathan Goff hurt, but Goff was average at best to me. Goff doesn’t have good speed and range and reacts to plays to slow. The Giants need a makeover. I believe players are tuning out Tom Coughlin. Giants need a new fiery head coach who can get the best of his players week to week out. The Giants also need a new offensive coordinator one who is creative and can utilize this team’s true talent.