After a five-year hiatus from playing post-season football, the New York Giants finally got over the hump and made the playoffs in 2016 and came in as a Wild Card team and people were taking them very seriously because they’ve been known to go on a run or two. 2007 and 2011 are a perfect example because we saw where they were and how they finished the season, as Super Bowl champions both times. They got to the playoffs last year on the strength of their defense and the offense struggled to score 20 or more points for the remainder of the 2016 season. With the off-season they had which saw them sign Brandon Marshall from the New York Jets, he gave a receiving core that includes Odell Beckham Jr, Sterling Shepard and now Marshall, some people were thinking division champs and many were thinking Super Bowl. It hasn’t been too great of a start for them. They’re 0-3 for the first time since 2013 and the big question is this: What’s wrong with the Giants?
When I look at the tape, I immediately see how much they depend on Odell Beckham to literally carry the entire offense on his shoulders. They can’t win without him and we saw how flat they looked. They didn’t even score a touchdown in that opener against the Cowboys and in their home opener against the Lions, they only scored ten points. They can’t win games without Odell, they can’t win games with Odell so I think another receiver outside of number 13 needs to be able to ignite their offense and they have three guys in Brandon Marshall, Sterling Shepard and the rookie tight end, Evan Engram to do just that. You can’t always have one guy come in and bail you out each time and we’ve seen the great things that a football team can do when you spread the ball around to each of your receivers when they’re open. The Atlanta Falcons are a perfect example of this. The offensive line has also had its fair share of struggles and it doesn’t help when Eli Manning is back there running for his life. He’s a pocket quarterback that move in the pocket.
Their defense is still one of the best in the league and they’ve done more than their part to keep the team within the game. Yesterday in Philly, they struggled late when it mattered and if they make a few stops, they’re 1-2 and not 0-3. Do I think they can rebound from this? Yes, because they have a good enough defense to get after the quarterback, stop the run and the secondary is the tone setter and with a healthy Janoris Jenkins, it can happen. Will this be easy? Not at all because they are in a pretty big hole right now and losing that game the way they did was a heartbreaker.
