Twas the night before Christmas, and all that was left for the Giants was a season up in flames, and a Raven that quoted "never more."
Needing just about every break one can think of and needing to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in order to stay in the playoff race, the New York Giants may have watched their chances at defending their Super Bowl title go down the drain this holiday season after posting a second consecutive stinker, this time losing 33-14 in Baltimore.
Even though the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings had won their games earlier in the day, the Giants still controlled their own playoff destiny if they were only able to win this game; for whatever reason the effort was not there at all.
The Giants were flat for the second consecutive week. Eli Manning couldn't make much impact on this game other than a dismal 14-of-28 for 150 yard performance that will not quiet the doubters of his "Elite" status. The knock on Eli's "Elite" status has been, for years, that while he can be great at times, he is madly inconsistent other times. This season, Manning picked the wrong time to have two of the most inept games of his career. He wasn't a turnover machine, but he was ineffective against a Ravens defense that has been beaten up all season.
The play-calling was again unimaginative and conservative. Every single drive seemed to be same. Ahmad Bradshaw and David Wilson would carry the ball for a short gain; Manning would complete a short pass; and the Giants, desperatly trying to convert a long third-down, would fail miserably. Granted a lot of the Giants' issues on the offensive side of the ball can be contributed to poor execution, but it is becoming abundantly clear that the Giants will have to make a move in the off-season, and that could mean removing Kevin Gillbride from the coaching staff.
Gillbridge's play calling has been awful for years. He has found a way to avoid the wrath of this town because of the Giants two Super Bowl victories, but this is a guy who should be run out on the same rail Brian Schottenheimer and Tony Sparano have been run out on with the Jets.
Not only was the Giants invisible pass rush, which has been M.I.A. since week 1, a culprit; but, cornerback Corey Webster may have punched his ticket out of town. Webster was torched by wide receiver Torrey Smith with five catches for 88 yards and a touchdown, and Anquan Boldin who had 93 yards receiving. Smith, who left last week's loss to Denver because of a concussion looked sharp against Webster, who played like he was concused.
The Ravens took the Giants to the woodshed from the opening kick.
A 13-play 65-yard drive culminated in a six-yard score to Smith, with Webster hovering over him. Later in the quarter, Joe Flacco found Smith streaking down the sideline and connected with him for a 43-yard gain to the Giants 1. Flacco plunged it in from one-yard out, and just like that it was 14-0.
The Giants never recovered from the Ravens quick 14-0 lead, as they watched Ray Rice (24 carries, 107 yards) and virtual unknown, Bernard Pierce (14 carries, 123 yards) gash them up and down the field like it was going out of style. Rice would add a 27-yard touchdown reception to his monster afternoon that extended the Ravens lead to 24-7.
Even though the Giants would hold the Ravens to three field goals in the second half, they looked unmotivated for the remainder of the game. The only positive was a meanlingless touchdown in garbage time. Other than that there were more empty stares than points on the scoreboard for Big Blue.
The Giants can pretty much forget the playoffs. The NFC East is out of their hands. The Redskins can win the division with a win over the Cowboys, and Dallas can take the title if they beat Washington next Sunday night. The Giants only glimmer of hope is the wild card, but even that is very muddled. If the Vikings lose to the Packers, AND the Bears lose to the Lions, AND the Redskins beat the Cowboys, only then can the Giants could make it as a wild card at 9-7. Granted the Giants have to beat the happless Eagles first. If the Giants get losses by Minnesota and Chicago, and Dallas beats Washington, then the Giants are out and the Redskins take the wild card.
The Giants should be ashamed of themselves. This is a team that has accomplished plenty the past five seasons, yet when they had a chance to defend their title, they took an apathetic approach. Once again the Giants opened up the season 6-2 and once again they are struggling to finish over .500. Eventually Tom Coughlin has to answer to the Giants' string of sluggish finishes. But, before he does, he may have to TK'O his offensive and defensive coordinators.
No comments:
Post a Comment