Giants Offense Stinks It Up on Turkey Day

REDSKINS 20 - GIANTS 10 

Don't pass the gravy to someone in a Giants jersey this Thanksgiving, they might just drop it.

The 2017 Giants have been a lot of awful things this year, but one thing is for sure this offense is just awful. Big Blue managed only seven first downs and a measly 170 yards of offense in a 20-10 meltdown in the Nations Capital on Thanksgiving night, giving their fans indigestion as the Giants record fell to 2-9. More importantly they wasted a tremendous effort from the defense that gave this woebegone football team a shot to avoid total humiliation. 

A lot of Giants fans have been quick to blame Eli Manning for this debacle of a season, even rooting for the Giants to lose out so they can get their hands on one of the over-hyped California quarterbacks coming out of next year's draft. But here are some cold hard facts on this chilly November night. This is not Eli's fault. And Thursday night's 20-10 loss wasn't his fault at all. 

Yes, Manning had only 77 yards passing before he hit Tavarres King on a 27-yard pass in the final minute of the game. And yes, he was sacked four times. But the fact is Manning threw 27 passes on Thursday night and only 13 of them were complete. Why? Because his corps of young receivers couldn't hold onto the football if their lives depended on it. And when they weren't dropping catchable passes, they read the wrong route and Manning missed them entirely. It was the same comedy of errors that has befallen this Giants team all season; the quarterback can't get on the same page with his receivers. It should come as no surprise that Manning leads the league in dropped passes along with Derek Carr of the 4-6 Oakland Raiders and DeShone Kizer of the infamous 0-10 Cleveland Browns. 

Knowing the kind of workaholic Manning is, there is a good chance he had spent plenty of time working with the talent he has around him to get this season turned around. But talent is what the Giants lack on the offensive side of the ball.  The Giants depth at wide receiver and running back is just hideous. Manning was supposed to have Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Sterling Sheperd, not King and Roger Lewis. 

Evan Engram, who was supposed to be the lone savior for this passing attack with all of the above mentioned on IR, was once again non-existent with three catches for 18 yards. Engram had only one catch for six yards last week against Kansas City. What happened to this budding superstar? 

Then there is the offensive line which again failed to pass protect when it needed to, and failed to create the necessary push up front for the Giants to do anything with their running game. 

As a result, the Giants managed only 52 yards and one first down for the entire second half. 

It is hard to believe that the Giants actually had a chance Thursday night, which makes this loss that much more excruciating. For the second straight week the Giants defense played with high intensity and passion. They controlled the line of scrimmage for three quarters of the game, and were all over Kirk Cousins, who was sacked six times. Heck, the Giants led 3-0 at one point, and were even tied at three mid-way through the third quarter. 

With 2:52 to go in the third, and with Washington trying to go up two scores, embattled cornerback Janoris Jenkins stepped in front of a Cousins pass, picked it off and dashed down the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown to tie the game at 10. 

That was the only offense the Giants would see all night --- from the their defense. 

Call it a wasted opportunity. The Redskins would rebound, with Cousins engineering a nine-play, 65-yard drive in over five minutes for the go-ahead touchdown on a tight sideline pass to Josh Doctson to make it 17-10. After the Giants turned the ball over on downs when Manning was sacked on a critical fourth down, the Skins put the game on ice with a short field goal to make it 20-10. 

Just like that the Giants were heading home on a cold Thanksgiving at 2-9. With a season in total disarray every time a player in a Giants uniform steps on the field they are getting a shot to prove they belong here long term. And with each passing week, they continue to prove that the Giants must have a complete overhaul come January.