INDIANAPOLIS — The Giants’ first-team offense could have used Hakeem Nicks on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The only problem was he was wearing a Colts jersey and having the time of his life catching passes from Andrew Luck.
Nicks, the former Giants wide receiver who signed as a free agent with Indianapolis last March, shredded his old team, catching five passes for 53 yards in a first half dominated by the Colts before the Giants’ second- and third-stringers rallied from a 26-0 fourth-quarter deficit for a 27-26 win.
Nicks, who had two catches of 17 yards, would have had at least one more reception and a lot more yardage had he not drawn an unsportsmanlike penalty for wagging his finger at the Giants secondary in a “you-can’t-catch-me” fashion as he trotted out of bounds just before the end of the first quarter.
The 36-yard gain was nullified by the penalty and Nicks was summoned for a heart-to-heart chat with Colts coach Chuck Pagano, who probably told the wide receiver to have fun, but chill a bit.
“I didn’t think they were going to call that,” Nicks said afterward. “It was just a friendly wave.”
You can’t blame Nicks for being a little amped. His five years as Giant didn’t exactly end on a positive note. The 29th pick of the 2009 draft didn’t catch a touchdown pass all of last season and was the poster child for an offense that underachieved.
Though he compiled 2,244 receiving yards and 18 TDs during the 2010-11 seasons, he had just three TDs over the next two years as he battled injuries. That’s why no tears were shed when he signed a one-year, $3.9 million deal with the Colts.
The Giants drafted Odell Beckham Jr., a gifted wide receiver from LSU, with the 12th overall pick thinking he would be an upgrade over Nicks. But Beckham hasn’t been able to get on the field as he tries to recover from a hamstring injury that has limited his participation in training camp.
Nicks wouldn’t say whether he was hurt the Giants didn’t make more of an effort to keep him.
“I don’t really want to talk about that,” he said. “That’s the past.”
But he admitted being hyped to play his old team.
“Yeah, you could say that,” he said.
It would be easy to second-guess the Giants’ decision to rid themselves of Nicks after watching the way he was able to get open and run for yardage Saturday night. If anything, his performance underscored the continuing struggles of a Giants first-unit offense that looks nowhere near ready for the Sept. 8 season opener at Detroit.
Nicks had more receiving yards in the first half (53) than the Giants did in total net yards (48). While Nicks and Luck looked as if they had been playing together for years, the Giants’ starters found little success operating their new West Coast offense that failed to generate a single point before the reserves rallied to win the game.
Clearly, returning to Lucas Oil Stadium, where the Giants beat the Patriots 21-17 to win Super Bowl XLVI, didn’t serve as much motivation. If anything, it proved just how far the Giants are from being close to the team that captured the franchise’s fourth Lombardi Trophy.
That team used confidence, experience and belief in their system and personnel to beat the Patriots for the second straight time in the Super Bowl. The 2014 Giants are a work in progress laboring to learn a new offensive system.
“We need to take that leap of faith,” offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said the other day. “We need to play fast. We need to trust our instincts. It’s a game of anticipation and belief in your teammates. If we can’t do that, then we’re not going to grow. We can’t be afraid to go out there and make mistakes.”
The Giants made plenty of mistakes Saturday night. They’re hoping they didn’t make another mistake by saying goodbye to Nicks.