Tom Coughlin lambasted his offense’s performance as pathetic, and no unit was more pitiful than the Giants’ offensive line.
The group allowed Eli Manning to get sacked on the game’s first play, running back Andre Brown get stuffed repeatedly all day, and when it was finally over, the linemen were as culpable as anybody in the 23-0 beating suffered at the hands of Seattle.
“I don’t know if he even had to say anything. It’s out there. You saw it, everybody else saw it. Pathetic, embarrassing, whatever word you want to use, it was accurate,’’ offensive lineman Kevin Boothe said of an offense that mustered just 181 yards and was shut out at home for the first time since 1995. “They didn’t do anything to confuse us. It’s just they wanted it more and played better than we did.’’
Behind subpar run blocking, the Giants ran for a putrid 25 yards on 14 carries. Behind sorry pass protection, Big Blue passers got sacked four times and hit a half-dozen more. The unit, shorthanded because of injuries, ineffectively watched as Seattle consistently wreaked havoc on the Giants offense.
“It’s always tough. That’s not the way we want to play, or the way we expect to play, so it’s definitely tough,’’ said Boothe, who has been part of the shuffling the offensive line has been forced to do.
Clearly, no one player can be singled out for the woes of an injury-riddled offensive line. With veterans Chris Snee and David Baas both out, Boothe had to move over to center while backup/jumbo tight end James Brewer was thrust into action at left guard.
The experiment has not worked and failed again Sunday. Brewer regularly was beaten like a drum, before being lifted with an apparent ankle injury. And rookie first-round pick Justin Pugh — who played on the left side for his entire career at Syracuse — struggled mightily on the right.
“That wasn’t winning football, it’s unacceptable on my part,” Pugh said. “[The] defense played hard. We’ve got to move the ball. Unacceptable. I’ve got to play better, that’s the story. I got to be better for this team. They expect more out of me and I expect more out of myself. I’m very disappointed in the way I played. I felt I let the guys down today.’’
Pugh said the Seahawks were just more physical up front.
“That set the tone,’’ Pugh said. “I think personally I’ve got to come out and play better. I’ve got to be more physical. I’ve got to go down there and protect our guys. I’m upset by the way I played and I’ve got to get back to work. That’s all I can do. I’ve got to go out there and play better. The team needs me to play better.’’