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There is no one player who represents the back slide the Giants have taken as an offense, although Eli Manning always is front-and-center, and thus the logical poster boy for this annual November demise.
Heck, Manning has thrown a career-long 99 consecutive passes without a touchdown, making him Exhibit A. But take a look at Martellus Bennett when it comes to linking what’s happened to a player and what’s happened to the unit.
Bennett caught touchdown passes in his first three games for the Giants, and it looked as if the 6-foot-6 tight end was going to be an end-zone target on a weekly basis. He hasn’t scored in the past seven games, as opponents watched, learned and adjusted.
“He’s not any less of a target than he has been,’’ tight ends coach Mike Pope said. “After those first few games, people have been battering him off the line of scrimmage and made it harder on him.
“That is a badge of courage for a player, but it’s on the player and us as a coaching staff to respond and keep him as the weapon he was earlier in the year.’’
There it is, the key to the remainder of the season for the Giants, provided by the wizened Pope. It is on the players and also the coaching staff to respond. The offense is broken and must be fixed. The repairs will not include a batch of new parts, because the best players are playing — although at some point rookie David Wilson has got to get the ball in his hands as a running back, and would it kill anyone to put Ramses Barden out there in the red zone?
The bye week is the time to reassess, and the brain trust assigned to the offensive side of the ball has to come up with a new plan. No, they aren’t going to scrap what has worked so well the past few years, but the matchups coach Tom Coughlin and offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride count on to create advantages simply aren’t there. The physical advantages the Giants rely on with receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz have been blunted by Nicks’ knee and foot issues and the gradual wearing down of Cruz, whose season could be counted by rounds, not games.
If Nicks comes off the break re-energized and once again is a breakaway threat, the entire offense could follow suit. There are enough third-receiver options for Manning in Domenik Hixon, Barden and rookie Rueben Randle, although there is no legitimate speed threat to stretch the defense the way Mario Manningham did in previous years.
The guys on the other side of the field aren’t dummies. Without Manning’s quick strikes down the field, the Giants are forced to execute play after play, and it hasn’t happened. Defenses are assigning an extra player into pass coverage, daring Manning to throw into a crowd or else make the appropriate check and run the ball against a defensive front that should be a man down and thus vulnerable.
“Any time you’re good at something, that’s what everyone wants to take away,’’ Bennett said. “If you’re a jump-shooter and everybody’s face-guarding you where you can’t shoot the ball, you got to start driving it to the lane at some point or you will just be ineffective the whole game. We got to find out what will be our drive to the lane.’’
Laboring Ahmad Bradshaw is averaging 4.5 yards per carry and Andre Brown is at 5.4 yards but as a rushing attack, the Giants do not move the chains with any regularity, forcing Manning to pass into danger zones, throwing to well-covered targets. Think of this: When is the last time you saw one of Manning’s receivers running free?
“We’ll do some self analysis, there might be some changes, but a lot of our plays are plays we’ve been running since training camp and over the last eight years,’’ Manning said. “We got to see what’s working, what’s not working, why certain things aren’t working. We got to clean up the decision-making from within or get more concepts that will work better for us. But it’s still going to be stuff we’re familiar with. I don’t see us coming in and saying, ‘Hey, we got a whole new offense and we’re doing this now.’ I don’t see how that’s going to help anything.’’
The Giants got sloppy earlier this season, falling behind then unleashing Eli’s air show, which at times could not be stopped. It’s been quite a comedown, as Manning admits lately he sees opposing defenses imposing their will, no breaks going his way and thinking, “How do we get a first down? Will we be able to score points this week?’’
Gilbride changed things up against the Bengals, going to a quicker tempo featuring shorter routes. It didn’t work because the Giants fell behind almost immediately, then they turned the ball over and over again. There is no solution that doesn’t start with Manning elevating his performance despite what’s going on around him. Giving him an upgraded plan of attack wouldn’t hurt, either.
NFC East lead is not Giant anymore
There is no more talk about the NFC East being the toughest division in the NFL, as the Giants are the only team with a winning record and they’ve dropped two straight.
As the Giants part ways for a week off, they sit where they want to sit, albeit not as comfortably as before.
It is not possible for the Giants to fall out of first place by the time they next take the field, but what once was a robust lead in the division can be shaved to a half-game. That’s because the Cowboys (4-5) play two home games against losing teams (the Browns this Sunday, the Redskins on Thanksgiving) before the Giants face the Packers on Nov. 25.
Assuming a run by the talented but often-erratic Cowboys always is risky.
“They could be 6-5, they could be 4-7, too,’’ Osi Umenyiora said on 1050 ESPN NY. “We’ll see what happens.’’
We’ll see what happens, but nine wins won this division a year ago, and could do so again.