Like all New York fans may know, the New York Giants season went downhill rather quickly. They have started the season with a record of 3-7, which is last place in the NFC East.
Odell Beckham talked about wanting to win eight games before their victory in Weeks 10 and 11 (cue the Kevin Garnett, “anything is possible” video). They have two down, with six more to go. Those are lofty expectations for a team that is 3-7 for many reasons. I'll go into depth of what those are very shortly.
Coming into the season, many fans had high hopes of this being a bounce-back year for the G-Men. That hasn't been the case at all, with this Giants squad under-achieving immensely.
The Giants were beginning anew, hiring Pat Shurmur as their head coach, while adding a weapon like Saquon Barkley in the draft. Shurmur has been a bright offensive mind, coming to the Giants, who had a whole arsenal of lethal weapons on offense.
There was plenty of reason for optimism among the New York faithful, but those hopes of a good season went down the drain rapidly. There are a few things that have accounted for the Giants struggles this season, leaving fans scrambling for answers for now and the future of their franchise.
Here are why the Giants have disappointed this year, sitting at 3-7 after Week 11.
The Offensive Line
The offensive line of the Giants has been a lingering issue for the past couple of years. It has actually gotten worse this year, with Eli Manning likely being sacked the most in his career when the season ends.
In 2017, Manning was sacked 31 times, which isn't awful, but isn't great at the same time. This year, he has already surpassed that number, being sacked 36 times (3rd most in NFL). Manning's career-high in times being sacked is 39. He will likely be sacked over 40 times by the conclusion of this regular season, raising red flags going forward.
Coming into this season, the Giants attacked the offensive line issues head-on. They signed Nate Solder and Patrick Omameh in free agency. They also drafted Will Hernandez in the 2nd round of the 2018 NFL Draft. None of them have played consistently, with Omameh actually being waived recently.
He signed a 3-year, $15 million deal this past off-season. The Giants signed Jamon Brown, after the Los Angeles Rams waived him due to impressive play from Austin Blythe this season.
Solder on the other hand, was handed a 4-year, $62 million contract, making him one of the highest-paid left tackles in the NFL. In 2018, his cap-hit is the 13th most in the NFL for left tackles, while he will be the largest cap-hit for left tackles for 2019.
At the beginning of the year, Ereck Flowers was still on the roster as well. They tried experimenting with him, by placing him at right tackle. It was a last-ditch effort to get anything out of their former 1st round pick. He was also cut by the Giants, being replaced by Chad Wheeler since.
The play of the offensive line has been horrendous all year, which has caused the Giants to struggle immensely. The Giants will need to continue bulking up their offensive line if they hope to improve in the future.
Bad Play From Eli Manning
Whether Giants fans want to admit it or not, Manning has been dreadful this year. Besides a couple of respectable performances (two coming in Weeks 10 and 11), he's been hard to watch. The bad play of Manning is a tough pill to swallow for the people of New York. He brought them a couple of Super Bowl trophies to commemorate the city.
Those years have come and went though, with the Giants struggling to find the formula of reaching the Super Bowl since.
Now, Manning is 37-years old, visibly showing signs of his arm and abilities declining. For the most part, father time is undefeated in the NFL, unless you're Drew Brees or Tom Brady who are anomalies in the history of the sport.
He's gradually fallen victim to his decline as the years have unfolded. Watching him play is tough, as he no longer resembles the guy who defeated the New England Patriots twice on the biggest stage.
In those games, he was a quarterback who could make something out of nothing. The David Tyree catch isn't possible without Manning pulling a Houdini-esque move to evade pressure and deliver a strike downfield.
Most New York fans have blamed the struggles of Manning on the offensive line, but I believe both are mutually at fault. Manning sometimes holds the ball too long, leaving himself to get sacked, while other times, there's no protection at all, leaving Manning hopeless.
The Giants cannot fall in the love with the idea that Manning needs a farewell tour. The NFL isn't the NBA, giving Kobe Bryant his well-deserved farewell tour.
Manning isn't having a performance like Kobe did, dropping 60 points in his final game in his career. The Giants also aren't in a position to continue to waste years, with young weapons like Barkley and Beckham.
Manning isn't doing that anytime soon, especially at this point of his career. Even though fans of the Giants don't want to hear it, Manning has been one of the reasons why this team is currently sitting where it is.
Lack of a Pass Rush
Every team in the NFL needs somewhat of a pass rush to be effective on defense. The Giants pass rush has been nonexistent this year.
It seems like opposing quarterbacks have a protective bubble on them when facing the Giants. There's seemingly a force field causing the Giants pass rush to be ineffective.
These of course are not real reasons why the Giants have struggled in the sacks department. The lack of talent and ability to rush the passer has accounted for their shortcomings. Through 11 weeks, the Giants have just 11 sacks, which is 31st in the NFL. That can't be the case if you want to be a respectable defense in today's league.
With the NFL turning towards being a pass-happy league with offenses like the Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, you need to be able to create pressure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAEuiUwJ3h0
If you can't created unwanted pressure on those teams, you kiss the chance of beating them good-bye. With Olivier Vernon back from injury for a few weeks, the Giants are still unable to reach the quarterback.
The Giants haven't had a multi-sack game since Week 7, when they sacked Matt Ryan three times. The defense has also only had two games where they had more than one sack (Week 7 and Week 3).
I don't know if it's the scheme, but nothing has worked when it comes to having to pressure the quarterback. Hopefully, in coming weeks, the Giants can get some sacks that have eluded them all year like Michael Vick in his prime.
When you want to be a formidable defense, you have to be able to manifest pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Giants have been unable to do so, which is one of the reasons they'll likely miss the playoffs (I'm not ruling anything out in the terrible NFC East).
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