The Giants went to Dallas Sunday night with every intention of stomping the Cowboys and dashing their playoff hopes. Instead, it was the Cowboys who stomped the Giants and kept their playoff hopes alive.
With a 20–8 loss, the Giants (11–3) are on a two-game losing streak and are now in a must-win situation this upcoming Sunday night against the Carolina Panthers (11–3). The winner of that game will have home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
To make a long story short, the game Sunday night was almost unbearable to watch for any Giants fan. The offense, the best in the league for most of the season, now seems like a shell of its former self, turning in a second straight week of putrid performances.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin commented on the team’s sub-par play, “We really did think that the effort was good.”
Eli Manning was not sharp, completing 18 of 35 passes for 191 yards and two interceptions, but he didn’t get much support either. Manning was sacked a season-high eight times, one of which came on the first play of the game courtesy of Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware.
Giants center Shaun O’Hara contemplated the offensive line’s poor pass protection: “It is never pretty when you give up that many sacks. It is painful to watch it again.
“Obviously we need to do a better job of running the football when we are given an opportunity so that we don’t get into becoming a one-dimensional offense and just throwing the ball. So we can certainly do a better job of protecting him.”
The Giants came into the game leading the league with an average of 154.6 rushing yards per game. The Cowboys were able to keep them under 100.
The Giants also had 218 total net yards and went a second straight week without scoring a touchdown when it mattered.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning remarked, “It starts with me and we have to find a way to get back to playing well.
“We know that we have lost two games in a row, something that we haven’t done in a long time since the first two games of last season, but we know we can bounce back from it and get back to playing at a high level.”
In the absence of star wide-out Plaxico Burress—gone for the season—and bruising running back Brandon Jacobs, the Giants knew they were going to have their hands full with the Dallas 3–4 defense.
Forced to start backup runner Derrick Ward and left without any receivers capable of keeping the Cowboys’ secondary honest, the Giants’ problems were further compounded by the poor run blocking and pass protection from their offensive line.
To make matters worse, Giants right tackle Kareem McKenzie left the game with a back injury and starting left guard Rich Seubert left the game with flu. Dallas’s speedy pass rush turned up the heat and made the Giants problems worse.
The offensive game plan of Kevin Gilbride didn’t help to improve matters. The play calling was very predictable and failed to react to the Cowboys defensive schemes.
It seemed the Cowboys were able to throw the kitchen sink at Manning all game long, and the Giants were unable to figure out a way to counteract their attack.
The Cowboys meanwhile, made the necessary adjustments at halftime to deal with the Giants blitzes and beat them with quick outs and slants.
Some can say the Giants were forced to resort to textbook offensive packages due to the poor play of the offensive line. But what is the excuse for last week when the line was playing better? Against a tough upcoming opponent like the Carolina Panthers, the Giants will have to become more creative on the offensive side of the ball.
Coach Coughlin was stoic in his assessment of the team’s situation: “We will come back in and hopefully we will have better resolve and we will go back to work and try to fix the problems that we have and get ready for another big opponent.
“I don’t know that the ‘desperation’ word is something that we have used in our situation yet. But obviously we are running out of games here.”
With a 20–8 loss, the Giants (11–3) are on a two-game losing streak and are now in a must-win situation this upcoming Sunday night against the Carolina Panthers (11–3). The winner of that game will have home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
To make a long story short, the game Sunday night was almost unbearable to watch for any Giants fan. The offense, the best in the league for most of the season, now seems like a shell of its former self, turning in a second straight week of putrid performances.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin commented on the team’s sub-par play, “We really did think that the effort was good.”
Eli Manning was not sharp, completing 18 of 35 passes for 191 yards and two interceptions, but he didn’t get much support either. Manning was sacked a season-high eight times, one of which came on the first play of the game courtesy of Dallas linebacker DeMarcus Ware.
Giants center Shaun O’Hara contemplated the offensive line’s poor pass protection: “It is never pretty when you give up that many sacks. It is painful to watch it again.
“Obviously we need to do a better job of running the football when we are given an opportunity so that we don’t get into becoming a one-dimensional offense and just throwing the ball. So we can certainly do a better job of protecting him.”
The Giants came into the game leading the league with an average of 154.6 rushing yards per game. The Cowboys were able to keep them under 100.
The Giants also had 218 total net yards and went a second straight week without scoring a touchdown when it mattered.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning remarked, “It starts with me and we have to find a way to get back to playing well.
“We know that we have lost two games in a row, something that we haven’t done in a long time since the first two games of last season, but we know we can bounce back from it and get back to playing at a high level.”
In the absence of star wide-out Plaxico Burress—gone for the season—and bruising running back Brandon Jacobs, the Giants knew they were going to have their hands full with the Dallas 3–4 defense.
Forced to start backup runner Derrick Ward and left without any receivers capable of keeping the Cowboys’ secondary honest, the Giants’ problems were further compounded by the poor run blocking and pass protection from their offensive line.
To make matters worse, Giants right tackle Kareem McKenzie left the game with a back injury and starting left guard Rich Seubert left the game with flu. Dallas’s speedy pass rush turned up the heat and made the Giants problems worse.
The offensive game plan of Kevin Gilbride didn’t help to improve matters. The play calling was very predictable and failed to react to the Cowboys defensive schemes.
It seemed the Cowboys were able to throw the kitchen sink at Manning all game long, and the Giants were unable to figure out a way to counteract their attack.
The Cowboys meanwhile, made the necessary adjustments at halftime to deal with the Giants blitzes and beat them with quick outs and slants.
Some can say the Giants were forced to resort to textbook offensive packages due to the poor play of the offensive line. But what is the excuse for last week when the line was playing better? Against a tough upcoming opponent like the Carolina Panthers, the Giants will have to become more creative on the offensive side of the ball.
Coach Coughlin was stoic in his assessment of the team’s situation: “We will come back in and hopefully we will have better resolve and we will go back to work and try to fix the problems that we have and get ready for another big opponent.
“I don’t know that the ‘desperation’ word is something that we have used in our situation yet. But obviously we are running out of games here.”
