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Minnesota Vikings 49 – New York Giants 17
Overview
Oh, good. For a moment there I thought we were in trouble. – Butch Cassidy
The Giants got clobbered but I wouldn’t read too much into this one particular game. The Giants found out the day before that their playoff hopes were dead and were bound to suffer an emotional letdown against a quality opponent headed to the tournament. The Giants were missing one of their two superstars. And a weak and poorly-constructed roster once again is feeling the effects of an inordinate number of players on Injured Reserve (currently up to 18). Throw in the mental strain of six devastating 4th quarter collapses and it was only a matter of time before the Giants were on the receiving end of good old-fashioned ass whooping.
The more troubling concerns are the longer term trends. While the blowouts are down this year, they have continued since 2012. For the last four seasons, the Giants have fielded weak, injury-depleted rosters. They seem no further along on their rebuilding process than when they started.
The bottom line is this is a bad football team. It simply does not have the horses to consistently compete. Until the Giants acquire better players and players who are not so injury-prone, they will remain an also-ran who at best flirts with a playoff appearance.
Tom Coughlin will likely be fired or forced to retire in early January. This is a bottom-line business and the Giants have missed the playoffs six of the last seven years. He and his hand-picked defensive coaches have been unable fix a defense that remains a disaster. The team hasn’t been able to consistently run the ball for years. The Giants remain an unconfident, uptight, finesse team that lacks toughness on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Coughlin must share a significant portion of the blame for those faults. In addition, other than Eli, Coughlin’s old warriors are gone and his cachet doesn’t carry much with the new guys. He will be 70. Sadly, it’s time for a change.
Offense
We now know what happens when Odell Beckham does not play. The results were not pretty. The Giants had seven offensive possessions in the first half. Two resulted in interceptions and four with punts. The Giants had six first downs in the first half, three coming on their lone scoring drive that resulted in a short field goal. The Giants did not complete a pass until the second quarter and only had five pass completions in the first half. Running back Rashad Jennings accounted for 100 of the Giants’ 112 first-half yards.
For the game, New York was 1-of-11 (9 percent) on third-down conversion attempts and 0-of-2 (0 percent) on fourth-down conversion attempts. The Giants did not score a touchdown until the game was out of reach (32-3). Over half of Manning’s passing yards came on two pass plays. If that was not bad enough, the offense was directly responsible for two touchdowns by the opposition and put their own defense in bad field position situations all night.
Quarterbacks
Missing the target that had been responsible for 26 percent of the team’s receptions, 36 percent of the team’s passing yardage, 41 percent of the team’s receiving touchdowns, and opening up opportunities for his teammates, Eli Manning struggled mightily. He did not complete a pass until New York’s second drive in the 2nd quarter. He was 5-of-13 for 77 yards in the first half, and 50 of those 77 yards came on one play. His first-half quarterbacking rating was 19.2. Two of his three interceptions led directly to two touchdowns. Vikings’ defensive backs only had five interceptions on the season coming into this game. Manning also could not handle a shotgun snap on 3rd-and-16 that led to a 13-yard loss. In the end, over half of his 234 passing yardage came on two pass plays. He only completed 15 passes in the game. There was another delay-of-game penalty to boot. Ryan Nassib came into the game late in garbage time and was 5-of-5 for 68 yards and a touchdown.
Running Backs
Rashad Jennings came to play and was astoundingly responsible for 100 of New York’s 112 first-half yardage, including one screen pass for 50 yards and nine carries for 50 yards. He finished the night with 14 carries for 74 yards (5.3 yards per carry) and two catches for 62 yards. Jennings did not pick up a corner blitz well on a play where Manning was hit. The other four backs only had six carries for 17 yards, with Andre Williams being the only other back with more than one carry (three carries for 5 yards). Shane Vereen was held to two catches for 21 yards. He also dropped a pass in the red zone where the Giants had to settle for a field goal.
Wide Receivers
Absolute shit. Minus Odell Beckham, the Giants and Eli Manning desperately needed the other wideouts on the roster to excel and they did the opposite. Through almost to the end of the 3rd quarter, when the Vikings were up 32-3, Giants receivers had three catches for 21 yards!!! Rueben Randle and Hakeem Nicks looked like they were going through the motions. Dwayne Harris dropped Manning’s first attempt. Randle dropped another on the field goal drive inside the red zone. Myles White dropped a fourth down pass.
Tight Ends
Crap. Giants tight ends had one catch for six yards in the first half. In the end, Will Tye, Jerome Cunningham, and Matt LaCosse had a total of eight catches, but seven of those came when the game was well out of hand. Tye was also flagged for an illegal shift and dropped a 4th-and-6 pass late in the game.
Offensive Line
The Giants needed a strong performance up front and did not get it. Manning was sacked four times (three times in the first half) and officially hit eight other times, even though he it seemed far more than that. Too many penalties too with Marshall Newhouse (false start), Ereck Flowers (unnecessary roughness and holding), and Justin Pugh (illegal use of hands) being flagged. The line did run block pretty well in the first half of the contest, except on a poorly-designed 2nd-and-1 play right before the pick six where two Vikings were left unblocked. Newhouse gave up the first sack on 3rd-and-10 in the 1st quarter. The second sack wasn’t on the line as the Vikings did not bite on a play-action rollout and the defensive end got around Will Tye. Pugh gave up the third sack on 3rd-and-9 and another sack late in the 4th quarter. Flowers gave up a few late pressures and a bit hit on Eli.
Defense
The defense hung in there but once again predictably faded. The fate of the Giants’ defense has been based on turnovers, and that’s never wise. The Giants have lost 17 of their last 18 regular-season games in which their defense did not force a turnover, including against Minnesota.
The defense forced three punts to start the game, including one possession that started on Minnesota’s 45-yard line. The Vikings’ fourth possession started on their 46 and resulted in an 8-play, 40-yard drive that ended with a field goal. Minnesota’s only offensive touchdown of the half came on a very short field, the drive starting on New York’s 44-yard line. The Vikings’ last first half points also came on a short field, with Minnesota only having to pick up 23 yards and one first down to set up a field goal. The defense gave up only 13 first half points despite being in bad field position most of the half.
In the second half, the Giants’ defense allowed a 58-yard drive that ended with a field goal. Another interception gave the Vikings the ball on the Giants’ 4-yard line and an easy touchdown for a commanding 29-3 lead. Then came a 47-yard drive that set up a 53-yard field goal, an onside kickoff that gave the Vikings the ball at the Giants’ 18-yard line and a turnover on downs that gave the Vikings the ball on the Giants’ 35-yard line. The biggest embarrassment for the defense was the 68-yard touchdown run late in the game when the Vikings were simply attempting to run out the clock.
Oddly, despite the team giving up 49 points, the defense only allowed the Vikings 17 first downs and 150 net passing yards. The Vikings were also only 2-of-5 (40 percent) in red zone efficiency.
Defensive Line/Linebackers
The front seven did a decent job against the run in the first half, holding the Vikings to 44 yards on 14 carries (3.1 yards per carry). The Giants also sacked Teddy Bridgewater twice, including 9-yard sack split between Robert Ayers and George Selvie on 3rd-and-5 after Manning’s first interception. Ayers got the other sack late in the first half (note to Giants…stop dancing around like dumb asses when the other team is kicking your ass on the scoreboard).
Adrian Peterson really didn’t hurt the Giants all that much until late in the 3rd quarter when he broke off a 39-yard run when Jason Pierre-Paul got double-teamed and J.T. Thomas couldn’t get off the block by the tight end. This set up a long field goal. The defense started to fade very late in the 3rd quarter and early in the 4th quarter, first with Bridgewater’s 9-yard scramble on 3rd-and-8 and then running back Jerick McKinnon’s 7-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-goal. On the later run, Pierre-Paul and Jasper Brinkley simply failed to make the play. The nadir came on McKinnon’s three runs late in the game that picked up a total of 80 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown run. Jay Bromley and Ayers were each flagged with being offsides. Thomas was thrown out of the game for throwing a punch.
Defensive Backs
Teddy Bridgewater only completed 15-of-25 passes for 168 yards. The problem remains the safeties. Craig Dahl was beaten for a 28-yard touchdown by tight end Kyle Rudolph on 2nd-and-14. Landon Collins was late getting over to help out on the play as well. Collins later gave up a 25-yard reception against Rudolph on 3rd-and-3 on Minnesota’s first scoring drive of the second half. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Prince Amukamara didn’t really hurt their team but didn’t really help either. I didn’t like how Amukamara played patty-cake with the wide receiver on Jerick McKinnon’s 7-yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter on 3rd-and-goal. Trevin Wade, playing the nickel, made a nice play defending a 3rd-and-5 shot into the end zone, but he later gave up a 21-yard reception on 3rd-and-3 on the field goal drive right before halftime.
Special Teams
Not good. An ailing Dwayne Harris (shoulder) returned two punts for a total of 12 yards, muffing his first chance. He also let one punt hit the turf and roll that he should have fair caught. Shane Vereen returned seven kickoffs, but his longest effort was only 23 yards. Ben Edwards also returned one kickoff for 20 yards. None of Josh Brown’s kickoffs resulted in touchbacks. Both of his onside kicks failed, and one was returned 27 yards to the Giants’ 18-yard line, setting up another touchdown. Brad Wing punted six times, averaging 40 yards per punt. One punt was expertly downed on the 4-yard line by Landon Collins and Craig Dahl. Wing’s 30-yard punt right before halftime helped the Vikings add an additional field goal. Punt coverage and kickoff coverage on the two traditional kickoffs were good.
Cram it in your Cramhole Award
Minus Odell Beckham, the entire wide receiving corps. Three catches for 21 yards until late in the 3rd quarter when the game was out of reach? Holy crap.
