Articles

By Michael Stewart/@golferbad

Introduction: The New York Giants fell to 0-2 to the hands of the Buffalo bills who are now 2-0. This was indeed a tale of two cities for New York as the Bills displayed more big-play ability and were much better in tackling than the Giants; who for the second straight week found themselves on the losing end.

Despite losing by double digits, the Giants were within reach; but couldn’t sustain any offensive momentum and their defense couldn’t make big plays. Below are my top 3 reasons why the Giants lost.

Top 3 Reasons Why the Giants Lost

  1. Giants Defensive Front 7: Once again, The Giants defense was disappointed as they couldn’t make any big plays to keep the Bills offense off the scoreboard. When the Giants made it 21-14 and seemed to have gotten the momentum. The Defense allowed the Bills to march down the field and surrendered a touchdown to give the Bills a 14 point lead that stood.
  2. Secondary repeat performance: Last week the secondary had a horrendous game, allowing big plays, missed assignments and tackles. Well, against the Bills the Giants secondary had a repeat performance in all three categories.
  3. Time of possession/3rd down Efficiency: These two categories go hand in hand in this game as the Bills were able to keep their offense on the field longer than the Giants (32.38 to 27.22) by converting a higher percentage on 3rd downs (38% to 25%).

Hero:

Bills offense: Quarterback Josh Allen made not have been flashy, but he did just enough and distributed the ball around and got solid efforts from his running game (accounted for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns) and his receivers (246 yards and 1 touchdown).

Goat:

Giants defense: Despite collecting 3 sacks, the Giants defense still had problems making the big play when they needed it. They still had problems with their coverage assignments and they still have problems tackling in the open field.

Final Thoughts: This is starting to become a déjà vu for me as the Giants seem to be making the same mistakes as they did last season. I understand it’s still only the second game of the season, but the way this team has played over the last 34 games, perhaps it’s time to push the panic button. Really can’t blame Eli Manning for either loss thus far, but perhaps GM Dave Gettleman and Head Coach Pat Shurmur should consider making a change for the sake of making a change to possibly change the dynamics a bit.

This is not a knock on Manning at all, but more of a wake-up call for the rest of the team; especially the defense to start waking up. Next up for the Giants will be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in a game that should be defined as a must-win.