Articles

by Craig J. Santucci @NYGiantsRush

Tonight nothing went as planned. As I sit in the back parking lot of a gas station in North Jersey at 3am awaiting a tow truck I keep asking myself how this could have ended differently. My truck transmission is shot, I am two and half hours from home , it will cost $500 to tow, my head is pounding, I’m exhausted, yet all I can think of is how the New York Giants have become one terrible franchise.

Pat Shurmur while a nice guy does not seem to be the right guy for the job. The team looks uninspired, the players rarely perform at a high level and they constantly look out coached or unprepared. Tonight was no different.

QB Guru:

Pat Shurmur has had some “brief” success with quarterback Case Keenum and Nick Foles, which was part of the decision to hire him as coach of the New York Giants. Coach up Eli Manning and groom his successor.

So how is this QB guru handling Jones, his young rookie signal caller. In a short period of time we have learned that Daniel Jones is tough; however, we are now seeing a dangerous trend. Jones is taking too many unnecessary shots and the percentage of him making it through the season is small. Even with a handful of slides against Dallas, the rookie QB has been on the run diving head first through and into NFL defenders. One would have to think they are not teaching him or reinforcing how important “sliding” is. This is not Duke football.

Coaching Up:

For the second time this season Daniel Jones has been the LEAD blocker for a Giants running back. Why would Shurmur let this happen twice, let alone once. This is mind boggling. Against Dallas, Jones took a vicious hit while blocking out front that could easily have ended his season. How does Shurmur let this continue?

Game plan:

The Run, Pass, Option (RPO) is a great weapon if your QB knows how to protect himself. Also, why is it necessary to get the QB out in space, when the team has one of the best backs in the league and he is struggling to get lanes between the tackles. The object should be to get Barkley out and into space and as we saw against Arizona…pull the center and the guard. Every time Jones runs you’re holding our breath, praying he slides to avoid contact. This continues on a weekly basis, yet Shurmur does nothing.

The offense is predictable and unimaginative. This is a 2-7 football team. Now is the time to pull out all the stops and go for it. Where is the roll out to the Tight End? Dallas executed this flawlessly 5 or 6 times on Monday Night Football. When Shurmur finally does pull the trigger on the play, it’s the waning minutes of the game and Ellison drops it.

Pass the sticks:

How many plays do we see that fall short of the 1st down because the routes are too short. Is this the players taking what they can get? Maybe. However, Shurmur needs to ensure the routes are not cut short so Jones and the offense can move the chains. Shurmur needs to coach up Jones to either step up in the pocket and look off to another receiver. How many times did you see Jones force the ball into an underneath route way short of the first down. While Jones is just a rookie…this was supposed to be Shurmur’s expertise.

Evan Engram:

Shurmur fails to use his talent. For the 5th straight game, Evan Engram had under 55 yards. He is on pace for unremarkable 750 yard | 2 TD season. It is now reported he has an injured foot. It’s clear, Shurmur struggles getting his play makers the ball. Earlier this year he was handing off the ball to Penny instead of Barkley or Gallman.

  • Engram: 8 targets |6 receptions | 48 yards

At one point in the game last night, the Cowboys subbed in their “heavy” goal line package. It was an odd subbing situation that the refs let go with out a “delay of game” call. However the entire stadium sat and watched the Cowboys sub in these players. What did the Giants do? Another failed attempt at running right up the gut.

How does ownership continue to get this wrong. How does management not see that these coordinators are not dynamic enough to give this team an edge in today’s NFL. When the refs control the outcome of a game, the home crowd is dominated Cowboys fans chanting “Let’s Go Cowboys” and a black cat dominates the entertainment on the field…it should be easy to see the team is not going in the right direction.