3rd and Short...Shit

Yes that wasn't a nightmare the Giants actually lost to the Washington Redskins. But as painful as it is I think it's important to address why we lost:

1) Failure to move the chains on 3rd and 4th down. Especially on 3rd and short. I can not tell you how much it infuriates me, and probably all Giants fans for that matter, to see Bradshaw or Jacobs being stuffed well short of the 1st down or worse, endzone. The worst of it is this isn't a recent thing. This has been a serious trend throughout Gilbrides tenure as offensive coordinator. It's as if he gets so fixed upon the fact that we only need one yard he forgets the fact that they're giving you THE ENTIRE FIELD. I swear I think I saw Laron Landry in a three point stance ready to stop the run at one point. Why can't we throw the football? Is that such a crime if the defense is putting ten men in the box? And when I say throw the football, I don't mean make it obvious and line up in the shotgun with 4 or 5 wide. I mean why not take a two step drop out of the power I and throw the damn ball. Long story short do something ballsy because running the ball right at the really fat guy and his fat friends isn't working. Plays like that killed two potential scoring drives yesterday.

2) Pass Protection. Eli got hit a lot. I'm not convinced it's because our Oline isn't good enough just yet. It may have been miscommunication due to lack of experience. But it's the regular season so there's no excuses now. The two times Eli had protection in the pocket he hit two bombs, one early to Nicks and one later to Ballard. If our Oline turns out to not be so great at pass protection Eli will have to learn to throw into the blitzes and take some shots, but for now we have to get our franchise QB some time in the pocket.

3) Did Not Capitalize on JPP's Big Play. Down 21-14 towards the end of the third quarter Jason Pierre-Paul sacked Rex Grossman and forced a fumble which was recovered by Michael Boley around the Redskins 30 yard line. That was a huge play. But after being stopped on 3rd and short (see complaint number one), Tynes kicked a line drive directly at the defensive lineman on the field goal attempt. You have to get points out of a play like that late in the game and they didn't.

Those to me are the 3 biggest reasons why we lost. Yeah Eli's pick six on that quick pass intended for Nicks was bad too. Kerrigan made a good play, but hey that was easy after Kareem Mckenzie was lying flat on his flace after missing his cut block. But to me the game wasn't lost at that point.

The Giants defense did solid. I think the truth of the matter is Justin Tuck makes an incredible difference. Tollefson is not bad but he doesn't draw double teams and Tuck does. Tuck simply being there makes everyone else on the Dline have an easier time at getting to the quarterback. Hopefully the captain and our fearless leader will be back on the field Monday night for the home opener.

But hey wait a minute, maybe the Redskins are good. Maybe Rex Grossman will revitalize his career in Washington as their starting quarterback. After all the guy has been to the Super Bowl. Is that a ridiculous thing to say? The truth is you don't know yet. You can't determine who is good and who isn't after one game. Yes, that's right, I'm talking to you Giants fans who think the seasons over and we suck. That's plain stupid man. 0-1 is far from the end of the world, and I'll think we'll come out strong against the Rams at home on Monday night.

More to come on the Rams later, but for now in honor I'm going to quickly address things worth noting after our first week of NFL action:
-Ted Ginn is a boss.
-Cam Newton had more passing yards in his first game ever then Tom Brady has had in any game ever and the Panthers still lost.
-The Colts are really going to stink I think it's safe to say that's obvious.
-Jets made some 4th quarter plays but Tony Romo is a choke artist and has yet to prove me otherwise. -The Bills smoked the Chiefs. Wow.
-The Ravens smoked the Steelers. Double wow.

Giants fans let me just leave you with this reminder: We're in the NFC East, possibly the most unpredicatable division in football. This is the division where the Eagles clinched a wildcard birth in 2008 with a 9-6-1 record and made it to the NFC Championship game. This is the division where the Cowboys absolutely sucked last year when they were picked to make a super bowl run. This is the division (this one's my favorite), where a certain team started off 0-2 and gave up 80 points in those two games, only to gather as one and shock the world on the most magical Super Bowl run of all time hands down. Am I saying we're reliving 2007-08 again? Absolutely not...

But I am saying anything's possible and we lost one damn game so take it easy.