CHARLOTTE, N. C. — There is the complex and there is the simple, and the Giants cannot get out of their own way as they…
CHARLOTTE, N. C. — There is the complex and there is the simple, and the Giants cannot get out of their own way as they navigate, poorly, around both.
They are losing primarily because their offense cannot generate enough points, a failing that leads to all sorts of analysis as to why. Why a team with Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley and Eli Manning and a rebuilt line is 29th in the NFL in scoring.
Throw it deep. Throw it deep to Odell. Run it more. Run it more with Saquon. Stop with the dump-offs and check-downs. Let Manning fire away down the field.
Coach Pat Shurmur has already admitted he needs to run it more with Barkley but he is uneasy with what he calls a “false narrative’’ that the offense is not trying to throw the ball deep.
“Everybody’s focus is, to me, it’s a little bit off,’’ Shurmur said. “We need to score more points, period, however it happens.”
Yes, yes, that is the deal. So, when the Giants stumble along, scoring 18.3 points a game, there are going to be deep-dives — some of them a bit extreme — as to why a team with this much offensive talent cannot reach the end zone. No one really cares how. They only care if it happens, and thus far it is not happening near enough. This is a team that competes in a league that has already set records in the first four weeks of the season for points scored, touchdowns scored and touchdown passes. And then there are the Giants.
This brings us to Sunday and a road game against the Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. The first quarter of the season produced one win, three losses and a familiar sick feeling that the Giants, far too soon, are sliding into irrelevance. Forget about Halloween. They could be 1-4 and near-done by Columbus Day.
In a four-day span, the Giants have the Panthers (2-1) then Thursday night’s get together with the Super Bowl champion Eagles (2-2) at MetLife Stadium. In a hurry, the Giants’ season could be on the refuse pile.
“You never panic, but there is always urgency, and right is right, and right is playing well and winning,’’ Shurmur said.
The Giants need points, not panic. Beckham said they need to play with more heart. Manning repeatedly stresses execution. Whatever. This is the yin-yang that always arises when no one quite knows how to explain away all the losing.
The Panthers are coming off their bye, rested and ready and, in Cam Newton, possessing the most lethal two-way quarterback in the league, a true pass-run threat. This is a team that revolves around its defense, though, and the Giants finding the way to a scoring party is going to be exceedingly difficult.
If the coverage is not allowing Manning to throw it down the field to Beckham, there must be run-after-catch opportunities for a big-play receiver who has yet to reach the end zone this season.
“Just hitting guys in stride, hit guys on the move,’’ Manning said.
That would be a start.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey vs. Giants run defense
Yes, this is a takes-a-village deal when going against McCaffrey, who has 271 rushing yards and 22 receptions for 157 yards in three games. Talk about your run-pass option. Versatile is the word for this second-year stud from Stanford, and he will get targeted early and often, on the ground and in the air. He is not as big or powerful as Saquon Barkley but the Panther use him in similar fashion. The Giants are just 29th in the league in run defense, allowing 126 yards per game (and an average of 4.8 per play). Coach Pat Shurmur believes that is a bit deceiving, inflated because of a few long runs. Either way, linebacker Alec Oglretree and safety Landon Collins will have to be on high alert, especially when McCaffrey takes off on pass routes. Once again, they will play without Olivier Vernon, out for a fifth consecutive game with a high ankle sprain.
“He’s shifty, he’s quick on his feet, he could razzle-dazzle you,’’ Collins said of McCaffrey. “He also has strength. He’s a nice back. He’s kind of like Alvin Kamara coming out of the backfield.’’ Well, Kamara had 47 receiving yards, 134 rushing yards and three touchdowns last week on the Giants.
Run-pass option time: Quarterbacks taking off and running is nothing new but the Giants have been stymied by it all season, whether it be Blake Bortles, Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson or Taysom Hill last week in a specialist role for the Saints. Now comes the best of the bunch, Cam Newton. He has run it 28 times in three games, for 136 yards and three touchdowns. Newton is a linebacker-sized 6-foot-5,245 and if he cannot outrun you, he can run you over. He calls his own number now even more than usual in Norv Turner’s system, and if the Giants on defense do not read their keys correctly, they will be looking elsewhere as Newton keeps it and takes off.
“They create a lot of run-pass conflict,’’ defensive coordinator James Bettcher said. “Use the quarterback a ton in the run game, he is a heck of a load to bring down.’’
Little means a lot: No one said Saquon Barkley would be free of making adjustments as he entered the NFL, despite his physical gifts. He is averaging a robust 4.6 yards per rushing attempt but that drops to 3.5 yards per carry when his 68-yard run is taken out. The Giants need to run it more, and better and Barkley is learning to accept what he can get out of every play, even if it is a modest gain.
“I used to do some crazy stuff in college where I would try to make anything happen,’’ Barkley said, “but that’s something that I realized that I got to be focused on the two and three-yard runs and take what the defense give you, but also got to be who I am.’’
Missing the mark: Newton has been sacked just six times in three games. The Giants on defense have five sacks in four games. Ever notice the teams and players who repeatedly insist sacks are overrated are the teams and players who don’t get many of them? Not having Olivier Vernon is a big loss.
“You always want to have sacks,’’ linebacker Connor Barwin said. “At the same time you want to look at how many times you’re hitting the quarterback, how many hurries you are getting, how many times you are pushing him out of the pocket, forcing bad throws, those are all part of the game.’’ Still, Barwin concedes “I’m not downplaying sacks. They’re huge.’’
All systems go: This is the third offensive system for Eli Manning with the Giants.
