The New York Giants (2-10) face the Philadelphia Eagles (5-7) at Lincoln Financial Field on Monday night in a matchup the schedule makers would surely like to have back.
The Giants are on the verge of losing their franchise-tying ninth consecutive game while the Eagles are riding a three-game skid.
Can the Giants win this game? Sure. It will require the coaches to tear up their useless play books and schemes and become a completely different team. The Eagles have not been playing well for number of reasons and need a win to stay in the NFC East race with Dallas. They could come out tight and make mistakes. Can the Giants capitalize on those mistakes, though?
Here’s three keys to a possible victory:
Outscore the Eagles
Sounds silly, right? It really isn’t since the Giants have been outscored 10 of 12 times this season and in 21 of their 28 games under the guidance of this crackerjack coaching staff.
With Eli Manning under center the last thing they should do is circle the wagons. What is he going to get hurt and ruin his career? They should go for broke every play. Open things up. But they won’t. This organization has a severe case of tunnel vision. At this point they have nothing to lose and when it comes to developing players and gaining experience, we’re done relying on this coach staff to teach anyone anything.
Save it for the new coaching staff that will be here next month. Just go out and try to score. Forget about all of this cutesy dinking and dunking. And if they run one play up the middle and get stopped, please do not call that play again. The Eagles have only allowed opponents to gain over 100 yards on the ground in the three of their 12 games this season. At least make this team watchable the rest of the way.
How about some blitzes?
Why not blitz your linebackers, safeties and corners? It’s not like they’re covering anyone deep down the field anyway. Put ’em to work. Let’s see the other quarterback get hit for once. What are they risking… giving up big plays? They’re doing that already. They lead the league in allowing pass completions over 40 yards.
Whatever defensive coordinator James Bettcher was planning on ‘dialing up,’ he should do a George Costanza and do just the opposite because his scheme has been getting torched on a weekly basis.
Giant fans would like to see the pressure they were promised when Bettcher come on board last season. Thus far, we’ve pretty much seen very little progress and even less creativity. I guess it doesn’t matter much now for Bettcher. Unless the Giants have lost their minds completely, he’s coaching his final games here in Blue.
A little fire would help
Have you ever seen a team look so relaxed and uninspired as this bunch? Is it any wonder they’ve become the doormats of the NFC? I have been following the NFL for over 50 years and covering it for nearly 25 and I can’t remember an NFL team that has less played with less enthusiasm.
The reason for this is very simple: the leadership group is very weak. Their captains are all players who either a) lost their jobs b) are injured or c) are having down seasons. The rest of the roster are either first year players or free agents in their first years with the team. There’s no cohesion, no vision, no real defined common purpose and certainly no sense of urgency.
The 1976-77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an expansion team that lost their first 26 games. played with more fire than these Giants. The appearance of nonchalance and malaise is the new culture and this fan base is about to turn on this ownership if things don’t change for the better soon.
