The New York Giants hosted the Buffalo Bills in their home opener on Sunday, a game in which fans looked for Big Blue to rebound from their embarrassing Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
Unfortunately, the Giants did not rebound or even look like they had made any adjustments. The Bills had no trouble with the Giants defense, putting up 28 points and controlling the clock.
Here are five things we learned about the Giants in Week 2:
The defensive struggles weren’t a fluke
It was thought that the defense would look better against the Bills compared to the Cowboys for a couple of reasons — the main one being that the Bills are not equal to the Cowboys in terms of talent. But that appears to be flawed logic. In accumulating 388 total yards, the Bills had as little trouble dismantling the Giants defense as the Cowboys did.
Two-thirds of those yards — 237 yards to be exact — were through the air, highlighting the obvious weakness in the secondary. The pass rush was still nonexistent, but had the secondary been able to tackle or defend their counterparts, the outcome would have been vastly different.
Second-year coordinator James Bettcher has some serious soul searching to do to fix his defense, and it’s not likely to happen in the short term.
Shurmur and Bettcher appear to be in over their heads
The Giants hired Pat Shurmur knowing he had a losing record as a head coach, but felt that he was a good fit for the organization and that he had the pieces needed to win. Apparently, that was an incorrect judgment. Shurmur is in his second season, and there seems to be no sign of winning on the horizon.
Bettcher’s defense isn’t helping Shurmur as both men seem to be struggling schematically with playcalling and personnel. It’s like they don’t know how to use the talent that they have in a way that makes them effective, making it seem like they are lost. It doesn’t bode well for the team this season.
Eli Manning isn’t raising the level of play around him
All of the best quarterbacks make the players around them better. They adjust how they play to utilize the talent around them effectively. It means placing the ball in the perfect spot, reading defenses properly and not forcing plays that break down. Eli doesn’t appear to be doing what is necessary to set up his receivers, tight ends and running backs for success. The offense starts with him, so it is imperative that he does what is needed to elevate everyone’s play. Right now he’s not doing that, and it shows.
The Giants have no idea how to use Saquon Barkley
Barkley is the best player on the team, so why isn’t Shurmur putting the ball in his hands? Last week he rushed for 120 yards on 11 carries, but never in the red zone or on big third-down plays. This week he rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
Barkley’s 29 attempts rank 14th in the league among running backs, but his 7.8 yards-per-carry average ranks second. So why isn’t he getting the ball? Only Shurmur knows, and he’s not telling.
We are officially in a dark time for the Giants
The Giants haven’t made the playoffs since 2016, when they lost in the wild-card round. Before that, they hadn’t seen the postseason since their Super Bowl run in 2011.
During the previous decade, the Giants landed in the playoffs six times, but those days seem to be long gone. This season is not proving to be what anyone thought it would be and is furthering the team’s fall into obscurity. Unless there are some serious changes in the organization, nothing is going to be any different going into Week 3.
Shurmur can play coy about who is going to play quarterback, but the bottom line is that Eli isn’t really the problem. He’s not helping, but he’s not the problem, and changing who takes the snaps isn’t going to make the Giants magically start winning games. Maybe the offense looks better, but what about the defense? Especially the horrendous secondary and lacking pass rush? This team needs time to fix its problems — time it doesn’t have this season. So either buckle up for a bumpy ride or get off the wagon because it’s going to be a long season for Big Blue.
