New York Giants 2010 performance so far
The Giants have been on a bit of a roller coaster this season. In fact, it was up and down even in the preseason for the Giants. Looking back at their matchups, the trend is alarming. The Giants opened the preseason against the New York Jets and handed them
a crushing defeat but then fell apart.
The Giants kept out their starting quarterback Eli Manning to give some of the youngsters a starter and they proved highly successful. Granted it was all the preseason and drawing on that for a glimpse into the regular season is usually a mistake but the
trend held into the regular season.
The Giants rookie Victor Cruz proved to be particularly effective in the preseason opener against the Jets but hasn’t seen action since then. The Giants won that game with four touchdowns and a field goal. Cruz received 3 of those touchdown passes. On defence
the Giants were able to hold down the Jets for a touchdown and 3 field goals winning 31 to 16.
The Giants lost their next two preseason games but came back strong against the New England Patriots. The regular season resembles the preseason in that regards.
The Giants opened the regular season against the Panthers. Carolina might not be a particularly difficult team to play against in the NFL but against the Giants, the Panthers have a history of making a mess of things for them.
This time though, New York easily triumphed over Carolina winning 18 to 31. Manning completed 20 passes for 263 yards with Manningham and Hakeem Nicks receiving 160 of those. The New York defence allowed only one touchdown in the game.
All in all a good start to the season but then the Giants’ came crumbling down like a house of cards in the second and third weeks.
In the second week it was Manning vs. Manning. The Giants were up against Indianapolis Colts, who were led by Eli’s older brother, Peyton Manning. The Giants appeared almost helpless.
They amassed 281 yards in the game, rushing and passing. Comparing that to Peyton’s 255 yards passing alone, the picture become somewhat depressing for New York fans. Also, putting the pressure on the Giants in that game was the unstoppable Joseph Addai
along with Donald Brown, with a combined 161 yards rushing between the two.
Apart from a touchdown in the 3rd and 4th quarters the Giants didn’t have any scoring drives. The Colts on the other hand overpowered the Giants defence with 6 scoring drives, 5 of them touchdowns. The trump card for the Colts was the
run that the Giants defence couldn’t seem to deal with.
Both the offense and defence were struggling and not because of a lack of talent. The next time out would only further expose the cracks in the Giants’ offense and leaks in their defence. They were up against the Tennessee Titans in the third week. Manning
threw 386 yards in the game but still suffered a crushing defeat. The Giants were undisciplined and continuously made mistakes that the Titans’ defence penalized them for.
The Titans had 3 turnovers in the game, two interceptions, two of them just from the edge of the end zone past the 6 yard line. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs delivered 88 and 17 yards rushing for New York but were dwarfed by Chris Johnsons’ 125 yards
and Javon Ringer’s 30 yards.
The Giants defence allowed six scoring drives in the game, which they lost 29 to 10. A week later the same defence would come to life like a never before seen monster.
In the fourth week the Giants were faced with the undefeated Chicago Bears and their star quarterback Jay Cutler. The defence was out to knock him unconscious. That didn’t happen, but they still made sure to give him a concussion following a record breaking
9 sacks in just the first half.
Bear’s quarterback Jay Cutler took such a severe beating that he had to leave the field. The Giants were unrecognisable. The nay sayers were left scratching their heads wondering what happened to a team that appeared to have completely lost it just a week
ago.
The problem now for the Giants is to stay on top of their game. They are a brilliant side but consistency is an issue for them. Whatever they did since meeting up with the Titans has been working for them. They should stick to that.
Tags: