Football is fundamentally a physical game. It is a tough game played by tough people. We must win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. We must run the ball and we must be able to defend the run. The year off that I have experienced allowed me to make many observations, one of which is - more games are lost in this league than are won. We must eliminate turnovers. You are not going to beat anybody with a minus 16 (turnover ratio.) That stat has to radically change. We must eliminate costly penalties. You can’t shoot yourself in the foot and expect to win the hundred meter dash. Special teams and winning the battle of field position must become our catalyst for victory and not our Achilles heel.
Who said this?
Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin.
The aforementioned passage was taken from Tom Coughlin's first Giants press conference. Indeed, Coughlin's statement about more games are lost than won aptly describes this loss to the Cardinals. Here are some disturbing statistics:
Giants had four turnovers. Three of the Giants miscues (Two of Eli's picks and Bradshaw's fumble) were in Arizona territory. Therefore, the Giants squandered three opportunities to score points. And the interception by the Cardinals Adrian Wilson gave the Cardinals a short field. Starting from the Giants 24 yard line, three plays later, the Cards punch it in for a touchdown.
In addition, the Giants offense could not convert on third down. On third downs, the Giants were 4 for 15 which comes to an anemic 26 percent conversion rate.
This offense which showed up on Sunday night reminded me of the offense which struggled at the end of the 2008 campaign. Except for the Minnesota matchup which I considered a scrimmage (Eli played two quarters), in the following games, let us take a look at the Giants third down conversion statistics.
Washington 7 for 16- 43 percent
Philadelphia 3 for 11- 27 percent
Dallas 3 for 13- 23 percent
Carolina 9 for 16- 56 percent
Philadelphia 3 for 13- 23 percent
NFC Divisional Playoff
Turnovers + poor third down conversion rate= LOSS.
Three more points:
1. With the Giants trailing by 10 points with 8:28 left in the game, I thought Coughlin should have went for a touchdown. In my opinion, the Giants put together their best offensive drive of the night. Facing a fourth and 1 on the Cardinals two yard line, you have to go for it. At this point in the game, the Giants had two touchdowns. As a result of a freak play, WR Hakeem Nicks caught a deflected pass and scampered for a 62 yard score. Because of Terrell Thomas' interception, the Giants had the ball on the Arizona 29 yard line. Working on a short field, from the four yard line, Jacobs hammered his way through Cardinals defenders for a touchdown. Needless to say, Brandon Jacobs was running the ball very well. On this drive, Jacobs converted a 4th and 1 to keep this possession going. Why does Coughlin get conservative? The Giants could not move the ball effectively the whole game. On this night, his offense is struggling. He is asking his woeful offense to rally for a tying touchdown? This down and distance would have been fantastic for a play action pass. If this play is called, I think the Giants would have scored a touchdown. A touchdown would have cut the lead to three and more importantly, would have gotten the crowd into the game. Since Coughlin elected to kick a field goal, the Giants trailed by seven points. Needing a touchdown to tie this game, does Bradshaw fight for extra yards? Knowing the Giants need to get into field goal range, does he go down and not fumble? Does Eli force his last pass of the night which gets picked off?
2. NBC analyst and former wide receiver Cris Collinsworth carped about the Giants wide receivers. Over the last two weeks, Collinsworth told the audience, the Giants have had guys open but could not make plays. They are wasting opportunities. Nevertheless, he was all over Mario Manningham. According to Collinsworth, Manningham played poorly. On a 3rd and 2 from the Arizona 46 yard line, Manningham did not run a good route. Collinsworth pointed out Manningham should have run along the outer numbers. Instead, Manningham stayed closed to the sideline. Because of lousy route running, the pass fell incomplete. On the next possession, Manningham dropped a pass. If he caught the football, the Giants would have had first and goal. Moreover, Collinsworth was critical of Hixon on the spectacular Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie interception. I heard Collinsworth mention Plaxico Burress. If Burress was playing, Burress would have come down with the football for a touchdown. Because the wide receivers have been playing well, up until Collinsworth, there has not been an announcer mention Burress' name. If the offense continues to struggle, be prepared for someone like Siragusa to pile on and mention Burress.
3. After receiving criticism in the MSM(main stream media) and blogs including this one, defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan deserves credit. Although the Giants lost, his defense played much better.
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