How the New York Giants Can Salvage Its Sinking Offense the Rest of this Season
During their visit to South Beach, the New York Giants offense was primed to show improvement from last week's gritty win against the Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately, that hope was quickly was doused thanks to poor execution from backup quarterback Mike Glennon and a sieve offensive line.
While newly promoted offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens didn’t have quarterback Daniel Jones at the helm or receivers Sterling Sheppard or Kadarius Toney, he did have running back Saquon Barkley; receivers Kenny Golladay, Darius Slayton, and John Ross III; and tight ends Evan Engram and Kyle Rudolph.
So what did Kitchens do? To his credit, he did try to work in some vertical stretch offensive play calling to his game plan, which was nice to see. However, the issue was that Glennon was off-target all day. Glennon mostly threw off his back foot and overstrode. As a result, he was often late with his deliveries and ended up throwing high and outside on every throw.
Glennon recorded 23 completions, and believe it when we say that the receivers ha to work hard for each of them. If Kitchens was trying to open up the offensive playbook's passing section, he was muted by the poor execution from Glennon.
In the second half, Glennon's arm looked like it was tired, and with 44 pass attempts on the day, it's not hard to see why. He missed several reads and threw into double coverage (one of which turned into an interception).
That all being said, the blame for the poor offensive output does not rest solely on Glennon’s shoulders, as the offensive line struggled to keep the pocket clean and Glennon, who ended up with a concussion, upright. The Dolphins' defense had three sacks and 15 total pressures.
Many of the hits came from the interior defensive lineman against the Giants' interior offensive line. Right guard Will Hernandez had a forgettable game, allowing two of the sacks and tying with center Billy Price for most pressures allowed this week (3).
Hernandez's struggles at right guard boil down to his left interior post leg being weak. That allows defensive tackles easy access to the quarterback right up the middle, which just so happens to be the fastest path to the quarterback.
Price and the other interior offensive line just seem to be confused with the stunts and blitzes happening in front of them, a problem all year long and one that may or may not be a result of how the line had to be patched together after all the injuries.
With the interior offensive line often on their heels, the quarterback frequently makes throws with trash around his legs and at his feet, which could lead to Glennon throwing off his back foot (and hence getting extra air under the football).
It continues to baffle my mind why the offensive coordinator doesn’t keep six in to block and make sure the quarterback has a clean pocket to work in. Former offensive coordinator Jason Garrett refused to do it, and so far in the first two games Kitchens has called for the Giants this year, he hasn’t done it either.
With talent like Golladay, Engram, Rudolph, Slayton, Ross, Barkley, and Booker, you would think putting just four of them in a 2x2 or 3x1 formation should be enough to allow them to find holes in zone coverage and beat man coverage while also allowing for the team to devote extra resources to help the offensive line with a sixth blocker.
This offensive line has struggled all year to keep Daniel Jones healthy and upright to no avail, and it hasn't mattered what combination they've used.
This continued shortsighted thinking by the coaching staff has now resulted in Glennon having to enter the league's protocol after suffering a concussion, potentially leaving the offense in the hands of Jake Fromm, who has yet to take an NFL snap.
If the Giants hope to finish this season with a few more wins, they better get themselves recommitted to the running game using both Barkley and Booker. This team’s identity is built to be a run-first team, and these two running backs are being significantly underutilized.
In this week's game, the offense only ran the ball eight times in the first half and nine in the second half. Barkley had nine targets with six catches while only having 11 rushing attempts for 55 yards with a long of 23 yards.
When this offense is at its best, it runs the football first, then builds in play-action passes. If they don’t commit to running the ball 20-25 times a game, they will continue to struggle offensively, especially in the red zone.
The team is spending a pre-planned week in Tucson, Arizona, where they'll be away from the normal distractions of their daily lives. Hopefully, they'll rediscover their identity on offense so they can finish this season with a few wins and on a high note.
More from Giants Country
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- Insult to Injury: Giants QB Mike Glennon Suffers Concussion
- Instant Reaction: Giants Fall to Dolphins 20-9
- Saquon Barkley Makes an Honest Admission
- New York Giants' Week 13 Report Card: Disappointing
- New York Giants Week 13 Postgame Musings
- Giants- Dolphins Week 13: By The Numbers
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