Giants' Week 2 Collapse Was a Total Team Effort

Just as the New York Giants won as a team in Week 1, their Week 2 collapse against a stout Los Angeles Rams team was just as much a team effort.

Yes, that includes the coaching, which did everything right a week ago but left much to be desired in its decision-making this week.

From questionable personnel decisions to the actual play calling itself, it was not a good night for Big Blue in any facet.

One can start with the decision to play rookie Colton Hood against Rams receiver Davante Adams, who had himself a night with an eight-catch, 195-yard, two-touchdown performance.

Hood, playing for the injured and inactive Deonte Banks, was targeted three times by Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford when assigned to guard Adams. The Giants' second-round draft pick allowed two receptions for 42 yards and two touchdowns to Adams.

“They didn’t do anything special,” Harbaugh said when asked why Adams was so tough to guard, not just by Hood but by all the defensive backs who covered him. “He just made plays.”

Still, why not ask Greg Newsome II, presumably the team’s top cornerback, to guard Adams after seeing the receiver post 145 yards on five receptions in the first half alone?

“We had a lot of ideas, a lot of things we tried to do,” Harbaugh said in response.

But the biggest head-scratcher was the sequence of plays that came after safety Jevon Holland recovered a fumble at the Rams’ 11-yard line.

The Giants, with 1st-and-10, got a defensive offside call in their favor, which pushed the ball up to the 6-yard line. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy then called four straight running plays that moved the ball zero yards, the Giants settled for a 24-yard field goal for their first points of the game.

But here’s what’s really mind-blowing about that sequence, besides the fact that the Giants didn’t attempt a single pass.

Running back Cam Skattebo took the first handoff, but Josiah Stewart and Poona Ford blew up the play after a defender bounced off blocker Patrick Ricard to make the stop.

The Giants ran Najee Harris, who was active this week after not being active in Week 1, twice: the first of his attempts gaining three yards, and the second on 3rd-and-2, losing three yards. Harris not only ran high, but the play was run from the shotgun, which gave the Rams plenty of time to create congestion up front and make the stop.

“Yeah, I mean, that's just play calling in the heat of battle. We'll go back and second-guess ourselves on that for sure,” Harbaugh said after the game.

“Even the specific plays that we ran, we'll second-guess ourselves; we already have. That's not good. That's not good at all. We need to have answers. We had answers last week. We didn't have answers this week to get the ball in the end zone. So play calling, game planning, execution, all those things are part of it.”

To add insult to injury, the Giants, with 29 seconds left on the game clock until the half, inexplicably snapped the ball on the field goal attempt with six seconds left on the play clock instead of letting it wind down to one second and calling a timeout.

That gaffe gave the Rams plenty of time to get into field goal position on the ensuing drive, though their 43-yard attempt was no good — not that it mattered either way.

“We all need to do everything better because players making plays is an extension of coaches doing a great job of game planning and game calling, and vice versa,” Harbaugh said.

“It all works hand in hand. And so really, in a team game like this, it's a team responsibility. We've got to do better.”

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