EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Turning doubt into beauty can be as impossible as parking a plane in a backyard shed, but here the New York Giants were Sunday against the Houston Texans trying to shrink their doubt and build belief and trust in their offense. Execute. Elevate.
Eli Manning, Giants buying into new offensive system
The New York Giants got off to a rough start after hiring a new offensive coordinator and installing a new system, but things are looking up after a Week 3 win over the Houston Texans. Can they overcome their doubts and learn to trust a new offense before it’s too late?
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Their new system under new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo had been so dreary and futile through the preseason and two opening losses that some Giants players after practice last Friday said a lousy feeling was creeping into the locker room and clinging like moss on a rock -- a concern among them that McAdoo was brought in to get backup quarterback Ryan Nassib ready for the future at the expense of stunting starter Eli Manning for the present. Their thinking went that his quick West Coast offense was more suited for a nimble passer (Nassib) and not a more methodical one (Manning).
A feeling that management had decided the countdown was on and instant for Manning, like it one day occurs for every NFL player. A stinging reminder that the identity on the front of a Giants jersey always stays the same, but the name on the back must forever change.
And one phrase kept coming up: "Just look at Justin Tuck.''
Tuck was a Giants fixture since 2005, until one day last spring he was not, set free to find wicked exile with the Oakland Raiders.
You can call it the brutal business of football, the natural sometimes nasty evolution of the game, or pure fantasy in the locker room, but players see the now, feel the now and make their own sense of the moment.
And to them, Eli Manning was well on his way to being cooked.
Coming Into Focus
McAdoo has been preaching for everyone to buy into his offense. The players had not. Former offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride gave his players more freedom, especially for receivers to read and react and create on the fly. That has replaced by a more rigid, hit your landmarks, distinctive, stay-in-your-lane-and-play-your-role directive from McAdoo.
"The offense has to start buying into it all the way and not second-guess the coaches,'' safety Quintin Demps said on Friday. "Follow, yet use your ability. Still use your instincts but within the system. Buy in totally.''
Receiver Victor Cruz said on last Friday: “We know that Coach (McAdoo) comes from Green Bay and the Green Bay offense and it is fair to say that Ryan (Nassib) is more Aaron Rodgerish than Eli. But Eli can get it done. It has taken some time for all of us. But in this city, the clock is always ticking. We understand the fire.”
The Giants understood a loss to the Texans would push them halfway toward duplicating last season’s 0-6 start.
Head coach Tom Coughlin challenged his players last week to stay positive, and he challenged himself on that, too. Coughlin, in his Saturday night address to the team, insisted they could turn doubt into an advantage.
It was up to the Giants players to turn it into beauty.
Their 30-17 victory over the Texans was beauty for them, a salve on gashing wounds. The Giants are 1-2 now, heading to Washington on Thursday night with little time to reflect and a grinding season ahead to keep doubt in its place and McAdoo’s offense embraced.
Fourteen rushing first downs, 10 passing ones, 193 rushing yards -- including a career-high for Rashad Jennings (176) -- only seven incompletions out of Manning's 28 pass attempts, 234 passing yards and two touchdown tosses were therapy.
Balance. Efficiency. Points.
Photo via Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports Images
“That is the way it is supposed to work,” Manning said afterward.
That is the way he is supposed to play in this offense. The way he is expected to play.
The type of production that kills doubt.
"We were counting on Eli to turn the ball over a lot,'' Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph said. "He did not.''
“Everyone,” said Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, “wants that offense to jell right away. But the people involved have to get a feel for that new offense and then a feel in games for the defenses they see. Running the football made it all the more effective for them. But the no-huddle is a big key. It allows Manning to look over the defense. It gives him time to decide what he wants to be in. You could see that starting to come along for them.”
In fact, Coughlin praised Manning’s “outstanding run checks” and “outstanding mental game.”
Thus, this is one way Manning can make his mark most in McAdoo's offense. Manning may not have the wheels to run this offense like Aaron Rodgers, but he has the mental game and quarterbacking skills to beat defenses, in part, before the snap. It gives Eli the chance to play the game more like his older brother Peyton. An effective running game and pass protection will help him offset a lack of immense mobility. His big presence, his big arm can surface more when prefaced by a stronger emphasis on his mental game.
"Coach Gilbride's offense was calm, cool, collected, like smooth water,'' Giants cornerback Prince Amukamara said. "It was slower developing, you got to look and see until something comes around. Coach McAdoo is chaos, a tidal wave in the water, make a play, forget it, let's go! He attacks like a defensive coach. He yells like one. We look in practice sometimes and say this guy is on the wrong side of the ball, he should be a defensive coach.''
Two bad games to start a season do not make a season. This is not the team of last year. -Left tackle Will Beatty
Cruz -- six catches on Sunday, one a 61-yard grab and another a 26-yard score -- said: “I didn’t get to see Coach McAdoo right after the game, but he must have been excited. It was his first win leading us. A tempo was set from practice this week. There was some throwback football in there with our running game. It was committed. It was decisive. He started calling a lot of things in this game that we could win off of, especially the in-breaking routes.”
The Giants forced the Texans to play from behind after Houston won its first two games often playing ahead and dictating control. The Giants managed this despite early offensive stumbles, including a fumble at the Texans 4-yard line after driving 60 yards on 10 plays to get there. Midway in the first quarter, tight end Larry Donnell made a 6-yard catch and had the ball thumped loose by Texans safety Kendrick Lewis. Joseph scooped it. He looked on his way to a 96-yard scoring return. But he only managed 24 yards before being tackled by Giants left tackle Will Beatty.
It was Beatty’s hustle, his commitment on that play that kept the Texans from scoring first and riding their formula. It was Beatty’s persistence on that play that helped lead to the Giants offensive persistence.
It was a signature play where the Giants turned doubt into beauty.
“Better is to come,” Beatty had said last Friday. “Two bad games to start a season do not make a season. This is not the team of last year. In this locker room, there is a culture of Giants football that matters. The names on the back change, but the name on the front always remains the same.”
Beatty may well be the most rational, positive-thinking, doubt killer in the Giants locker room.
Photo via Alex Goodlett, Getty Images
That feeling, that numbing, contagious gloom of doubt is lifted. At least for one game.
Can McAdoo get Manning and this Giants offense to sing?
Can rookie receiver Odell Beckham, once his hamstring heals, bring over-the-top speed and skill that could push everything along on a faster track?
The Giants are counting on both.
"Coach always has his head in his books,'' defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka said of McAdoo. "He is always discussing things with his players. His hands are full.''
Three games in with at least 13 left, the scrutiny on McAdoo, on Manning, on the offense will not dissipate. The Giants defense -- which contributed with three interceptions against the Texans, with big hits and with seven drives where it allowed only five or fewer Texans offensive plays -- plans to further assist.
Coughlin will stay involved.
“When I interviewed him,” said Coughlin of McAdoo, “I got that feel. The way he came up. The price he paid. The way he answered every question. I got a strong impression from that of his aggressiveness and his confidence. I point things out. I get involved. Critique. It’s my job to do that. And he’s very, very good about that, too.”
Commitment is required to turn doubt into beauty.
The Giants made one step toward this on Sunday. Coughlin is clear on so many more steps the Giants must make. He insists on keeping their minds right. That is his path in turning their doubt into beauty.
Giants rookie running back Andre Williams sees what is unfolding all around him.
“This offense is coming into its own, it has the potential to be very explosive and we have to keep moving in that direction, because the playbook is getting thicker as we go,” Williams said. “We know what doubt can do. I think Coach McAdoo does. I don’t know him that well yet. But I do know he always has a plan and a vision to show you. He wants you to see that plan ... and think large.”
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