Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Eli Manning, offensive line make Giants' weapons obsolete

ARLINGTON, Texas -- All these shiny offensive weapons don’t mean a thing for the New York Giants when they can’t protect the quarterback and when the QB can’t make plays when he does have time.

It’s as if the Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin are locked in the garage. Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard, Evan Engram and Saquon Barkley aren’t able to make plays with the Giants’ other offensive problems.

After two games, the new-look Pat Shurmur offense has been an abomination. It actually has been less effective than its previous version under coach Ben McAdoo, and it's a far cry from the almost unstoppable unit that Beckham thought was close. It's not.

The Giants' only touchdown came late Sunday night in a 20-13 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterback Eli Manning threw his first touchdown pass of the season with less than two minutes left in the Giants' latest loss.

“We didn’t do anything well enough on offense to win this game,” Shurmur said.

It’s all incredibly troubling for a team that passed on a quarterback with the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, with Manning, 37, on the backside of his career. The Giants (0-2) added Barkley and still can’t do much of anything on offense. They dropped their first two games for the fifth time in six years.

Since the inception of the current playoff format, 88 percent of teams that start 0-2 have missed the postseason.

Before the Giants’ season really slips away, they need to find a way to get the ball into the hands of their playmakers in space or downfield. They couldn’t do it Sunday night against a Cowboys defense that is supposed to be weak on the back end of their secondary.

Beckham finished with four catches for 51 yards. Engram had seven receptions for 67 yards and a touchdown, with most of his damage coming when the game was over. Shepard managed three catches for 24 yards.

Barkley was the only one to make a significant mark, most of it in the short-passing game. He had 14 catches for 79 yards, but rushed for 28 yards on 11 carries. It allowed the Cowboys to sit back and keep everything in front of them. This wasn’t supposed to happen with Barkley in the mix.

“I think it will get to a point where they can’t do it," Barkley said. "I hate being like, ‘It’s only Week 2.’ Because I don’t like being down 0-2. [Sunday night] was tough. It was frustrating. I really, really hate losing. I think at some point in time it will be difficult for teams to play us like they did. I’m really a believer in it but I know for sure I’m not going to give up.”

The Giants must get it together quickly. They play the winless Houston Texans next week in a game that suddenly has a must-win feel despite being early in the season.

“When you have new players, new scheme, a new coach, sometimes it takes a little bit of time, especially for your first game on the road,” Manning said. “It can take a little bit to get your rhythm and get things going, so we just have to keep working and make sure everyone can figure it out with the coaches to do better, and do differently to put us in a better position.”

Manning has to be more effective. So does the offensive line. Manning was sacked six times Sunday night. He completed 33 of 44 passes for 279 yards and a touchdown, but much of the damage came late when the game was decided, and he was often content to dump passes short of the first-down sticks for most of the first three quarters.

It all equates to a lack of points and a waste of the Giants’ weaponry.

^ Back to Top ^