Bush-Whacked: Rookie leads rout of Giants

In a game taking on great significance by the impending retirement of Tiki Barber, running backs did prove to be the difference in this game. Unfortunately for the home team, the tandem of Reggie Bush and Deuce McAllister gashed the Giants defense for well over 200 yards. For the first time in his career Bush eclipsed 100 yards rushing in a game and both players reached the end zone. With receivers from both teams unable to catch the football, the sparkling play of Reggie Bush stood out. With the playoffs again on the line, the Gians played uninspired football despite the return of defensive leader Michael Strahan and the Meadowlands finale of Tiki Barber. Giants fans have to be wondering, if the team can't get up for a game like this, how can they ever? Emotions rode high through the first scoring drive, but the air came out of the sails with a crucial fumble by Chad Morton. The 2006 season has been a series of ups and downs for the Giants, but Sunday might have reached a new low. Discounting the first 2 and a half minutes of the game, the Giants couldn't have beaten a high school team. Several flaws were alarming not only for how they kept Big Blue out of this game, but because they have become troublesome trends.

Discipline and Emotion. After the 2003 season, the Giants brought in Tom Coughlin to crack the whip on a highly penalized team. Instead, the 2004-2006 Giants have become less disciplined than in the preceeding Fassel era. Penalties again plagued the Giants, including an inexplicable second headbutting personal foul on veteran Bob Whitfield in his last four games. Linemate Shaun O'Hara also picked up a personal foul, demonstrating the utter frustration this team is feeling. Coughlin's abrasive style has just not fit well with his players and has not translated in to smarter football. Another intangible provided by leadership, particularly coaching, is emotion. Aside from the first drive, the Giants were completely devoid of it. Players routinely jogged off the field, only to sit on the bench listless and dejected. The return of Strahan figured to help cure this problem, but having a timid quarterback who won't fire up his troops has really taken its toll on an offense full of egos.

Play-calling. Sean Payton put on a display of how to call a football game. Throughout the first quarter, with the wind at his back, he pounded the Giants with the pass. Even though they had little success, they gave the Giants something to think about. With the wind in their face in the second quarter, they used the run for a demoralizing 18 play, 89 yard drive that took over 8 minutes before Marques Colston capped it with a touchdown. The Saints were so effective in setting up the run with the pass that Brees suffered one of his worst outings of the season, yet won by 23 points on the road. Payton also demonstrated his aggressiveness, converting a couple of crucial fourth downs and not easing up even with a big lead. Conversely, the offensive minds of the Giants were again horribly ineffective. It is hard to know whose to blame, offensive coordinator John Hufnagel or head coach Tom Coughlin, so let's just consider them both guilty. Neither men have a good feel for a game and their play-calling reflects that. They're consistenly not aggressive enough and always seem to be two steps behind the other coaches. Coughlin constantly reiterates this in post game conferences with "we were expecting this, but they did that" statements, which clearly means they were not prepared for what the opponent would bring. While execution has surely lacked in recent weeks, the players do not seem to be put in good situations to win.

Execution. As much as the fans would love to blame everything on the coaches (the "Fire Coughlin chants" surely support that line of thought), the players simply did not execute today. The defense certainly wore down as the game went on, but that was mainly a resule of a woeful offense. Special teams got absolutely dominated as the Saints benefitted from great field position. There were three turnovers, to New Orleans zero, and the offense just never found a rythym. In a game filled with lows, the "straw that broke the camels back" seemed to be when Jeremy Shockey dropped an easy conversion in the closing minute of the first half. Down 13-7 and the ball near midfield, Eli's best pass of the day lead a wide open Shockey for what would have been a conversion on fourth and two. Instead the Pro Bowl TE let it slip through his mitts, and the Giants wasted a chance at a rare opportunity to move the ball in to Saints territorry. To that end, the Giants ran zero plays in Saints territorry. Let that sink in. Zero plays run on the Saints half of the field throughout the entire game. If there's ever proof of being thoroughly dominated in your home building, that is the telling statistic.

The Play of Eli Manning. With young quarterbacks coming up big all across the league, it is tough to continue defending Eli Manning. As part of he blockbuster draft day trade that brought him to New York, the Giants traded away several draft picks. The Chargers used them to select three guys named to this year's AFC Pro Bowl team. Even in a weak NFC for quarterbacks, Manning was undeserving. I'm still not ready to label this trade a failure, or definitively say Manning's a bust, but his nonchalant attitude and faulty mechanics are not getting the job done. The receivers certainly aided his 9 for 25 performance today, but Manning routinely throws the ball to the wrong spots. His decision making is still questionable and he seems reluctant at times to pull the trigger. This is a young, struggling quarterback whose coaches show no confidence in him through their play selection. While many other players certainly deserved to be called out for their ineffectiveness, you have to start with the supposed leader. Maybe it's not in his makeup to get in a guy's face, but he needs to find a way to control an offense full of egos.

Special teams and the passing game. When expecting a tight game, it is imperative to win the field position battle. In yet another sign of the rout, New Orleans average starting field position on 14 possessions was at their 43 yard line. To put that in perspective, the Giants only started one drive past their own 43 yard line and that was the final play of the game. Special teams must assume a lot of responsibility for the mismatch in field position, especially a costly fumble by Chad Morton deep in Giants territorry and a big Michael Lewis kick return to open the second half. They were not the only culprits. An ill-advised snap by Shaun O'Hara led to another fumble in Giants territorry and Eli Manning threw a late game interception. It is amazing how devastating the losses of Amani Toomer and Luke Pettitgout have been to the passing game. Teams are clearly not afraid to attack Whitfield and have forced the Giants to keep Barber in to block in many passing situations. He's responded with a pair of terrible personal foul penalties and Eli certainly seems concerned about his blindside protection. Tim Carter and David Tyree combined for more drops than catches today to continue their sub-par performance on the season. Someone needs to please explain to me why Sinorice Moss continues to sit on the sidelines. Today he proved to be ineffective with just one catch for no gain as well as a drop, but he's not even getting a chance to see the field. Even if the rookie only plays up to the miniscule standards set forth by the guys ahead of him on the depth chart, at least the coaches took the chance to give a stagnant offense a shot in the arm. Although not particularly effective on kick returns today, he showed enough to warrant more touches offensively. A showdown with his brother in Washington next weekend seems to be a perfect time to see what the kid has.

Sadly, this list could carry on for days without even scratching the surface of all the problems this Giants team has. The players preach that their talent will prevail, but they have not shown any cohesiveness or character in their two month slide. I'd be remissed if I didn't at least acknowledge the efforts of Will Demps. The lone bright spot in today's game, Demps flew all over the field making plays and never seemed to quit. Hopefully that attitude will rub off on the rest of the team as they look to continue their season. Despite their horrible play, they find themselves in a good position to still make the playoffs. They will enter week 17 as the sixth seed in the NFC Playoffs and hold tie-break advantages over several of the competing teams. It's time for this team to start performing up to the expectations they set for themselves. With a new General Manager coming in to town, next week's game could also be auditions for making next year's squad. In an unpredictable league, a lot can change in a week. Hopefully for the Giants they can buck the above mentioned trends and continue playing in January.