Ben McAdoo doesn’t see a team that is quitting, even as his New York Giants continue to play poorly, don’t execute and at times appear not to be on point.
But the effort is there.
Sigh.
The Giants might not have flat-out quit in Sunday’s 51-17 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams but they surely aren’t paying attention to details or seem to want to be out there competing on the field. And yet despite the lopsided loss, McAdoo talks about another week of good practice leading up this past Sunday’s blowout. Look at the Robert Woods 52-yard touchdown play in the second quarter to show a team that is not as honed-in as McAdoo’s logic would expect.
On that play, a simple screen pass on 3rd-&-33 six players let Woods weave through the Giants secondary for a heartbreaking touchdown. It was inexcusable from the Giants, who didn’t execute on what was the most broken of plays.
And yet McAdoo said his team hasn’t quit, the Giants head coach clearly hoping to cling to power despite all the obvious evidence stacked against him.
“I felt – again, I felt we had a good week of preparation. I felt we were ready to play,” McAdoo said on Monday. “Again, when you combine the turnovers the way we turned the ball over giving them possession of the ball on average at the 41-yard line, putting your defense in a bad spot, struggling to protect the punter, punting the ball down the middle of the field then struggling to cover on their returns. It makes it real challenging on your football team.”
That Woods touchdown, however, epitomizes the Giants season. Sloppiness and simply bad play came together as the Giants let a routine moment become a highlight play.
From an underachieving defense to a poorly constructed offense, the Giants have struggled on both sides of the ball. That third and 33 just another example of a team is either badly coached or uncoachable.
“The third-and-long was a, you know, there are pre-snap, we could have aligned better. Post-snap, we could have attacked better,” McAdoo said. “Our pursuit and our angles to the ball could have been better and as far as Eli goes, he needs to attack and tackle right there. But, it’s more than just one guy.”
