Who Sunk The Ship?

Paul Schwartz: Blame anyone. Blame everyone. When an NFL team loses its first five games it is fair game to point fingers, toes, and elbows. Sometimes, one side of the ball is performing decently and the other side is so horrible that it is appropriate to focus the derision on the offense, or the defense. There is no doubt a case could be made that the 0-2 start was almost exclusively pinned on the lack of scoring, as the Giants managed to put up a total of 13 points in losses to the Cowboys and Lions.

The defensive showing in those games was not dominant, but solid enough to win most games. In the next three losses, the Giants scored 24, 23 and 22 points – not great, barely good but certainly worthy of a win or two, as long as the defensive effort was up to the expected standard. Well, the defense blew fourth-quarter leads in all three games, giving up 27, 25 and 27 points. So, we have the offense and the defense as contestants in “The Blame Game.” Of all the failings, one rises above all others. The offensive line prevents this team from putting together a credible offensive flow.

There are glimpses of decent pass protection but the two-game stretch with no sacks was more a product of Eli Manning getting rid of the ball extremely quickly – at times, ridiculously so – and less a byproduct of great pass-blocking up front. There is little push off the line of scrimmage in the ground game. The offensive tackles, when Ereck Flowers and Bobby Hart are on the field, cannot be counted on and it is virtually impossible to help both of them on the same play. There is so much wrong with the 2017 Giants but the offensive line – the position group that had fans holding their breaths entering the season – is as ineffective as feared.