Hard to believe that the Giants were up 14-3 and had kicked off to start the game.
This is what happens to poorly coached and poorly disciplined teams. Fumbles. Dropped balls. Penalties.
Kafka must have read this blog. This is what we said in the Chargers recap…
I would like to see Dart use his TEs a lot this season. When Nabers goes down, it does not have to be a death sentence. Try 12 Personnel. Get Bellinger and Johnson on the field as two of your better receiving options, particularly when Slayton is also hobbled by a groin. Kafka must adjust to a world without Nabers. The TE is a QB’s best friend. They move the sticks and they are critical in the red zone.
Lo and behold, the Giants have 5 targets and 2 red zone TDs to their TEs in the red zone! Shocked! Not. PLUS, a bonus- Dart was sliding after runs!
Then the TEs stopped being used and so did the offense. And then the fumbles, dropped passes, and penalties. The Giants were able to move the sticks a lot. 23 first downs. Fumbles killed them. The fumbles and resulting point swings were truly vomit. It was disgusting. Each one stopped a drive where the Gmen were in Saints territory. The coup de grace was Skattebo fumbling on 1st and 10 at the Saints 15 (red zone), returned 86 yards for a TD. Just hand them the game. That was a 10 to 14 point swing. The other two resulted in FGs, so those were a ~12 pt swing. It is not hard to see how the Giants underachieved and lost.
Losing teams lose. Poorly coached teams are undisciplined. They shoot themselves in the foot. 8 penalties for 95 yards.
Darius Alexander looks like he is trending upward. He had a nice tackle for a loss.
Darius Slayton and Tyler Nubin were goats, costing the Giants big.
The momentum swing of the game occurs with the Giants Offense controlling tempo. They are up 14-6 midway through Q2, having scored in each of their first 2 possessions. First play of the drive, Dart goes deep to Slayton, who dropped a ball that was in his hands. You must make that catch. Slayton would then fumble on a play near the end of Q2 that would have otherwise moved the sticks. Instead of the Giants going into the half up 17-13, they go into the half down 16-14. Brutal.
I don’t like complaining about the officiating, but the Giants DL was regularly being held without calls. There was one play which was so egregious- visible proof where an OL has hold of a jersey which has now strung out like literally 4 feet! Duh, that means he was being held… 4 feet ago! Nope, nothing to see here! Carry on!
Daboll is doing a good job of proving he is unworthy of being a Head Coach. There is plenty of ability. It is not a disciplined product.
Dart had some missteps but he is tracking very well. He may be trying to do too much, but he literally lacks credible WRs. At this point with the Giants likely to lose their next 3 games to PHL DEN PHL, they will be 1-7 and Daboll will be mostly toast. Good. I would like to see players like Muasau and Alexander continue to get snaps.