Week 4: Giants at Chiefs

Well, I must say I wasn’t as optimistic about this game against the Chiefs as I was with the Panthers game. But I can probably chalk that up to me lowering my expectations so I wouldn’t be devastated come Monday. Even though my expectations were extremely low, I was still disappointed. Not Phantom Menace level disappointed, more like Ewoks in Return of the Jedi disappointed.

It wasn't a major disappointment, but what the hell was Lucas doing?

Last week, I didn’t recap the game in detail because it was too damn painful. But I guess I should man up and recap this game. So here it goes.

First Quarter:
The first quarter was all defense on both sides. There was a lot of punt, punt, pass going on. Needless to say there wasn’t much going on, however, the Giants’ second punt by Weatherford was downright Feaglesesque. He dropped the ball at the Chiefs two yard line.
Towards the end of the quarter, Kansas City started a drive pinned against their end zone thanks to Weatherford. They make their way down field to the Giants fourteen by the end of the quarter.
Score: Giants 0-Chiefs 0

Second Quarter:
Remember when the Chiefs started a drive at their two yard line? Well they topped off that drive with a five yard touchdown pass from Alex Smith to tight end Sean McGrath.
The Giants responded in a huge way. On the second play of the drive, Eli and Cruz connect on a sixty-nine yard touchdown.
After the Chiefs punt on the following drive, the Giants takeover. However, Eli got the ball knocked loose by Tamba Hali. The Chiefs recover.
Thankfully, the Chiefs do something that they haven’t done yet this season, turn the ball over. The loose ball was recovered by Spencer Paysinger.
Unfortunately, the Giants throw away opportunities like rotten fruit and they go three and out.
The Chiefs take advantage of this turnover and get a field goal out of their possession.
So with the first half coming to an end, and with the Giants down by three, Eli is trying to work his magic. On fourth and two on the Chiefs thirty-five yard line, Eli connects with Victor Cruz for seven yards. This put the Giants in makeable field goal range... or so I thought. Josh Brown missed the forty-four yard attempt just before halftime.
Halftime: Giants 7-Chiefs 10

Third Quarter:

Move aside, Clooney! We got a new hunk on our hands!

The offense of both teams in this quarter didn’t do much. We saw more of Wilson from Home Improvement than we did from these two offenses. But the defenses were as present as Al Borland’s beard.
The Giants’ first possession ended with a punt.
Alex Smith then gets picked off by Prince Amukamara.
The Giants treated that opportunity like a month old batch of bananas and go three and out.
Kansas City responds in kind and punts the ball away too.
On their next possession, Eli and Nicks looked incredibly out of sync as Eli’s attempted throw to Nicks was overthrown by about twenty yards and was picked off.
Luckily, the Chiefs couldn’t capitalize on that awful display of a passing game and Alex Smith’s pass to Jamaal Charles was kicked up and picked off by Antrel Rolle.
The Giants throw another opportunity away like some moldy peaches and go three and out again.
The Chiefs punt the ball back after three plays.
Here is where the game starts to go from competitive to a slaughter. On the following possession, the Giants were facing a third and seventeen at their fourteen yard line. Eli passes to Cruz, who just barely gets the first down. But hold on, because Andy Reid, who now looks like Santa Claus on summer vacation, wisely challenged the spot of the ball. Turns out Cruz was half a yard short. This created a fourth and one situation and the Giants elected to punt. It turns out that that overturned call was the turning point of this game. Because what happened next was a crane kick to the face.
Weatherford on his thirty-fourth punt of the game, sailed the ball to the speedy Dexter McCluster. He then carves through the Giants’ punt coverage like an infomercial knife and scores an eighty-nine yard touchdown.
As you would have guessed the Giants punted the ball away after they got the ball back. Great way to end the third quarter.
Score: Giants 7-Chiefs 17

Fourth Quarter:

The face of the Giants' offense.

In the fourth quarter, the Giants turned into Wilson's half-face and the Chiefs became Al Borland’s beard.
The Chiefs looked strong and manly, whereas the Giants were just two eyes and a bucket hat peering over a fence.
What started as a promising game turned out to be another let down by the Giants.
Final Score: Giants 7-Chiefs 31

The truth is that this game was competitive, right up until the point when it wasn’t. The defense played well for most of the game. However, the awful performance by the offense and special teams eventually caught up with the defense who then got trampled.

The Giants are on full meltdown watch now. They are are winless after four games, and all but one of these games have been blowouts. It’s not like these games have come down to the wire and they caught a few bad breaks. They are a team that’s playing embarrassingly bad. The offense can’t get anything going, the defense plays well but only for the first two and half quarters, and Josh Brown can’t make any field goals.

What have I learned?

I know I’ve been saying this for a few weeks now, but despite how bad they’ve been, the Giants are still staying afloat. They are only two games out of being tied for first place of the NFC East.

Even though Cruz questioned Coach Coughlin for punting on that fateful fourth and one, the team is starting to show some signs of life. Although, at this point they are only able to wiggle fingers and toes, but hey, it’s a start.

Justin Tuck defended his coach by saying “If anyone turns on our coach, I would be the first one to punch him in the mouth.” It's good to see Tuck acting like a team captain and defending his coach.

Also, Rolle still believes in this team. He thinks the team can win twelve straight and make the playoffs. It’s comments like these that the team needs to rally around play with a sense of urgency.

During the broadcast, Josh Brown was accidentally referred to as Chris Brown. Honestly, I don’t think I’d mind a swap. You know Chris Brown always hits what he’s aiming for. In other words, I really miss Lawrence Tynes.

Even though their injury report has more names on it than the Ellis Island book of records, this upcoming game is more than a Bill Lumburgh game. This is a do or die game. This is a Karate Kid Part II game. Either they win, and walk away with honor, or they get beaten to death and lose it all. Let’s hope the Giants are as fired up as Chozen, and as well trained as Daniel LaRusso.

Live or die, Giants!