Week Four 2016: Giants at Vikings

I was convinced the Giants were going to lose on Monday night. I wasn’t wrong, but nevertheless, it was still a tough loss. They had a chance to win the game, but they blew it. Now they are facing an uphill battle as they are now in last place in the division.



What Went Right

If your trying to find the silver lining to this game, don’t bother. You’re more likely to find grandparents at a metal concert.

If I had to think of a few things to highlight, I’d day Brad Wing punted well, Orleans Darkwa was impressive, and rookie back Paul Perkins had a great play towards the end of the game.



What Went Wrong

Defense looked good at times but letting up that long drive for a touchdown after the Giants were only down by seven was so demoralizing. Of all the drives for the defense to fall apart like a Nature Valley Crunchy bar, they chose the wrong one.

I challenge you to bite into one of these without your table looking like it's covered in hippie confetti.

Pass protection was ineffective, but that shouldn’t be surprising given how good the Vikings are at disrupting the quarterback. Eli had no time for downfield plays to develop, and when there’s no deep threat, the rest of the Giants’ offense struggles.
Despite Paul Perkins having a great run, he was terrible in pass protection. He missed blocking assignments the whole game.

The biggest blunder of the night had to be when Dwayne Harris didn’t call for the fair catch after a Viking’s three and out deep in their own territory. He muffed the punt, the Vikings recovered, and scored on that drive. I know it was really early in the game, but the game could have been really different if that fumble never occurred.  That fumble caused a momentum swing that seemed to carry throughout the entire game.



Speaking of self inflicted wounds, I guess I have to talk about the Odell Beckham Jr. debacle...

Show me "paint the chest"...

Odell was going on about how he’s targeted by both the officials and the defenders. I’m not sure about the officials having it out for him, although they did miss that call when he got hit out of bounds, but the defenders have adopted a certain playing style against him. Why would anyone do that differently though? He’s one of the most naturally gifted receivers in the NFL, he can’t be easy to cover. However, if you hit him a lot, and talk a lot of trash, it eats away at him like fire ants, and he’s thrown off his game.
I’m sure most defensive backs don’t take too kindly to his showy, flamboyant style, either. When it comes to him being targeted, he’s painted that bulls eye on himself. Some of the things that made him a household name, can lead to unwanted attention. 
Defenders will try to get under his skin, and the officials will look at him closely and make sure he’s behaving. He has to overcome it or he'll succumb to it. 
But I’m not going to call this guy a bad teammate. When it comes to putting him in the T.O. category, I want to look at the intent on his behavior. He wants to win, and he wants to play well. The passion is obviously there, but he has to control it. Not unlike Jean Grey, he has what it takes to be dominant, but he needs learn how to control what makes him great. We’ll have to see if he can control his fire and unleash the Phoenix on the NFL.



On To The Next One

The Giants are facing the Packers this Sunday night at legendary Lambeau Field.

This game looks to be another tough match up for the Giants but for different reasons than the Vikings’ were. Where the Vikings were tough on defense, the biggest obstacle the Giants have to overcome is the Packers’ offense lead by Jordan Rodgers’ brother, Aaron.

Aaron doesn't come in this house without paying the price. Not now, not ever!

The Giants’ banged up secondary will really be put to the test when they face Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, and hopefully the front seven can contain Eddie Lacy.

This should be a great game for the Giants’ passing offense, though. With the Packers being ranked towards the bottom of the league, there’s no reason why Eli and his receivers should put up great numbers. But this isn’t the first time we’ve said this about the passing game this season, so I'm going to hope for the best but temper my expectations a bit.
For as bad as the Packers are at defending the pass, they are the opposite against the run. Their first ranked rush defense should bottle up whoever is running the ball on Sunday night. It’s not like this is a huge blow. The Giants’ running game looked cotton candy soft for most of the year.

Of course the one part of this game that everyone will be looking at is Odell. This is where needs to show us how tough he can be mentally. It’s a great match up for him, and he can certainly make it a rough night for Green Bay. Can he put this mess behind him and show everyone why he’s great, or will he fall further into this spiral of overreacting and petulance? One thing is for sure, if the Giants’ win on Sunday, and Odell has a good game, this subject will be dropped, and the talking heads will completely forget how much they trashed him this past week.