Week Six 2016: Giants vs Ravens

Well the Giants won their first game in what feels like forever. Despite facing a team that was decimated by injuries, Big Blue still had plenty to overcome in this much needed win. The Giants are now 3-3, which still leaves them in last place in the NFC East, but this win serves as a small beacon of hope that the Giants can turn their season around



What Went Right

Pass protection was good. Eli only got sacked once, and that was by Terrell Suggs. Getting sacked by T-Sizzle is almost guaranteed to happen.

The four down, goal line stand that prevented the Ravens from getting some much needed points. It was great to see the Giants defense buckle down and make a huge, game changing stop when they really needed it. Jonathan Casillas, along with Mark Herzlich, made the huge play against Terrance West on fourth down to prevent him from scoring and ultimately changed the complexion of the game.

OBJ had a huge game. It was the game that we all wanted from him, as well as the game he wanted from himself. He’s at his happiest when his playing contributes to a win.
Having two touchdowns over sixty yards certainly helped the Giants win the game, and it could very well be the turning point of the season.
The first was the, as Eli called it, “whirly bird” play. Which seemed to be ripped from the pages of a recess playbook.
The second touchdown put them in the lead with less than two minutes left in the game.  He had a great match up against an inexperienced cornerback and Eli recognized that and hit him on a quick slant. OBJ took that slant past the first down marker, past the field goal range marker, and right into the end zone.
For so many reasons, it was a beautiful sight to see. Eli got another comeback win under his belt, Odell made another huge play, and he got engaged on top of all of that.

Congrats to you and the net, Odell. Now please, stop getting penalties.

Janoris Jenkins has really proven to be the best free agent acquisition for this Giants this season. He didn’t have fantastic numbers against the Ravens, but he’s been playing lights out.

It was a good win by the Giants. They had to deal with shotty officiating, bad penalties, and a lackluster run game. They still did enough to win the game. It wasn’t pretty, but sometimes those ugly wins say the most about the team.



What Went Wrong

Despite this great win, a lot didn’t go right for the Giants.

Their run game wasn’t very effective, by that I mean it’s about as effective as a lead parachute. I thought with Rashad Jennings coming back we would see a quality rushing attack. Thirty-four yards is not what I had in mind.

The Giants also gave up a lot of yards in penalties, one hundred ninteen to be exact. I know that forty of those yards was because of a TERRIBLE pass interference call on DRC.
The worst penalty committed by the Giants, yes worse than the Odell helmet penalty, was Owa Odighizuwa’s roughing the passer penalty. He got to Joe Flacco late on an incomplete 4th down throw during their attempted game winning drive. That penalty gave the Ravens fifteen more yards as well as a fresh set of downs. If the Ravens ended up winning because they got more time and better field position, there would be no shortage of outrage from a Giants’ fan base who is growing weary of undisciplined play.
While Beckham’s helmet removal wasn’t as bad as Dighi’s, it still could’ve been very costly for Big Blue. Having to stop a kick off return is certainly more risky than a touchback. If that kick return was housed, we’d have another week hearing about Odell’s antics.

Larry Donnell is very concerning to me. Like a drunk man balancing a plate of nachos on his head, he’s a mess waiting to happen. First he does his patented hurdle, which is a great way to lose the football, then, while the Giants are trying to assemble a game winning drive, Donnell runs out of bounds one yard short of the 1st down to bring up 4th down. Luckily for him, Beckham saved the day by breaking that 4th & 1 catch for a touchdown.
I don’t know why Will Tye isn’t starting over Larry Liability. Neither are the second coming of Mark Bavaro, but Will Tye is nowhere near as risky as Donnell.

"Get off the field, Larry. You're gonna spill your dang nachos."

On a more serious note, it may not be pertinent to the Ravens’ game, but this whole Josh Brown fiasco is certainly something that “went wrong”.
The Giants may not have known the full extent of Brown’s abuse, but they certainly knew enough that they could have decided against resigning him and done so without feeling guilty. As it turns out, this goes way beyond an incident at the Pro Bowl. This abuse has been ongoing.
They are trying to rectify the situation now, but the damage has been done. The Giants are no longer the moral beacon that we all thought they were. I guess, if you think about it, the Giants put up with a lot of Lawrence Taylor’s issues. There is a difference, though, because I think his playing day problems were drugs and prostitutes. From what I remember and what I researched, I didn’t see anything about spousal abuse from when he played. But still, the Giants protected him from the league, and, not that it should matter, but Josh Brown isn’t on the same level as LT. He’s not even the LT of field goal kickers.
Hopefully the Giants can do enough to save face, but I have to be honest with you. This is, by far, the most disappointed I’ve ever been as a Giants’ fan. Out of all the horrible seasons I've witnessed out of all the boneheaded behavior, nothing has made me more angry at the Giants than this.


On To The Next One

The Giants go across the pond to England to face the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams’ defensive line, especially Aaron Donald, are gonna be tough for the Giants. Other than that and Todd Gurley, the team isn’t very good.

What you need to watch for is how the Rams are going to be treating Beckham. Rams’ Coach, Jeff Fisher, loves to try to get into his opponents head by playing dirty. I have no doubt that LA’s secondary will do everything they can to throw OBJ off his game, because that’s the only way they can beat him.

Hopefully after this game, the Giants come back to the states another win richer, and gain some ground in this competitive division.