NY Giants vs. Tennessee Titans: Breaking Down New York's Game Plan
The 2014 season might be a lost cause for the New York Giants, but the show must go on.
That’s one of the messages that head coach Tom Coughlin has been trying to impress upon his players, who haven’t won a game since October 5, when they topped the Atlanta Falcons 30-20.
“The message is, quite frankly, that we’re going to continue to work, we’re going to continue to support one another,” Coughlin told reporters at his weekly press briefing. “We’re going to fight as hard as we can, prepare as well as we possibly can, and that’s the message.”
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Of course, thanks to injuries—the Giants put another five guys on injured reserve on Tuesday, bringing their season total to 20—the Giants have many new faces who weren’t initially part of the final 53-man roster Coughlin had hoped to have for most of the season.
That brings us to his second message to his team.
“The other message is [about] opportunity [for] guys who come along who have a chance at this point in the season to perform, to play and they go into games and have an opportunity to participate at this level when perhaps they had no snaps coming in before,” he said. “Now they’re going to get snaps and they have a chance to prove their ability, not only to the New York Giants but to the entire NFL.”
In other words, everyone is now playing and/or coaching for his job. And if these men—that includes the players and the coaches—are half the competitors they claim to be, the message needs to be taken to heart in the form of the team delivering a full 60 minutes of solid football with no mistakes and no head-scratching decisions.
| Quarterback | X | |
| Running Backs | X | |
| Tight Ends | X | |
| Receivers | X | |
| Offensive Line | X | |
| Defensive Line | X | |
| Linebackers | X | |
| Defensive Secondary | X | |
| Special Teams | X |
The Game Plan: Keys to Victory
With the exception of the losses and the turnovers, one of the most frustrating things about the Giants offense has been coordinator Ben McAdoo’s insistence to strive for balance, regardless of the fact that the running game just hasn’t been as consistent as the passing game.
This isn’t a matter of trying not to favor one sibling over the other. This is about a football team that needs to find a way to win a game. That means finding the opponent’s weakness and exploiting it as much as possible.
For the Tennessee Titans, right now their enigma on defense is a pass defense that last week yielded 356 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions to—wait for it—Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Houston Texans.
Right now, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is the Giants’ “hot hand.” It is ridiculous not to put the ball in his hands, as New York rarely did last week in the game's final 30 minutes (Beckham only had two receptions in the last two quarters).
That doesn’t mean the Giants should throw the deep ball on every pass attempt. They can eat away at the clock by dinking and dunking their way down the field in certain spots.
That also doesn’t mean they should do the opposite of what the New York Jets did on Monday night and significantly eliminate half of the offense—in the Giants’ case that would be the running game. No, a mixture of runs is necessary to keep the Titans pass rush at bay.
Until a team figures out a way to stop Beckham, who has at least 90 receiving yards in his last four games, from getting open and doing damage against it, then there should be no reason not to get the ball to him as often as circumstances permit.
Even if the Titans suddenly come up with the magic formula to shut Beckham down, there should be some opportunities for quarterback Eli Manning to hit receivers and/or tight ends underneath who are drawing single coverage.
If running back Rashad Jennings isn’t ready to go due to his ankle sprain, a nice mix of short- and mid-range passes could be just enough to keep the Titans pass defense, ranked 18th in the NFL and allowing 243.8 yards per game, on its toes.
Giants on Defense
This week Giants fans will finally get what they have been clamoring for all season: Second-year man Damontre Moore is expected to get the start opposite of Jason Pierre-Paul at defensive end.
Moore will need to demonstrate that he can hold up against the run.
Interestingly, head coach Tom Coughlin ducked a question asked of him by a reporter on Wednesday regarding Moore’s physical size being at a point where he can handle the role that’s being asked of him.
“He’s got long arms and this will be a nice opportunity for him,” was Coughlin’s reply.
This week’s game is going to likely come down to who wins the battle in the pit. The Titans offensive line is banged up—last week, it was missing four starters.
This week, both its tackles, Taylor Lewan and Michael Oher, and guard Chance Warmack are still dealing with their respective injuries—Lewan and Oher didn’t practice on Wednesday, while Warmack was limited.
The Giants will enter this game without starting defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday but was struggling to defeat solo blocking as it was.
They are also going to be without Robert Ayers, who joins Kiwanuka on injured reserve after suffering a pectoral injury.
That’s the bad news. The good news potentially is that in addition to Moore’s possible increased role on the defense, the Giants might be getting back defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins, who, when healthy, usually draws the double-team blocks that free up others to at least get pressure.
The bottom line is if they win the pit battle on defense, the Giants will give themselves a very good chance at coming out on top in this game.
| OT James Brewer (concussion) - DNP | OT Taylor Lewan (ankle) - DNP |
| LB Mark Herzlich (concussion) - DNP | OT Michael Oher (toe) - DNP |
| RB Rashad Jennings (ankle) - DNP | DE Kamerion Wimbley (hamstring) - DNP |
| DT Cullen Jenkins (calf) - limited | QB Zach Mettenberger (right shoulder) - limited |
| LB Jameel McClain (knee) - limited | G Chance Warmack (ankle) - limited |
| CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (back/shoulder) - limited | CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (back) - limited |
| LB Jacquian Williams (concussion) - limited | DB Marqueston Huff (hamstring) - full |
| OT Justin Pugh (quadriceps) - full |
Giants' Key Injury: Take Your Pick
Despite what the players and head coach say, the Giants’ injury situation has sucked the life out of this team. The two coordinators have been forced to change their schemes to compensate for the drop-off in talent at key positions, and the results just haven’t been very pretty.
So who are the Giants’ key injuries this week?
LB Mark Herzlich
Herzlich was a surprise addition to the injury report this week, listed with a concussion. Currently one of the starters, if he can’t go on Sunday, Spencer Paysinger is the next man up.
If Herzlich isn’t a go and McClain is hobbled—which he is given that he is still on the injury report—the Giants’ linebacker unit suddenly becomes alarmingly thin.
OL Justin Pugh
Pugh told reporters this week that he was close to being ready to play last week. Indeed, as Coughlin typically does not let injured players travel if they can’t potentially contribute in some way, there is no doubt that Pugh was a game-time decision last week.
This week, he should be back in the lineup. Again, the Giants held him out last week as a precaution, perhaps wanting to ensure he was fully healed.
It’s a good thing they did, because can you imagine if he had had a setback, and the team would have needed go into this weekend’s game with John Jerry at right tackle and Dallas Reynolds at right guard?
DT Cullen Jenkins
Jenkins’ being inactive last week was a bit of a surprise, as he looked as though he had been making progress in his return from a calf strain.
As it turns out, his return to the lineup is probably more important this week, as the Giants have only three true defensive ends on the roster now. Jenkins, who can play both end and tackle, should allow defensive coordinator Perry Fewell to rotate the ends to keep everyone fresh—if he can play.
RB Rashad Jennings
After finally returning from a four-game absence, Rashad Jennings is unfortunately battling a new injury (ankle sprain) that could keep him out of Sunday’s game.
That’s not good news for the Giants’ running game, which has struggled as it is. According to the Giants’ weekly stat book, New York finished with only 100 rushing yards once during Jennings’ four-game absence, which came in the first meeting with the Dallas Cowboys, when the Giants ran 26 times for 104 yards.
With Jennings in the lineup, the Giants have four 100-yard rushing games, the most recent of which came against the Jacksonville Jaguars last week.
Thus, if the Giants want to continue to strive for a run-pass balance, they are going to need Jennings in the lineup this week.
Prediction
No, the Giants aren’t a very good team right now for whatever the reason.
And yes, it completely boggles the mind how they can look like a quality team for the first 30 minutes of the game and then like a bunch of unorganized amateurs at points in the second half.
So why is this week the week that the Giants will snap their seven-game losing streak? For one, never bet against Tom Coughlin, who seems to have an endless supply of motivational tactics to pull from if others don’t work.
The Giants haven’t given anyone much hope on which to convince people they’ll get things turned around.
However, this team, which last week officially hit rock bottom, is still fighting for Coughlin, which gives it a chance to take that much-needed baby step forward this week, even if it’s just by a hair.
Giants 21, Titans 17
Season Prediction Record: 7-5
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football and The Sports Xchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
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