After The Smoke Clears: What's Next For The New York Giants?

I gave myself some time to calm down after this Sunday's game that featured the New York Giants' offense and special teams against the New Orleans Saints. So now that I have done that and my article will not be full of expletives, I'll make an attempt to analyze the madness.

It was also a game that featured elementary officiating, and that is putting it lightly. Sometimes people want to feel like their team has a fair shot at winning, but the officiating and bad defense took care of that nonsense.

So much was wrong about Sunday's game, I'm not sure where to begin.

Eli Manning went away from what has been working all season on offense. He went deep on third-down six times during the game, all six were followed by five punts and a 49-yard field goal.

Don't get me wrong, Eli has gone deep and taken chances before, but he did it on downs that the team could afford to take a chance. What has been working for Eli and the offense is taking what the defense gives you and making sure you get the first down on third down.

Now, on one occasion I can justify Manning going deep, as Steve Smith was wide open for a sure touchdown. The problem is, Manning overthrew him and Smith had no chance to catch the ball.

Actually, now that I think about it, his receivers were open on more than just one of those attempts. However, the only one who really thrives in one-on-one deep coverage is Hakeem Nicks, and even he hasn't done it well in the regular season.

Don't get caught up in the numbers for the running game. They were forced to abandon the run very early as they fell behind by 17 very quickly.

Those were just the few offensive problems I had with the game; I really was actually impressed with the offense at times besides when Eli was trying to do too much.

The defense, or lack thereof, was nothing short of embarrassing. If there was one person I would not want to be in the sports world Sunday Night (other than anyone involved with the UCONN tragedy), it would be C.C. Brown.

Brown played one of the worst games at safety I have ever seen. He was consistently out of position, and even when he was in position, was outmatched for balls every time.

I don't remember a player ever being so affected by the play-action when the opposing team was not running the ball well. The play where he left Corey Webster out to dry with no deep inside help that resulted in a wide open Colston touchdown was inexcusable.

He was not the only problem.

The front four ought to be ashamed of themselves at this point in the season. This marks the third time this year the Giants have been held without a sack. Previously against Dallas and Tampa Bay, the front four had better get their act together.

Dallas and Tampa Bay don't even have great offensive lines, either, so to say the front four have been disappointing this season would be putting it lightly.

I guess most of us Giant fans had lofty expectations heading into this game. The reality is the Saints pose an incredible matchup problem with the quick passing attack. It takes away the pass rush and forces the linebackers to play coverage, which is not their strong point. 

That being said, let's not forget the Giants are missing several key players on defense. Chris Canty and Aaron Ross are not back yet, and Kenny Philips is gone for the season. Once these players get back healthy the team should be able to focus on getting better.

Another thing to remember is how well the offense is still playing. Despite the fact that they struggled against the Saints, they still scored 27 points. If they find a way to go back to the way they did things before—taking what the defense gives them—they will get back on track.

I'd also like to thank Oakland and Kansas City for making the day not so hard to deal with.

At the same time the Giants were getting shellacked by the Saints, the Redskins were adding (or subtracting) to their already terrible resume by losing to the Chiefs at home.

The Redskins played six opponents in a row who did not have a win—the New York Giants (Week 1, no one has wins), St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Carolina, and Kansas City. Such a stretch of games has never happened in NFL history.

The Redskins are 2-4 and are a hot topic of conversation as the screws are coming loose in the organization and head coach Jim Zorn is on the hot seat.

As if things could not get any better, the Eagles went to Oakland and got beat 13-9 by the same team who lost to the Giants 44-7 one week before. The upset-minded Raiders kept the Giants two games ahead of the Cowboys and Eagles in the division.

Oh yeah, and let's not forget, they are still 5-1.

Moving forward the Giants should be able to bounce back against the Cardinals. Arizona is doing well at stopping the run, but that is mainly due to the fact that teams are passing it so well and often against them—they are last in the league in pass defense.

The Giants were given a wake up call this week, let's hope they respond.