Big Brother Abuse: New York Giants Have Much Work To Do Before Becoming Elite

It was one of those games where it was over before it started.

Just one week after an apparent and vital confidence-boosting game against the Carolina Panthers, the Giants tried to outsmart Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts and were literally run off the field, 38-14.

Despite a pretty good how-to guide provided by the Houston Texans, the Giants largely eschewed the run game and paid dearly for it. (Ahmad Bradshaw ran for a ho-hum 89 yards, but was largely not a factor.)

Tackles David Diehl and Kareem McKenzie looked old, completely overmatched, and generally gave the sense that they wanted to be anywhere else but Indianapolis. Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis routinely spun the two tackles like tops, and Eli was left to be bullied and eaten alive like a singular guppy in the middle of a school of bloodthirsty 3D piranhas.

It was a miracle that Eli accounted for the two touchdowns, because he had little chance to do much else.

Defensively, it was an abject scene of horrors. Perry Fewell went with a scheme heavy on defensive backs in an effort to stop the wide-open passing attack, so Peyton Manning put on his wizard's cap and ran the ball with Joseph Addai. When was the last time the Colts have had a single running back come close to 100 yards rushing? Seems like 50 years, but they did it anyway.

It almost felt as if the gameplan simply called for no one to get killed, a "we realistically have no bleeping shot to win this game" hackjob. When Brandon Jacobs' petulant tantrum-turned-helmet bartering became the most intriguing subplot in a game that was meant to apparently be a celebration of Archie and Olivia Manning's ability to conceive super-duper quarterbacks, you know that it had not gone as hoped.

So once again, questions remain. With an angry Chris Johnson lurking after having lost his streak of 12 consecutive 100-yard rushing games, you can bet they know what's coming.

But after doing the exact opposite last night, will the Giants have learned their lesson?