New York Giants: 3 Reasons Big Blue's Offense Is in Big Trouble

Sure, it's only one preseason game, one that saw the starters play no more than 20 snaps a piece.

Sure, it's the beginning of August.

But contrary to what GM Jerry Reese says, Big Blue is in trouble.

While some in Giants nation lap up the Kool-Aid being poured by team management as if they were obedient puppies, it's going to be a long season for head coach Tom Coughlin and company.

After the jump, three reasons to be concerned.

The Depth on the Offensive Line Is, Well...Offensive.

Let me get this straight—feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

The Giants no longer have Shaun O'Hara, Rich Seubert or Shawn Andrews.

They bought in only one offensive lineman of note—30-year-old center David Baas, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers.

So that's two starters and a third who was a former Pro Bowl player gone, replaced by one man.

Is David Baas capable of blocking two and three defenders at once?

The Giants had better hope so, especially with Eli Manning and his $100 million throwing arm behind him.

You'd think that the team would make protecting him their first priority, especially after last season.

Yet instead of addressing their lack of talent and depth via the draft or free agency, the team decided that replacing the departed trio with Baas and re-signing holdovers Will Beatty and Kevin Boothe—neither of whom has proven anything other than that thus far in their careers; they are nothing more then mediocre at best—was the right move to ensure the health of their franchise player.

Yikes.

Even Ben Patrick Knows the Giants Are in Trouble

After signing with the Giants on Aug. 1, Ben Patrick was in a prime position to become the starting tight end for the team and one of Eli Manning's red zone targets after the departure of incumbent Kevin Boss, who simply had no choice but to accept the generous contract that the Oakland Raiders lavished upon him.

Instead, five days later, Patrick decided the Giants were in such bad shape that he no longer wanted to play football and retired.

OK, that's not entirely true—only Patrick knows why he suddenly retired, and we'll never know the real reasons behind his curious move.

But the Giants don't run a run-and-shoot offense, much like the Warren Moon-led Houston Oilers of the '80s who generally did not make use of a TE, instead choosing to spread the field with four-receiver sets.

Eli Manning is reliant on the TE as a blocker, an option when he dumps the ball off to the flat, and especially as a red zone target.

Travis Beckum and Jake Ballard—who combined have 21 catches and 171 yards receiving between them over their careers—are now the two candidates to start at tight end, though neither has shown the ability to block as effectively as Boss did throughout his Giants career.

The best blocking TE on the roster—Bear Pascoe—is not all that capable as a receiver.

The Giants might as well switch to a run-and-shoot offense, because they're essentially playing without a TE anyway.

It Takes Two Was a Great 80's Rap Song...not Words to Live by

Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham are two of the brighest young receivers in football.

Last year, the duo combined for 139 catches, 1,996 yards receiving and 20 touchdowns.

Over the course of their young careers, both have battled various injuries, missing parts of games and entire games altogether along the way.

After this dynamic duo, the Giants cupboard is bare.

Maybe first round bust Devin Thomas gets you excited?

How about Domenik Hixon coming off of a 2010 missed due to a torn ACL? We can safely assume that his impressive speed, which was the biggest weapon in his arsenal, is back to 2009 levels, right?

Perhaps veteran Michael Clayton, who hasn't had over 490 yards receiving in a season since his rookie year of 2002, will have a revival?

Thomas, Hixon and Clayton surely will force teams like the Philadelphia Eagles to not double team Nicks and Manningham, right?

No?

Oh, it must be the other receivers on the roster.

You know, household names like Jerrel Jernigan, Victor Cruz, Duke Calhoun, Todd Watkins and Darius Reynaud.

Not them, either?

Hmmm. Maybe the Giants can convince Amani Toomer to come out of retirement. Or perhaps Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock are available.

*It Takes Two, a hit for Queens, NY natives Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock 1988, can still be heard at bar/bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteens and fraternity houses around the country today.*

Closing Thoughts

Defensively, the Giants are stacked and the unit should be amongst the best in the league—especially now that Osi Umeniyora has decided to grace the team with his presence on the field.

Offensively, this team is in some serious trouble.

Supposedly the reason they did not re-structure Eli Manning's contract was that they did not want him to miss the first week of practice, which was a caveat of the newly negotiated CBA—any free agents that signed and/or any players that re-structured their contract needed to sit out a week of training camp.

Really?

For what reason?

It's not as if he had a number of new faces to get used to.

Eli knows exactly what he has to work with when the Giants have the ball.

After watching the rest of the NFC East improve themselves, Eli knows it's not enough.