Giants Looking to End Losing Streak, Host Baltimore Ravens

Eli Manning (Giants.com)

The New York Giants return home after a two game road trip and bring along a three game losing streak as they face the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday.

Eli Leading in Offensive Struggles

If you look at the play of the offense the past three games, you can see that they are not in sync whatsoever. After studying the film, you can look at the quarterback’s play and it can be a contributor to the poor play. Eli Manning’s passes have not looked crisp at all. His throws are not hitting the receiver, instead going over their head or at their feet.

“I didn’t play as well as I needed to last week,” said Manning. “I missed some throws…I have to make some more throws, better decisions, can’t turn the ball over, but we will improve. We will keep working hard and we will figure it out.”

Eli Manning only completed 18 of 35 pass attempts for 199 yards, with one touchdown and one fumble in the game last week against the Packers. If we look more specifically at Manning’s play during the three game losing streak, Manning has completed 68 of 118 pass attempts for 810 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Not the greatest numbers, but the Giants are moving onto their next matchup.

“You flush last week and you move on to the next week,” said Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo. “You put your time and your energy and your focus into the preparation and you don’t listen to the noise out there.”

With the criticism of Manning, the players on this Giants team are defending their quarterback.

“When you win games it makes it a lot easier for everyone around,” said Odell Beckham Jr. “When you lose, everyone wants to point the finger somewhere…You win and it’s like nothing ever happened.”

“He understands the position and a lot of the times the success and failures for most critics go to the quarterback,” said Giants running back Rashad Jennings. “…but our quarterback ratings and stats are collectively a team stat, so we have to play better. It is not all on one person at all, especially Eli.”

The Giants will always stand by their quarterback. If they want to get out of this slump, the entire team will have to step up their game in order to get back in the win column.

Giants Going Up Against Third Best Defense in the League

The Giants offense is going to be in for a long day of work as they enter the game, with the league’s third best overall defense on the opposing side of the line. The Baltimore Ravens are boasting an overall stifling defense. The Ravens are allowing 17.6 points per game (6th best), 266.8 yards per game (3rd best), 190.8 pass yards per game (5th best), and 76.0 rushing yards per game (4th best).

The Giants are going to have their work cut out for them on Sunday, especially with their struggles on the offensive side of the ball.

“They’re a thick, physical and heavy handed unit; highly ranked in most major categories,” said McAdoo. “It starts with their front seven…They have a handful of pass rushers that they need to be accounted for. They’re very smart and instinctive in the secondary and it’s a veteran group there.”

The Giants run game is going to have their work cut out for them again, facing a tough run defense for the third week in a row.

“We get another opportunity, a home game and Baltimore has a great defense,” said Jennings. “If you put on the tape, they have guys everywhere, on all three levels. They also know how to play in close games…so I anticipate that it will be a long game and two physical, heavy handed teams going at it.”

The Giants hope to get their entire offense clicking, which showed glimpses in their first two games against the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints. While facing their third straight game against a top defense, you have to believe that the Giants will have learned enough to learn how to beat these defensive juggernauts.

Giants $200M Defense Not Living Up to Hype

The Giants expensive offseason to bolster the defense has not exactly the organization and fan base had expected it to go. The pass rush has essentially been nonexistent during their current losing streak. What has been hurting the Giants is their lack of breaking through the offensive line and giving the opposing quarterback too much time in the pocket to find the open receiver.

“We have done a poor job tackling,” said Giants defensive end Jason Pierre Paul. “That’s every guy on the team, including myself. We just have to get better…We just have to finish.”

The lone name that has been living up to the big contract this summer has been cornerback Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins has two interceptions (both came last week against the Green Bay Packers), and a special teams fumble recovery for a touchdown (Week 2 against the Saints). Jenkins has earned a reputation of being the most consistent player on the Giants defense.

“…he is the one that has been in there the most and has been the most consistent guy,” said Giants secondary/cornerback coach Tim Walton. “The injuries have made us shuffle the deck a little bit, so we have had to lean on him a lot.”

Giants Sign New Cornerback to Compensate for Injuries

The Giants announced that they have signed cornerback Coty Sensabaugh to add depth to their injury depleted secondary. Sensabaugh was cut by the Los Angeles Rams on October 8 after three games into his three year, $15 million contract. In an ironic moment, Sensabaugh was signed by the Rams to replace Jenkins, who left for the Giants in free agency this offseason. Now the two are teammates on the Giants.

“The Giants were ironically the first team to call me during free agency,” said Sensabaugh. “They were signing Janoris [Jenkins] so I was like, ‘That doesn’t leave much room for me.’ Ironically, I ended up being here. Crazy.”

With injuries to Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie and Eli Apple the past couple of weeks, the Giants secondary depth has essentially plummeted. With Sensabaugh’s signing, the Giants hope they can rebuild on that depth.

“We had him out on the field a little bit yesterday for an opportunity practice, typically reserved for some young players but he jumped in with both feet,” said McAdoo.

“You have to be ready with injuries like that being inside, outside, different spots, so it just comes with it,” said Walton. “But he is a smart guy, he works at it and he is picking it up pretty decent, so we will try to have him ready and prepared when needed.”

First impressions of Sensabaugh seem to be good, it’s just a matter of whether he will be ready enough to take the field against the Ravens.

Giants Faced with Unknown Due to Baltimore’s New Offensive Coordinator

As stated above, the Ravens have one of the best defenses in the league. However, the same can’t be said for the offense. The Ravens offense is averaging 18.8 points per game (22nd), 338.2 yards per game (22nd), 239.2 passing yards per game (22nd), and 99.0 rushing yards per game (18th). The offense, like the Giants, are not capitalizing on scoring opportunities.

On Monday, the Ravens announced they have fired Marc Trestman as the team’s offensive coordinator and named Marty Mornhinweg as his replacement. With this news, questions were running rampant if there would be changes in the Ravens play style.

“We’re not putting in a new playbook or anything,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “Marty Mornhinweg and the whole staff have been here the whole time. You’re not going to change everything.”

With this news, questions have run rampant about how the Giants will prepare to face a team with a new offensive coordinator.

“Some things will obviously change,” said McAdoo. “Their personnel’s not going to change, their staff has been together for a little while now, that won’t change. So, you have to get ready for tendencies.”

“Look, Marty’s been doing this thing for a long time,” said Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. “…But, I do know that they believe in explosive plays and one of the ways they get them is to throw the ball downfield.

Quarterback Joe Flacco is known for the deep pass throughout his nine year career. Statistically, Joe Flacco has completed 138 of 216 pass attempts for 1,282 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions. Flacco is also a threat on his feet, as he scored two rushing touchdowns as well this season. There has always been the unpredictability factor about Flacco his entire career, and the Giants will have to do their best to prepare for him.

“He can make the big play and he is an athlete,” said Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon. “People forget that he is an athlete and he can make plays with his feet, as well, so we just have to get him off his spot.”

With the unpredictability of Flacco and new offensive coordinator Mornhinweg, the Giants will have to prepare as much as possible from game film of both Flacco and Mornhinweg-based offenses.

Giants hope to snap this losing streak and finally get back in the win column. With the rise of rival teams in the NFC East, the Giants cannot afford another loss.