What went wrong in another disappointing Giants season?

Your season is over Giants fans.  After the embarrassing 17-0 loss in the rain to the Tennessee Titans at home, you’ve officially been eliminated from playoff contention.  It’s yet another disappointing season in what’s been a terrible stretch for the once mighty Giants.  You’re just seven seasons removed from a Super Bowl, but things look hopeless.

So what went wrong?  I mean you could point to really anything this season.  The brand new head coach who couldn’t figure out how to use his best weapon.  The porous secondary that couldn’t stop Josh Johnson.  The list goes on.  However, there are three main points that show exactly why the Giants’ season went as wrong as it did.

The ever terrible play of the offensive line

Eli Manning is old.  He can’t run anymore.  Nate Solder is old.  He can’t really block anymore.  The Giants thought they had a steal when they took Solder away from the Patriots.  They drafted a bulldog in Will Hernandez and all was well with the offensive line.

Except it wasn’t.  The Giants’ offensive line may not have given up the most amount of sacks this season, but the pressure that Eli Manning has been under is immense every single week.  He can’t breathe without having a guy in his face.  It’s hindering the offense and the main reason why they didn’t score 30+ points until halfway through this season.

The mistake of leaving Eli Manning in

The second biggest mistake the Giants made this season was leaving Eli Manning in when things were starting to get bad.  Eli Manning was a fantastic quarterback for the Giants.  He is now a terrible quarterback and regardless of how much blame the offensive line takes, Eli Manning shouldn’t get off scott free.  He is just as much at fault as the line is.

He is constantly checking down to his receivers because when he has time he doesn’t think he does.  He can’t throw the deep ball the way he used to.  He’s sacking himself when he doesn’t need to.  He is a mess and the only reason why the Giants have stuck with him is because they feel bad taking him out.  It’s pathetic that it’s come to this, but the Giants are pandering to Eli Manning.

The other side of the line doesn’t look too good

The defensive line hasn’t caught as much flak as the offensive line only because most of the problems lie on offense.  However, they’re a culprit in this terrible season too, as they never got a pass rush on any of their opponents.  If they’re leaving themselves out there and letting opponents throw all over them, no wonder why the team stunk.

It’s not all their fault because other than Saquon Barkley no one on offense decided to show up this season, but football is played in three phases and the Giants failed in two of them miserably.  They couldn’t stop the run when they needed to, were unable to make key plays to get off the field, and gave up too many big plays.

The only high point of this entire season was Aldrick Rosas.  He was the most accurate kicker in the league (up to this point) and was the shining star of the Giants’ special teams.  The offense and defense must stink, but at least the Giants had a good kicker.