There is a great divide within the Giants, but it has yet to split the team in half. Still, how much longer can a resourceful and highly competitive defense watch their counterparts on offense play a losing brand of football?
Twice on Sunday the Giants defense forced a turnover that could have — should have — sparked something positive in the 24-14 loss to the Steelers at Heinz Field. The first one did the trick: A fumble caused by Jonathan Casillas and recovered by Eli Apple on the Pittsburgh 17-yard line directly led to points. Even the Giants’ offense could not screw this one up, and Eli Manning’s well-executed screen to Rashad Jennings resulted in a 13-yard touchdown to bring the Giants within 14-7 in the third quarter. It was a two-play, 17-yard “drive.’’
Trailing 21-7 and needing another jump-start, the Giants’ defense provided a sudden change when Apple intercepted a Ben Roethlisberger pass by ripping the ball away from receiver Eli Rogers. Manning was gifted a possession on the Giants’ 47-yard line. The defense provided great field position and a chance for the Giants to get back in the game heading into the fourth quarter.
Another spark created by the defense, right?
“We thought it would,’’ safety Landon Collins said.
But it did not.
“Nah, it didn’t,’’ Collins said.
Not even close, as a desperation fourth-and-13 Manning pass had a chance for Sterling Shepard deep down the field but was underthrown and intercepted. Once again, the offense could not capitalize on what the defense provided.
“You got to ask that question to them, why they’re not clicking,’’ Collins said.
Players on defense have to be getting frustrated with this.
“Nah, not at all, because you know what you got on that side of the ball, you know at any given time it will click,’’ cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said. “Just keep fighting, keep trying to get stops and put the ball in their hand.’’
These are not what-have-you-done-for-me-lately musings as a six-game winning streak came to an end. The offense struggled mightily a week earlier in Cleveland, just as it did in London against the Rams. This has been a season-long issue and the problems are not going away or getting solved.
“We’re down in the red zone multiple times, at a certain point it’s about capitalizing,’’ offensive lineman Marshall Newhouse said. “There’s nothing I think they confused us with, it’s just converting and executing.
“That’s what these December games come down to, that’s what playoff games come down to.’’
Newhouse said “there’s nothing even closely compared to a crisis’’ within the Giants’ offense, but that might be wishful thinking. This looks like a mess from the outside. The Giants do not run the ball with any conviction, and their passing game is often disjointed. Odell Beckham Jr. is making plays all over the field, but the ball is not finding its way into the end zone nearly enough. No targets for Shepard last week in Cleveland and none for Victor Cruz against the Steelers send up flares that the operation is not in sync.
“From 10 [Manning] to the receivers to the offensive line, we all got to pick our game up a little bit more,’’ Newhouse said.
Everyone is watching and waiting, including the Giants’ own defense.
Other observations coming out of the Giants’ first loss in nearly two months:
— Beckham had it exactly right. Asked what went wrong on offense against the Steelers, he said, “I feel like we’ve been pretty consistent, it’s been the same thing to me all year, scoring around 20, not really much has changed. We just didn’t come away with the win.’’ That is pretty close to the truth. This offensive “attack’’ has been stuck in neutral all season, but this was worse, and it came against a defense that is not known this season for stopping anyone cold. Yet the Giants did not score a first-half touchdown for the fourth time this season, they finished with 234 yards, their second-lowest output of the season (they had 232 yards vs. the Rams in London) and their 178 net passing yards set a new low for the season. “We’re just not scoring enough,’’ Beckham said. “We need to step it up in every which way.’’
— Count this as news: Landon Collins got beat. The NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November is not off to a great start in December. He gave up his first touchdown of the season, which is not bad 12 games in, but he was frustrated nonetheless. In the third quarter, Collins bit on a pump-fake by Ben Roethlisberger, allowing tight end Ladarius Green to get behind him for a 20-yard scoring strike to make it 21-7. “He got us,’’ Collins said. “A play my eyes were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I’m better at that.’’ As a rookie last season, Collins at times shrugged off poor plays, but not this season.
— It looks as if the Giants are going to have a lot more Kerry Wynn and Romeo Okwara at left defensive end for the near future. Jason Pierre-Paul went down and out with a groin injury. Pierre-Paul said he felt a “pull,’’ and that is not good. Any strain in the groin area means he will not be able to run, which means he will likely be out for a few weeks. This is the most significant injury the defense has been hit with this season, and it comes at an inopportune time. The Giants face the best offensive line in the NFL when the Cowboys come to town on Sunday night. No Pierre-Paul means the Cowboys can direct their attention to stopping Olivier Vernon, and that does not bode well for Vernon and the rest of the defensive line. Vernon leads the Giants with eight sacks — he has seven in the past five games — but he will not enjoy life without JPP on the other side.
— Larry Donnell was in for one snap on offense against the Steelers. He came onto the field on second-and-4 from the Pittsburgh 9-yard line, and it seemed fairly obvious he might be targeted in the end zone. Sure enough, Manning looked to the right side for Donnell, who raised his arms in the end zone awaiting a pass that never got through to him. Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons diagnosed the play and stepped in front of the pass for a momentum-turning interception. Donnell has been relegated to the bench because of mishaps earlier this season. He could have served as a decoy on the play. For Manning to go directly at him at such a critical juncture of the game was unfortunate, at best. It ended Manning’s stretch of 72 consecutive passes without throwing an interception.
— Lost in his smiling after Antonio Brown’s brilliant touchdown catch and dissection of the officiating crew, Beckham surpassed 1,000 receiving yards with his 10-catch, 100-yard performance. Beckham now has 1,015 yards, becoming the first Giants player to begin his career with three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Beckham is the fifth player in NFL history to achieve that feat, joining A.J. Green, John Jefferson, Randy Moss and Mike Evans.