Tearz49ers Presents: Backs Against The Wall (Madden NFL '18)

[Tearz49ers]

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The New York Giants were flying high after earning their first win of the 2017 NFL season in week six against the Denver Broncos, however the quick high came crashing down with a quick burst of reality when the Seattle Seahawks came into MetLife Stadium in week seven and handed the Giants there sixth loss of the season to move them onto 1-6 heading into their bye week.

The Giants have nine games to turn this season around, starting with the week nine game at home to the LA Rams. However with the amount of injuries to key players and a lacklustre showing from the players that are healthy, and a coaching staff that seems to have lost the dressing room this is going to be a big ask.

It could be another long nine weeks for all of those who call themselves a Giants fan just like it has been through the first half of the season.

Lets have a look at the season so far for the Giants based on their team positionals:

Passing Offense

If you ask any franchise quarterback to play behind a leaky offensive line, with zero to no running game and with pass catchers who significantly less talented than your All-Pro calibre players like Odell Beckham Jr. who is lost for the season the it becomes a tough pill to swallow for any quarterback.

This is the current situation the Giants and Eli Manning find themselves in and you only have to compare the veterans stats from his first seven games this year compared to last year to see the changes.

In 2016, Manning completed 175 of 270 pass attempts (64.8 percent) for 1,984 yards, eight touchdowns and six interceptions while having absorbed just 10 sacks in the first seven games of that season.

Fast forward to this year, Manning is 167 of 260 (64.2 percent) for 1,600 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions and has absorbed 17 sacks through seven games.

Lets make it abundantly clear though, Eli Manning isn't completely blameless in the decline of the passing game. He has missed open receivers and had major troubles throwing the deep ball this season which was always one his strengths, has age finally caught up with him?

The days of being able to make a claim that Manning was capable of carrying an offense are long gone and when his supporting cast isn't as strong then the quarterback usually struggles.

Grade: E

Rushing Offense

I could probably write a dissertation on why the rushing offense hasn't helped the Giants offense in 2017 but at the same time I would like to keep this as short as possible.

Since the Giants made the change to get Orleans Darkwa and Wayne Gallman more involved in the running game, this because of a rib injury to Paul Perkins, their running game has "perked" up to produce two 100-yard efforts in the last three games.

Like their quarterback the New York running backs have to operate behind the same leaky offensive line that Eli Manning has to trust to protect him, which means with each game that passes the running game could and will suffer the same troubles its had through the first seven games.

What Gallman and Darkwa have brought to the table is elusiveness. The former leads the Giants running backs with a 48.7 elusive rating, while the latter is third (behind Shane Vereen) with 11.2.

Darkwa and Gallman are averaging 5.4 yards per carry and 3.9 yards per carry, respectively.

The one question is why the Giants coaching staff took so long to make the switch.

Grade: C-

Rushing Defense

After finishing fourth against the run last year (88.6 yards per game), the Giants run defense this year is ranked 23rd, allowing 120.7 yards per game.

What's more, in six of their seven games this season, the Giants' once-feared run defense has allowed the opponent to exceed 100 yards rushing.

Part of the problem has been the defensive front. The Giants lost Johnathan Hankins via free agency and have not had a healthy Olivier Vernon for a full game since Week 2—he has actually missed the last three games and it's hard to replace players like these in any team.

Another part of the problem has included missed tackles and linebackers who have been unable to shed blocks and fill gaps.

The saving grace for the run defense has been the play of defensive tackle Damon Harrison. His 11.6 run stop percentage is third among all defensive interior players, behind Linval Joseph (16.2) of the Minnesota Vikings and Steve McLendon of the New York Jets (13.4).

Harrison's 16 stops tie him for third place among defensive tackles who have played in at least 75 percent of their team's run defense snaps.

Grade: C-

Pass Rush

The Giants are tied for 22nd (with the Cardinals, Bills, Lions and Colts) in the NFL for total sacks (13.0). However, sacks aren't the be-all, end-all when judging the effectiveness of a pass rush.

Statistics such as hits and hurries also factor into the grading of pass rushes, though to take things a step further, if those hits and hurries are resulting in incomplete passes or turnovers, then you know you have something special even if the sack totals are low. Unfortunately for the Giants, their numbers are low to begin with and haven't been helped by the fact Vernon hasn't been healthy since suffering a sprained ankle in Week 3.

In the first four games in which the 27-year-old was active, he led the Giants with 11 pass rush pressures, including 2.0 sacks.

In seven games this season, the Giants have managed just 32 hits against opposing quarterbacks. That hasn't been nearly good enough considering the financial investment this team made to upgrade the pass rush, another reason why the Giants struggles go far and beyond their current roster.

It's also quite alarming that defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has had to rely more heavily on safety and cornerback blitzes to help the front four get the job done than on his defensive line and linebackers.

Grade: E

Pass Coverage

The Giants started the 2017 slowly in pass coverage, but thanks to the emergence of cornerback Eli Apple and safety Darian Thompson they ranked 15th in the NFL in pass coverage.

That isn't to say the coverage is worth a high grade. The play of the linebackers in this area at time has look like an utter shambles. The inability to cover tight ends, who have scored eight times in seven games against this defense is very concerning.

Lastly, the Giants have allowed the sixth most average passing yards per game so far, this season (258.7 per game). The bonus is the Giants are in pretty good company in this last statistic, joining the Patriots, Eagles and Chiefs as teams who have logged a higher average per game. In this case, though, misery shouldn't enjoy company as New York can be better.

Grade: C-

Special Teams

So yeah! There has been a lot of things wrong with the Giants special teams unit so far this year, none bigger than the stretch of inconsistent punting by Brad Wing.

Wing was so good last year, this year, he has struggled in pretty much all seven games and unfortunately for Wing and the Giants is the fact their opponents have usually cashed in on the poor punting. Whilst the shanked punts don't help, poor coverage and the coaching staff's insistence on having him be a directional punter are not exactly helping things.

Kicker Aldrick Rosas, who came into this season with no prior regular-season experience, started as the lone bright spots on a unit that has clearly caused special teams coordinator Tom Quinn to develop his largest amount of grey hairs in his 12 seasons with the team.

Grade: F

[Tearz49ers]

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Giants | New York signs WR Dorial Green-Beckham to a one year deal
Wed, 2 Nov 2017

NFL.com's Austin Knoblauch has reported that third year receiver out of Oklahoma Dorial Green-Beckham and the New York Giants have agreed a one year $2.17 million deal, which will see the Giants booster a depleted receiving corpse that has already lost starters Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall for the season. At 6'5", 237 lbs, Beckham will give Eli Manning a big downfield and redzone threat.

[Tearz49ers]

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Matchup Preview *|* November 5, 2017
	@
Los Angeles Rams (5-2)		New York Giants (1-6)
Offensive Stats Comparison 369.1 (9th) Total Offense 296.4 (27th) 30.3 (2nd) Points Per Game 16.0 (30th) 241.6 (13th) Passing Yards (YPG) 213.1 (20th) 127.6 (6th) Rushing Yards (YPG) 83.3 (27th) 45 (10th) First Downs 24 (31st) Defensive Stats Comparison 328.1 (15th) Total Defense 379.4 (27th) 205.0 (9th) Passing Yards (YPG) 258.7 (27th) 123.1 (25th) Rushing Yards (YPG) 120.7 (23rd) 23.0 (7th) Sacks 13.0 (24th) 9 (5th) Interceptions 3 (27th) Injury Report DE Dominique Easley (Complete ACL Tear) Season WR Odell Beckham Jr. (Broken Ankle) Season TE Temarrick Hemmingway (Torn Tricep) Season WR Brandon Marshall (Broken Ankle) Season WR Bradley Marquez (Broken Ankle) Season DT Corbin Bryant (Torn Tricep) Season OLB J.T. Thomas III (Groin Tear) Season MLB Mark Herzlich (Broken Tailbone) Season DE Romeo Okwara (Complete MCL Tear) Season WR Dwayne Harris (Compound Foot Fracture) Season RG Jessamen Dunker (Torn Tricep) Season LG Adam Gettis (Fractured Elbow) Season

[Tearz49ers]

[Tearz49ers]

Editors Note: At least for the remaining nine games, this is how I plan on reporting the games. I may consider more in depth reports in the second season, for now this is a little side project to go with my Kentucky dynasty.

[bailey4mvp]

Great team choice man, I am going to go the same way as you and start up to date with standings and stuff just trying to decided on what team.

Looking good, following as always.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tearz49ers]

[Tearz49ers]

Quote: Originally Posted by bailey4mvp

Great team choice man, I am going to go the same way as you and start up to date with standings and stuff just trying to decided on what team. Looking good, following as always. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks bud. I am a stickler for keeping things as close to real life as possible so there was only one option and that was to start with how things are in the NFL to this date, thanks for following along.