It doesn't help the preparation when Shields is a last minute scratch and he was to take on Cruz. Hyde's speed vs. Shields is no contest.
They have guys beat up that don't even practice all week and then this? The "next man up" thing is fine and all but when it goes as deep as we have had to go it makes it very tough. This ended up being a matchup we didn't need in a game needed very badly and NY took advantage of what they had.
Originally Posted by: warhawk
True. The Giants took advantage of Shields being out. But, I was speaking more to the 3 losses in a row, and the 5 losses on the season. All of them could have been avoided. All of them winnable games. We just didn't give our best efforts, both players and coaches.
When coaches fail, there is a much larger problem. 12 men on the field, TWICE? wow. Our OL didn't show up to run block, and our DL didn't show up to stop the run.
This was an opportunity for Dom Capers to pick up the slack. Finally, after suffering two losses in a row. I don't care if Sam Shields is out, they have to account for Cruz no matter what. That did not happen. We had 4 sacks and 8 tackles for loss, and still couldn't measure up. Goal-line defense was a sieve on the 4th and 1 play. We give up 5…
Now, the defense did do some things well. Williams had a great pick. Jones made some plays, and led our team in tackles with 11. Having said that, we still saw some plays that he missed on with shoddy tackling, along with players like Burnett, Hawk and Matthews blowing assignments in coverage. Our scheme defensively was not looking like it was going to win the day. Not at all.
Being a team game, the blame can't lie soley with Capers. Our run blocking was atrocious. What the hell was that? Our coverage on STs completely stunk, with 67 yds on 3 returns, the killer being that single punt return for 34.
Add to that, three giant nails in the coffin with the 3 picks. At no time in this 3 game stretch did we look like we were ready to win a game, like we had an attitude that we WOULD win. Biggest disappointment to me was our piss poor run blocking. I know they stacked 8 in the box, but it was just 8. It wasn't 9, and our intentions always looked predictable, run or pass. Mike McCarthy did not game plan this well. Neither did Dom Capers. Neither did Shawn Slocum. Calling a fake on 4th and 7? A desperate move. And that is how GB looked, all three weeks. Players not in the right position, lining up wrong, coverage lapses, etc. It goes on and on.
And, you're right, we have guys beat up, injured, who don't practice all week, and this is what we see. What happened to addressing player availability, and the overall health of the team? What happened with that? This is the 4th year in a row with injuries being a major problem on our team.
I have a hamstring injury just having to watch this shit.