The running game

[MightyGiants]

While the issues with DJ have been heavily and rightfully discussed, it overshadows another issue.   I will start with this Q and A with Daboll

Q: One of the things I went back and looked at the play-by-play, and you guys put yourselves in a lot of second and third and long. How do you change that?

BRIAN DABOLL: Be productive on first down. Be able to run the ball, complete passes, stay on track and not have penalties. But playing in that obvious pass situation, good things usually don't happen when you do that. So, you've got to stay two-dimensional. Play good on early downs, which helps on not having long downs. Seven of 13 on third (down) and one to nine (yards), and one out of seven on third (down) and 10-plus (yards), with numerous second and longs. So, obviously not a good enough job.

Now Sunday, the Giants rushed the ball 14 times (some of them in the second half where the defense was looking just for passes).

There were 14 attempts for 45 yards for a 3.2 yards per carry average.   While the RB position has diminished in value, offenses still need a quality running game to complement their passing game.  What we saw Sunday will not get the job done.

[kingm56]

That's going to be difficult when 3/5 of your line consist of journeyman players who are average-to-below-average players.  Next year the Giants need to address the right side of the line and RB.   

[T200]

I think the running game will pick up sooner than the passing game.

[Trench]

If you watch the game again there were many times where Singletary was extremely frustrated because he was "this" close to breaking out for a huge gain. His body language suggested he knew it was there and just missed.

A good sign

[MightyGiants]

If you watch the game again there were many times where Singletary was extremely frustrated because he was "this" close to breaking out for a huge gain. His body language suggested he knew it was there and just missed.

A good sign

I listened to Jon Runyan's interview from yesterday.  He suggested there were breakdowns and mental errors that hindered the running game.

[TONKA56]

If I'm an opposing defensive coordinator, I'm focusing on taking away the deep and intermediate pass and forcing the Giants to run the ball and complete short passes.

[T200]

I listened to Jon Runyan's interview from yesterday.  He suggested there were breakdowns and mental errors that hindered the running game.

I know I'm beating a dead horse but aside from Jones, the new offensive line needed to play more together in the preseason.

[MightyGiants]

I know I'm beating a dead horse but aside from Jones, the new offensive line needed to play more together in the preseason.

Tim,

There is plenty I blame on the people in charge; this isn't one of them.  From what I heard, the Giants wanted to give their projected starting line plenty of preseason snaps together, but a series (mostly Runyan and JMS) of injuries prevented that from happening.

[Trench]

Tim,

There is plenty I blame on the people in charge; this isn't one of them.  From what I heard, the Giants wanted to give their projected starting line plenty of preseason snaps together, but a series (mostly Runyan and JMS) of injuries prevented that from happening.

Fair enough...but it was also evident to me our linemen were getting off the snap at different intervals and did not look cohesive. The end result was still a decent performance- also by JMS actually.

This is yet another knock on Daboll because in the very least he could've had Jones behind them in preseason and get more comfortable with each other

[Gmo11]

I know I'm beating a dead horse but aside from Jones, the new offensive line needed to play more together in the preseason.

The OL while far from perfect were considerably better than the versions of that group we've seen recently.  I saw plenty of clean pockets that were few and far between last year.  It's just going to be hard to run the ball when the defense knows they only need to defend 10 yards past the line of scrimmage because the ball ain't going further than that.

[T200]

The OL while far from perfect were considerably better than the versions of that group we've seen recently.  I saw plenty of clean pockets that were few and far between last year.  It's just going to be hard to run the ball when the defense knows they only need to defend 10 yards past the line of scrimmage because the ball ain't going further than that.

I wasn't speaking so much about the passing game helping the running game. It was more to Runyan's comment about the "breakdowns and mental errors." If they had played more in the preseason, some of those errors may not have been present.

To @MightyGiants point, Runyan and JMS missed some time due to injuries as well. Point well taken and they just need to stay healthy and develop some chemistry pretty damn quickly.

[kartanoman]

I wasn't speaking so much about the passing game helping the running game. It was more to Runyan's comment about the "breakdowns and mental errors." If they had played more in the preseason, some if those errors may not have been present.

To @MightyGiants point, Runyan and JMS missed some time due to injuries as well. Point well taken and they just need to stay healthy and develop some chemistry pretty damn quickly.

A good summary of week #1 which feeds into the Giants first Strategic Imperative required for them to have any chance for success in 2024:

SI#1: Fix the "damned" offensive line!
Week #1 Performance: see above
Week #1 Rating: YELLOW (Behind schedule with plan in place to recover)

In all, it was a mixed bag but there were positives along with negatives. That they all finished healthy was a huge plus!

Get 'em next week, as the old saying goes.

Peace!

[Ed Vette]

Run the ball at least 38% of the time and not 26%, and yes I know they were behind early but stick with Singletary and only spell him for a rest, so he can get in a rhythm. He averaged 3.7 YPC on just 10 snaps with some poor blocking and some good blocking, but the Oline needs to get in a rhythm too. He was in one series and then they trot in Gray, and then Tracy. 10 snaps to your primary back is pathetic. Even if you lose a series or two running, it sets up the game for later.

[uconnjack8]

Run the ball at least 38% of the time and not 26%, and yes I know they were behind early but stick with Singletary and only spell him for a rest, so he can get in a rhythm. He averaged 3.7 YPC on just 10 snaps with some poor blocking and some good blocking, but the Oline needs to get in a rhythm too. He was in one series and then they trot in Gray, and then Tracy. 10 snaps to your primary back is pathetic. Even if you lose a series or two running, it sets up the game for later.

To your point, they rushed the ball 21 times.  6 of those were the QB and 1 was a jet sweep with Wan'Dale (the longest run at 14 yards after the game was decided).  So they really ran the ball 14 times with a RB. 

[Stringer Bell]

The OL while far from perfect were considerably better than the versions of that group we've seen recently.  I saw plenty of clean pockets that were few and far between last year.  It's just going to be hard to run the ball when the defense knows they only need to defend 10 yards past the line of scrimmage because the ball ain't going further than that.

Were they better than last year. Maybe. But that's only because they were the worst in the league last year and a historically bad unit.

But "considerably better"? 5 sacks allowed and 3.5 YPC on 74 rushing yards is still pretty terrible. It's clear that the OL is still an issue. And if we had Nix or Beck or Ewers it's not going to matter if the team can't block.