Saquon Barkley was stuffed repeatedly for the first time in more than a month. Eli Manning had little time
to throw
Rashaan Evans Jersey , and there was no Odell Beckham Jr. on the field to provide relief.A week after their best offensive effort in years in a 40-16 win over the
Washington Redskins, the New York Giants (5-9) were grounded on a cold, rainy
day at MetLife Stadium. The Giants were shut down and out by the Titans 17-0
Sunday in a game that featured Tennessee rushing back Derrick Henry rushing for
170 yards and two touchdowns.The loss ended the Giants' faint playoff hopes that
stayed alive longer than expected after a 1-7 start."Didn't do anything well
enough to expect to win, didn't make plays, we didn't run the ball, we didn't
stay on the field on offense, we had penalties, so we didn't play well enough
there," Giants coach Pat Shurmur said. "I thought on defense, they ran the ball,
we didn't tackle as well as we did in the last few weeks, which extended drives
for them, and they beat us."What was really surprising was the way the Titans
handled Barkley, who came into the game as the NFL's No. 3 rusher with 1,124
yards and a streak of four straight 100-yards games on the ground.Tennessee set
out to stop Barkley and forced the Giant to pass. It was the perfect
strategy.The Titans held Barkley to 31 yards on 14 carries, with a long run of
17 yards. He caught four passes for 25 yards, giving him 56 total yards from
scrimmage, only the second time in 14 games he has been held under 100
yards."It's football," Barkley said. "That's what comes with the
responsibilities of playing running back. It's not always going to be there,
every play is not going to be a 40-yard gain. You just have to take what they
give you. When the opportunity comes
Marcus Mariota Jersey , you have to split it and make them pay for it. We didn't do that today."The Giants made mistakes: Manning was sacked three times, hit
eight times and turned over the ball twice. The offensive line struggled all day
and got hit with too many penalties that created bad down-and-distance
situations.With the Giants down 7-0 early in the second half, New York reached
the Titans 18. A hands-to-the-face penalty against Jamon Brown pushed the ball
back to the 28, and two plays later Kevin Byard intercepted Manning on
third-and-20.A strip sack by Titans linebacker Kamalei Correa and fumble
recovery by tackle Jurrell Casey set up Henry's second touchdown."Give credit to
the Tennessee defense," said Manning, who finished 21 of 44 for 229 yards. "They
played well. They did a good job stopping the run on some early downs. The few
times we actually got some things going, we had negative plays, we had penalties
where we just could not sustain the drives and keep things going. They played
well and we didn't."Sterling Shepard, who was targeted nine times and caught two
passes for 37 yards, said the conditions were difficult."Nothing seemed to go
our way and the weather didn't help at all, either," Shepard said. "You can't
use that as an excuse. You have to fight through that. Both teams have to do
it."The Titans (8-6) did, and they are still in the playoff hunt. The Giants are
out for the sixth time in seven years. The exception was 2016.The end this year
was not surprising, considering New York opened the season with a 1-7
record."There's nothing that we can do about it now," linebacker Alec Ogletree
said. "We have two weeks left here to finish out the season, so we have to turn
our attention to Indy (Indianapolis) next week and get ready to go play." Week
to week since the Philadelphia game, Titans fans have been wondering what
happened to the offense. Can OC Matt LaFleur and the Titans offense finally get
on track and produce points in London?Bring Back RPOLet’s face it - it’s time to
bring back and implement the RPO. Yes, flip to some plays in a section of the
playbook that initially injured Marcus Mariota’s throwing hand, kept him out a
week and caused him to wear a special glove for most of the season so far. It’s
a risk, but the reward is worth it. The reward is offensive points being scored.
Without the threat of Mariota utilizing his legs on designed
run-pass-options
Austin Johnson Jersey , defenses are scheming to keep Mariota within arms reach and allowing a pocket to form. The problem is, the pocket is allowed to form
just long enough for Mariota to feel a few seconds of rush-delayed play
progression reading before the entire pocket collapses from both the inside and
outside. By teasing Mariota with a few seconds of comfort, defenses transform
and have been executing calculated delayed blitzed that have been difficult for
the offense line to adapt and react to. How can an offense neutralize a delayed
blitz? By being decisive in their attack.With the RPO, the Titans will have
three decisive options. Mariota is best when he has to cycle through his
progression or read with urgency and he tends to make the right decisions. It’s
when he’s given too much time that he struggles finding an escape route on the
delayed pass rush attacks.A few dialed up Mariota keepers early will force the
defense to rethink their plan of attack. This can buy the Titans offense time to
adjust to the defenses re-adjustments. More of the calculated passing offense
can be implemented once the defense doesn’t have their ears pinned back.It
certainly helps that Joey Bosa isn’t lining up on Sunday morning. Start Lewis,
Feed HenryIn a piece I wrote earlier this week, I proposed the idea for LaFleur
to start Dion Lewis but feed Derrick Henry. By reversing their usage, it may
also reverse their production. It’s easier said than done and many believe Henry
should make the most of the carries he’s given. That’s true and he is trying,
but he is not the type of back that can warm-up, go cold for a quarter and a
half and then return into the game with the expectation that he’ll set the field
ablaze. Instead, the opposite is true in regards to Lewis. He doesn’t need
volume carries to get going and he doesn’t need a warm up period to be a
catalyst for his effectiveness. With Henry, if the bulk of his usage is in the
latter half of each quarter it could boost his production. By that time, the
offensive line will have a good feel for what the defense is trying to do.
LaFleur will see what the defense is doing and can dial up the right play for
Henry to potentially have a big gain. When Henry lines up for the first series,
the same thing happens each time. The defense sells out to stop the run, will
use press man coverage due to not being intimidated by the Titans receivers and
promising offensive drives stall out early. The Titans (with the exception of
the Philly game this season) aren’t a come from behind team. Truthfully, they
never have been. Especially when teams jump out ahead by two or three scores
early, the offensive output historically just hasn’t been enough. The Chargers
are a team that can get ahead by a pair of scores early and the defense will aim
to shut down the run and challenge the receivers in one-on-one. Offensively, the
Titans have to find the end zone. By incorporating the RPO, flipping the usage
of Lewis and Henry and producing drives that allow the Titans defense a change
to catch their breath a win is possible. A win is out of the question if the
Titans offense replicates their production from the previous games against
Buffalo and Baltimore. This team cannot afford another AFC loss. A win heading
into the bye will be good for the confidence - and for the standings.
