Well they said it couldn’t be done. The Giants don’t fire the coach and GM in the middle of the season. Well John Mara fooled everyone this time. Change is inevitable. Unfortunately for Giant fans, inevitable became a necessity.
Let’s start with Jerry Reese our former GM. His actions definitely spoke louder than words. His improvements for the team were very short-lived. Drafting Odell Beckham, probably his biggest success will probably turn out to be a huge failure if he leaves in free agency. While he is a tremendous talent, foolhardy actions will definitely bring hesitation to the thought of resigning him. Drafting Eli Apple was a waste. Improvements for the offensive line never arrived. If you watched these guys last year, you could see they weren’t good enough. A stronger running game might have helped, but in his normal fashion Reese stood pat. So did the running game this year. Note to Jerry: Tight End is a position on the field. Obtaining one who could help with pass-protection is a plus.
We’ll continue on to Ben McAdoo. From the suit worn to his inaugural press conference you could see he had trouble making decisions. Every offensive set was pretty much the same. Three wide receivers, one running back and no blocking tight end (see above). If your line was having trouble (Ereck Flowers at one time), where would the help come from? None of the backs were big enough to block when they weren’t set out into pass patterns. Running the ball was never really used to give the defense a rest. A short passing game doesn’t really focus on Eli’s strengths. (Hey here’s an idea, bench him for Geno Smith – NOT!!!!)
These two gentlemen have now gone off into the sunset taking their miscues with them. Jerry Reese hiring Ben McAdoo turned out to be a horrible decision. Winning two Super Bowls buys you time; missing the playoffs 5 of 6 seasons spends it. Ben McAdoo (who probably won’t be seen during fashion week) was just not a leader. As offensive coordinator he was fine but given more responsibility, he couldn’t handle the job. Adversity comes with being in charge. When the team had some tough early losses, he wasn’t able to keep them focused. Losing their two best receivers in one game is tough but a total collapse is unacceptable. Hopefully both men will learn from this experience. If there are no jobs in football, they’ll have a head start on a movie sequel.
The Guru Speaks
