The NY Giants suffered another tough loss on Sunday and Tom Coughlin said he was frustrated by the performance of Eli Manning in key situations against the Falcons. Odell Beckham had a big game for fantasy owners, but the Giants defense was inconsistent and the offense clearly missed Victor Cruz, as Preston Parker had some key drops in the game.
The Giants came into the season with expectations of improvement from 2014, but that has not happened so far in two games. According to ESPN.com, the team has started 0-2 for three straight seasons for the first time in team history and the website also reports that the Giants are the first team to blow double digit leads and lose in the first two weeks of an NFL season. The Giants had terrible clock management against the Cowboys in Week 1 and in Week 2 the team gave up a turnover and had penalties in crucial moments.
The Giants had multiple chances to put the game away, but they could not get it done and now the team is 0-2 this season. The team will have to climb out of a hole just to get back to 2-2 and there is a small margin for error moving forward. The team doesn't have much time to get things back together, as they have a short week coming with the Redskins on Thursday night football. Manning has put up decent stats in two games, but he has not performed well in critical moments, which used to be a strength for Manning.
Tom Coughlin spoke with the New York Daily News after the game on Sunday and he said that he is "frustrated" with Manning, as he has played "tremendous" at times, but also has had times when he has not been so great. Manning had a terrible play down in the redzone late in the game, as he allowed himself to be stripped of the ball and turned it over just as the Giants were trying to put the game away. The team was up 20-10 at the time, but the team lost the ball and that gave the Falcons the chance to come back. The Giants messed up at critical moments last week and that played out again on Sunday. Manning had 292 yards in the game and two TDs with zero picks, but his fumble was huge.
Odell Beckham had a huge game for the Giants, catching seven balls on 12 targets for 146 yards and a touchdown. Beckham made a great play on a 67-yard TD, but he had a slow second half and the Giants could not win. Cruz was sorely missed in the game, as Preston Parker had multiple drops, including one on the final offensive play for the Giants that would have set up a new set of downs. Cruz reportedly is still dealing with a calf injury and with the Giants playing on Thursday night, it's very unlikely that he will play. Ralph Vacchiano reports that Cruz likely will return in Week 4 at the earliest.
