Winning Ugly is Still Winning
The wins are rarely pretty, and the New York Giants do not care.
In a tough 32-18 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the Giants once again found a way to win and move past .500 on the season. With the victory, New York sits atop the NFC East division, as the lone team above the .500 mark.
The Giants, winners of five of their last seven games, have seen their fair share of adversity throughout the season. Whether it be questionable clock management, costly fumbles or penalties, and even lackluster defense. The Giants have still managed to fight through an 0-2 start to the season to sit atop the NFC East, in not-so-comfortable fashion.
The remainder of the schedule is not particularly easy, with games against the New England Patriots, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings coming up. There are also a pair of divisional games remaining, which always raises the stakes. Fortunately, the Giants seem to be getting it together as the regular season surpasses the halfway point.
Quarterbacking the Giants Success
One reason for the recent success has been quarterback Eli Manning. He is playing clean football, for the most part, connecting with his receivers in crucial situations.
Following the win over Tampa Bay, Manning passed Phil Simms for the most regular season wins in franchise history, with his 96th victory. His 19-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio is a big improvement consistency wise, and he is reading the field well in recent weeks.
Against the New Orleans Saints on November 1, Manning’s best game of the season saw him throw for 350 yards, completing 30 of 41 attempts, for six touchdowns. Manning’s completion percentage of 73.2 percent was his best of the season thus far. The mark surpassed a 71.9 completion percentage against the Washington Redskins, in which he had nine fewer attempts.
Manning, criticized in the past for his turnovers, did not throw an interception through the first three games of the season. When the Giants are running the ball well, Manning seems to get in a better rhythm, and feels less pressure. As a result, there have been a lot fewer unnecessary plays this season.
Another reason the Giants seem to be clicking at this point is the receivers. Odell Beckham Jr. continues to deliver strong performances, such as his nine-reception, 105-yard performance against the Bucs. There are also a number of other guys, who have also stepped up.
Nine players had at least one reception for the Giants on Sunday, including an eight-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Rueben Randle towards the end of the first quarter. The offense should not be much of a concern for the Giants the rest of the way.
Defensive Struggles
The defense, however, is another story.
It’s no surprise New York has struggled defensively this season. While they continue to create turnovers, there is also the inability to create any pressure on the opposing quarterback. The defense has also had difficulty stopping the big plays.
While you can make the case that the Giants made strides defensively against the Buccaneers, a lot of that was due to Tampa Bay miscues. Those miscues included fumbles and plenty of dropped balls, in tough weather conditions.
But with the continued adversity, such as losing to New Orleans on a late field goal last week, and battling injuries like every other team in the league; The Giants just do not seem to break.
It is difficult to predict the direction in which this season will go in for the Giants, but one thing is for sure, they seem comfortable dealing with anything that comes their way.
"We always preach about finishing. Tonight we did." – Coach Coughlin
— New York Giants (@Giants) November 9, 2015
