Giants season unofficially over

The Giants did not even give themselves a shot to reach the postseason. After getting humiliated by Carolina 41-9 at home, they watched both Green Bay and Dallas win, rendering next week’s season finale at Minnesota meaningless. They will not be a part of the postseason tournament for the first time in 5 years. The press notes from the team showed that this was one of the worst beatings statistically in team history. Yikes. Here is a brief and beyond disappointing recap…

THE GOOD

The opening drive, in which the Giants moved downfield and ate up almost half the quarter, was looking like a thing of beauty ala last Mondays game against Washington. But a holding penalty nullified a touchdown pass from Eli Manning to Steve Smith, and then Mario Manningham fumbled deep in Panthers’ territory to kill the drive. After that, the Giants basically imploded.

THE BAD

So much was bad…where do we even begin? Let’s just say it was maybe the worst defensive performance in the history of the franchise. And that is saying something when you consider those awful teams of the seventies. Jonathan Stewart rushed for 206 yards and a TD…yes, two hundred six yards. Also. Matt Moore looked like Joe Montana out there, as the Giants had absolutely no answer for anything the Panthers were doing. Carolina was 10 of 15 on third down, but I don’t personally recall the Giants ever stopping them yesterday, as the Panthers moved the ball at will and built a 31-0 lead.
The tackling was atrocious, the pass rush was lame and the Panthers’ receivers roamed free. And when the Giants did something right, there was a yellow flag to nullify it or several non-calls against Carolina. Once you get far behind, it’s usually nearly impossible to catch up, but the Giants appeared to give up…and oh yeah, Brandon Jacobs rushed 6 times for 1 yard. Something is not right with that dude. I don’t know what, but it’s clear he has lost something.

FINAL ANALYSIS

On a day of celebration to commemorate the final Giants’ home game at old Giants Stadium, there were plenty of former team stars on hand like Lawrence Taylor, Joe Morris, Carl Banks, and Harry Carson. So the current Giants do the unthinkable and lay an egg…looking defensively like the Detroit Lions. What does that say about coordinator Bill Sheridan? He can’t make those guys tackle, but they played with no heart and no fire in the belly whatsoever. It’s going to be a long, thought-provoking off-season for Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin. And while the Giants play one more game this season, their season is unofficially over since that Week 17 game is meaningless.

FANTASY IMPACT

A great day for owners of Jonathan Stewart and Matt Moore (171 yards, 3 TDs, 0 picks) or even the Panthers’ defense (2 picks, 4 sacks). And Carolina’s Steve Smith caught 5 passes for 60 yards and a TD before leaving with a broken arm. Manning threw for 296 yards and a score but had two ugly interceptions, and NY Steve Smith caught 7 passes for 70 yards and a TD.