McAdoo seeks new pep talk for 0-3 Giants

Sep 26, 2017 - 5:10 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo must deliver some encouraging or compelling message when the team reports back to work Tuesday after losing their first three games.

Good luck with that one, coach. It is the first such losing streak for the Giants since 2013 and the team is a vulnerable target for upset fans and critical media.

McAdoo's goal is to ensure his players don't get too down on how things transpired for the club so far and to make sure that the team remains united and in tune with the program he's established.

"We need to talk about our potential in the room," McAdoo said when asked what his approach would be to make sure he doesn't lose the locker room.

"We haven't played a complete football game and clean football in all three phases and we really haven't earned a win yet. It's all correctable and we need to stay positive but realistic and understand that we need to learn from these first three games and find a better way to play team football."

The problem is McAdoo has been saying the same thing since the season began, yet the concept of playing "complementary football" has continued to elude him and the players.

In trying to keep his players believing in the program and their spirits up, McAdoo will preach to them about slowing down and taking their goal or returning to the playoffs in smaller steps.

"I think No. 1 is we can't worry about playoffs this week; we just have to get a win," he said of the process. "We can't accomplish going to the playoffs or getting a playoff berth or anything like that this week.

"All we can focus on is the way we prepare so we can go down and perform well in Tampa. That's where our focus needs to be. We can only focus on what we can control and that's the way we prepare."

That approach might be easier said than done, but McAdoo believes he can rally his team around the greater cause.

"We need to keep fighting through," he said. "I believe in this team. I believe in the potential of this team. It starts with me and we need to keep fighting to get better and we need to keep fighting to get the win."



REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES

--PASSING OFFENSE: B - Quarterback Eli Manning, working as part of an up-tempo offense that focused on getting the ball out of his hand as quickly as possible, had his best game of the young season. He completed 35 of 47 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. His numbers might have been better if his receivers didn't drop five of his pass attempts and if on one of his two interceptions, Brandon Marshall had fought harder to knock the ball away.

--RUSHING OFFENSE: C-minus - New week, same results for the Giants running game, which got 17 carries and logged 49 yards, the long being a 20-yard run by Orleans Darkwa. The Giants played 11-personnel for most of the game, but more important, they didn't run their fullback, Shane Smith, on any plays and they asked Rhett Ellison to run-block on just nine snaps, amazing stats considering the struggles of the offensive line to run-block consistently.

--PASS DEFENSE: C - Other than some early game pressure, the Giants pass rush couldn't get near the slippery Carson Wentz, who completed 21 of 31 pass attempts for 176 yards. The play of free safety Darian Thompson and cornerback Eli Apple in particular drove this unit's grade down. Thompson missed half of his tackle attempts, taking poor angles on the majority of them while Apple had two big defensive pass interference calls that cost his team over 70 yards in penalty yardage and which both helped set up Eagles scoring drives. However, the Giants did limit the Eagles to just 176 passing yards, largely in part thanks to the return of cornerback Janoris Jenkins and nickel linebacker Keenan Robinson.

--RUSH DEFENSE: D - Missed tackles and an inability to get off blocks resulted in the once vaunted Giants run defense giving up their third straight 100-yard game to an opponent, this week being 193 yards on 39 carries. It didn't help the Giants that Damon Harrison was successfully double teamed on a fair number of snaps nor did Olivier Vernon's early exit due to an ankle injury help matters.

--SPECIAL TEAMS: D - Kicker Aldrick Rosas was solid, coming through with a clutch 41-yard field goal that gave his team a 24-21 lead. However, the same can't be said of punter Brad Wing, who has struggled to maintain consistency the last two games. Wing mis-hit a fourth-quarter punt from his 34-yard line, the ball traveling just 28 yards and out of bounds. With the Eagles getting the ball on their 38, they were able to pick up enough yards plus get a 61-yard game-winning field goal to boot. If Wing hits a high punt down the middle of the field, then perhaps he takes more than the six seconds his shank took off the clock and sends the game into overtime where maybe the Giants have a chance.

--COACHING: C - Head coach Ben McAdoo apparently spent as much time contemplating relinquishing the play-calling duties as it took for him to say as much last week. While the decision to go to an up-tempo offense saved the wear and tear on his quarterback, McAdoo was right back to his beloved 11-personnel package which while gaining the Giants 415 yards of offense and 27 points to snap an eight-game streak in which the offense failed to score over 20 points, it led to the decision to go for it on fourth down from the 1-yard line after botching the call on the previous play in which the Giants passed the ball instead of running.