Giants report: Strategy and personnel
PASSING OFFENSE
C — QB Eli Manning threw four interceptions, and not one of them could be blamed on someone other than himself. He badly miscalculated on the pick that turned into a 92-yard TD by FS Darren Sharper and freely admitted his culpability. On the other hand, it did not appear that WR Plaxico Burress was running crisp, sure routes. The team’s leading receiver caught just three passes for 50 yards. RB Tiki Barber was the game’s leading receiver with eight for 111 yards. Manning was sacked twice, but the O-line’s chief fault was its penchant for penalties.
RUSHING OFFENSE
B-minus — Barber had 23 carries and gained 95 yards (giving him 855 for the season). But he accounted for all but 29 of the team’s rushing total — and QB Eli Manning was second with two scampers for 24 yards. Run-blocking, which has been outstanding so far, broke down. RG Chris Snee and C Shaun O’Hara were mainly at fault, and LT Luke Petitgout revisited his problems with false starts.
PASS DEFENSE
B — The Vikings were limited to 144 passing yards, and QB Brad Johnson was sacked four times. The Giants had no interceptions but did knock down four Johnson attempts. Johnson was also sacked four times, twice by DE Osi Umenyiora (who added nine tackles). The crucial lapse of the game happened in the final seconds, when WR Travis Taylor caught an 11-yard pass and was allowed to run out of bounds. The clock showed 39 seconds left, and the Vikings were bereft of timeouts. It gave them the chance to set up three plays later for the winning field goal by Paul Edinger.
RUSH DEFENSE
A — In all, the Vikings gained 12 net rushing yards on 21 carries. It was as suffocating a rush-defense performance as the Giants have put together all season. MLB Antonio Pierce had 10 tackles. Combined with DEs Umenyiora and Michael Strahan, CB Curtis Deloatch and SS Gibril Wilson, that group accounted for 38 of the team’s 58 tackles. The Vikings’ “leading rusher” was Michael Bennett, who managed 16 yards on 19 carries.
SPECIAL TEAMS
F — It was unsatisfactory from the moment Willie Ponder fumbled the opening kickoff to the coverage units that allowed both a punt and a kickoff to be returned for touchdowns. There were only five special teams tackles by the Giants all game. Chad Morton returned five punts for 93 yards, while Ponder took back four kickoffs for 81 yards. Jeff Feagles punted five times for a 42.6 average (and a 25.2 net). Jay Feely made two of three field-goal tries, missing the shortest (28 yards).
COACHING
D — With nine penalties, lack of special teams preparation and general malaise that affected the passing game, the coaching staff should be sharply criticized. The final play of the game comes into question, since with no timeouts left and the Giants on their 40-yard line with 10 seconds remaining, head coach Tom Coughlin and/or offensive coordinator John Hufnagel decided to throw a short dump pass over the middle to Barber. All that did was run out the clock. The longer sideline pass, if completed, might have allowed two or three seconds for Feely to attempt a 50-plus-yarder to send the game into overtime.
