by Jim Bearor
Eli Manning and the Giants offense were very, very bad last season. The Giants just signed Ben McAdoo to a two-year contract to become the team’s offensive coordinator. Ben McAdoo has been the Quarterbacks Coach of the Green Bay Packers for the past two years, and has been working under Mike McCarthy for the past seven years. Despite injuries at the position, the quarterback play for the Packers this season was very good. Aaron Rodgers is a very, very good quarterback.
These are all facts. But anything that is said or heard about the move before McAdoo and the Giants take the field is merely projection or speculation.
That being said, I have a very good feeling about this. Like, a REALLY good feeling about this.
Those who know me know how much I despised the play calling of Kevin Gilbride. Since 2004 – so, since Eli Manning has been in the NFL – Kevin Killdrive has been pulling the strings on an offense that was conservative, predictable, and most irritating of all, underperforming. No other playcaller that I know of would consistently call a run on first down, second and long, and then call a draw on third and long. As a Giants fan, Gilbride’s offense was the most frustrating thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching – and that includes the Tiki Barber fumbling years, the tipped ball interceptions, and Bill Sheridan’s defense (if you can even call it that).
But finally, the pain is gone. Even if the Giants don’t come close to resembling the offensive juggernaut that Green Bay has been in these past few years, us fans can rest easy knowing that we won’t always know what play is coming – and hopefully opposing defenses won’t either – before the huddle even breaks.
McAdoo has already said that he wants to completely change how the offense operates.
“We’re going to be an up-tempo, attacking-style offense,” he said. “We’re going to play with good energy. And we’re going to rely on fundamentals.”
Everything in that statement is reason for excitement among New Yorkers, even though no tangible results have been produced yet. For years and years, I know many of us have been waiting to see what Eli can do in a more aggressive offense. Excluding this atrocity of a season, the offense looks like a completely different animal when Manning is working the 2-minute offense and calling the plays at the line. And of course, relying on fundamentals – like the quarterback and wideouts being on the same page about how a route is supposed to be run – is an obvious need for this team.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Eli needs “fixing”, but he sure as hell needs something. I can’t put this disappointing season solely on his shoulders, because his line was practically non-existent, and the lack of chemistry with his receivers is a shared problem. That being said, something didn’t seem right with Eli this year, he didn’t look like the same player he has been throughout his career, whether it is a mechanical issue or a problem with reading defenses.
Whatever it is, I have to believe that Coach McAdoo will bring something to the table to help. After all, he is a quarterbacks coach, right? I’m not going to be naïve and assume that this change will answer all the problems for the New York Giants, but it’s nice to know that whatever we see on the field in 2014-15, it isn’t going to be the same stale, ineffective product as years past.
