Yes, indeed, there is a difference between urgency and panic, as the Giants insisted this week leading into their Week 2 matchup with the Bills — a home opener that has the feel of a double-parked car with the meter patrolman in the area and heading in your direction.
That the Giants were competitive for less than one quarter against the Cowboys was validation of what was already known, as far as where those teams are in the NFL pecking order. There were some key aspects of the game the Giants did reasonably well — protect Eli Manning, run the ball (though not often enough), kick the ball and get the ball to a key weapon, tight end Evan Engram.
There were not enough points, terrible third-down efficiency and some of the worst darn coverage in the secondary by guys getting paid that were allowed to return the next week.
Sunday’s MetLife Stadium 2019 debut for the Giants is the first of a three-game stretch against teams (Bills, Buccaneers, Redskins) largely viewed as non-playoff contenders. Include the Giants in that group. If the Giants cannot win a few of these encounters, who will they beat down the road?
“Especially coming after a loss, you want to play the next game as fast as possible to rinse that bad taste out of your mouth,’’ safety Jabrill Peppers said. “Home game, first one of the year, definitely a big game for us.’’
The Bills, coming off a 17-16 comeback victory over the Jets, are seeking to win at the Meadowlands in consecutive weeks, bolstered by a highly competitive defense and a young gunslinger quarterback, Josh Allen — whom Giants coach Pat Shurmur liked as a prospect coming out of the 2018 draft more than any of the other quarterbacks, but not nearly as much as he adored running back Saquon Barkley.
Shurmur’s clumsy comments this past week about Allen — praising his arm and mobility and calling him “a guy that had a chance to be a starter in the NFL’’ sounded like a slight and rankled some in Buffalo, but in actuality is the way Shurmur talks most of the time. He meant it as a compliment, but it came out a bit inscrutable.
Far more clear and obvious is the embarrassing display put forth by the Giants on defense, especially on the back end. The mental blunders and physical gaffes that led to three uncontested and almost casual touchdown tosses for Dak Prescott, well, those are unacceptable, even for rookies making their NFL debuts.
The heat is on defensive coordinator James Bettcher to fix this mess. He cannot inject youngsters with experience, but he can simplify his scheme to make sure 11 players on the field have a clue what the heck is going on from snap to snap.
“The process is going into the meeting room, identifying areas you need to improve, then having purposeful work to correct those things,’’ Bettcher said. “Not just talking about correcting those things. That’s both player and coach, that’s me as the coordinator, that’s our position coaches, that’s our players at each level of their position. That’s not coach speak, that’s how you improve and that’s how you build and that’s how you get better.’’
