A Rivaled Past Leads to a Sloppy Present
This team played with an intensity and a desire to win that seemed like a distant memory for Giants fans, and was ultimately a positive sign about the internal feelings this team possesses. They want to win, they believe they can beat anybody, and are willing to put everything on the line to get it done.
It might be fair to say they put a little too much on the line. They actually crossed it completely.
Penalty Party Kickstarted by James Hudson
James Hudson walked out of the tunnel and thought he was prime Sugar Ray. And no, not the band. There was nothing “Fly” about the way he played the game.
In the opening drive of the game, Hudson committed four penalties. No player in this century has committed that many penalties in a single drive.
A pair of pre-snap false start penalties is at least understandable. The Giants are on the road facing one of their biggest rivals, who they just can’t seem to beat, and they are desperate to win. Nerves were understandably at an all-time high, and he could have settled down into the game.
What is unacceptable is replacing blocking techniques with hefty right hooks and picking up two personal fouls in one drive. That’s the kind of discipline issue players get benched for.
https://twitter.com/MySportsUpdate/status/1967280950955676055
Big Dru Penalty Crew
Giants corner Dru Phillips also caused an abundance of flags to be thrown. Against Dallas, one penalty was for roughness when he slammed CeeDee Lamb to the ground on a tackle. Even though those two share some bad blood, that just can’t happen. The other was for pass interference, which Phillips said was “bogus.”
He committed another defensive pass interference against the Chiefs, giving them 52 yards and a free field goal. This was certainly bogus in the sense that it should never have been committed. This was the one time the Giants would have been okay giving up a bomb, because the kicking team probably wouldn’t have had time to get set and kick the field goal to give them the lead at half.
https://twitter.com/SMHighlights1/status/1969944203632562406
Phillips is not the veteran that Hudson is. Most of these penalties can be seen as a sophomore season growing pains. Whatever the case may be, he must learn from these mistakes quickly.
Writing Themselves on the Wrong Side of History
The Giants’ 14 accepted penalties are the seventh-most for a single game in franchise history. They committed seven more against Kansas City. In the Daboll era, the Giants have committed a whopping 340 accepted penalties. That averages out to about 85 per season. This year, they have given up 11 first downs on penalties alone and have allowed 277 total yards on penalties, the most allowed in the league.
Higher Discipline and Accountability Standards are a Must
The abundance of flags thrown in a single game indicates a coaching accountability issue, especially since that coach already has so many on his resume at the moment. The standards have to be much greater.
Benching Hudson was a step in the right direction. That is the type of accountability he needs to hold this team to moving forward. However, what Daboll can’t do is excuse Hudson’s actions and write them as him being a fierce competitor.
He is certainly taking a big swing in retaining his confidence in Hudson. Pun absolutely intended.
Addressing the team discipline issues is the next must.
Daboll has been trying his best to uphold his guys to these standards. During the pre-season, he implemented a policy that pulled players from practice if they committed a pre-snap penalty. He is evidently increasing the accountability of his team, benching both Hudson and Phillips.
Defensive edge Kayvon Thibodeaux puts it best.
“A lot of lack of discipline out there on the defensive side,” he said. “We have to grow up all the way around.”
This team just needs to grow up. They have their selection of veterans, but for the most part, the team has been investing in young talent. The young bucks need to learn from these mistakes, grow up, and start winning games and playing clean football.
It certainly doesn’t help the maturing process when Daboll and his star second-year player are airing things out on the sidelines.
https://twitter.com/sluggahjells/status/1964747415363469744
At least when Odell Beckham Jr. got upset, he took it out on kicking nets instead of chatting to the coach.
Facing the Future
Regardless of what is causing these issues, a change needs to happen quickly. Something here is obviously broken.
The Giants face a red hot Chargers team in Week 4. Jim Harbaugh has them well coached, and Justin Herbert is playing the best ball of his career. Mistakes can’t happen if the G-Men want to pick up their first win of the season and get things back on the rails.
Nobody was expecting the Giants to have a fighting chance these past few weeks. Against Dallas, without the abundance of penalties, they very well could’ve won. And if Russell “Nabers is down there somewhere” Wilson got his team into the end zone just once more, and the Mahomes backwards pass ended up getting scooped up for a score, that outcome could have also been different.
They have been in scenarios where they very well could have a winning record, but they continue to find ways to lose games.
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