Tuck has no answers to stop downward spiral

NEW ORLEANS

Justin Tuck is starting to run out of answers. Standing in front of his locker after the latest indignity suffered by the Giants in what looks to be yet another second-half collapse, Tuck was asked why this seems to be happening again.

"I don't know the answer," he said. "I'd be going hocus- pocus if I gave you the answer, because I don't know."

This was a few minutes after the Giants were routed by the Saints, 49-24, Monday night at the Superdome, and Tuck was peppered with questions from reporters wanting to know why things are spinning out of control again. And whether the Giants -- who have lost three straight to fall to 6-5 -- are in the midst of another second-half freefall.

Tuck can't bring himself to disagree with that line of thinking.

"If I were you guys," he said, "I'd be writing the same thing too."

Not good.

Tuck wishes he had a better idea why it all has gone wrong. But after seeing Drew Brees abuse the Giants' defense in one of its worst performances ever, he just doesn't know anymore.

Which can't be a very encouraging sign, especially given that the Giants will face yet another high-flying offense Sunday when they play the unbeaten Packers at MetLife Stadium.

Take the Giants' overall approach in facing Brees, for instance.

"He has a lot of weapons around him, and it's tough to disguise things because he figures it out so fast," Tuck said. "You put yourself in a bad situation, so you almost have to play in vanilla coverages, which obviously puts the ball directly in his court to make plays. There's a reason why he's one of the best and a reason he's had success. We didn't figure out ways to slow him down tonight."

Brees was nearly perfect, going 24-for-38 for 363 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 129.6. He also scored a rushing touchdown off a scramble as the Saints racked up 577 total yards, the second-highest total allowed by the Giants in franchise history.

The Giants' pass rush, which has been its greatest strength in recent years, was completely ineffective against Brees. He wasn't sacked once, and the Giants barely got near him.

The plan was to emulate the Rams from three weeks ago, when they scored an upset of the Saints by pounding Brees for six sacks and another six hits after he delivered passes. But the Giants were unable to penetrate the Saints' offensive line, and Brees responded by picking apart the secondary.

"Our pass rush can be a gift and a curse sometimes," Tuck said. "We started out fast the last couple of years, but the last couple weeks, [opposing] teams have really put a focus on taking that attribute out of our game. We've got to figure out ways to come back."

They'd better do so in a hurry. With the unbeaten Packers up next and the NFC East-leading Cowboys on the road after that, the Giants could very well see things worsen if they can't regain the form that made them so much more effective in the first half of the season, when they went 6-2 against mostly middling opponents and injected themselves into the conversation about playoff contenders.

"We're going to keep swinging," Tuck said. "We don't know how to quit. That's not in our vocabulary. We have to keep pounding at the rock. Sometimes it takes a while until you break through. When you break through, seems like everything goes your way. Right now, things aren't going our way."

Last year, their 6-2 start turned into a second-half disappointment that ended without a playoff berth. If things don't turn around soon, it will happen again. And this time it could signal an end to the Tom Coughlin regime.

"For some reason, things aren't swinging our way," Tuck said. "Is it the schedule? Is it injuries? I don't know. But we've had injuries before. We used to play tough teams before and won. We just have to remind ourselves that we're still a great football team and we still have everything we want right in front of us. We have to take advantage of it."

Tuck's right about everything being in front of the Giants. With five games to play, there still is time to turn things around. But there will be no turnaround if they don't fundamentally improve their level of play, particularly on defense, particularly when they face such formidable offensive opponents the next two weeks.

"As captain, I take it to heart," Tuck said. "It's frustrating. But that's not going to help us. We have to look at the film and look at what teams are doing against us and figure out ways to combat that. That's what our focus will be, as soon as we touch down ."

The time for talk, Tuck said, is over.

"I'm going to stop worrying about what I say and start worrying about what I do," he said. "Me saying [a collapse] is not going to happen doesn't mean much. You have to go out there and play the game and win the game. That's all that matters. I can talk until I'm blue in the face. We've got to win a football game."