Ben McAdoo doesn't regret play-calling vs. 49ers
Giants quarterback Eli Manning talks with offensive coordinator Ben Mcadoo during the second quarter of a game against the Detroit Lions in Detroit, Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Credit: AP / Paul Sancya
Ben McAdoo has no regrets when it comes to the three fade passes the Giants threw after reaching the 49ers' 4-yard line and having first-and-goal last week.
"I'm not going to stand up here and apologize for the play-calling," the rookie offensive coordinator said. "I have faith in the perimeter players to go up and make those plays one-on-one. If we go out and we have the same set of plays in the same circumstance, I'll take those matchups any day."
The Giants threw incomplete passes to Odell Beckham Jr., Rueben Randle and Larry Donnell before an interception intended for Preston Parker on a fourth-quarter series that essentially decided a six-point game. McAdoo said that Eli Manning checked out of run plays to the passes on two of those calls based on the defense. Randle and Donnell each had a chance to catch their passes, Donnell coming the closest, with one-on-one coverage on the outside.
"It's a league of matchups," McAdoo said. "If we protect a little bit better, we throw a little bit better, and we go up and make the plays that we'd been making in the past, then we're singing a little different tune."
Not only was McAdoo unapologetic, he said he would do the same thing against the Cowboys on Sunday if the situation arises.
"I will take those matchups any day of the week," he said. "I'll take them last week and I'll take them again this week. I have confidence and faith in those guys that they'll go up and make the play."
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
