Giants-Bucs gameday preview: Should Giants consider using hurry-up offense more often?
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - OCTOBER 03: Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants talks to David Diehl #66, Shawn Andrews #73, Rich Seubert #69, Adam Koets #61 and Kevin Boss #89 in the huddle against the Chicago Bears at New Meadowlands Stadium on October 3, 2010 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael Heiman/Getty Images) Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Michael Heiman
Eli Manning looked more like the quarterback who won two Super Bowl MVPs at the end of the game against the 49ers than he has in quite a while. And there have been a few other times this season when he’s come close to that as well. Those situations have almost all been late in games when the Giants put a little giddy up in their offensive pace and start to play with more urgency.
So why not go to the hurry-up mode more often and not save the two-minute drill until the final two minutes? That may be something the Giants consider moving forward, beginning with Sunday’s game against the Bucs at MetLife Stadium.
“Tempo and no-huddle are part of what we do,” Pat Shurmur said. “There’s a difference between no-huddle and two-minute, and when you’re in two-minute mode racing up and down the field, that’s something that Eli’s good at. Because that’s not always the scenario, you don’t see it throughout games. Most teams have it and use it strategically, just not all the time.”
The Giants have faced two-score deficits in each of their seven losses, so some offensive numbers are inflated by prevent defenses willing to trade yardage and points for time. However, the Giants have scored 77 points in the fourth-quarter of their games, more than twice as many as they have posted in any of the first three quarters. In the final quarter, Manning has thrown seven touchdown passes and two interceptions, and his passer rating of 103.2 is significantly higher than his overall rating of 92.7.
Shurmur was the offensive coordinator with the Eagles when Chip Kelly brought his full-sprint offense to the NFL in 2013 and he helped develop that system for the pro level.
“So it’s part of my DNA,” Shurmur said. “I’m very well aware of how to do it. We do it strategically and it’s been successful for us. When I say strategically, it’s not all the time, it’s when we choose to do it.”
That may become the decision more often.
Bucs defensive lineman Jason Pierre-Paul celebrates after making a stop against the Bengals during the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium on Oct. 28, 2018. Credit: Getty Images/Andy Lyons
KEEPING JPP FROM BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
Jason Pierre-Paul promised to “bring down the house” in his return to MetLife Stadium on Sunday with the Bucs. It will fall to left tackle Nate Solder to keep the building upright. The last time Solder faced Pierre-Paul was in Super Bowl XLVI. On Sunday, but the two figure to lock horns once again, this time with Solder as a Giant and Pierre-Paul as a member of the Bucs.
Solder said it’s not just JPP’s size that presents a challenge. “There’s plenty of people with length,” he said. “I think it’s the quality of the player. He can move great, he understands football, he plays really well, he has great ability . . . They’re putting him in a place to be successful. He can run around guys, he can run through guys, he’s got both of those qualities.”
The Bucs also move Pierre-Paul from side to side, so there will be times when he lines up against right tackle Chad Wheeler. Primarily, though, he’ll be up against Solder in what will be a battle of Giants offseason decisions: The veteran blocker they chose to sign against the veteran pass-rusher they chose to trade away.
14-7-0
Giants’ all-time record against the Buccaneers.
A LITTLE LESS PIZZAZZ, PLEASE
The Giants are trying to convince Saquon Barkley to quit swinging for the fences. To a point, anyway.
The running back carried the ball 20 times for 67 yards in the win over the 49ers. Two of those runs accounted for 27 yards, leaving the other 18 going for a total of 40. One of the reasons for the lack of every-down production is Barkley’s desire to look for the huge gains rather than the take nothings and turn them into somethings.
“He tries to make every run a home run,” Pat Shurmur said this week. “Sometimes guys at this level have to learn there’s a dirty 5 or 6-yard run that can be effective.”
Barkley is trying.
“It is tempting,” the rookie said of making extra cuts and jukes rather than forcing the ball straight ahead. “The way I’ve been trying to play is take what the defense gives you, and when you get a chance, try to make them pay for it. I’ve just got to continue to trust the system, and trust the team, and trust the offensive line, and trust myself.”
While the Giants would like to see Barkley be more consistent with his gains, they understand that they could be taking away what makes Barkley so dynamic.
“I think there might have been one or two that maybe he could’ve continued to kind of push it up the middle instead of cutting back,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said of Barkley against the 49ers. “But the minute you say ‘hit it up in there,’ then all of a sudden he cuts one back for 25 yards. And then you say, ‘Hey, great run.’”
HOMECOMING GAME
Jason Pierre-Paul isn’t the only former resident of MetLife Stadium returning on Sunday. Former Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for the Bucs.
“It’ll be blue, not green,” Fitzpatrick said of the main difference in coming back to the stadium to face the Giants. “Most of my games there were green.”
Fitzpatrick started the first four games of the season for the Bucs. Jameis Winston started the next three, and then the team went back to Fitzpatrick. Sunday will be his third straight start for them.
“His experience, his calmness, his ability to relate to all the guys and to deliver the ball on time to the right spot, he brings a real settling presence to the team and especially to the offense,” Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter said.
Fitzpatrick said MetLife is a “neat place to play.”
“It was a great two years of my life living there,” he said. “A lot of great relationships, meeting a lot of different people.”
THE OTHER ELI
One of the noticeable changes to the Giants’ offense coming off the buy was the increased use of fullback Eli Penny. The third-year player in his first season with the Giants caught a pair of passes out of the backfield and played a larger role in the running game as well.
“Anytime you get an opportunity to showcase what you’ve got besides just blocking, that’s pretty exciting that they put the fullback in the gameplan like that,” Penny said. “I think that will continue. It was effective. We were able to move the chains, Saquon [Barkley] had a short-yardage run we converted. I felt I was real helpful to the team.”
6: Games without a defensive takeaway for the Bucs, the longest stretch for any team in NFL history. The Bucs are minus-18 in turnover margin during this span.
142: Receiving yards needed by Odell Beckham Jr. to reach 1,000 for the season for the fourth time in his career.
4: Games this season in which Bucs QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has thrown for 400 or more yards, tying the NFL record for a single season set by Dan Marino (1984) and Peyton Manning (2013).
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.
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