Eli (two interceptions), Giants struggle

One interception. Three stories. The Giants' offense is starting to read like a William Faulkner novel. The Unsound and the Fury.

It's hard to tell what's more discouraging about the team's offensive performance in Monday night's 17-3 loss to the Jets: The offensive miscues or the fact that no one seemed to know exactly what went wrong.

The most glaring example of that was on the first of Eli Manning's two interceptions, a pass intended for Victor Cruz. Tom Coughlin said the tight end and the receiver did not make the proper sight adjustment on the blitz the Jets threw at Manning.

"Unfortunately, there was no time for him to do anything about it and he threw the ball and it was picked off," Coughlin said. "The receiver is supposed to make a break, quarterback is supposed to be confident in where he's going to be. They blew it. They didn't make the proper play and he threw the ball because he was going to go down."

After the game, though, Cruz said he felt he ran the proper route. "It was the right read, but he probably couldn't get the ball to me because he was off his back foot or something," Cruz said, noting that he became aware that Manning was under pressure only when he looked back after the play. "When I got up, I turned around and he had some guys around him."

Manning, meanwhile, put the blame on himself. "I just put a little bit too much mustard on it," the quarterback said. "Just overthrew him by a touch. Those are some of the things we have to clean up, get on the same page . . . There are just enough things that are keeping us from finishing drives and putting points on the board."

In a preseason that was supposed to be about establishing a new Giants identity behind a reconfigured offensive line and with a change of the guard at receiver and tight end, the team will head into the regular season without having answered many of the essential questions it began training camp with.

And Manning? He completed 15 of 30 passes for 200 yards in just over a half of play, but he threw two interceptions, missed several open receivers -- including Mario Manningham deep down the left sideline -- and could not get the starting offense into the end zone for the second time in three games.

If Manning does not play Thursday against the Patriots, he'll have gone through a preseason without throwing a touchdown pass for the first time since his rookie season.

Coughlin said he will watch the videotape before deciding whether to play his starters in a short turnaround. Manning, though, seemed to think it was an unnecessary risk.

"Normally in the fourth preseason game, you get one series," Manning said. "I don't think that's going to make a whole lot of difference right now. It's more important to make sure guys are healthy, rested and getting ready for Washington [in the opener]."

And making sure that when things do go awry, they at least get their story straight.