Giants' No. 1 priority: Third downs

It was Tom Coughlin's chance to ask some questions at his news conference Monday.

"There's not enough execution, there's not enough good things going on," he said after watching video of the 28-14 loss to the Redskins. "You look at the offense with an 85-yard drive that was very good. Why aren't there more of those? Why not the consistency?"

He'd make a pretty good sports reporter. But he's got his hands full being coach of the Giants and trying to get this group of players -- many of them inexperienced with the roles they are currently playing -- moving in the same direction. They weren't Sunday, and they have the rest of the week to figure it out before they play the Rams on Monday night.

Every game is important, and there will certainly be some incentive to play well against former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo in Week 2. But there is also some urgency. The Giants do not want to be 0-2 heading into Philadelphia for a prime-time game in Week 3.

"We have to start playing," Coughlin said. "The mistakes from the preseason, it's not preseason. Nothing else matters except getting it right."

Coughlin said the most frustrating aspect of the loss to the Redskins was the missed opportunities, particularly on offense, where the Giants were 1-for-10 on third downs and also failed on a fourth-and-1.

This isn't a new problem. The Giants converted just 36 percent of their third downs in 2010, 21st in the league, and an NFL-low 27 percent of their fourth downs. Eli Manning completed 4 of 9 passes on third downs but only his 68-yard bomb to Hakeem Nicks was good enough for a first. Another was dropped by Victor Cruz. Another was caught, but by Redskins rookie Ryan Kerrigan and returned for a touchdown.

Six of the third downs were for 10 yards or longer and four were for 15 or more.

"That's not really a third-down problem," Manning said. "That's a first and second down problem . . . We have to be better on down and distance."

Third downs weren't only a problem for the offense. The Giants' defense had issues getting off the field, as well. The Redskins converted 5 of 15 third downs in the game, but on their three touchdown drives, they were a combined 4-for-5. On the fourth-quarter drive, the Redskins converted a third-and-9 on a helmet-to-helmet penalty against Antrel Rolle, a third-and-8 on a 22-yard pass to Fred Davis, and scored on third-and-goal from the 4.

It was the offense's inability to stay on the field and move the chains that bothered Coughlin more. Their 85-yard scoring drive in the second quarter? They never even saw a third down on it.

Not all of the issues are with Manning. Coughlin was disappointed in the blocking on the fourth-and-1 run by Ahmad Bradshaw where center David Baas blocked the wrong man, allowing backside linebacker Rocky McIntosh to make the stop.

"We've got a ways to go with the process, with the execution," Coughlin said. "Offensively, it's got to happen."

There's no question about that.