Odell Beckham Jr. wants to see Giants win blowout
The Giants have played three games decided by a combined six points.
Odell Beckham Jr. has had about enough of that.
“I don’t really want to play these games where we’re sitting here and trying to fight all game,” the star receiver said Thursday. “Going through adversity is great, but every single game? It doesn’t need to be like that. It doesn’t need to be a nail-biter or come down to the fourth quarter.”
Which is why he’s proposing that he and his teammates do something about it.
Such as, for instance, score. A lot.
“It’s a lot easier to play when you’re up 35-7 than when it’s 27-26 and everything matters and everything counts,” Beckham said. “I feel like we can get out on teams. There is no shame in blowing somebody out. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. There is nothing in the rulebook — I know everybody likes to follow the rulebook — there is nothing in the rulebook that says you can’t beat a team 66-0.”
That is not a prediction for Monday night, he was quick to add.
“I’m definitely not saying that would happen against the Minnesota Vikings,” he said, “but why would you not try for it?”
While most were impressed that the Giants finally were able to win close games against the Cowboys and Saints, Beckham was upset that it had to go that way.
“I don’t think the two wins we’ve had were very convincing by any means,” he said. “We played at a high level, but those were games that could have easily went either way. It doesn’t need to be like that. That’s what happens now and then. Games are going to be nail-biters, but I really believe we can come out and beat somebody down.”
He sounds about ready to do just that. After three weeks without a touchdown, Beckham is itching for the end zone and a nice cruise-control win. Oh, and he’d like to be more involved in the offense early in the game to help that happen.
He played a big role in the fourth-quarter drive that ended with the first interception Sunday against Washington. On three straight snaps, he caught passes of 19 and 24 yards and drew a holding penalty to put the Giants in scoring position.
“It’s just unfortunate that it was as late as it was,” he said. “You wait all game and then it finally comes around at the end. It makes it a lot more difficult. It’s like you’re playing catch-up instead of being on top of it from the start. I felt like we could’ve done that all game. From the very beginning of the game, even with the coverages that they were playing. I felt like we could’ve taken advantage of that, but we didn’t.”
He also seems convinced that Eli Manning should be looking his way, or at least toward one of his other two big receivers, during key moments.
In the fourth quarter, Manning was 8-for-10 for 115 yards when targeting Beckham, Victor Cruz or rookie Sterling Shepard. He was 2-for-6 for 22 yards and two picks when targeting anyone else. Tight end Will Tye and running back Shane Vereen were the targets on the two game-deciding interceptions.
“You have the Rookie of the Year on this team, the Comeback Player of the Year on this team,” Beckham said of Shepard and Cruz, respectively. “You have three phenomenal receivers. It’s just going to be tough [on defenses]. It’s only a matter of time.”
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.
