Giants want to improve the big plays
Drives can be nice. They eat up clock, allow the defense to rest and, as was the case in February, win Super Bowls when they take place in the fourth quarter.
But ever since the Giants stepped on the field the first day of training camp and Eli Manning uncorked a long pass down the sideline for Amani Toomer, it's been clear that they want more. And they want it faster.
Big Blue is looking for big plays.
That certainly was the case in Sunday's 41-13 win over the Rams. Manning completed 20 of 29 passes for 260 yards and had a passer rating of 131.4, his highest in a regular-season game. But six of his nine incompletions came on passes in which the Giants were looking for a quick-strike score. Five of those plays were intended for Toomer. The other was for Steve Smith. On each of them, a receiver was in single coverage, running down the field, and Manning hoisted a throw of at least 40 yards in the air.
"We had some opportunities for some big plays we didn't connect on,"
Manning said. "That's something that we want to improve on and are trying to get there."
A few times it worked. The opening touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress was a 33-yarder into the end zone after Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe bit on an out and Burress continued on toward the post. Manning, for his part, stepped up into the pocket to avoid pressure and threw to his wide-open receiver.
It also occurred on a 32-yarder to Domenik Hixon in the fourth quarter, a beauty of a throw down the left sideline over cornerback Fakhir Brown. It set up a touchdown by Ahmad Bradshaw that swung momentum back to the Giants.
"We dialed that up a couple of times,"
Hixon said. "It was a great ball by Eli. He put it in a perfect spot."
Because the timing on longer throws can be more complex, Manning wasn't always spot-on. He led Toomer a bit too much toward the sideline on their first lengthy attempt, a third-and-7 on the first possession. He underthrew him just a bit in the second quarter, allowing Brown, who was blanketing Toomer, to casually swat the pass down with his right hand. On the pass to Smith (a post) and another second-quarter try for Toomer, Manning was under pressure and had to throw the ball before the play developed.
Manning explained that in some of those instances, he could have avoided the pressure -- as he did on the touchdown pass to Burress by stepping up -- but moving from side to side would burn milliseconds off the timing of the route.
"Sometimes when you get down the field, if you move too long, then the receiver outruns your arm,"
Manning said. "So you're kind of stuck in an awkward spot. You are throwing it a little bit sooner, before the play really develops."
Tom Coughlin, who has made no secret of the fact that he wants the offense to become more of a sprinter than a distance runner (or at least have the ability to sprint when needed), said the Giants designed some plays that would allow them to push the ball down the field quickly.
"A couple of times we were able to and a couple other times weren't, but you would like to think you could do that a couple of times a game,"
he said.
Even the ones that didn't connect, in other words, served a purpose -- not only in this game but for every opponent who will look at the tape of the game.
"You send a message,"
Coughlin said, "that you are willing to take a chance to throw the ball deep."
