The Giants loss yet another game but this time did it differently than they had this year.  For the most part when they have lost, they have not been close games and it’s mostly been the defense with big struggles.  The defense looked awful early on and got away with field goals on a couple of long drives where they could not seem to stop the Niners. The defense eventually stiffened –largely because SF doesn’t have a good passing quarterback, but the offense managed to shoot itself in the foot.  The run game once again was poor, but it can be attributed at least in part to an injured Pugh being replaced by Brown.  He was horrific. It’s not clear how he is still in the league by how he was manhandled yesterday.  Jennings didn’t have much room to run and was marginally better than Williams had been.  The pass rush was also porous with Brown again the main culprit.   Additionally, every time the Niners ran a stunt Jerry was unable to figure out who to block, causing Manning to rush many throws.  In the few instances he had time he actually performed ok, but in between he threw an embarrassing 5 interceptions.

The one piece of good news is that the receivers showed up to play with both Randle and Beckham performing well.  Beckham is exciting to watch and will push Cruz back to the #2 receiver next year, which is where he thrives.  He only performed well when Hakeem Nicks was drawing the defense’s attention away from him.  Defensively, it may have been the best game from the linebackers, with a shockingly competent performance by Herzlich who was filling in for an injured Jacquian Williams.

The playoffs are not in the picture anymore, so the Giants should do their best to play the young guys.  Next week is interesting.  On the one hand, a Dallas offense should expose the depleted Giants secondary in a way that the Niners could not, but with Pugh coming back and Schwartz expected to make his season debut, this could be the best Giants offense of the season.  Expect a high scoring affair with the Giants falling to the cowboys 34-30.

The Giants are what we thought they were.  They are a mediocre team on pace for a 5-6 win season.  The defense looked apathetic in allowing the Seahawks to run all over them.  Yes, they are a depleted team due to injuries, but that second half was the worst half of football I’ve seen played in a long time.  Amazingly, they hung tough in the first half. They are missing a healthy Beason and even missed Cullen Jenkins, but nothing excuses the performance.  It’s hard to see Perry Fewell surviving with his job next year.  The lack of talent at LB is an issue. CB will be fine next year when the injured return, but safety will be an issue.  The line is perplexing.  I can’t understand why they play Kiwi so much.  He should clearly be behind both Ayers and Moore who still can’t seem to sniff the field.  Moore managed only 3 snaps and actually produced good results on two of them.

Equally as bad is the way Lynch ran over them was the schematic deficiency that allowed Wilson to run around them.  With Kaepernick coming up this week, the Niners game plan is already in place.  The offensive running game is horrific.  I have to admit I was wrong on Williams.  I was high on him and it was a bad call. Despite his strength and speed, he lacks vision.  He misses the holes (though admittedly there aren’t enough of them), so it will be interesting to see what Jennings can do when he returns.  Schwartz should also return soon to replace Jerry on the Offensive line.  Neither of these will help a defense who lost players for the rest of the year.  It’s not clear where defensive improvement will come from.