CHARLOTTE ā Will Beatty called it āhumbling.ā David Baas saidš he was āembarrassed.ā Kevin Boothe used the word āunacceptable.ā
Words like pitiful and disgraceful would have worked, too. Think of any adjective that equates with ānot good at allā and it can be applied to the way the Giants offensive line performed in a 38-0 šloss to the Panthers Sunday afternoon.
There are plenty of things the Giants did wrong at Bank of America Stadium in dropping to 0-3 on the season. Crucial penalties and a missed field goal didnāt help. But it was the Giants offensive line that looked amateurish against the Panthers, allowing seven sacks, including four in the first qšuarter.
The Panthers looked like Carolina coach Ron Riveraās ā85 Bears as they constantlšy pressured Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who was lucky to keš ep his health intact. The running game was horrid, too, earning just 60 yards.
āThat is not by aš¼ny means, New York Giantsš° football. Iām embarrassed,ā said Baas, the Giants center. āWe take a lot of pride in keeping Eli clean. That was definitely not the case today.ā
This ļ·½was a game in which the Giants were trying to jump-start their season and lift the spirits of head coach Tom Coughlin, whose brother John died from a head injury last week. But they looked unprepared and ošvermatched against the Panthers, who were also 0-2, and played with more determination.
Manning was under siege from the beginning. Not only was he sacked seven times but was hit āat least 20 times,ā by Coughlināsą¼ count.
āIt was one-on-one stuff,ā Coughlin said. āThey were bš¬eatingš us up front.ā
The Giants came into the game thinking they could take advantage of the Panthers injury-riddled secondary. But Manning never had time to throw. The Giants offense earned just 18 net yards in the first half when Manning was sacked six times. He would complete 12-of-23 pasšses for 119 yards, his lowest total since throwing for the same number in a loss to the Vikings in 2008.
āWe didnāt do a good job of šprotecting and giving ourselves a chance to be in a position to take advantage of some of theš weaknesses they supposedly have,ā Coughlin said.
Rookie tackle Justin Pugh had his tough moments, getting beat by DE Charles Johnson for a third-quarter sack. But the real breakdowns came from Beatty, who was abused by right dš®efensive enš«d Greg Hardy (three sacks).
āIt was just one ofš those days where you just get in the zone,ā Hardy said.
In his fifth season, Beatty is supposed to anchor the left side of the line. Instead, he looked more like a į£rookie than Pugh, getting beat on inside movšŗes and speed rushes on the outside.
āI could have done much bettź¦¬er on Hāardy,ā Beatty said, stating the obvious.
āItās not what he did. I have to look at what I did. There are a lot plays I left out there that were negative. I have to maške sure that doeź©µsnāt happen again.ā
The Giants offensive line was supposed to be a strength heading into the season. Beatty, Boothe, Baas and Chris Snee colleš¹ctively have 32 years of experience. The loss of right tackle David Diehl to thumb surgery during training camp wasnāt expected to be as devastating as it has been. But the Giants havenāt been able to mount a running game (averaging 44.3 yards), and now theyāve forgotten how to pass protect. Theyāve converted just 10-of-34 third-down situations this season.
āWe have to learn from this as difficult as it might be,ā Boothe said. āThe NFL season doesnāt wait for anybody. Whatever it is we have to fix it. For some reason weāre not playing at a very high leveā l at all.ā
The Giants seasonį©į©į©į©į©į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©ā¤ā¤ā¤ā¤į©š±į©į©į© still has a pulse. But it goes nowhere unless the offensive line can solve its problems quickly. Itās hard to score points in the NFL when you canāt run the ball or throw it.