POST GAME REPORT: DALLAS 20 – GIANTS 8

By Patricia Traina, Bob Folger, and Mike Iannaconi Irving, Tex.

— Like many of our readers, we have becomesomewhat spoiled with this Giants team. We naturally assumethat this resilient bunch will find ways to win, no matterwhat obstacle is thrown their way, and when they don't, itcreates a mild panic within which forces us to look closelyand acknowledge that something just isn't right.

So that brings us to this week's latest contest, a 20-8 loss to Dallas in which the offense could do very littleright. Now some will point to the loss of Plaxico Burress asthe reason why the Giants suddenly have no firepower onoffense. Still others will point to the fact that their bigman, Brandon Jacobs, wasn't in the lineup.

We, however, will point at another direction, and that is the coaching done by offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride.

It's rather ironic, you see, as just over two weeks ago, wewere conversing with a colleague about the job done byoffensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. The topic that wasdebated was if Gilbride has finally arrived as an offensivecoordinator or if his job has been made easier thanks to allthe talent he's had to work with over the past two years.

The consensus was that Gilbride has been the benefactor ofthe riches assembled by GM Jerry Reese, and before him ErnieAccorsi. In fact, we recall saying to one of our colleaguesin the discussion how we'd be curious to see what Gilbride did if he ever lost one or two critical components of the offense.

Well who knew that our hypothetical question would become a reality? Moreover, who knew that the giants would struggle because of it? Teams are going to lose players for numerous reasons. The good coaches, however, find ways to overcome these loses andplay at a consistently high level. We'll point to thespecifics in our player write-ups and our strategy review injust a moment, but suffice to say, we don't think that Gilbride has fully adjusted to life without Burress.

We've heard Gilbride and the coaches say that the plays areinterchangeable no matter who is running them, and thatmight be true to a certain extent. However, to sit there and try to convince people that Brandon Jacobs has the same skills as Ahmad Bradshaw just isn't going to work.

Besides, it's not about keeping things the same. It'sabout adjusting to find and utilize the strengths of whatyou have to work with. Does Gilbride honestly think that anyof the remaining receivers he has is capable of drawing thesame type of coverage Burress did, or that Derrick Ward and Bradshaw can run the exact same plays as Jacobs with thesame results?

Sorry, we're not buying it. Rather, we hope that this week when Gilbride and the offensive coaches go back to thedrawing board for what will be the biggest game of theseason (what with a first-round bye and home field advantageat stake), that they will stop fooling themselves andinstead look for ways to tap into the strengths of thetalent they do have at their disposal.

TD wrote:I think it's unfair to pin-point the recent losses on Gilbride. The Giants lead the league in dropped passes and Manning got sacked 8 times yesterday.
Dallas played the better game and deserve credit for that. Romo knows how to keep plays alive and the Giants D got killed once again by the underneath dump-off passes that no one could defend.