GIANTS OFFENSIVE LINE TOOK POOR PERFORMANCE AGAINST EAGLES PERSONALLY

Michael Eisen
Brandon Bair takes down Ryan Nassib in fourth quarter of the Eagles 27-0 win of the Giants. The Eagles sacked Manning and Nassib a total of eight times. Photo by Todd Bauders/ contrastphotography.com

By Michael Eisen

Oct. 15, 2014

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – For Justin Pugh, the unpleasantness of the Giants’ 27-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday continued long after he left Lincoln Financial Field.

“It’s like a nightmare,” Pugh said today. “When I was sleeping I wasn’t sure if I was having a nightmare or if that really just happened.”

Oh, it happened. The offensive line, who had performed so impressively during the three-game winning streak that preceded the Eagles game, struggled in Philly. The unit allowed eight sacks, seldom gave the running backs room to maneuver and was flagged for six penalties, including a hold on Pugh.

In the postgame locker room, Pugh called it, “probably the worst game I’ve ever played.” Today he said, “Toward the end, I was just in survival mode, trying not to screw up something. … I let it snowball. It was more mental than anything, I think. I let it get to me and it’s something where you can’t do that. You can’t let things snowball, you’ve got to forget it and drive on. That’s something I’m going to do this week.”

“We had some one-on-one matchups that we lost and too many of them,” coach Tom Coughlin said.

Pugh and his fellow linemen have moved on. Their focus is now on the upcoming encounter with the 5-1 Dallas Cowboys Sunday in Texas.

“That was the common theme amongst us – forget about it, it’s over, it didn’t happen like we wanted it to happen and it’s over,” rookie left guard Weston Richburg said. “Forget about it and move on. That’s what we’re doing right now.

“I’m moving forward and forgetting about it. That’s how you get better, forgetting about the past and move forward.”

Pugh, who has started all 22 games in his career at right tackle, needed some positive reinforcement before he could begin studying the Cowboys. He watched the Giants’ previous games against Arizona, Washington and Atlanta, when he turned in admirable performances, to remind himself how well he had played previously.

“I can do the techniques that I’ve been coached,” he said. “I just have to go out and execute.

“My confidence is sky high right now. I looked at some of the games before, I had how many, 18 games before this where I played some quality football. I obviously had some ups and downs, and this is one of those things where you learn from it and get better. That’s the mark of a true professional. I want to build off what I’ve been doing as a whole.”

So does Richburg. The second-round draft choice from Colorado State has played well. But in the second quarter in Philadelphia, he pushed Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox to the ground and then jumped on him, drawing a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. Instead of having a second-and-five from their 46, the Giants faced a second-and-20 from the 31. Two plays later, the Giants punted.

“I’m not trying to break laws, get penalties and put my team in bad field position,” Richburg said. “Since I was a kid, I’ve been taught to play football through the whistle and the offensive line is a really physical position. That’s my personality on the field. I put my team in a bad spot and that was not my intention. But that’s how I play.”

Eli Manning was taken down on six of the eight sacks allowed by the Giants and was pressured almost every time he dropped back. But the veteran quarterback has the same faith his linemen do that this will be a bounce-back week.

“I have a great relationship with these guys,” Manning said. “They’re busting their tails. We’ve had a good stretch and, hey, sometimes you have those games where it’s tough and again, some are on me. I held the ball too long a couple times. The first sack was all on me holding it too long and getting their team fired up. That’s going to happen some, the sacks are going to happen. It’s a team effort to eliminate those and make some plays.

“They’ll be ready to go and play well.”

The linemen have spent the last three days listening to how poorly they played. They are eager to make amends in Dallas.

“Giants football didn’t show up last Sunday night and we have to make sure that we bring that,” left tackle Will Beatty said. “Be ourselves and don’t try to do anything magical or special. Just keep improving as we were from earlier in the season during our three-game win streak. That is Giants football. Keep it moving forward and that is all we have to do.”

“We’ve got to take it personally, because a lot of the success of the offense is dependent on what we do,” Richburg said, “and obviously the offense was not successful. That comes back to us not having a good night. We all took it personally. Our goal now is to move forward, forget about it and focus on Dallas this week.”

 

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