Keidel: Everyone Needs To Chill On Giants' Invisible Offense

By Jason Keidel
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Of course, not long after I wrote that the Giants are the chalk to win the NFC East, they went out and got pummeled by the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, 21-0, the first time Big Blue had been been shut out in a preseason game since 2001.

Let's have some perspective, please.

The game was in Orchard Park, and the Bills had inordinate incentive to win a contest that wouldn't register in the final standings.

You had the Marcell Dareus debacle. The ornery, monstrous defensive linemen has been suspended for the team's first four games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy.

The club also cut ties recently with wildly productive backup running back Karlos Williams, who injected Buffalo's offense with nine touchdowns last season while replacing injured star LeSean McCoy. It seems the Bills are concerned with Williams' conduct off the gridiron, so they released him despite his nose for the end zone.

Then there are the ever-present whispers that this is Rex Ryan's last shot to make the Bills the playoff contender the front office and fans assumed he would, and he assured us he would. Despite this being just his sophomore season as head coach, he is apparently toeing the vocational highwire.

The Bills' defense was a QB wrecking ball, leading the NFL in sacks the year before Ryan's arrival. Yet under the defensive wunderkind, the squad dropped to the lowest rungs of pass pressure. Then Rex hired brother Rob, making the wonder twins official on the sideline.

Ryan was given the keys to a high-end NFL auto and sputtered to an 8-8 season in 2015. Perhaps it would be unfair to jam the eject button on the loquacious coach after two seasons, but no one knows the zero-sum frigidity of an NFL career better than Rex Ryan, who as a child saw his father pinball around the nation. So perhaps the Bills were incentivized by the cocktail of wretched press they've received so far this young season.

And the Giants may have been a bit distracted by their own Page Six fodder. Kicker Josh Brown has been suspended for one game for violating the league's domestic violence policy.

MORE: Giants Kicker Josh Brown Talks About Domestic Violence Arrest

What's worse is the fine print under Brown's story. He was not only arrested for battering his wife, but word is she also told authorities that he had assaulted her upward of 20 times. The league, citing a lack of cooperation from Brown's wife and law enforcement, is not throwing the book at Brown. But it could and perhaps should.

The good news is the Giants' first-string defense was more than presentable on Saturday, as it kept the Bills out of the end zone on all but one possession, the only TD the starting defense has allowed in two preseason games.

No one doubts that Eli Manning will find his groove -- he's only thrown nine passes so far and didn't even play in the first game -- or that Odell Beckham Jr. will light up the league yet again, adding to the best start in NFL history for a wideout.

While it's true that Victor Cruz is a walking triage, a variable at best, it seems Sterling Shepard is ready to slide into Cruz's place as Beckham's wingman.

There's also no doubt the running game needs to be sharpened. There's a debate as to whether it is suffering because of the running backs or because of the retooled offensive line. But if Shepard is as good as the brass asserts, then the passing game should open holes for Big Blue's backfield by committee.

MORE: McAdoo Not Panicking Over Giants' Offensive Line Struggles

Rookie head coach Ben McAdoo has been vocal in his critiques and concerns. But that's what coaches do, dwell in the minutiae, even if the games don't officially count.

Sure, when a team doesn't score it looks lazy, ineffective, and incompetent, but there are enough bluebloods on Big Blue to afford them the benefit of the doubt in August.

Some folks fear the specter of Josh Norman lining up opposite Beckham twice a year. If Beckham keeps his head properly tethered to his neck, he will light Norman up like a menorah.

And remember, the starters don't play in earnest until the third game of the preseason. The Giants have only played two. Give them an honest look before you flood Mike Francesa's phones with epic concern.

So while the Giants have been an eyesore so far, please remember this is the time to stink, when the summer months are a de facto chemistry class. Between lineup experiments, cuts, and rosters being pared down to 53 players, this is always a time of tumult before the real action begins.

Please follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel