Palladino: Giants Won't Keep Winning Without A Consistent Offense

By Ernie Palladino
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Unlike their green-clad MetLife Stadium neighbors, the Giants still have plenty of season left thanks to their 17-10 victory over the Rams on Sunday.

If nothing else, Big Blue (4-3) will head into the bye week with the satisfaction of knowing it has stayed within shooting distance, at least, of idle NFC East leader Dallas (5-1).

But if the Giants know what's good for them, Ben McAdoo and his staff will figure out an offense whose supposed explosiveness has become more myth than reality. And if it continues to play like it did on the rugby pitch of Twickenham Stadium much longer, any contention for a playoff spot, be it catching the surprising Cowboys or sneaking into a wildcard spot, will quickly turn to fantasy.

Want to know how close to 3-4 the Giants came? If not for the defense rising up for four interceptions, including a game-tying, pick-six for the ages from Landon Collins, the Giants wouldn't have stood a chance against a Los Angeles squad that lost its third straight.

In fact, they put themselves in danger of losing it at the end when, again, Eli Manning's unit couldn't close it out in the four-minute period. Odell Beckham, Jr., missed his chance to be a hero for a second consecutive week when he couldn't reel in a low third-down throw with 3:10 remaining in the game. Make that, and the Rams at best get the ball back well on the bad side of the two-minute warning.

Instead, the play went as the final third-down failure in a 4-for-13 day.

The Rams took that opportunity to advance all the way to the Giants' 15. Two end zone incompletions, the second when Michael Thomas couldn't stay inbounds in the back of the end zone, was followed by Case Keenum's loft under blitz pressure that produced Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie's second end zone pick of the day.

Collins' contributions were even more pivotal than DRC's, however. His tying touchdown return -- better to call it an odessey -- began at the Rams' 45. Breaking one tackle, he turned left and headed across the field where a convoy of blockers awaited. He kept his balance as four more tacklers took shots at him, one nearly taking him out at the ankles.

He finished it off by powering over two Rams at the goal line.

Had he stopped there, Collins would have solidified his burgeoning reputation as one of the NFL's top safeties.

But he didn't.

His team-high eight tackles gave the ubiquitous hit man the unit's overall lead in that area.

And his second interception early in the fourth quarter, off a deflection from Keenan Robinson, set up the offense at the Rams' 35 for the go-ahead score. Thanks to Beckham's great catch against tight coverage at the Rams' 7, Rashad Jennings laboriously pushed it home on three runs for the go-ahead score.

Clearly, this was a defensive victory. A team needs those once in a while. But it has become just as clear that the Giants need to find a way to fix an offense that, so far, has basically underperformed.

The running game remains MIA, as Jennings' 25 yards on 13 carries led an effort that netted just 36 yards. The third-down efficiency was horrible. And Manning averaged just 5.3 yards per pass in a 24-of-37, 196-yard performance.

What's more, the passing game still appears dependent on Beckham, despite the presence of Victor Cruz and rookie standout Sterling Shepard. If Beckham doesn't make a big play, as he did in the winning touchdown drive this week and his breathtaking 66-yard TD reception to win the Baltimore game a week ago, little happens.

Sunday marked the fifth game in seven that has yielded 20 or fewer points. Seven of those came from the defense.

Wins are wins, though. There is plenty of season left for McAdoo to figure out a fix for an offense he hoped would continue last year's evolution into a 30-point scoring machine.

He'd boost himself and his team's playoff hopes by finding that solution over the next two weeks.

Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino