Apparently the New York Giants were not happy about playing on Thanksgiving night. They tried to get out of it. They complained about it. It showed on the field. The Giants must have eaten a bunch of turkey before the game. The tryptophan would hopefully provide an explanatuion why the Giants slept through the game.

The short end is this. The defense couldn’t stop the Broncos from marching down the field. The offense couldn’t run the ball. The Giants lost 26-6, yet the score doesn’t convey how thoroughly they got spanked by a team that hadn’t won a game in a month.

I’m at a lost to find any positives about the game. The only one I can find is that kicker Lawrence Tynes was 2-for-2 on field goals, including a 52-yard kick. But let’s go down the list, shall we?

Quarterback (D): Eli Manning was not impressive. He had a number of throws that landed at the receivers’ feet, or over the receivers’ heads. Andre’ Goodman had three interceptions in his grasp, but failed to pull two of them in. Eli also fumbled in the fourth quarter, but when the defense knows you’re going to pass every down in a position of desperation, that’s not a big deal.

Running Backs (C): When you’re supposedly elite running game carries the ball just 16 times and averages 3.6 yards per carry, you’re in trouble. Brandon Jacobs continued his transition into the last Giant player to wear #27. Ron Dayne has returned the Giants’ backfield, ladies and gentlemen! I don’t understand why Jacobs isn’t just exploding in the line and using his built to push the pile. It seems to take him so long to reach the line of scrimmage, and he’s going down as soon as someone tries to take out his legs. Jacobs’ biggest run of the game was for seven freakin’ yards.

Danny Ware…I mean, DJ Ware (as he insisted to be called now; it stands for Danny Jr.) was decent. He only carried the ball six times, but averaged an impressive 6.8 yards per carry. Of course, he also fumbled early in the second quarter, allowing a turnover which the Broncos converted into a Knowshon Moreno touchdown. He left the game with a concussion.

Receivers (C): You’re kind of limited when your quarterback is struggling to get the ball to you. But the receiving corp didn’t help. The Broncos were playing a lot of man-to-man, yet Manning was having trouble finding an open receiver. Kevin Boss was coming off a career game, yet Manning only threw his way twice. Considering Boss caught both passes that came at him, I have to believe that he just wasn’t getting open often enough. Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks were the Giants’ two best receivers on the field, but both caught long balls that inflated their numbers.

Offensive Line (D): Last year, the Giants’ offensive line was one of the best in the NFL. Yet this season, with the EXACT SAME LINE, they allow way too much pressure on passing games, and don’t open any holes in the running game. Manning got sacked three times and got hit six times in all. Although some of the blame lies with Jacobs, the line’s inability to open any holes for him doesn’t give Jacobs a chance to build any momentum with his runs. I hate when the Giants run outside with Jacobs, as he’s a north-south runner, not an east-west. But I can understand the reasoning. The big hitters on defense are generally the linemen, the linebackers, and the safeties. If you can successfully get outside, you have a 264-pound back going against cornerbacks. It’s a dream matchup. But it’s useless if the offensive line isn’t allowing you to get any positive yardage on those plays.

I’ll be back with the defensive assessments later on.