Victor Cruz Frustrated By Lack Of Targets Against Steelers
New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz was not targeted in Sunday’s 24-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the game, he was asked if he was frustrated by his lack of targets.
Cruz said curtly, “Take a guess.”
His frustration didn’t end there. “I’m going to talk to somebody. Somebody’s got to give me an answer as to why.”
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The Giants have been looking for an answer to their offensive woes all season. After twelve games, they are still in search of that answer. The offense averages 327.4 yards a game, ranked 26th in the NFL. In 2015, they averaged 372 yards a game, ranked eighth in the league.
The offense isn’t putting up points either.
They average 20.4 points a game, ranked 23rd overall. Last season, they averaged 26.2 points a game, ranked sixth in the NFL. They’ve only put up 28 points or better once, in a Week 9 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Last season, they scored 28 points or more in seven games.
The lack of offensive production doesn’t matter when looking at the totality of the Giants’ season. After all, they’ve won eight games, currently sit as the NFC’s No. 5 seed, and handed the 11-1 Dallas Cowboys their only loss.
It didn’t matter that five of the six consecutive victories came against teams currently sitting below .500. The Giants’ largest margin is victory is 13 points and that was against the 0-12 Cleveland Browns.
One of the reasons for the Giants’ lack of offensive success is predictability. They favor one personnel grouping: three wide receivers, one tight end, one running back. The Giants used that grouping on 92 percent of their first-and-10s.
“When we have been as inconsistent as we have been on offense, it’s a challenge,” head coach Ben McAdoo said. “Victor, like everybody else, including myself, wants to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem. So, my door is always open for any of these guys that want to come in and have a conversation.”
Cruz and McAdoo did have a conversation. According to Cruz, he got the answers that he was looking for.
“We had an honest conversation between both of us,” Cruz said in an interview with the New York Post. “He laid it to me straight and, I gave him my thoughts as well, and I think it was productive and it ended well. It was a conversation that I guess needed to be had, and we had and we can turn the page and move on.”
“It was just two guys trying to problem-solve. There was no anger, there was nothing back and forth. It was just two guys trying to figure it out and try and continue how to make this team and this receiving corps as productive as possible.”
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