Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
It’s time to fire Kevin Gilbride.
Gilbride is the New York Giants‘ offensive coordinator, but right now he is running an offense that cannot function. On a team with so much talent, that simply should not happen. He runs almost the exact same offense as he did when he came in six years ago. The offense has become extremely predictable and rarely versatile, and opposing teams seem to know what is coming and simply sniff it out.
Gilbride’s system is so consistent that Brandon Jacobs returned two years later and had learned the playbook by the end of the week. To stay stagnant like that in the NFL is the same as going backwards. Gilbride’s offense is not problematic in theory, but it lacks the ability to adjust well at the end of the day. Even with Eli Manning feeling all kinds of pressure on Sunday, the Giants never used seven or eight blockers; they rarely ran wide receiver screens, and even any short passing plays were often built on extremely simple route combinations. Simply put, Gilbride had no answer for a Carolina Panthers defense that is not particularly impressive.
Gilbride has also not utilized his immense talent well. What tricks has he done with the three headed monster of Rueben Randle, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz? Why haven’t the Giants experimented with hurry up offenses more? Why is the running game still anemic with such a talented back in David Wilson? Gilbride has gotten comfortable running the same old offense over and over, and is failing to effectively use the talent he has.
The Giants are too good to have this many turnovers and have this much trouble against teams like the Panthers. Their offense is bland and they need someone to spice it up. Gilbride has shown over and over that he just isn’t that guy.
Jay Cullen is a New York Giants writer for www.RantSports.com. Like him on Facebook or add him on Google.
