The Halftime Report

After mulling this over for a bit, I've decided to do something a little different with this week's report card. Let us submit that Sunday's effort against the Eagles deserves a big, red "F" all around and leave it at that. Oh, guys like Brandon Jacobs, Steve Smith, and Hakeem Nicks deserve better grades, and maybe the defensive line. But the cumulative effect for this third of three straight losses is a hugely failing grade.

Better that we should examine and grade the whole first half of the season in an effort to see where this team has been and, perhaps, get a firmer hold on where it might be headed.

So here is the report card on the 5-3 Giants. The good news is, I've seen some of their autographs, and they get an "A" for penmanship.

QUARTERBACK: Watching Eli Manning degenerate between 5-0 and 0-3 has kind of been like watching Chase Utley and Ryan Howard hit in the World Series. Good Eli, Bad Eli. Good Eli? The first five games Manning was making all the right reads and was dead-on target for the most part. A real home run hitter with the deep shot as well as the screens and medium-range throws. People were talking about him finally breaking into the ranks of the elite because of his 87-of-135 for 1,212 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions. Bad Eli? Check that elite status. 53-of-107, 643 yards, three touchdowns, six interceptions, and a fourth-quarter comeback against Dallas. He's had an injury to his plantar fascia, but doesn't seem to be bothered by it anymore. He simply looks lost at times now, his rhythm blown by too many adjustments at the line. And his passes are way off, even as he looks for the reliable Steve Smith when he does have time. Right now, defenses must look as daunting to him as a breaking pitch looks to Howard, and they're both swinging and missing. He needs a confidence boost, but the only way to do that is to complete a string of passes and put up a bushel of points. Time's a wasting, though. David Carr did a good job in filling in for Manning the second half of the Oakland blowout. GRADE: C-.

RUNNING BACKS: Jacobs is only now starting to look like the bruiser befitting his 264-pound frame. He's had two straight games where he's snapped off big runs and knocked people over, getting 76 yards on 13 carries against Arizona and 86 yards on 20 carries against Philadelphia. He still hasn't had a 100-yard game, and his per-carry average is a smidge under four yards. Part of that is because he spent most of the first six games being too meticulous in picking his holes. That led to tentativeness, and allowed the defense to seep in and stop him before he could create momentum. That seems to be changing right now. Can't fault Ahmad Bradshaw for anything except that fumble late in the Arizona game, when the Giants had a chance to come back, and the missed blitz pickup that resulted in an interception in New Orleans. He's played through a sprained ankle and a broken fifth metatarsal and, at times, looked more like the Giants' featured back than Jacobs. He's had two 100-yard games, against Tampa Bay and Oakland, but has shown the ability to break long ones while Jacobs plods along. And with four touchdowns, he's shown more point-scoring ability than Jacobs, who has one. Gartrell Johnson has done a good job killing the fourth-quarter clock. Still, they need Jacobs to consistently pound away at defenses to facilitate the play-action, but that's only going to happen if the coaches consistently give it to him 20 to 25 times per game. That's not happening right now. GRADE: C.

RECEIVERS: Steve Smith went into a lull after playing lights-out the first few games, but came alive again last week by hauling in eight passes for 68 yards. He's seeing a lot of double-coverage now, especially after catching a league-high 34 passes for 411 yards and four touchdowns. He hasn't scored a touchdown in four games, though, and in general the hot hand shifted to Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks. Of the two, Nicks holds the most promise. The first-rounder runs better, more consistent routes than Manningham, and his big hands have pulled in several imperfect throws from Manning already. Plus, he's a big-play guy. He had no scores last week, breaking a string where he had four touchdowns in four games. He's the only reliable deep threat right now, as his leaping ability allowed him to bring in a 35-yarder against Sheldon Brown. He's also had completions of 54 (on a screen), 58, and 62 yards. Manning would be wise to continue to look in his direction, especially when Smith can't elude the ever-increasing press coverage. He might also want to make more use of Kevin Boss. After playing almost a strict blocking role the first seven games, Boss showed his worth as a receiver when he caught a 25-yard pass late in the Arizona game despite a helmet-to-helmet hit that left him woozy, and then grabbed nine balls for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Eagles. Domenik Hixon is unreliable downfield and will probably fall to third or fourth receiver. GRADE: B-.

OFFENSIVE LINE: The first five games, Manning had all the time in the world to pick out receivers, and the laundryman nearly went broke after he was sacked just twice in the first six games. The last three, they can't keep anybody off him. Six sacks and a bunch of hurries. Whether it's a blitz or a four-man rush, this line is having problems. The run-blocking hasn't gained momentum, either, but part of that could be in the playcalling. Most disturbing is their performance in the Red Zone. They've had to settle for field goals four times in 10 goal-to-go situations as they've been unable to get adequate push for Jacobs. A lot of the pass pressure these days comes from inside, which means Rich Seubert, Chris Snee, and center Shaun O'Hara aren't having tremendous years. RT Kareem McKenzie missed a week with a groin injury, but the line played intact the rest of the time. One would expect much better from an experienced group. GRADE: C.

DEFENSIVE LINE: This group is as uneven as they come. One game they crank up the pass rush, the next they're all but invisible. Osi Umenyiora won't admit it, but his performance indicates his surgically-repaired left knee may not be back to full strength. He's suspect against the run and has had only two games where he was a constant presence on the pass rush. He did return a fumble for a touchdown, however, and his four sacks led the team. Justin Tuck, with 3 1/2 sacks, has been the best of the bunch despite a shoulder injury. He bats balls, plays inside and out, gets in the backfield, and stops the run. By far, he's the MVP of a line that has been inconsistent at best in pressuring the quarterback. Mathias Kiwanuka is fast and has contributed to the pressure with three sacks, including one against Oakland that forced a fumble, but he's had his problems against the run. Remember, this line prides itself on stopping the rushing game. Yet, the Giants were gashed for 251 yards against Dallas, 133 against New Orleans, and embarrassingly, 180 against the Eagles. Last week was the worst, especially since a seldom-used fullback in Leonard Weaver broke through them for a 41-yard touchdown run. The interior of the line has been almost non-existant, save for the occasional pass rush of Fred Robbins. They definitely need Chris Canty back to provide both push and pass-blocking ability. Rocky Bernard just hasn't cut it at DT, and Barry Cofield has been only mediocre. GRADE: C-.

LINEBACKERS: Oy. Can't stop the run. Can't cover. Need the athleticism of injured Michael Boley in the worst way. Antonio Pierce is good at pre-snap calls, but once the play starts, he's all but a liability if it's a pass. He's having problems getting into the backfield on the blitz, and when called upon to cover a tight end, he winds up chasing. Danny Clark is even slower than Pierce and has been exposed on several passes this year. Chase Blackburn is an adequate weakside linebacker, but even his contributions have been minimal. GRADE: F.

SECONDARY: The loss of safety Kenny Phillips proved more debilitating than you'll ever know. Instead of the sideline-to-sideline, hard-hitting, do-it-all playmaker, the Giants now have C.C. Brown. Huge downgrade. He tackles okay for the most part. It's getting into the right spot and working his way into the tape frame that's the problem. Either being late on coverage help or getting flat-out beaten, Brown's been burned more than California trees during Santa Ana season. Corey Webster appeared to be having a Pro Bowl season until these last two games. Terrell Thomas has done a credible job starting while Aaron Ross' hamstring heals, then doesn't heal, then heals again. Michael Johnson hasn't made a major impact after a fast start, especially on the specialty blitzes. With two big pieces missing in Phillips and Ross, one can say the secondary is probably doing as well as can be expected. One can also say it's suffering from a horrible lack of depth in the middle. The result? Eight passing touchdowns in the last three games and one interception in the last five games. GRADE: F.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A real mixed bag here. Lawrence Tynes missed field goals from 29 and 21 yards, prompting Tom Coughlin to call for kicker tryouts. But he also kicked the game-winner in Dallas. His kickoffs in general are way too short. Jeff Feagles' year-long consistency faltered against Arizona. The kickoff coverage unit hasn't been up to par and was particularly bad against the Eagles, allowing not one, but two returns of more than 30 yards. Sinorice Moss was a zero on kick returns. He was replaced by Hixon, who had 300 yards worth of runbacks against New Orleans before falling into normalcy and then, finally, mediocrity last week. GRADE: C.

COACHING: You are what the record says you are, and right now Tom Coughlin is a 5-3 coach who's trying to keep his team from spiraling out of the season. Not a good position to be in. How can he turn it around? First, by forcing offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride to commit to the ground game. Brandon Jacobs needs to get the ball between 20 and 25 times for the Giants to be effective. He wears down the defense and opens up the all-important play-action that Manning does so well. The hurry-up offense that has worked so well in past spots has all but disappeared from the offense. There are communication problems all around the defense, but especially in the secondary where the corners and safeties are definitely not on the same page. The blitz-heavy defense coordinator Bill Sheridan promised at the beginning of the season hasn't materialized, and the blitzes for the most part have been picked up and ineffective. The first five wins hid a lot of those problems, but playing the better teams in this three-game losing streak has left the defense exposed. Much adjustment is needed on both sides of the ball, especially when in close on offense. GRADE: D.

Okay, let's hear what you think.

EP