Woebegone Giants Fall to the Colts in a Rout

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - There were many things the Giants did wrong in Monday night's 40-24 defeat to the Indianapolis Colts. There were dropped passes, wayward throws, a hopelessly anemic running game, three Colts fumbles that were not recovered and a multitude of blown defensive assignments.

It was a game so lopsided the Giants were out of it more than four minutes before the fourth quarter began.

And yet, there were moments when the Giants appeared to finally be doing something right. And that is precisely when something went appallingly wrong again.

Early in the third quarter with the Giants trailing by 13 points, Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck lofted a pass to the end zone for wide receiver T. Y. Hilton. Defensive back Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie closed on the underthrown pass and adroitly out-jumped Hilton for the football. With the ball cradled in both arms, Rodgers-Cromartie, a premier defender, was falling toward the turf with the turnover that might spark a Giants second-half comeback.

Instead, Hilton reached over and wrestled the football free, tumbling to the ground with yet another Colts touchdown. After a practice last week, Giants Coach Tom Coughlin assembled the players around him in a circle so he could deliver an impassioned plea to the team to 'play above the X's and O's.'

Coughlin could be heard yelling at the players, trying to inspire them to do more than execute the basics of a play but to go above and beyond the routine to accomplish the spectacular.

Spectacular? No, it was the most blatant illustration of a woebegone team that has lost three successive games. By the game's end, the Giants (3-5) and the Colts (6-3) were two teams heading in opposite directions. Behind the brilliant Luck, Indianapolis continues its march toward the game's highest echelon of teams. The Giants head to Seattle this weekend needing an upset to remain in the playoff hunt.

While Hilton's touchdown gave the Colts a 23-3 lead, the Giants did cut their deficit to 13 points with a 5-play, 84-yard drive. Odell Beckham Jr. caught a 59-yard pass to get the Giants deep into Indianapolis territory and running back Andre Williams caught a sideline pass for 24 yards that advanced the ball to the Colts one-yard line.

Williams, who had 12 carries in the game for 22 yards, burst through the middle of the line for a touchdown that seemed to give the Giants hope with the score 23-10.

But Luck completed four passes for 80 yards, the last a 40-yard touchdown reception by Reggie Wayne, who ran away from defensive back Jayron Hosley for the easy score.

The rout was on, but just to be sure, the Colts' Jonathan Newsome knocked the football out of quarterback Eli Manning's hand as he was preparing to throw a pass. The resulting fumble was recovered by Indianapolis at the Giants 4-yard line. Two plays later, tight end Dwayne Allen was left uncovered in the end zone. Luck tossed the ball to Allen for the 2-yard touchdown and a 37-10 lead.

The offensive woes plaguing the Giants in recent games continued from the start. They came out trying to establish their running game but stumbled badly again. The lack of an effective running game ruined the offense's rhythm and made Manning's play-action pass attempts futile.

With Rashad Jennings still out with a knee injury, Williams, the rookie backup, once again did not show the patience or the vision necessary to make the most of the blocking up front. Throughout the first quarter, Williams took handoffs from Manning and ran directly into defenders. Several times, there were gaping holes that Williams could have run through - sometime they were just a few feet to the left or right of where Williams bulled ahead.

The Colts opened the scoring with a 48-yard first quarter field goal by Adam Vinatieri, the conclusion of a drive that featured some deft and well-timed scrambling by Luck and a 13-yard reception by Hilton.

Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell was not going down without a fight and he tried myriad different looks to confuse and harass Luck. The Giants blitzed often and the pressure disrupted Luck's passing lanes. It remained a 3-0 game until early in the second quarter when the Giants defense was victimized by three lightning quick plays executed by the Colts that resulted in a 10-0 Indianapolis lead.

On the first play, several Giants bottled up Colts running back Ahmad Bradshaw, the former Giant, in the backfield for a two-yard loss. But linebacker Devon Kennard briefly grazed Bradshaw's facemask on the tackle, drawing a 15-yard penalty.

On the next play, tight end Coby Fleener caught a 21-yard pass, although a replay of the reception showed that Fleener dropped the ball as he was being tackled.

Fleener may or may not have been down before he lost control of the football, although almost immediately Tom Coughlin appeared to be signaling to the officials that the pass was incomplete. But the Giants sidelined also looked like it was waiting to see a replay before challenging the call on the field.

As the first replay was being shown on the MetLife Stadium scoreboards, Luck snapped the ball for the next play. Coughlin dropped the challenge flag a second or two later. Much worse for the Giants, the defensive unit also seemed to be waiting for the replay and was not completely in position as the ball was snapped.

Fleener was left wide open, and Luck found him for a 32-yard touchdown.

The Giants finally mounted a scoring drive midway through the second quarter. It featured a 12-yard pass to Rueben Randle and a Manning pass deep over the middle for 21 yards to Beckham.

But what was a promising series stalled deep in Colts territory when Manning missed two open receivers with high overthrows and when Randle, who would have had a first down at the Indianapolis 12-yard line, dropped a Manning pass that hit him in both hands.

Giants place-kicker Josh Brown converted a 38-yard field goal to salvage something of the possession. But Vinatieri matched it a few minutes later with a 31-yard field goal and added a 48-yarder with 67 seconds left in the first half to put Indianapolis ahead, 16-3.

EXTRA POINTS

The Giants defense was dealt a devastating blow when starting right cornerback Prince Amukamara left the game with a torn biceps injury in the second quarter. That is likely a season-ending injury. Amukamara, who has been the Giants best defensive back in 2014, became the fourth starter in the Giants secondary to go down with an injury this season. Earlier this year, nickel cornerback Walter Thurmond and his replacement Trumaine McBride, were sidelined with season-ending injuries.