The Giants went into the bye week at 3-4, but despite the clear disappointment, there appeared to be progress from a new, mildly conservative system installed by coordinator Ben McAdoo this offseason.
Eli Manning was throwing fewer interceptions. His down field shots seemed more calculated than ever.
Then, all of a sudden, there was a push to make the team more aggressive again.
So here we are heading into a game against the Legion of Boom in Seattle, and the narrative still surrounds McAdoo's willingness to take deep shots.
He has a fantastic young wide receiver in Odell Beckham and little else. Victor Cruz won't be walking through that door any time soon.
So why the urgency to hit on deep passes against Richard Sherman and Co.?
"You don't ever go into a game scared. You go in and trust your plan and trust your preparation," McAdoo told reporters on Thursday. "We hit those throws and made those plays in practice last week. We are going to practice hard and take care of the execution and fundamentals and the physicality this week in practice and go out and expect to execute on Sunday."
If McAdoo sees weaknesses deep against Seattle -- which may be doubtful, setting up the play action will be difficult without Rashad Jennings in the lineup again this week -- then so be it.
But if there's a desire to take deep shots just for the sake of taking them, Seattle will make them pay rather quickly.
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