The New York Giants offense got off to a shaky start last year under new coordinator Ben McAdoo, but by season's end, the Giants attack looked nearly unstoppable thanks to the efforts of quarterback Eli Manning, the rapid development of world-beating wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., the steady growth of running back Andre Williams and the output of players like Rashad Jennings, Rueben Randle and Larry Donnell.
Even more impressive, they looked that unstoppable while operating without the services of Pro Bowl wide receiver Victor Cruz.
Things certainly weren't perfect in New York and the final record reflected that, but according to Manning, despite the fact that offseason workouts don't start for another few weeks he thinks he and the rest of the offensive group are already well ahead of where they were at this time last season when they were readying to digest McAdoo's scheme for the first time and he was dealing with the lingering effects of a left ankle sprain.
"This year will be a much easier transition, knowing that we have been through so much of it already. It's definitely a different starting point. I feel good about it," Manning said, per Michael Eisen of Giants.com. "I feel that I have a good understanding of it, but there is still room to grow and that is why I try to keep it as fresh in my mind as possible. Looking at old game-plan sheets and calling plays in my head - throwing routes with receivers trying to call out plays to myself, so you don't let it slip away. It was new last year and it wasn't something I have been doing for 10 years, so you want to keep it fresh and go through your reminders and all your checks. So when we come back I haven't taken a step backwards and have to re-learn things. It is still all there. There will be new stuff and we will be taking it to another level."
The notion that the Giants accomplished all that they did offensively last season without Cruz and while still learning McAdoo's system is, no doubt, scary to the rest of the league.
Manning, ready to embark on his 12th NFL season and 12th at the helm of the New York offense, is coming off a season in which he set Giants records with 601 passing attempts, 379 completions and a 63.1 completion-percentage.
Manning's unit averaged 367.2 yards a game and totaled 5,875 net yards, good enough for fourth all-time in franchise history.
Despite the positive statistical outcome and plan to garner even more offensive success next season, Manning said that what really concern him are the figures in the Win and Loss columns.
"I'm not pleased with the amounts of wins. That is the important thing," Manning said, after the Giants finished 6-10 and missed out on the postseason. "There are still some situations that we need to get better at and that I need to improve on and, as an offense, we need to improve on. (We need to make sure) we are taking care of what needs to be done during the course of the game to put us in a situation to win, or if we got opportunities in the fourth quarter, to be at our best and win our games in those situations. There is definitely still some room for improvement, but I feel good that I can play at a high level in this system and can definitely make improvements and we can win a lot of games and play a lot better this year."
Manning also said that the recent addition of running back Shane Vereen should add another element to the Giants offense as they look to take another run at an NFL championship.
"I have talked to Shane a little bit and I have seen him play over the years in New England," Manning said. "He is very versatile. He can catch the ball well out of the backfield, run routes very well (when he is) split outside and he runs the ball well when you use him as a running back. I think it gets you excited because you can use him in a lot of different ways and move him around and create mismatches."
Adding Vereen to a unit already comprised of Manning, ODB and a presumably healthy Cruz, along with Williams, Jennings, Randle and Donnell - along with whomever should join the team via the 2015 NFL Draft - should make for some pretty massive fireworks on the field next season at the Meadowlands.
