Eli Manning: 'We've got to get better' in red zone

If there was one issue that was made clear in Sunday night's second preseason game vs. the Indianapolis Colts it's that the New York Giants still have their issues in the red zone. The first-string offense managed to get to the red zone three times last night. They came away with field goals twice, and lost the ball on downs once.

"It's something we've got to get better at," said quarterback Eli Manning. "We had three opportunities with that first group of getting down there inside the five-yard line or near it and not get any touchdowns. That's something where we've got to get better and make sure that we're having good drives and getting the ball that close to the end zone to finish up with seven points."

There are a handful of reasons why the Giants weren't converting on third downs. Players out of position. Dropped passes. Missed blocks, You can go on. Manning certainly can't point to one reason why the offense is having trouble reaching the end zone.

"I think every third down has got its own story of why you convert or don't convert," said Manning. "We've just got to look at the game film and make sure everything is happening in a timely fashion."

Early in the game, though, the redbzone problem seemed minimal when Victor Cruz (foot) and David Baas (knee) left early with injuries. X-rays for both of the players came back negative which brought a sigh of relief for everyone, including Manning.

"You don't want any of your starters or any player every getting injured or getting hurt," said Manning. "Hopefully it's not very serious and he can bounce back quickly."

Cruz is obviously an important piece to the Giants offense. Without him it will be hard to improve the red zone problem.

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