Ben McAdoo: Giants' offense can still get better

After the New York Giants put up 49 points (42 offensively) on the New Orleans Saints, with career performances from Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo would have to be feeling pretty good about his offense.

Right?

Well, he is, but rather than rest on their laurels, McAdoo is still looking for ways to get better, opportunities to improve the offense.

"At the end of the day, when you look back at the game, we felt we took advantage of some opportunities to put points on the board, we had some good drives, executed fairly well. We had a drive in the second half, we were down to the 21-yard line and we ended up getting a play or two called back there and took us out of scoring range, so we had an opportunity to put some more points on the board there and at the end of the game, we had a possibility for three completions to go down and win the game and that's what we're working on, getting it fixed," McAdoo said on Thursday.

Even though he didn't make a play he probably should have at the end of the game, McAdoo did have some good things to say about Dwayne Harris, who was carted off the field with a sprained knee and ankle, only to come back into the game.

"Dwayne made some nice plays in the game, had an opportunity at the end there to come through with what would've been a nice catch for him. He made some plays in the green zone, he hung in there, played fast, played aggressive, he's physical, he's a tough young man, and he's improving each and every week as a receiver," McAdoo said.

Looking ahead, one of the more potentially interesting facets of Sunday's game is the Giants' tight end situation. Or perhaps their lack of a tight end situation. Both Will Tye and Jerome Cunningham are more accurately described as H-backs. But despite the extreme inexperience at the position, McAdoo is not concerned.

"The game is not too big for him [Will Tye]. He seems to play with a calm mind, has some -- plays at a good play speed, soft hands, and when there's a lot of moving and shaking going on out there, it doesn't seem to disrupt him much," McAdoo said.

"Jerome is a fast-playing, young guy learning the game. It'll be good to have his speed and athleticism out there on the field."

And finally, while it may not seem like it on the surface -- after all, how often do the Giants and Buccaneers play? -- this is really a matchup between two familiar foes. Tampa is coached by Lovie Smith, who was the long-time coach of the Chicago Bears, while Ben McAdoo was a long-time assistant to Packers' coach Mike McCarthy. And while McAdoo is his own man, his offense is definitely strongly influenced by McCarthy's version of the West Coast Offense.

However, that also means that McAdoo is well versed in Smith's take on the Tampa-2 defense.

"Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely [this is a typical Lovie Smith defense]. They play hard, they're well-coordinated, they count on penetration up front, and they put a lot of time and energy into studying what you do and letting their instincts take over on the back end.

Tampa's defense, they are a -- playing against them a bunch in the past and seeing this defense on film for the first time this week, they are well-coordinated, they play with a lot of speed and a lot of energy. They play with a lot of different bodies so they can keep that speed and energy up. They do a nice job of tackling the football, they try to get the ball out. They'll kind of try to wrap you up with one hand and punch and strip with the other," McAdoo said. "Turnovers are big for them, they like to be well-coordinated and be on the same page with the variety of coverages they run. They spend a lot of time studying the concepts from a past game perspective and they like to penetrate up front. It will be a good challenge for us."