Well, for the 2014 New York Football Giants, there are so many weaknesses that the team may have to pick and choose which areas to address.

Recently-retired offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride commented on the shuffling of the offensive line this season and how it negatively affected what Eli Manning was able to do.

He said he had been ?concerned about the depth on the O-line for a while? and as the injuries mounted ?It kind of all came to a head this year.?

?It just made it impossible for our quarterback to function,? Gilbride said on SiriusXM?s Late Hits. ?(Eli Manning) is a guy where if you give him enough time, he?s always going to be throwing the ball to the right person. He?s going to know what you?re doing defensively, he?s going to see through your disguises, he?s going to be an accurate passer. But he?s not a scrambler and you?ve got to give him some help. And if you give him some help he?s proven that he can win a championship for you.? (READ FULL)?

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Giants management and other reactions after the announcement that offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride has decided to retire this afternoon:

?It?s hard to say, ?It?s time. To finally do it, it?s a very unnatural feeling. I?ve been telling my wife (Debbie) for years I was going to do it. She moved back to Rhode Island (where she helps care for a granddaughter when the Gilbrides? daughter is working), so I?ve been by myself in the hotel for three or four years. I knew this was it and I was going to do it. I finally pulled the trigger. But it?s difficult.

I?ve enjoyed every minute of coaching. Certainly the last 10 years with the Giants has been a special time, to be part of the bringing the Super Bowls to New York and New Jersey and the Giants organization. I?ve thoroughly enjoyed the development of some of the young players that we brought along, certainly starting with Eli. But (also) Steve Smith and Victor Cruz; they hadn?t had a Pro Bowl receiver since 1968 and we brought two back to them. That?s been fun. And I thoroughly enjoyed being part of those exciting last-minute drives that we seem to excel at. That 2011 season, we had six or seven of them, including the Super Bowl.

"There are high-ranking officials in the Giants organization that believe Gilbride will be fired, according to a source with knowledge of the organization's thinking. And the belief is that unless something surprising occurs in organizational meetings over the next week, the Giants will have a new offensive coordinator next season."

CEO John Mara intimated today changes were looming for the Giants' offense, calling it "broken", saying "we need to fix it." Mara also stated the team cannot go into next season with the "same personnel".

The Giants did not accomplish that feat until the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter in Sunday?s loss to the Seahawks, so it?s up to offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride to figure out how to move the ball.

Of course, five more interceptions from Eli Manning didn?t help, but it wasn?t all his fault.

You said you have your faith in the offense and the offensive coaches. Have you sensed this is kind of a difficult year for Kevin Gilbride, given the pieces that he has lost and obviously Eli has struggled? I can imagine it?s hard to find plays that work."It certainly hasn?t been a connect-all-the-dots from day one type of year. Kevin?s a pro, he?s been around, he?s done this a long time. We try to find ways to take advantage of things. It hasn?t been easy."

It has been a long, and frustrating season for the New York Giants offense. From the inability to run the ball for a majority of the year, to Eli Manning and the receiving core failing to find any sort of chemistry to generate points.

If there has been just one positive this season, it's?been worth every penny; and that is the play of Victor Cruz, who signed a five-year contract extension worth more than $43 million in July and may be worth way more than that after the struggles of the Giants offense came full-circle.

Gilbride said the Chargers? defense does a terrific job of disguising its formations.

?More than anything, they?re a pressure-oriented team that would like to do anything they can to keep you off balance,? he said.??They probably have as wide an array of blitz packages of anybody that we?ve faced.?I think they?re getting some players back that were injured that will help them.?

But really, settling for field goals in two early red zone opportunities ultimately resulted in Big Blue leaving points on the board, which in turn wound up being huge in the loss.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride came under some heat for his play-calling within the 10-yard-line.

Big Blue?s offense has shown some decent signs of life the past few weeks, but the unit still has not hit its stride.

In the Week 1 loss to the Cowboys, Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Rueben Randle all racked up 100-plus yards receiving, so Eli Manning is hoping he can spread the ball around on the Cowboys? depleted secondary.

But that doesn?t mean that the offense can take a back seat and simply rely on the defense to get stops. The defense has been great in the Giants? three-game winning streak, but now it?s time for the offense to do its share.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride met the media on Thursday to discuss the state of his offense. Of course, he was very pleased with Andre Brown?s performance against the Raiders.

Well, let?s just say he was factor?a huge factor at that.

Brown rushed a career-high 30 times for a career-high 115 yards in the Giants? 24-20 win over the Raiders.

Andre Brown is set to make his return coming off a broken left leg, and the timing is great, since David Wilson has been placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said that Brown might not be physically capable of shouldering the entire load at this point, but even so, he?s expecting Brown to contribute in any way possible, especially as a pass blocker.

The problem is that the Giants have lost all five of those games.

With the Giants taking on the Chicago Bears Thursday night, things do not get any easier, especially against a defensive unit known for getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks and creating turnovers.

He said it?s been extremely challenging so far but that he and his guys will keep plugging away until something works.

?I think the thing that has been encouraging, yet disappointing, is you see glimpses, so you say we have a shot here,? Gilbride said. ?We?re just not stringing enough of them together and that?s what we have to get better at. That?s that consistency thing and that?s where if you can keep doing the same things over and over, you?re going to limit or reduce the number of errors and you have a much better chance of stringing together those eight to 10-play drives that have been very characteristic of us, but not this year.?

But that doesn?t automatically mean the Giants? offense will show up Sunday in Kansas City against the Chiefs.

The Chiefs? defense so far has only allowed 34 points in its three games this season ? second to only the Seattle Seahawks (27).

The Giants offensive problems haven't appeared over night and they won't be solved as quickly either. The offense has been on a decline since Eli's 4,900+ yard passing season. A season in which the Giants had the second-to-last ranked rush offense and won a Super Bowl. Manning and the Giants went through their usual mid-season slump and had to open up the playbook to overcome some of the teams other deficiencies. Even then, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride could hardly keep pace with his play calling. Eli Manning and the Giants consistently took the play clock down under :05. The playmaking of Victor Cruz and a healthy Hakeem Nicks made that offense special, not the play selection of Gilbride.

Gilbride's play calling has been stale since after the Giants first Super Bowl victory with QB Eli Manning. That playbook hasn't changed much since Gilbride was coaching in the 1980's, but the NFL has.

That?s because the Giants have struggled to an 0-2 start out of the gate, with turnovers plaguing what the team has been able to muster offensively.

The focus for Big Blue has been to try to establish a running attack, but now that Carolina will be shorthanded in the secondary, hopefully the Giants will try to exploit their opponent?s weakness.

The problem is that this week, Eli Manning will be going up against his older brother Peyton, who is fresh off a game in which he threw seven touchdown passes.

However, that is for the defense to worry about. The Giants? offense has plenty more to be concerned with than Peyton Manning?s performance.

Sure, the offense has plenty to work on after an inconsistent preseason, but Gilbride wants to see his players in meaningful game action to see how they respond.

He is very excited about what second-year running back David Wilson brings to the table in a starting role. With Andre Brown out until at least midseason, Wilson will be the go-to guy in the backfield.

On offense in particular ? looking past Eli Manning, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz of course ? a few young guns will be looked upon to shoulder the load.

And offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is confident that these young guns will come through.

The Giants broke minicamp today with very few of their offseason issues yet resolved. On offense, Victor Cruz is still not signed and Hakeem Nicks (knee) was not turned completely loose during minicamp after skipping OTAs. ?They both missed valuable time so far this year, something OC Kevin Gilbride says no player, including them, can afford to do in this day and age.

"The thing is they haven?t been working," said Gilbride today. "They haven?t been listening. They haven?t been growing; they haven?t been developing. They haven?t been receiving the coaching that they need to get better. To be quite frank, they need it."

With neither Victor Cruz nor Hakeem Nicks in attendance at Giants off-season team activities, Eli Manning has had no choice but to?rely on the younger wide receivers.

Among them: second and third-year players Reuben Randle and Jerrel Jernigan, as well as free-agent addition Louis Murphy.

Following Day 1 of OTAs Wednesday, the Giants quarterback displayed no concerns about not having his No. 1 or 2 receivers out there with him on the field. In fact, Nicks' absence should have been expected, Manning said.

"There was no reason to think he wasn?t going to be here," Manning said. "Right now I?m just worrying about myself going out there executing, the guys who are here, trying to make everybody better, up to speed on what we?re trying to do and get the young guys involved and get them caught up to speed on everything going on and try to get better. That?s all we?re working on."

That means there is a slot to fill.

In Cruz's absence, third-year wideout Jerrel Jernigan is getting reps as the slot receiver. Though offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride expects Cruz to return to the team this season, he doesn't think it can hurt to allow Jernigan to have some opportunities.

On the Victor Cruz contract situation....."I guess I have great confidence that it?s going to get done, so I don?t give it a lot of thought because I know he wants to be here, I know we want him to be here, the people that have to resolve that does not include me, and I?ll be honest with you I?m kind of excited until he gets back. I?m certainly looking forward to him getting back. I don?t want to give any impression contrary to that."

Jerrel Jernigan will get first crack at Cruz' slot position...."I?m looking forward to seeing?Jerrel Jernigan?and what he can do inside. I think it?s about time that he steps up and I think we feel he has enough ability and he?s been here now long enough. Until Victor gets back, he?ll be the main guy inside at the slot position. It?s a chance for him to shine and step forward and do the things that we believe he can do and then whoever else shows up. I think we want to see what?Louis Murphy?can do outside, but really it?s JJ inside is the guy that? It?s going to be a great opportunity for him."

Offensively, the team re-signed left tackle Will Beatty and added Brandon Myers to replace Martellus Bennett, who signed with the Chicago Bears. Also making the lineup is first-round selection Justin Pugh, who is penciled in at left guard, as well as Victor Cruz, who has yet to re-sign with the team for the coming season.

Writes Rotoworld:

In Rotoworld's Evan Silva's two-round mock draft, the analyst projects the Giants to nab offensive guard Chance Warmack and cornerback Darius Slay in the first two rounds.

Silva's prediction of a guard goes along with the theme of addressing an aging line. Warmack is not the prototypical name that has been linked to the Giants, though. Other mock drafts have tended to connect the team with offensive tackles -- including Warmack's former teammate at Alabama, D.J. Fluker, and Menelik Watson out of Florida State.

White worked out with the 49ers on Thursday, and according to reports, the Giants are the next stop on his comeback tour.

The Giants re-signed David Carr to a deal earlier in the off-season, but White is potential third-string insurance policy and perhaps the player Kevin Gilbride could design a read-option/Wildcat package for.

Teams usually change up their coordinators every few years, either by choice or attrition. The Giants have made changes. OC Kevin Gilbride took over for John Hufnagel in 2006, after Hufnagel was fired. ST coordinator Tom Quinn was elevated to the position after Mike Sweatman retired in 2006. Perry Fewell is the fifth DC in the Coughlin era, preceded by Johnny Lynn, Tim Lewis, Steve Spagnuolo and Bill Sheridan, all of whom have had peaks and valleys during their time with the Giants.

?We?re just not making plays that we?ve had some opportunities to make, and they?re there to be had,? Gilbride said. ?Whether it?s a misfire of a throw, or pressure on the quarterback, you got two big plays last week.?

The Giants need plenty of help in order to sneak into the playoffs, but Bradshaw is only focused on the upcoming game.

Baltimore?s defensive unit is normally one of the best in the game, but it has been plagued this season by injuries. Still, the Ravens? defense ranks second in the NFL in limiting touchdowns in the red zone ? something the Giants? offense has struggled with all season.

?You see size up front; they?re very powerful, big, difficult to move and displace, so it?s hard to get a consistent running game,? Gilbride said. ?Of course, they had some injuries with their linebackers, so I?m sure they?re feeling inconsistent. But we see the ability level.?

Bradshaw?s sprained knee may keep him out of Sunday?s contest against the Atlanta Falcons. That just means that the next guy in line ? in this case David Wilson ? will have to come up big if Bradshaw is out.

?We?ve had guys who have always stepped up and recognized the absence of one player is going to require someone else to elevate their game, whether it?s performance on the field or emotional,? Gilbride said. ?His (Bradshaw) toughness with everybody is always appreciated and that enthusiasm he brings. So you lose that.?

One of Johnson?s disciples, former Giants? defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, is now the defensive coordinator for the Saints ? the Giants opponent this weekend.

Gilbride said that he's seen this type of defense at least twice a year during his coaching tenure.

The big news all week has been that rookie running back David Wilson will likely see more action in lieu of Andre Brown?s season-ending broken fibula. Gilbride said Wilson is working hard, and he?s encouraged with the rookie?s progress.

?I think he?s making fewer mistakes, and I think you see a little bit of it, an incremental growth,? Gilbride said. ?It?s never as fast as a coach would want, but it is definitely happening.?

The offense appeared out of sync both weeks, but it has been working hard this week to improve against the Bengals.

?It wasn?t something we expected to happen,? Gilbride said. ?We certainly appreciate the ability level of the two defenses we?ve played, but we thought, and expected, to perform a lot better than we did.?

Gilbride is familiar with the Steelers? defense from his days as the offensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers in the early 1990s.

?It?s a well-designed scheme,? Gilbride said. ?They do a great job with seeing how you?re protecting, and then they attack very intelligently. But then they mix it up. They have a very good complimentary package.?

The game will be a rematch of the Giants? 24-17 opening night loss, and Gilbride expects the team to play better football this time around.

?I think we?re a little healthier,? Gilbride said. ?I think we can play better.?I think we played better as the game went on; unfortunately we got started slowly. I think they?re very good. I think they have an outstanding pass rush; they went out and spent a lot of money to get two terrific corners.?

He first commented on Hakeem Nicks?s progress. Nicks practiced this week as he continues to heal from foot and knee injuries.

?He?s getting better,? Gilbride said. ?Unfortunately, it?s a lengthy process getting back to where he was. He is definitely better this week than he was the week before. You?re encouraged by seeing him do some things maybe he couldn?t have done last week. It?s a matter of just continuing to see that growth and return to where he was before he was injured.?

Carlos Rogers is threatening to perform Victor Cruz's salsa. Jim Harbaugh is taking jabs at the Giants' coaching staff.

But how about what's going to take place on the field. Here's three key match-ups to watch for:

Last year, the Giants were dead last rushing the football. We wondered out loud if they would ever get anywhere near the days of Earth, Wind and Fire when they averaged a lofty fiver yards per carry.

They are currently averaging 4.8 YPC thanks to a healthier Ahmad Bradshaw and group of capable backups in rookie David Wilson and journeyman Andre Brown. Last week, against Cleveland, Bradshaw carried the ball 30 times for 200 yards.

Eli Manning has thrown for the second-highest yardage total in the league, only behind Drew Brees, and his touchdown total (7) is tied with the likes of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

Overall, Big Blue owns the seventh-ranked offense in the league, averaging 411 yards and 28 points per game.

OC Kevin Gilbride on the Eagles' retooled defense:

"They?re good players.? They had good players, so I don?t know if there?s a dramatic discernible difference when you look at them.? They?ve upgraded some people, but they?ve lost their Patterson?s and Bunkley?s of the world, both whom have been great players for them through the years. ?Bottom line is they have a great rotation up front, their defensive line is outstanding, they play hard, they?re relentless, and if you?re not ready to match their intensity, it can be a long day.? We?re going to need to be at our very best.? Certainly the secondary is a little bit different in the fact that the guy that?s been a thorn in our side for years, Asante Samuel, is gone, but Rodgers-Cromartie looks like he?s playing great football.? You?ve got two terrific corners to go along with that great front and now they have linebackers that fly all over the field.? It?s a tremendous defense. There?s a reason they?re ranked as high as they are defensively."

If you play in the NFL, and you go about your offseason business?that time in between New Year?s day (for non-playoff teams) and the start of preseason camp in late July?by actually taking significant amounts of time off from the game, chances are you?re not one of the truly elite players in the League. There are exceptions, of course, and plenty of guys spend their free time away from training centers, film rooms and athletic environments, choosing instead to hit up the party scene or lounge by the pool or whatever it is professional athletes do to relax these days.?There?s another portion of the NFL populace that, once the final whistle blows on game 16, spends every waking moment of every day tirelessly working to become a better player. Some of these guys are just wired that way, and it?s quite impressive.?Most Super Bowl winning teams, at least theoretically, should be composed largely of the latter category, and while it?s near impossible to calculate with any measure of accuracy a percentage of hard working players, I?d bet there are few players on the Giants roster who don?t qualify.

Some snippets from Thursday's presser with the Giants' OC Kevin Gilbride, who is dealing with a a multitude os issues. His offensive line is going through a transition period (he said "we are thin" at tackle) and he is trying to find a starter at tight end, where Bear Pascoe has emerged as the steadiest option. Let's not forget to mention that his No. 1 WR - Hakeem Nicks - may not be ready to start the season.

But there are always silver linings to reflect on. The Giants keep on supplying him with useful players for his offense. First round pick David Wilson is the quickest player the team has had in recent memory.

As per SNYGiants Insider Mike Garafolo via Twitter:

Mike Garafolo (MikeGarafolo):?Giants to promote Sean Ryan to quarterbacks coach, Kevin Gilbride Jr. to wide receivers coach.