Talk about a defensive end’s dream. Sack, forced fumble, pick it up, rumble 75 yards. It was big because the 49ers came out at halftime aggressively attempting to get themselves back into it by throwing the football down the field. But that play pretty much ended any San Fran comeback. Again, the defense continues to grow. Sacks, turnovers, pressure. The offense eschewed their normally aggressive downfield approach with a lot more short throws. And that combined with a run game that the 49ers couldn’t stop made the visitors easy pickings. Manning was solid (he had at least six drops) and didn’t need to be spectacular. Jacobs was bullish (100+ yards) and appears to be finding his groove. Coughlin has now been 5-2 in all four of his seasons with the Giants.
Now my beef, and it’s a continuation from the Atlanta game. It has to do with the Giants’ pass happy tendencies. A few times on Sunday I thought they unnecessarily put the ball in the air when running it was a much better option. Leading 16-7 near the end of the first half, the Giants forced the 49ers to punt and used their timeouts correctly in anticipation of a two minute drill. However, a good punt and subsequent penalty put the Giants back at their own six yard line. Here, they decided to go into pass mode immediately. Risky. Take for instance the 20+ yard pass play to Toomer from their own 17. The throw was great, but had to be a near perfect thrown over a DB. Under throw it and it’s picked off. Manning also nearly had the ball knocked out before the release. Why give San Fran a chance to get back into the game right before the half via turnover. Hasn’t that been happening the last few games? Again, third quarter, Giants leading 26-9, with first and 10 from their own seven. Jacobs run for an easy five. Then, the play call goes for a medium range throw to Shockey which was incomplete. Why not run the ball again? So what happens next is almost predictable, a Manning sack and how he didn’t fumble it away was a minor miracle. Then there was the block punt for a safety (which could have turned out much worse). When the run game is working, use it, especially deep in your own end. This continues a trend of the Giants being overly aggressive in the passing game when it isn’t warranted.
