Sunday night I was able to sit in section 224, Suite A and watch the game between the Giants and Cardinals. The suite was owned by the firm doing the electrical work on the new stadium, and it was a first class box.
Unfortunately, when you are in a suite there are many distractions, like the TV right above me playing the Angels/Yankees ALCS. Being an Angels’ fan, I had a hard time diverting my attention away from the television which also made it difficult to get a good feel for the football game. Simply too much stimulus.
What I was able to decipher from the football game was a team that really looks, all of sudden, out of sync on offense. Receivers appeared to be well covered, and at other times not ready for the ball when delivered their way. A lot of Manning’s passes were forced throws, and the offensive line appeared to be allowing pressure to come up the middle (incidentally not from the right side, where rookie William Beatty started and did well). The competition has become better the last two weeks, but I’d hardly call the Cardinals a high pressure defense. They looked like it on Sunday night. The other oddity was where did Brandon Jacbos disappear to? The combination of power and speed was the best we’ve seen from Jacobs this year, but the Giants seemed to get away from the run game (and Jacobs) for a portion of the game. The Giants insist that eight man fronts calls for throwing the football, but I think were still showing too much shotgun formation and not using play action nearly enough. Out of sync? Identity crisis? I’m not really sure how this happens in a span of two weeks.
Defensively, the Giants played pretty well. There was good pressure on Warner and the defensive backfield did a nice job on the talented Cardinal receivers, but unfortunately didn’t get much help from the offense or punter Jeff Feagles. Feagles probably had his worst game as a Giant, shanking punts after Giant three-and-outs, giving the Cards a short field on at least three different occasions. They finally cashed in.
An odd game to say the least. The Giants out-stat the Cards, including time of possession, and if Mario Manningham doesn’t drop a perfectly thrown touchdown pass in the fourth quarter which resulted in three instead of seven points, the game’s outcome may have been different. But four turnovers will always be the difference, including two on the final two drives in an attempt to tie the game.
After watching the replay on NFL Network, two plays made this loss even more difficult.
First, Brandon Jacobs appeared to give up on his lead block on the third and two play deep in Cards’ territory. Insead of getting a first-and-goal, the Giants settled for three. That proved to be huge, because the Giants then twice drove into AZ territory on the final two drives.
Second, on the last drive where Eli threw the interception into double coverage, Kevin Boss appeared to be breaking free down the middle of the field on a LB, with nothing between him and the endzone. Manning has to make a better decision in that spot.