Category: 2007 Season

Everything the Giants gained with last week’s victory over Detroit they gave right back in this horrible failure against the Vikings. Down 24-7 at the half, I honestly felt the Giants would make a comeback. Good teams come back in these instances. The Giants are not a good team. The thing is, they should be better with their talent level, but Sunday’s game makes you really scratch your head.  Like Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, Philly, Arizona, and Washington, they are an average team. Throw all these teams in a bag and pick two for the wildcard and you get the same thing: a team that is just about 8-8 and could maybe win a first round playoff game. And with this loss the Giants are going to be in a struggle to win nine. They aren’t beating New England. Road games in Chicago and Philly will be anything but easy. So the “gimme” games are Washington (home) and Buffalo (away). Wasn’t Minnesota a “gimme”? A chance to increase their lead to three games was pissed away.

Eli Manning: atrocious game. Sure, maybe blame receivers for running wrong routes and I know it’s not all his fault, but you can’t give the other team 21 points via three interceptions. He looked lost. Coaching staff: awful game planning. Why didn’t Bradshaw have some touches in the first half as a chance of pace? Are they capable of making any in-game adjustments? I think the Vikings’ defense threw something at them after that first successful drive and the Giants never reacted to it. They made the Giants look as if they hadn’t practiced or prepared for the game. The defense, which probably deserves a pass in this one, was put in a hole by their own quarterback. But when given the chance to stop the Vikes when it was 24-10 in the third quarter, they let them go on a long, time consuming, nine minute drive to get the three points right back.

This game may be the beginning of the end for Coughlin. Is going 3-5 in the last eight what Jerry Reese is looking for? You know the answer to that. Yesterday’s poor play and coaching is too reminiscent to the last two years. Erratic. Confused. Lost. Is this how you want your team to be defined in a November home game against a 4-6 team? The team again appears to be fading during the stretch run. They have five games to show something or else Reese will jettison most of this coaching staff and start fresh. It starts next week in Chicago.

This guy has a lot of nerve. Maybe when he sits down and watches the film of the game he will better understand. To say the Giants had no right beating them and that the Lions are clearly the better team is sour grapes. Perhaps Kitna is feeling the pressure of his 10 win prediction, because as it looks now they will maybe reach eight games. Maybe. Contests versus Green Bay (twice), Dallas, San Diego, and KC make for a rocky ride the rest of the way. But enough about Kitna, who I’ve given too much attention already.

Giants basically controlled this game for the first 55 minutes, and only then did they let up allowing the Lions to get themselves back in the game and nearly let them steal a win. But the defense answered twice in the final three minutes, first James Butler (interception in the end zone) and then Sam Madison picking one off at the Giants’ 30 to seal it. Maybe Mike and the Mad Dog will finally give the Giant defense some credit for coming up in a big spot. Probably not. But you know both would have ripped into the team had they coughed up that lead. I will say Dog gave credit to Strahan for his three sack game, prefacing it by announcing “and you know I don’t like Strahan.”

In reality, this game shouldn’t have been close. The Giants offense controlled the game throughout, and except for two fumbles in Lions’ territory (Jacobs, Moss) the score could have easily been, say 26-3, and prevent the hectic finish. Two three-and-outs in the final two minutes didn’t help. Nonetheless, this proved to be a huge bounce back game for the G-Men. After a disappointing outcome with Dallas last week, a loss to Detroit really could have put the pressure on Coughlin’s crew and rallied the anti-Giant conglomerate. After all, The Lions were 6-3 and 4-0 in the dome and sans Dallas and Green Bay, is the toughest game on the schedule to date. It’s also worth mentioning the nice game for Eli who is the leader of the offense and definitely led the way Sunday. They are now in the driver’s seat for the first wildcard slot in the NFC.

Because I attended Sunday’s game, I just recently sat down and watched a tape (DVR) of the contest. You miss so much at a game, particularly replays (only positive plays involving the Giants are shown – an issue for another day) and of course the commentary. What I ascertained was the Giants were playing a pretty good game for the first 28 minutes, which they led 14-10. In fact, they were the better team. But at the two minute warning of the first half, the momentum of the game shifted to Dallas as they clearly begain to control both sides of the line of scrimmage for the rest of the game.

If you had told me the Giants would limit the Dallas running game and hold Witten to just two insignificant catches, I would have smelled a victory. But Dallas was able to give Tony Romo time to make big plays that killed the Giants. Conversely,  they got good pressure on Eli Manning throughout the game and disrupted the Giants’ passing game.

Dallas has rung up big numbers on everyone this year, and given the Giants’ personnel I really don’t think there was much more they could do. The Cowboys are simply a better team at this point in time.  The Giants are another playmaking LB or ballhawking secondary player away from competing against what the Cowboys bring to the table right now. They were only going to win in a shootout, which brings me to my final point.

I was very unhappy with the offensive game plan the Giants implemented Sunday. There were zero long distance throws. There was more “short stuff” than I have seen in the last three years. Sure the Giants offensive line was having more problems than at any other time this season, but Dallas’ main weakness is coverage down the field. You’ve go to be able to fight through it and take a few shots. They never challenged Dallas in this way. Not until the final play of the game, which at that point, was comically too late. Which brings me to my final point.

This is the first time I was dissapointed in Eli Manning in some time. Sure he has played worse games. In fact, glancing at his stats at game’s end would indicate he played decently.  What bothered me more than anything was that, under duress, he was unable to make plays.  The OL did have its worse pass blocking game. I didn’t like the game plan.  But this is when you QB has to make some plays, when things aren’t going by the book. Despite being 23-34, there were some throws that had to be made and weren’t. Dallas is by no means a dominating defense and Eli, at home in a big spot, needed to show more.

Next week’s game versus the Lions in Detroit is huge. The winner gets a stranglehold on the first wildcard. The loser won’t have to look far to see teams in the rear view miror.

For the third straight year, a Tom Coughlin team is 6-2. That’s very impressive. Many people have obviously recognized this by mentioning his name as a Coach of the Year candidate. He certainly deserves to be included in that arena, especially considering many had the Giants as a last place team in 2007. Now to the flip side. Last year they went a dreadful 2-6 in the last eight. Two years ago, when the won the  NFC East, they went 5-3 and bowed out without a fight in the playoff game versus Carolina. One could make the arguement, and I agree, that injuries had a huge role in those dissapointments.  However, how the team finishes this year will determines Couglin’s fate.

General Manager Jerry Reese without a doubt wants to see how the team performs down the stretch, particularly because this year’s team is for the most part injury free and in position to earn a playoff berth. Reese wants his teams to be playing well in November/December when the stakes become high and playoff teams assert themselves. I don’t want to get into how many wins out of the remaining eight the Giants have to win to get Coughlin an invite back. I do think they need to make the playoffs. A playoff win? That’s debatable. Playing at a high level is what Reese is looking for the rest of the way and not the stumbling, lacking confidence team which finished out 2006. Reese knows he has a relatively young team which can be good for the next three to four years. Most every offseason question mark has been answered with an exclamation point. The last question he wants answered is whether Coughlin is the man to guide the team over that span.

I wrote about it in my last post. Can there be any doubt now? Let’s set the stage. You are winning 13-0 and receive the second half kickoff. You’re playing against the next to last worse run stopping team in the league. How do you open your play calling (in rain and wetness no less)? Three straight passes. Three straight incompletion. Where is the logic here? You’re running the ball very well, so keep at it. This play calling is going to cost the team a game, trust me. I’ve seen it before. It was apparent Eli’s receivers weren’t breaking free, and combined with some drops and errant passes, you have to adjust your game plan and stick with the run. I was also disappointed how the Giants closed out the game. Four straight penalties by the offense while running out the clock late that harkened back to last year’s lack of discipline. That has to be cleaned up.

Now we did win, and Brandon Jacobs is beginning to backup my predictions of becoming another Larry Johnson type back. He’s running well, but hasn’t yet broken off a real long one where he can show off the wheels. That’s coming. The defense generally played well, but got a bit sloppy on the Fin’s last drive (Pierce roughing call, then allowing TD). When you consider the weather conditions and travel situation to London, this type of game was almost predictable. They have two weeks (man, do I hate the bye week) to rest/heal and get ready for Big D.

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.

Four straight wins has gotten the team right into the thick of things in the NFC. Of course, you’re never quite out of it in this conference, but the Giants have really turned it around.

Some quick bullets about the 31-10 win in Atlanta:

• Coughlin teams are now 12-2 in October (dating back to 2004)
• Marvin Harrison and Peyton Manning have the most touchdown hookups since 2005. Next best? Plax and Eli, not too shabby
• The Giants put up 31 points against a Falcon defense which has played pretty decently despite all their problems. Considering it was on the road makes it even more impressive
• The road team won for the 12th consecutive time this series (okay, everyone knew that…)

As far as Manning, he needs to cut down on the bad throws over the middle. His pick before the end of the half was inexcusable. He’s better than that. Overall, he did play well and answered Atlanta’s early scores with scores of his own, allowing the game to not sway towards the Falcons and get the crowd involved. His decision making at the end of first halves is somewhat puzzling. In the past, he’s been money during that time. Washington, the Jets, and Atlanta all had takeways at the very same time. 

After a slow start defensively, the Giants were all over Harrington and his offense. Good pressure and good coverage down field.

I don’t know what to make of James Butler. On bad plays, he seems to be the glaring man out of position. On good plays by the defense, I don’t necessarily see him so is he doing his job in those instances?

Special teams were much better, coverage wise. Not sure why the Giants, and all teams, don’t mix in the squib quick every single game.

Yeah sure I am getting way ahead of myself, but how can you not be excited about what this rookie has shown. Followed up two good games versus divisional rivals Washington and Philly with a second half that 1) helped turn the game around 2) clinched the victory. And all that after being benched for the first half by Coughlin for an  undisclosed team violation.

First, with the Giants trailing 24-21 and the Jets driving for a potential game deciding score, Ross picked off a badly thrown Pennington pass in the end zone (well in the end zone I thought anyway). Two things here. First, he caught it, something Giants DB’s haven’t been able to do in a long time. Although it was a bad decision by Pennington, Ross was in position to make the play. And he looks confident doing it.

Second, after getting the lead, the Giants defense again made a stand when Ross picked up Pennington again and returned it for a touchdown and end the game. It looked briefly that the Giants would go back to their bad habits. After Butler dropped what should have been an easy and clinching interception, Pennington converted a 3rd and 16 to the Jet 36 yard line play to keep things alive. That’s until two plays later when Ross faked a blitz, fell back into coverage, then neatly broke on an out pass that he returned for thrilling touchdown.

The last DB we had who appeared to have Ross’ ability was Jason Sehorn, who never returned to that form after hurting his knee in the 1998 preseason.

Some other notes: the defense had just one sack and generally wasn’t able to get to Pennington, but they were only responsible for seven points. Eli Manning did his best Phil Simms imitation by playing a bad first half and followed it up with doing whatever was necessary to get the team in position to score points in the second half. You love to see that out of your QB. Plax has been simply incredible this season and only Randy Moss is keeping him from being the NFL’s #1 WR so far.

I have HBO. I watch Inside the NFL. Not a particularly big fan of the show for a number of years now for a few reasons.  Okay, a lot of reasons.  First, Chris Collinsworth. Over opinionated and waffles more than a politician running for office. One week he’s with you, a few weeks later he’s not.  Second, Dan Marino appears to show up without doing a lick of research. Thirdly, Bob Costas is so cerebrally above these guys that he stoops down to their level and adds to the show’s ineptitude by trying to be one of the guys. Chris Carter is actually decent. But here’s the real reason Inside the NFL has Jumped The Shark. For the last two weeks, the Giants have not been included in the highlights!! Are you kidding me?! Games versus Washington and Philadelphia? The game versus the Skins was actually an interesting game with a great ending. Not showing every game’s highlights is a real disgrace in my opinion. It’s just not just the Giants, other teams get the cold shoulder too. But I guess seeing Marino and Carter debate over the most ridiculous questions, with Collinsworth as mediator no less, is more important. Where are you Len Dawson and Nick Buoniconti?

Wow!! What else is there to say about that performance, one of the best defensive efforts I have seen from the Giants.  Pressure on the quarterback in the form of 12 sacks (six by Osi) was the knockout blow in this one. McNabb never had a chance, and his now limited mobility makes this Giant nemesis an even easier target. The Giants’ offense missed some chances in the first half (missed 34 yd FG, pick by Manning deep in Eagles’ territory) and then went conservative in the second half with the way the game was unfolding, allowing the Eagles to stay within striking distance. Problem is, they had no strike in them on this night.

 The subplot in all this carnage was Andy Reid’s blatant disregard for his quarterback and his inability to adjust his game plan to keep the Giants off his quarterback. At one point, I felt almost embarrassed for the Birds as it was simply too easy…almost like they were giving us the game. Even John Madden became critical. How about a double team or a chip on Osi? How about a rollout by McNabb?  This underscores my evaluation of the Eagles: if they come out and everything is working their way, they are hell on wheels. But, if they come out and the opposing team does something different than expected, they simply do not adjust. And in the past relied on McNabb to pull it out. I don’t think he is that type of QB anymore.

Back to the Giants. This is really the fourth straight year under Coughlin that the defense has stumbled early, then picked it up to position themselves into a good spot. I said after the Dallas game the defense shouldn’t be this bad. They obviously aren’t the ’85 Bears either. But they should be a decent defensive unit that can rush the passer and consequently make big plays. The key for this team is to avoid the injury plague and play strong football in the second half. Not looking ahead, but the Giants have four very winnable games coming up. A season that looked so bleak two weeks ago has suddenly has a ray of light.