The Big Cat Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I COME BEARING GIFTS! Haven't even read this yet. It's an email from one of my closest friends who we couldn't get in for our podcast this week so he sent this along for us to use. I offer it to you now, since you guys will tear through it faster than I can. So I've been thinking about the Giants a lot lately and there are a few areas of focus that I think are worthy of some attention heading into this Sunday's home game against the Bills. What the Giants are Doing Right Putting Up Points Through The Air You wouldn't know it from the record, but Eli is on pace for a career year. He's just under 1500 yards after five weeks with 11 touchdowns and 5 picks. It would be nice to see the INTs stay down, but there's no reason to think they won't, especially after last year's 25-pick season, especially since 3 of those 5 came against last week's meltdown against the Seahawks. This is a bit counter-intuitive given the Giants traditional reliance on the Jacobs-Bradshaw ground game to open up the Play Action, but it's been the one consistent area of success in the Giants offensive game, even despite injuries to Domenik Hixon, Mario Manningham, and the unproven Ramses Barden. No matter, though, because Hakeem Nicks is still a stud and Victor Cruz has stepped up to the big time (and has the #1 play of the week on Sportscenter right now, obviously the ultimate metric of potent offense). I'm usually a hater of Kevin Gilbride's offensive play-calling, but he's adjusted to being pass heavy, which is at least a recognition of what's working, and they've put up at least 25 points in each game (save for the Week 1 loss to the Redskins) Getting Pressure on the QB It's not a secret that the Giants defensive line is a bunch of pass-rushing freaks. Osi Umenyiora is back from his optional knee surgery (which I'm still pissed about, but moving on...), Dave Tollefson has been solid getting rotated into the line, and Jason Pierre-Paul just might be the new face of the Giants defense. This kid, last year's first round draft pick, was highly criticized having minimal college experience and a couple of YouTube videos showing his insane athletic prowess OFF of the football field, but he has been delivering consistent pressure and a total of 7.0 sacks so far on the year. It remains to be seen if Justin Tuck will get back on the field for Sunday, but if he does, you can bet your ass that Fitzmagic will be hurried for all 60 minutes. What the Giants Completely Suck At Well, just about everything else. Showing Any Consistency Even when the Giants have been historically great in years past, they have always been a team that makes you feel like you're losing when you're winning. There is no good way to measure the personality of this team. When the media has been behind them, they have laid giant eggs. When they're perennial underdogs, they seem to show up for the occasion. This philosophy seems to be reoccurring this year as well. The Giants have beaten the woeful St. Louis Rams (in woeful form), had a 4th-quarter comeback victory against the Arizona Cardinals, and showed up big time against the Dream Team. All well and good, but they were dominated by who appears to be the best team in the division (Washington) in Week 1 and then this horrendous bull **** of a game this past week against the Seahawks happened, confusing any hope you might have had of understanding whether this team is any good or a complete joke. The Eagles win seemed to suggest that maybe the Giants can get it together, but if Pete Carroll's Seahawks led by Charlie "Look Mom I'm In the NFL and I'm Seriously Not Joking" Whitehurst for a full half can surprise Perry Fewell's defense game-planning, then we have a serious identity problem. Running the Ball O Brandon, Where Art Thou? Jacobs has been pretty much a joke all year. Shortly after franchising this man and giving him all the money we can, he has failed to get back over the 1,000-yard/year mark. This, in and of itself, isn't too much of a problem given the Giants desire to give more carries to Bradshaw, but it does simplify our running attack. Bradshaw has surprising explosiveness, but hasn't been the primary kind of HB we need him to be to keep Jacobs around for goal line and short yardage situations. That's not to say Jacobs hasn't had his moments, but when one of the best plays of this year comes on an out-of-nowhere flat route reception in the shotgun formation, you know he's not himself. For whatever reason, the Jacobs-Bradshaw combo just hasn't been effective, and unless Gilbride can scheme some fresher plays that feature their individual strengths, I don't have much hope for that to change in the near future. Protect the Offensive Line Here we may have the biggest problem with that vaunted running game -- our O-line has gone from one of the best in the league to a confused mess. Losing veterans to free agency and injury means that David Diehl moved to LG and Kareem McKenzie was going to have to step it up at LT, which he has not. This is actually kind of remarkable given Manning's solid numbers, since he's had a few rough sacks and a lot of pressure from the blind side. But most of all, they are just not creating the holes for the running game to succeed. If the Giants are going to put up a blocking fight against Buffalo's revamped defense, I expect Henry Hynoski to play a bigger role. He's our rookie fullback who can block very effectively. He'll be needed to shore things up at the line. I-Formation, baby! Defense. Just.... Defense Our run defense stinks. Marshawn Lynch went all beast mode on the NYG D-Line on Sunday and we have given up several 100-yard rushing games this year. True, most of that yardage came on 4 "big play" situations, so the DTs played relatively well for once on the run, but giving up those big plays isn't anything to brag about either, and shows the fallibility of the secondary. Our safeties just aren't showing awareness protecting the big run. Which isn't even to mention the pass defense, which is also just not performing so well. The loss of Jonathon Goff at MLB was a huge blow to the unit. He was really coming into his own as the defensive signal caller and a solid playmaker. With Clint Sintim also out, our LBs are depleted, Antrel Rolle can't cover everybody, and our CBs are... well, actually pretty good. It stinks to lose Terrell Thomas this year, but Aaron Ross has been really stepping up his game after being benched a few weeks ago against the Rams. Whoever he covers, expect rock solid coverage. Now if only Prince Amukamara could heal faster... Prediction So after this monumental email, (which I did not intend to be so big, but when I get raving about the Giants' problems, well...) I might as well conclude with a prediction. The Bills are pretty unstoppable right now. Or at least I thought so until that Bengals game. The Bengals' defense is surprisingly awesome this year on the plays of a lot of fresh names and being able to quell that Buffalo offense is no small task. I'm not sold that the Giants can put forth the kind of pass coverage that will shush Buffalo's seemingly endless list of talented young receivers, but if nothing else, they should be able to pressure the **** out of Fitzpatrick and hopefully get him to cough up some more interceptions. If so, the Giants have a chance to win this thing by capitalizing on these opportunities with a kickass passing game. If they can't get that pressure, well... then I expect the Giants are in for a throttling. I'm not a betting man, but in the end, I'd take Buffalo to win, 31-24. 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Chandemonium Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Eli Mannning threw 3 INTs last Sunday against the Seahwawks, and was sacked 3 times as well, so I'm expecting the Bills D to have a field day against New Jersey... The Official Eli Manning Sucks Blog Look for 4-5 sacks and 6-7 takeaways, as the Bills continue to sustain the, um, 'unsustainable'... Buffalo Bills 43 New Jersey Giants - 0 GO BILLSSS!!!! "I expect to win every one of them." - Chan Gailey 18 and 1 baby!!!!!! why so conservative Senator? the last few weeks you've been predicting 70+ points all the way up to triple digits. I hope the negative nancys around here aren't rubbing off on you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cereal Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I wonder how Perry Fewell will game plan against the offense? Fake injuries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 why so conservative Senator? the last few weeks you've been predicting 70+ points all the way up to triple digits. I hope the negative nancys around here aren't rubbing off on you. Road game. GO BILLSSS!!!! 18 and 1 baby!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 -BUMP- C'mon, fellas. I didn't gather this great intel for nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggieScooby Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Giants are due for a big game from their running game which hasn't produced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gray Beard Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 The pass rush, and Cruz versus the Bills cornerbacks are concerns. Otherwise, there doesn't seem to be too much to worry about. Except that it's hard to win in the NFL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AReed Deep For 7 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 -BUMP- C'mon, fellas. I didn't gather this great intel for nothing! THanks for the post good stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 -BUMP- C'mon, fellas. I didn't gather this great intel for nothing! Thanks for the good info. Imo, the lack of response is due to the complete utter confusion going into this game. As your signature indicates, I am an opinionated person (although 100% willing to fess up when I'm wrong). That said, even the oddsmakers seem to have shrugged their shoulders and made the home team minus 3, indicating an even game. But due to your appeal for comments, I will give you what I got : I predicted that the Bills would be 5-11 this season. Well, we already CANNOT finish worse than we did last year. This alone is remarkable imo. Here are some of the improvements (not in order): 1) Fitz entered the season as the starter. 2) Dareus is providing a push up the middle. 3) Our receivers GET OPEN. My apologies to Evans fans, but he wasn't so good at this imo. 4) Fred Jackson. 5) Andy Levitre came into his own. 6) Wood is playing well this season. Sorry, he wasn't so great thus far. 7) Bell has showed promise. He looks bigger imo. 8) Nick Barnett is WAY better than Poz. 9) Turnovers. I left out a few. The Giants seem to have got worse. Their OL is a shipwreck. They are weak at LB, and their first round corner who they counted heavily upon is out. They are however stacked at DE, and this would appear to make us vulnerable considering our situation at OT. In all, we can win. My biggest jolt of confidence comes from the fact that imo Gailey can out-coach Fewell. I can't stand that stupid Jauron defense and am hoping that Chan can exploit it. Everybody will be looking at FJ. NOW is the time to get Spiller and/or Smith more involved imo. And, we of course need to pressure Eli. Can we? Why not? Ok, I gave it what I had. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thanks for the good info. Imo, the lack of response is due to the complete utter confusion going into this game. As your signature indicates, I am an opinionated person (although 100% willing to fess up when I'm wrong). That said, even the oddsmakers seem to have shrugged their shoulders and made the home team minus 3, indicating an even game. But due to your appeal for comments, I will give you what I got : I predicted that the Bills would be 5-11 this season. Well, we already CANNOT finish worse than we did last year. This alone is remarkable imo. Here are some of the improvements (not in order): 1) Fitz entered the season as the starter. 2) Dareus is providing a push up the middle. 3) Our receivers GET OPEN. My apologies to Evans fans, but he wasn't so good at this imo. 4) Fred Jackson. 5) Andy Levitre came into his own. 6) Wood is playing well this season. Sorry, he wasn't so great thus far. 7) Bell has showed promise. He looks bigger imo. 8) Nick Barnett is WAY better than Poz. 9) Turnovers. I left out a few. The Giants seem to have got worse. Their OL is a shipwreck. They are weak at LB, and their first round corner who they counted heavily upon is out. They are however stacked at DE, and this would appear to make us vulnerable considering our situation at OT. In all, we can win. My biggest jolt of confidence comes from the fact that imo Gailey can out-coach Fewell. I can't stand that stupid Jauron defense and am hoping that Chan can exploit it. Everybody will be looking at FJ. NOW is the time to get Spiller and/or Smith more involved imo. And, we of course need to pressure Eli. Can we? Why not? Ok, I gave it what I had. What do you think? Having just re-watched Sunday's game, I was actually quite alarmed at the heat we were able to bring against Vick. Eli doesn't have a fraction of Vick's escape skills, and if their o-line is as beat up as everyone says they are, it could be a LOOOOOOOONG day for the still-standing (though perhaps not for long) Manning. On offense, I grew aggravated Sunday with all the short stuff, the screens. the shovel passes. but in reality they were working...EXCEPT when Fitz made a bad throw or when the timing was just a bit off. If the Giants hope to come at us with the same aggression as the Eagles did, and we can fix these miscues, we should be fine. If we suffer more miscues than we did last week, it could get ugly for us. Last week, something like 7 of our first 9 plays were runs to Jackson, and we straight marched on Philly. Again, if NYG is indeed poor against the run, we should be able to control the tempo/ball once again. And quite frankly, I see no reason, with Jackson, Spiller and Smith to not dive ahead for 4-7 yards on EVERY play. I foresee a very similar game plan this week, and I think it'll actually work better this time--again, due largely to the fact that a couple of times we had Vick dead to rights and he slipped away (or made completions down field) that simply put, only Vick could make. I don't expect much from our passing game, and I don't expect we'll see a lot of deep stuff once again. A.) because we won't need it to win and B.) because it's just not tactically sound to leave FItz vulnerable to the opponent's overwhelming strength at the moment--their pass rush. So. the story of the week will be "what happened to the Fitzmagic?" But in reality, the lack of production I foresee from Fitz and our receivers will have nothing to do with injuries, COULD have something to do with poor play from Fitz, but will most likely result from a game plan that focusses on run, run run run run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 Eli is an up & downer -and he had a downer last week.. G-men have always owned the Big Apple and with the Jets struggles, expect a raucus crowd. The best thing going for NY is that they are in the NFCE. Once a league power division, they're wracked with suspect QB play. I think it will be a battle. Nothing fancy. We know the Bills don't want to go into their bye with a loss. Bills in OT 23-20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkington Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I've been reading some of the comments on the "conversation" page of the BUF/NYG game, and it's crazy how much hate Eli Manning gets. Am I crazy for thinking this is odd? He's having one of his best years statistically, he's not a premier QB, but he's at least middle of the pack. I bet Buffalo fans would have killed for him before the Fitzpatrick magic happened... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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