Sunday, December 27, 2009

And That, As They Say, Is That

The Giants officially exited the playoff picture a few minutes ago as the Cowboys beat the Redskins 17-0.

Just as well. The way the Giants played today, it would have been an injustice for them to stay in the race, much less squeak into the sixth seed. Now it's time to look to the offseason, and don't be surprised if there are some major changes in the offing, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

EP

18 comments:

  1. Ernie,

    Couldn't agree more. This is not a playoff team and certainly not a playoff defense. I hate to harp on this but injuries played a huge part in the way this defense ended. Phillips, Webster and Ross - three secondary starters - were not on the field for huge parts of this season. The defensive line was banged up as well. I know its part of the game but it seemed like this year the injury bug was brutal for the Giants.

    Anyways, onward and upward. I have faith in TC and Reese to do the changes necessary. I don't think they are wholesale but I do beleive Sheridan is gone. Osi may have played his last game and the chances of Pierce coming back are slim to none.

    Chris B.

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  2. Praise the Maker!

    I wonder which team will show up against the Vikings. Will they play with some pride or lay a stinker like Sunday?

    As I said a couple of weeks ago, this team is not playoff ready. Hopefully we can open the new stadium better than we closed the old one.

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  3. the giants have not had that many injuries this year. that is BS...

    there defense just sucks plain and simple.. they gave up 40 + 5 times...they have no playmakers. trade multiple picks for Suh from Nebraska and the first pick. dump; robbins, pierce, clark, bernard.start there. they need alford and phillips to come back, they need at least 1 more corner... ross cannot be counted on. if they can get a 3rd and another pick for umenyiora, adios. else he will have to suffer and stay here. if he does not like it he can retire.....

    sheridan must get fired and they will never do it but coughlin needs to go also, sundays game was disgraceful..........

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  4. Wow, blow it up...blow it up...become the raiders. Fire everyone, fire everyone....

    Get some perspective please!!! The Giants are a first rate organisation becuase they don't panic and have great people. Believe a little please....

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  5. Couldn't agree more. This season was a tough one. I don't think you can discount injuries. Do you think the Cowboys would be ahead of us if they lost 3/4 of their secondary? How about the Eagles? Come on. I'm not saying that was everything. Certainly not, but you can't completely discount it.

    Firing Coulghlin is crazy. The guy goes to four straight playoffs and wins the Superbowl and after one iffy season you axe him? That is a Dan Snyder move. Won't happen and it shouldn't.

    There will be changes. Sheridan is gone but please doing wholesales changes is just dumb.

    Chris B.

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  6. Sorry Ernie,

    But from another blog. Harry Carson speaking on the state of the Giants:


    “I’m not saying that they don’t have pride, but I don’t see where the pride is coming from,” Giants legend Harry Carson told the Daily News’ Tim Smith after today’s game. “Wellington Mara always said, ‘Once a Giant, always a Giant.’ And guys who have played here have a certain sense of pride that we have to adhere to. I don’t necessarily see that same pride amongst the guys who are here now.”

    Post this in the meeting room on Monday TC. Please. These guys need a gut check. I'm not hurting over the loss so much as the way they lost.

    Chris B.

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  7. Chris B - I was listening to Carson on the radio and he apologized to the fans. He was humiliated by today's performance. You could hear the hurt in his voice. Make him the DC. Can't be worse than Sheridan and I honestly think Carson would get into a fight with some of the players if they ever pulled that crap under his watch. When I think about the heart that Carson played with even when the Giants teams he was on early in his career were terrible and then I think about how the players performed today, I am sickened. As for the injuries, I can buy injuries as an excuse for a loss. I cannot buy them as an excuse to quit. The team quit today. They quit in Denver. Injuries NEVER excuse that! Carolina was missing two All Pro tackles, their starting QB, and their best RB and they STILL ran all over the Giants when Carolina had nothing to play for. Injuries do NOT excuse what happened today. If the Giants lost 28-21, then injuries are an excuse. We both know that's not what happened today. They laid down when they had everything to play for. That's intolerable and people need to be fired, traded, or cut or this organization is in for another horrific decade. Maybe we should all start chipping to rent an airplane with a banner just in case they decide to keep Sheridan around.

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  8. One last thought,

    The Giants are lacking on-field leadership. Say what you will about Antonio Pierce's play, but he was a leader. Who is leading them now? I'm not talking about X's and O's, I'm talking about emotion, getting guys up, keeping them going, etc.

    If you have played on teams you understand how important this is. So who is it on D? Really, now that Pierce is gone, who is it?

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  9. You guys are nuts to get rid of Osi. It usually takes two years to come back full strength from knees urgery. 2 years ago he was a top 5 DE, against the pass AND run. He will be healed next year and still in his prime. Once Sheridan is gone he'll be happy again. They need a LEADER for this defense. I have a feeling Kenny Phillips can fill that void. We also need a big-time playmaking middle linebacker. Don't panick. The offense has great potential next year. Although I think Jacobs is done. Draft a RB and let Bradshaw start. Look at all the other small backs that thrive - C. Johnson, MJD, etc. Beaty looks like he has potential. Kareem looks done. We would've got smoked by Eagles anyway in Round 1. At least this got Sheridan fired. GO GIANTS 2010!!! Now I got the Mets to look forward to, lord help me!

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  10. Dweez,

    I am totally with you on the quit. I am not trying to offer an excuse. I am just saying...that's all. It explains some of their struggles but certainly not all.

    I have been beating the drum to fire Sheridan. I have no idea about what Osi has left. I hope Phillips comes back strong and is healthy for the entire season...ditto for Webster, Ross, Canty, Alford, et al.

    Chris B.

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  11. I agree with Dweez - seems like they quit yesterday. That is what has me the most worried. I don't want to see the team go back to multiple years of Giants' medicocre football of the 70s/early 80s. And for a game like that to happen on the last game in the old stadium, in front of all those former players. I just don't get this team.

    Like others have said, hopefully this is enough for the team to realize they need a top notch defensive coordinator. The funny thing is, the 'experts' thought the receiving corps would be the main issue. Wow, was that off!!

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  12. if you don't believe in pre season, go back and look at the pre season game against the Panthers to see how easily they moved the ball on us.

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  13. I agree with most of what was said already. But I've been going to games for the past 15 years now and that may have been the worst game I've ever seen.

    There have been bad games before and blowouts I witnessed, but that?

    I know people blamed injuries for part of the problem, but those guys in the secondary are still professional athletes, some of who started or played significan roles on past teams -- Michael Johnson, CC Brown, Aaron Rouse, Kevin Dockery. They only had one undrafted rookie in the secondary -- Bruce Johnson.

    But I've never seen a team quit like this. I agree that it seems as though this defense lacks leadership. And it also seemed as though there was one person making a tackle -- Justin Tuck.

    And for the person who said Osi was a top-5 end -- watch the games. He could NEVER stop the run. He had one game two years ago where he got six sacks and what has he done since? He's arguably the most overrated defensive player in the NFL.

    This defense needs changes: Fire Sheridan, cut Robbins, Pierce, Clark, Bernard. Get new safeties.

    How do you give up over 40 points four times in a season! That's unbvelievable.

    I don't think TC should go. He's done a good job -- two division titles, four playoff appearances, one Super Bowl victory, 4-3 record in the postseason -- in six years.

    And I know the offense didn't play great yesterday, but how do you go into a game knowing if you don't score 30 points there's a good chance you lose.

    AND ANOTHER 200 plus yards rushing performance. What else can I say....This was the worst beating I've seen the Giants take at home in 15 years -- if you consider the circumstances, what was at stake, their level of competition.

    Embarrassing.

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  14. The worst part is that we are out of cycle for draft. We did not fill major needs and now this year, our needs are greater. This means we head into this off season in need of D line help, RB depth, O line depth, LBs and safety. This is way too much and the inability to address these ongoing issues in 2009 is going to result in the downward spiral.

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  15. - Sheridan took a defense that played well for the past couple of years under Spagnuolo and brought it back to the bad old days of Tim Lewis. One of the guys he got sideways with right away was Osi. Let's see whether Osi can pick it up next year under a different coordinator (the organization is loyal, but hopefully not loyal enough to keep Sheridan) in his second season after the knee injury before making a final judgment.

    - I think the Giants have needed a faster, more physical middle linebacker than Pierce for a couple of years now, but I love Pierce's leadership and in-game adjustment smarts. If he can't play next year due to the disk problem, I think it would be a good move to ask him to coach the linebackers and help call defenses on Sundays, if he'd agree to it.

    - I was very slow to warm up to Coughlin and Eli, so even though I'm not happy with the way the team played for most of the year, I think being quick to criticize Coughlin would be a mistake on my part. If next year is a bad year, that's a different story.

    - Next year will be a real challenge for Jerry Reese, who IMHO has drafted as well as anyone the past couple of years. The O-line is getting older, particularly at the critical center position (just wondering if the holding calls on O'Hara are a sign he's lost a step); the middle of the D-line and the entire linebacking corps can use some youth, size, and speed; the secondary could at least use some depth if not a couple of starters; and I'm not sure we don't have a need at RB after watching Jacobs play this year. Other than that, we're fine! :-)

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  16. Got to agree with most of the above comments. The Giants were a disgrace. We need a running back to compliment Bradshaw. Can't see him as a everydown back...his running style is just to punshing for someone his size, leading to injuries with his ankles. But he is explosive and proved to be everything I hoped he would be. Jacobs seems like he his done...can't explain what happened this year to him. OSi though has to be given another chance. He got off to a bad start with Sheridan in the pre-season and with him coming off knee surgery, well I think he deserves another year under a new coordinator. He's talented and I think with him and Tuck on the D-Line can return to being a fierce combo.

    As for injuries yeah we had them but I can't see them as leading to all these blowouts. 4+ games of giving up 40 or more points??? I think it was just bad coaching. Not creating defensive plans that adjust to different teams. I mean one week they look the Giants of old then the next they look like a pathetic and worthless team. I really lay all the problems on Sheridan who never got the defense on any consistent rhythm. I don't think Sheridan got his players and the players never got him.

    The receiving corps were the hightlight of the season for me. Nicks, Smith, Manningham (who seriously needs to work on his ball control), Hixon and even Hagan all performed outstanding. Sure you can nick pick with drops and fumbles but they were the least of the teams problems. Smith without a doubt is the number one receiver with Nicks the potential to be one as well. I mean I've never been around long enough to know to much about past receiving corps from past Giant Teams but since the 90's these guys seem like a gold mine!

    I still love Boss and wished we had used him more earlier in the season.

    I've never been a huge fan of TC but he has done well with the team with the 4 year playoff run and a super bowl.

    Hopefully we'll have a productive draft and think about next year. I really think this team is a Dynasty caliber team. We have to much talent on both sides of the ball to not be. There is another Super Bowl or 2 in this team...I just know it!

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  17. Ernie,
    So what do you see as the most glaring need for the Giants? Obviously the defense will be addressed. What area do you see has the most glaring need? Linebacker?s Defensive line? Secondary?
    In my opinion the order of priority should be LB, CB/S, DT.

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  18. Disagree completely with Jud who stated that Jerry Reese is a good GM in the draft. No way. We have picks who have contributed nothing to this team, high picks, like Sintim, Beckhum, Barden and we've not addressed areas while over addressing others. Why have we kept Sinorice Moss for all these seasons? This was 2nd round pick. I know people love Boss, but is he a game breaking TE? Tony Gonzalez was available. Lastly, when have we ever been able to draft a starting LB?

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