Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Lotsa Good Stuff

But the 31-24 win over Dallas wasn't perfect now, was it? For all the intensity the re-jiggered defense showed, there were still some problems, and this report card will show that.

But if we could give an overall grade to this team, let's award a big "A" for achievement. They needed this win to stay in the NFC East and playoff race, and they got it despite the bumps, bruises, and inefficiencies recently shown by both offense and defense. It was a heck of a comeback from their 26-6 no-show against Denver, and it could well serve as a jumping off point in the drive for a playoff spot.

But report cards deal in specifics, so a note of realism is called for here. And there's nobody better at keeping it real than us, meaning me and you. So here we go with grading a great, but flawed, victory.

QUARTERBACK: For the first time since he injured the right foot against Kansas City in Week 4, Eli Manning showed evidence that it is bothering him, especially on the deep throw. He floated three long passes, one of which was intercepted in the end zone, another that sailed wide of Steve Smith and would have been picked had the defensive back been two steps closer to center field, and another that Smith made a great catch on. He had basically a rough day in going 11-for-25 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. But he did manage to throw a couple right on the button, none better than the flat pass that hit Brandon Jacobs in stride to spring him for a 74-yard touchdown. GRADE: B.

RUNNING BACKS: Jacobs was the pass-catching star of this group, of course, with his fantastic catch-and-run down the sideline. He showed tremendous balance as S Gerald Sensabaugh tried to knock him out of bounds, and then made a final lunge to the pylon as he was hit. He also scored a rushing touchdown, powering his way up the middle despite being hit early. Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled away his first touch, but atoned for that by popping a 29-yard run that set up the fourth-quarter field goal that put the Giants up 24-17. And tight end Kevin Boss was credited with a 16-yard run when he headily positioned himself to take a lateral a split second before the pass rush dragged Manning down for a sack. Still, the ground game only had 23 carries for 100 yards, and was unable to get the Giants into a good rhythm. GRADE: B.

RECEIVERS: Anybody doubting that Steve Smith deserves the first Pro Bowl nod for a Giants' wide receiver since Homer Jones in 1967 should have watched this game. He caught six passes for 110 yards, putting him 21 yards short of 1,000 for the season, including a couple of acrobatic ones. He also broke a 36-yard gain, setting up his blockers in his left-to-right journey to the far sideline. But he, too, wasn't perfect. He dropped a tough but catchable throw to the end zone that forced that fourth-quarter field goal that kept it a one-score game. Hakeem Nicks continued to shine, showing great awareness on his 21-yard touchdown grab by catching it and stepping around Terence Newman for a clean trip to the end zone. Manning's interception proved as much Mario Manningham's fault as Manning's, considering he made no play whatsoever after being outleaped by Mike Jenkins. GRADE: B+.

OFFENSIVE LINE: Once again, the line didn't open many holes for Jacobs and Bradshaw, and the pass blocking left much to be desired. Though Manning was sacked only once, he was under fire much of the night. The Cowboys had four tackles for losses. With the Giants up by two touchdowns with 3:28 remaining after Dallas turned it over on downs, they failed to block well enough for Jacobs to gain sufficient yardage to run the clock on first and second downs, and then they allowed a sack on third down to force a punt that resulted in a final touchdown. GRADE: C.

DEFENSIVE LINE: The move to replace Osi Umenyiora on most running downs with Mathias Kiwanuka paid off, as the line helped hold Dallas to 45 yards rushing. It also juiced up Umenyiora, whose huge recovery and 29-yard return of Kiwanuka's forced fumble on Marion Barber created a go-ahead touchdown just before halftime. Kiwanuka had six tackles and a hit on Tony Romo, and Justin Tuck and Barry Cofield had two hits each to keep Romo ducking and dodging. Tuck and Cofield had batted passes. Dave Tollefson stopped Miles Austin for a yard on third-and-3 to help stop a deep Cowboys drive in the fourth quarter. There was a lot of pressure, but much of it was thwarted by Romo's quick release. Still, it was a major improvement over the general performance of the last six games. GRADE: B+.

LINEBACKERS: Jonathan Goff looked very comfortable at middle linebacker in place of Chase Blackburn. He appeared to have a forced fumble, but it was reversed on a replay challenge. Still, Goff had eight tackles. Michael Boley called all the defensive signals and kept a good line of communication going. He had 11 tackles and a pass defensed. Clint Sintim was sent up front a few times and had one of the Giants' two sacks. The glaring problem remains pass coverage, however. Tight end Jason Witten found every seam in the zone coverages, with nary a linebacker in the frame most of the time. And when a linebacker was on him, Witten won the foot race. That problem shows no evidence of improving, either. But at least the blitz packages applied more pressure than usual. GRADE: B.

SECONDARY: S Aaron Rouse had the other sack. That's the good news. The bad news is that Romo threw for 392 yards and three touchdowns, two of them easy tosses to Roy Williams against Corey Webster. He was the weak link that game, a departure from the high level he's played at this year. Bruce Johnson should have had an interception on a deflected 32-yard completion to Witten in a second-quarter field goal drive. C.C. Brown did okay against the run, making nine tackles, including one behind the line, but looked typically lost in coverage. Give Aaron Ross credit for dropping Barber for a no gain on a fourth-and-2 completion in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys moved way too easily in the air despite Romo being under pressure. And there was no excuse for the safeties failing to challenge Witten during a 14-catch, 156-yard performance. The Cowboys' final touchdown pass to Miles Austin was too easy, and it made for a tense on-side kick. GRADE: D.

SPECIAL TEAMS: If not for Domenik Hixon's 79-yard punt return for a touchdown, this one would have gone into overtime for sure. But the return unit was great on that play, starting with Hixon's change-of-direction at the outset to the formation of a wall that produced key downfield blocks by Terrell Thomas and Derek Hagan. Jeff Feagles did fine, averaging just under 40 yards on five punts. Lawrence Tynes hit a 23-yard field goal, never a gimmee for him. GRADE: A.

COACHING: Embattled defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan did the right thing in switching out three starting spots and using some of the younger players. It added fire and enthusiasm to what had become a stale, moribund group. Guess the little speech he gave quoting King Leonidis of the Spartans didn't hurt, either. Still can't decide if he grabbed the quotes from Greek literature or the movie "300," but it doesn't matter. It worked. Tom Coughlin did an outstanding job motivating his team, keeping them focused on the mammoth job in front of them instead of dwelling on the past. But have to wonder, Kevin Gilbride, about the whereabouts of tight end Kevin Boss. With Manning's foot obviously hurting, a return to the quick passing game would have been in order, and Boss could have contributed greatly to that. He needs to get more than the one pass for 10 yards he received against Dallas. Still, the offense did just enough. GRADE: A.

Go ahead, gang. Make my day!

EP

14 comments:

  1. Good assessment, Ernie. Ever since training camp, it just really seems that the Giants have the injury demon hovering around them this year. I sure hope Snee will be okay and play to his normal form the rest of the year. Eli needs to get better. I really thought Boley would have matched up better with Witten and I am frustrated with our situation at safety. So, what's Sheridan going to do next? Quote Hannibal, Alexander the Great, Patton?

    Going over things in my head, I know we now hold the tie breaker over the Cowboys and Falcons for the wild card. What is the situation for the NFC East? What needs to happen at this point? I know beating the Eagles is a must in order to get the title. On a personal note, I have been living in the Philadelphia area for quite a few years now and catch way too much flak every time the Eagles win. I need the Giants to crush them this week!

    Go Big Blue!

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  2. ernie,

    focusing too much on the big plays, OK punt return for TD was big, but what about KR, 20 yard was the long? Not very good.

    No way the LBs get anything more than a "c". They were ineffective against the TE.

    STOP writing this high caliber thing with Corey Webster, are you kidding me. He gets beat frequently, no team is afraid to throw at him. Totally disagree with you about his play, which has been spotty at best not 'high caliber' as you suggest. Take a look at the film.

    Gilbride has added nothing to the offense, which is well scouted by every team. It's hard to imagine how well they would do with someone else who might have creativity. Did you see the play that they ran to get Roy Williams open? When do we ever achieve this kind of success with our play designs. This is a vanilla offense, and it barely manages to move the ball. We will have a very tough time winning out from here.

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  3. to CCE718,

    In order for tie-breakers to matter, we must first be in a tie. The Packers are undoubtedly going to be one of the wild cards, they look very strong. The Eagles have a very east schedule after playing us next Sunday. The Cowboys are the ones who we need to fall, but remember they have a 1 game lead at the moment. They have SD and NO on their schedule still

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  4. I do feel Corey Webster has had a down year, but last year people were pushing him for the Pro Bowl, don't forget that.

    And this vanilla offense you're complaining about - you do realize the Giants are the 8th highest scoring team in the league.

    And CCE - if the Giants beat Philly and Washington in their next two games they would hold the tiebreaker over both the Cowboys and Eagles. Dallas they would have beaten twice and they would have a better division record than the Eagles - Giants would have one loss, while Philly would have at least two.

    They win these next two games it'll be tough for the Giants to miss the playoffs.

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  5. When you discuss the secondary you fail to address what I think is the bigger issue. THE complete lack of a pass rush by the front four even on clear, no guess work needed, passing downs. Even with the best rushers we have in the game at the same time the rush was not effective. My question is do you think the front four are really that bad/overrated or is there another reason for their poor play.

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  6. Accurate as always. The play of Manningham in this one is really bothersome. He has been gettign NO separation and with his speed, he really should be breaking away on the deep ball. The frustrating thing is that as a catch-and-run guy he is absolutely AWESOME. I don't understand why we hide such an effective play like the WR screen.

    With the speed and elusiveness of Manningham, Nicks and Hixon, we should be running the WR screen as often as the Colts or the Patriots do.

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  7. When I was watching the Dallas game I thought (I saw (and correct me if I'm wrong) the Cowboys going to a lot of Maxprotect. Having six and sometimes seven players in to block.

    I agree the pass rush has been poor this year, but has anyone else noticed teams loading up on the protection? Because then that'll allow the QB more time and our secondary can't maintain coverage for more than a couple seconds.

    Also, you are right we have to be in a tie for the tiebreakers to matter, but keep in mind - Dallas (as you mentioned) plays San Diego and the Saints, but they also play Philly the last game of the season. So, that's going to give Dallas or Philly one more loss.

    The Giants HAVE to win their next two.

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  8. Special Teams A??????? I am serious that Tynes should just kick the ball out of bounds every time. It seems the other team starts on about the 37 yrd line with good coverage so maybe Tynes should just kick it out of bounds and save the Giants from a good kickoff return.

    Matt Bryant looked good this weekend and I am sure there are plenty of other kickers out there to sign that are better than Larry.

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  9. Wasn't pretty, but they got a W when they absolutely had to have it... against a good Dallas team... That's good enough for me! Way to take care of business!
    ...and thrilled to see the run D playing tough again.

    We've got another big one now against the Iggles! It's time to step it up even more and go out and play like a bunch of craaaazed dogs!!! No way we lose 4 in a row to those bastards!
    GO JINTS!

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  10. how far has Kevin Dockery slipped

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  11. But, if we win this weekend against the Eagles, we will be in a tie with them. If the Cowgirls lose, then all three will have the same record. It is possible the Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants could end up having the same records at the end of the season. I should have been more specific above. Right now, I am not worried about a wild card spot (Because I think we will get one at the very least, if the team plays just a bit better than Sunday), I want the Giants to win the East! And I figure, the only way for that to happen is to win 3 out of the next 4, with a must win over the Eagles. What happens if the Giants and Eagles end up with the same record, say 10-6? I know that if Dallas ends up at 10-6, then we win the East over them.

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  12. Nicks for Manningham at this point. He runs better routes and plays the ball much better. Bring Manningham in on passing downs only. That's really the only thing that needs to change on offense. Stop whinning about KG already!!! He can't block!!!

    On defense, the run was played superbly. Rememeber in week 2 this same team torched us! Unfortunately the LB and safeties are in real trouble in pass coverage. Get off Webster's back already. The one TD to Williams he was frozen on the fake reverse. He is the best the G-Men have right now and when he is on he locks down. In my opinion Webster is the least of our problems in the secondary. Ross is looking better at safety, lets hope his play improves in that area going forward but it is a leap for him.

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  13. The secondary is definitely the weak link. Even if there were a pass rush, when receivers are wide open all over the place, the results become painfully predictable. Reese certainly has to address the secondary first. Webster is (and has been) overrated, Rouse is average, Ross is good and Johnson and Brown are just bad.
    And the "dink and dunk" (Witten this week)over he middle....
    Does Sheridan EVER look at game video? Why doesn't somebody (strong side LB, maybe) chuck the TE coming off the line? Hellooooo.....

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  14. i think this blog on the giants is the second best i have seen. ernie knows who i think does the best job, and in his heart of hearts i know he'll agree. but it's nice to read, he uses acceptable language and seems to know what he's talking about.

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