Friday, December 18, 2009

There's No Quit In Ed!

The Giants might be sliding again, but Ed Valentine is still in there punching. Here are his answers in our weekly Q&A swap. Don't forget to swing over to Big Blue View to get my answers to the same questions.

Here's Ed:


1. Tom Coughlin said he will not fire defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan despite his obvious flaws. Is Coughlin showing too much loyalty to an underachieving coach?

"I don't think so. Even though more than 80% of readers I polled at Big Blue View wish Sheridan was already gone, I think it is a pretty pointless move to make mid-stream, or late-stream if you want to call it that. Sheridan will be gone if this continues -- and he might be a dead man walking already considering how far this defense has fallen. But, I think TC is right to stick with him now. Largely, it's players not doing their jobs. Look at the touchdown to DeSean Jackson last week. Michael Johnson knows its two-deep coverage, and he is the second deep guy. He knows Jackson is going long. So, where the heck is he? Covering the tight end short, that's where. Is that Sheridan's fault that Johnson can't seem to do his job? Is it his fault that the only defensive tackle he has who has done a thing all season is Barry Cofield. Or that his corners, who are supposed to specialize in press coverage, can't seem to get a glove on anybody. Or that his vaunted pass-rushing defensive ends are mostly invisible. Or that, outside of Michael Boley, the linebacking has been mostly non-existent? On paper, this defense has -- or had -- lots of nice names. But, you know, paper never was good for much."

2. With playoff hopes hinging on how the Cowboys fare over the next three games, do you think the Giants will continue to play hard?

"Yes, I do. I questioned how hard they played in Denver on Thanksgiving night, but not the last two weeks. There are crazies out there calling for Coughlin's dismissal, but that is nonsense. This team still plays for him. They got a great win in Dallas. And Sunday night against Philly they played with a lot of heart, they just did not play well on defense or special teams. It had nothing to do with effort, it had to do with execution. And a couple of really inexplicable, unfortunate turnovers."

3. Would you elevate Ramses Barden from the inactive list, even if Coughlin only uses him in Red Zone situations?

"Nah. At this point I think the Barden stuff is irrelevant. If the Giants were to lose to Washington and basically be out of the picture, sure. Get the kid some experience. But, at this point, no. The Giants seem to be getting a handle on the Red Zone stuff, I think. They are using Kevin Boss more. They seem to be running the ball a bit better w/some different alignments. I would like to see them throwing the ball to Hakeem Nicks on those corner routes instead of Steve Smith or Mario 'Where is the Field Again?' Manningham, but that's about it. Oh, and every week I hear talk about designing some plays for Travis Beckum. Like that will ever happen. At least not until 2010."

4. Should Hakeem Nicks continue to start in place of Mario Manningham?

"Umm, is that even a question? Undoubtedly. I don't know what was going on with Nicks and the back-to-back balls he dropped Sunday, but the kid is going to be big-time. More and more, he is justifying those comparisons to Anquan Boldin. Big, strong, great ability to make yardage after the catch. On a couple of his catches Sunday you saw the one thing he has that Manningham and Steve Smith don't. The pure physical ability to go up, use his body and take a ball away from a defender. Manningham can be spectacular, and I hope he is a Giant for a long time, but he needs to learn what the white lines on the sides of the field mean. Over and over the guy runs himself out of bounds without help from the corner back."

The floor is yours, people.


EP

10 comments:

  1. Ed has gone batstuff crazy. Of course his lazy butt hasn't posted ur responses yet but that is another story. 1. The Giants should not fire Sheridan mid season as there is no sense--- THE D HAS BEEN KILLING US ED, COULD IT GET WORSE??? FIRE SHERIDAN NOW!!!!! 2. The Giants played hard the last two weeks-- The defense played as listless as they have all season against the iggles and is filled with 3 guys who play hard, Kiwi, Tuck and Goff. That is it on that side of the ball. Ed bleeds blue, Ern time to show u keep it true!

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  2. I am not one calling for the head of Coughlin. I like TC. I respect his approach to the game and backed him in '06-'07. I agree Manningham could become a powerful weapon, but needs to prove the Wonderlic wrong. This may be completely jumping the gun, but being of Nebraskan heritage, how awesome would a d-line be of having Tuck, Kiwi, Canty, and Suh. I know the chances of getting him are highly unlikely, but that d-line would be scary! Just had to throw that out there. I have a good feeling now about the next 3 weeks. The way Eli has thrown the ball around, the D just needs to hang in there a bit.

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  3. I agree with Ed - why fire Sheridan now? I don't think it's a simple problem such as play calling. I think it's the whole scheme that needs to be changed. And that's something you do in the offseason, not now.

    And the Giants do play hard. They beat the Cowboys and almost the Eagles. If they weren't playing hard they would have been blown away. Coughlin gets this team ready to play. But Sheridan fails to do the same.

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  4. Ernie and Ed,

    When a DB is out of position on a consistent basis, then it is the coaches fault; for not correcting the problem or for not holding the assistant coaches responsible for their units.

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  5. From GoGoLack,
    I agree to an extent that part of the problem lies with the players and not the coaching. However, the lack of personnel that can implement the coaching plan is a correctable issue.

    OK Giant fans, here is my question about the defense; who is our big hitter? Who's the guy who is all over the field making tackles, jarring the ball loose? To me, we lack this player. The closest we have is Tuck, but he's limited as a lineman in what he can do.
    Defensive playmaking is not just interceptions and sacks, its about being a force. This player is not on the roster, each year we bring in a LB via FA and still we haven't found this person. Until the GM and coaches can do a better job of identifying talent at the LB position, we're always going to have good but not great defense, great defenses need great linebackers.

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  6. To be fair, I think Kenny Philips would have been our "big-hitter." No we don't have a linebacker like that, but we haven't since Jesse Armstead.

    I thought Philips was the player who would be all over the field knocking players out. Do what Dawkins constantly did for the Eagles.

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  7. Glad to see someone finally mention that Nicks is the only physical WR we have.

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  8. COME ON ERN! Drinking The Eddie V Blue Kool Aid? Why can't the corners bump? They play the softest cover two and STILL GET BEAT! And a new scheme could be instituted because this scheme SUX! Did any of u watch the Eagles game, let alone the previous 8 besides one or two decent performances at best. AND NO THE GIANTS DONT PLAY HARD! not the defense. It took Dallas to get them up but I didn't see any hustle against Philly.I feel we are now further apart than Tynesgate Ern. Ditch the Blue Kool Aid E.

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  9. Boy! I know Manningham is getting knocked for his out of bound catches of late but give the guy a break, this is just his second year and a his first full year at that. You can kid about his wonderlic test but he's adjusted really well to NFL play more than some other players (Moss for one) who are already in their 3rd or 4th year. He's got great talent and has really displayed some big play making ability so far. He's got a big time future with us!

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  10. CE718 - The only way Suh drops below number five in the draft is if he gets arrested, fails a drug test, AND gets a zero on the Wonderlic. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if goes number one. No way the Giants get near him - unfortunately. He'll have on a Rams or a Lions helmet next year (Tampa is too cheap to pay him, so they won't draft him). But, I DO like that idea.

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