Monday, May 17, 2010

Just A Warning

I'll be checking around periodically today for any major stuff, but I'll be away from the computer most of the time. Got some biz to attend to.

In the meantime, use this space as an open forum. Anything Giants-related that's on your mind is fair game. And remember, play nice.

See ya later.

EP

19 comments:

  1. I would like to discuss the potential match-up nightmare for opposing defenses if we knew how to properly utilize our tight ends.

    I know that we like to keep Bradshaw and Jacobs in the backfield to pick up the blitz, but with our wideouts garnering more and more respect, Gilbride and Coughlin need to get Boss and Beckum singled up on linebackers.

    Yes or no?

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  2. Ernie's gone so now we can Paaaaaaaaaaarty!!!!

    Seriously though, who in here would like to see Bradshaw start over Jacobs. I think it would be good.

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  3. Lou and Dominick, yes to both. The TEs are grossly under utilized and I think Bradshaw should get the bigger bulk of the carries. I am very nervous about our fragile RBs and really hope that Brown can come back from this achilles injury. I know it is a long shot, as this is a very serious injury, but I do hope that our RBs can be an asset. Boss is a great weapon and he needs to be in the game plan more. The TEs would greatly benefit from a strong run game, to set playaction pass up for them. Suck those linebackers in, so the TEs can get in behind them.

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  4. Lou - I know it's way too early to take the rumors seriously, but supposedly the kid that NY picked up from Ohio State, Jake Ballard, has better hands than expected. Coming from OSU, you know he had to block, so if he can get onto the field, that's another weapon at a position I have felt that Coughlin has underused since he has arrived. I would hope this would the year that NY uses the TEs more, but I have been saying that for years now, so I'm not sure that position will be used to it's fullest potential until Coughlin is fired or retires.

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  5. Dweez,

    I'm a Coughlin guy and love him as the HC, but I think he needs to bear more responsibility for our offensive game plans. The game plan in the '08 playoff loss to the Ea...Eag...Ea...you know who, was abominable. TC was our receivers coach under Parcells and should be doing a better job overseeing Gilbride's use of our tight ends.

    I think this will happen since TC accepted responsibility when he said that he and his staff should have done a better job in getting Beckum on the field last season.

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  6. Beckum barely saw the field last season, put him in the slot and see what he can do!

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  7. Dweez,

    6'6" 256!! Didn't know....

    :)

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  8. Eli has almost killed Boss on more than one occasion, we need to have a serviceable TE. The teams that utilize the TE are some of the most effective offenses and do better in the red zone excuse me green zone) than us.
    one feeling that I have is that Eli looks to the TE when the play is designed for them, but otherwise he goes for steve smith. Other QBs look for the TE in the pinch, mainly because of what Lou and others have suggested, they like the match up of TE vs LB even in close coverage.

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  9. Lou - Serious size, not serious speed. But I'll take a a 6 yard catch and ten yard pickup as he drags a defender along anyday. I think what NY has forgotten is big TEs can wear down defenses just like big RBs can. Tackling a 6'6", 256 TE is not easy and doing again and again takes alot out of you. You get the LBs exhausted, then Jacobs can be devastating against defenders in the secondary. I really hope they open up and use the TEs more. I would love to see our TEs against Asante Samuel in the first half and let Jacobs take a crack at him in the second. I think both Philly and Dallas have defenses that can be worn down and beaten by the short game and then use the WRs to exploit them late with the long ball. I also would like to see NY finally develop and run an effective screen!

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  10. Hey anon above Do you mean serviceable or serviceable backup? I agree with the latter not the former. Boss is pretty darn good and getting better all the time.

    To the other posts I have one question for you; is there any thing that Gilbride has done with the offense that leads you to think he will come up with creative ways to use Beckum? Shockey was a good blocker and receiver, Boss is a good receiver but a less than average blocker. The running game is slowed abit by the lack of good blocking TE. I have no idea what Beckum's role on this team is.

    Can you imagine lining JPP as a TE, who could stop him at the goal line...he could backflip for the ball!

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  11. The Giants put up good offensive numbers despite having a poor O coordinator, not because of it. TC has his hands in the offense; he's a passing game kind of guy. His J'ville teams were always pass first.

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  12. Boss got rocked by safeties because we weren't posing a deep threat and without Burress no one was commanding a double team. I think that will be radically different this year. The safeties will have to be more honest back there because if they cheat up to stop the run or help the LBs in coverage, we'll make them pay up top with Manningham, Nicks, and Hixon. I think Eli is capable of getting the ball to Boss underneath without turning it into a Collins-to-Hilliard death sentence.

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  13. It's all moot because Gilbride will not bring anything new to the offense. It will be like the old Fassel regime where defenses are calling out our plays before we even run them.

    you have to change O coordinators every 3 or 4 years, especially this team, which has had a complete makeover on the offensive side of the ball with new WRs.

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  14. Anon - I will be honest and admit I can't stand Gilbride. But, I think this season has two things going for it on offense that past seasons did not 1) Coughlin knows his job is at stake. I'm convinced if it's going poorly, TC will throw Gilbride to the wolves to save his own hide. He saw what protecting Sheridan did to his reputation. 2) the Giants hired Gilbride's son. I'm a dad and most dads will tell you that having your boy on the payroll (especially since it's Jr.'s FIRST NFL gig!) means you work double OT to make sure nothing about YOUR job performance affects how your son is viewed. Dad's tend to be protective of their kids in the workplace, so I'm expected Sr to bring his "A" game (if he has one!) this year. Of course, if he's a lousy dad on top of being a unimaginative O Coordinator, well, then we're screwed.

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  15. Let's ease up on the offense bashing and comparing it to the Fassel-regime is a low blow.

    The Giants O-ranking under Fassel (by points)starting in 03:

    30, 22, 21, 15, 20, 23, 21

    Under TC and/or Gilbride starting in 2004 (Eli's rookie year):

    22, 3, 11, 14, 3, 8.

    That's three top 10s (Fassel had 0) and besides 04, the team's worst offensive performance (2007) was the year they won the Super Bowl and was still better than Fassel's best year.

    And I really don't think Gilbride Jr. will have any effect on this team. Isn't he some type of quality control coach? I don't think he's involved with any position, just videotaping stuff. So, I don't see how that will effect how Gilbride will coach. His son's doing a job that no one even knows about.

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  16. Dan - Don't have kids, I'm guessing. If Gilbride, the father, goes, his son will most likely follow. That's a powerful incentive for most dads to make sure their performance doesn't jeopardize their son's future. We all know the son got the job because of his dad and the fact that he does not hold a crucial position makes it even easier to get rid of him. His father is trying to make sure he gets a couple of years of NFL work experience on his resume, so he won't be so dependant on his dad for work. The best way for him to accomplish that is make sure the offense is successful to the degree he can. Obviously, if Eli goes down for a season, Gilbride or no Gilbride, the Giants O will be horrendous. I dislike Gilbride, but I understand there is a limit to what he can do.

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  17. First off, I do have kids. And secondly, I think it's an insult to imply that Gilbride will try harder now that his son's on the coaching staff.

    I don't disagree as to why the younger Gilbride is on the coaching staff, it's nepotism at its finest, but to me that will have little impact on Gilbride. If you want to say it could impact Washington with the Shanahans I could see that. But Gilbride will rarely see him. And I think Gilbride the younger, while he got the job partly because of nepotism, I don't think he's a bad hire. He does have college experience. And it is an entry-level position.

    If TC goes, they all go. It's as if I were CEO of the company and I got my son a job in the mail room or as an intern. Am I going to try harder because he's there? No. If I'm fired would they fire him? Maybe, but he'd probably quit. So, I think that fact will have no impact on Gilbride.

    Does it effect TC to coach his son-in-law? That has to be pretty weird, he's not working with him, but instead is coaching him. And what happens if Snee ever divorces his daughter? Can you imagine?

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  18. My point in the above was about innovation, not the rankings, numbers can be inflated by any number of things, like how frequently the defense gets a three and out, or how quickly the other team scores and you get the ball back.

    I remember the first time I saw Simms run the fake handoff, bootleg and hit Bavaro and the run. I'm sure the play has some kind of name, but at that moment, they were the only team running it and it was indefensible for awhile. Sometimes run this fake end around to freeze the linebackers and handoff. We never run this play. Last year the Eagles unveiled a whole bunch of new looks, with two back old school pro sets including the runs by the fullback that killed us.
    My point is where is our innovation, as an earlier poster put it, we don't even run a good screen.

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  19. Dan - Gilbride's position is not close to that of CEO, so bad example. Comparing apples and oranges, frankly. CEO's have more leverage and are allowed more errors than anyone else in the company. I don't believe Gilbride's leverage is even close to that of the Maras and Tischs. If you do, well, what can I say to that? As for the TC - Snee relationship, yes, it's weird and unique in sports. Fortunately, Snee has performed well, so TC has not be forced to make a very difficult decision. However, if you remember correctly, there was a time when a few players were vocally rising up against TC (Strahan, Tiki, etc.) and when Snee was asked about it, he was angry and defensive towards his father-in-law. So it did cause a strain on the team. It was only after TC took his intensity down several notches that the situation settled down. Finally, I am glad that you know enough about Gilbride's son and the position in question to determine he was a "not bad hire". Just a few years in two very minor college football program, Temple and Georgetown, but totally ready for the jump to the bigs. I'll have to take your word for it, because what little the press revealed about Gilbride's son seemed unimpressive to me. I would remind you that Spangnuolo often gave the team's defensive success credit to the quality control coach at that time, Andre Curtis. In fact, Spags took Curtis with him to St. Louis. It's actually an extremely important job because you are required to break down hours and hours of tape to find tendencies and weaknesses. If done right, the team takes advantage of that information and has success. If done wrong...well, it's self explanatory. It is most certainly NOT an entry level position.

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