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Just a quick post-game blog to sum up Tom Coughlin's comments right after Victor Cruz caught three touchdown passes and grabbed six passes for 145 yards in the Giants' 31-16 win over the Jets.
On Eli Manning's injury, Coughlin said he'd have to wait and see if there is any swelling before Manning can get back to practice. If there is no swelling, he should be able to practice and play next week. Coughlin said the reason the injury happened was actually Manning's fault, as he attempted to throw a fade after calling a run and failing to call any adjustment. The line blocked for a Brandon Jacobs run up the middle, a middle burst as Coughlin called it, and Jacobs expected to get the ball. Instead, he collided with his quarterback. "I'm surprised the helmet flew off so fast," Coughlin said. "He's got four posts there (for the chinstrap). The nature of the play itself, it never should have happened."
Coughlin said he was surprised to see the extent of the blood flow from the three-inch gash. Doctors needed 12 stitches to close it. "His pants and shirt were bloody, so it squirted," Coughlin said.
Coughlin also said the defense had some communication problems on the Jets' first touchdown, the uncontested four-yard pass to Brad Smith. "It was a botched play," Coughlin said, adding that Smith went uncovered as a cornerback tried to get on the field. "At first, we had 12 men, then we had 10. I wanted the cornerback over the receiver and the other 10 on the line, but the corner was never able to get out there. It was a botched play."
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I don't think I'm exaggerating, but Cruz did more in that one preseason game than Moss has done his entire tenure here. If Cruz is not kept over Moss, then I really don't have much trust in the clowns that run the team.
ReplyDeleteJust saw the 1st half, very disturbing. The starters, especially on D, and JPP looked like a group for whom mediocrity or worse has become acceptable. (JPP - showed a flash, but OMG, the kid has a gut already! Just what we need, someone whose main strength is speed and athletic ability getting fat, happy, slow and out of shape.)
ReplyDeleteI hope Eli coming off the field with his forehead gashed doesn't presage a repeat of the Wilderness Years, like the infamous '64 photo of Tittle bloodied on his knees. The D last night reminded me of the Giants' D in those years. (Peace, Harry Carson - you were always a pillar in the middle, but you didn't have a defensive team worthy of you until a few years in.) Just like last year, out of position on the pass, can't get off the blocks or tackle the runner, can't get off the field. Terrible thought: Maybe it wasn't Sheridan? Maybe Pierce and Strahan leaving has taken the heart out of them?
I agree with Tom, and think Jud is overreacting just a tad. It's the first preseason game, and now you're liking these Giants -- three years removed form the Super Bowl -- to the worst stretch in Giants football history?
ReplyDeleteThey were only 8-8 last year and 12-4 the year before. So, let's relax on the mediocrity line, they did intercept a pass and return it to the one. But I guess if you mention that it defeats your point.
I agree the D didn't play lockdown, like I was hoping, I don't know about you, but I don't think this team is on its way down.There's still plenty of talent on this roster, and I don't know how you can make predictions one way or the other based off of the first preseason game.
Oh, and with JPP, that second-string D held their own against the Jets first team. What, they allow one field goal? I will say this though, I would have liked the running game to be better than it was. It was virtually nonexistent.
And one last comment, for those wondering why Barden didn't play last season, I think you saw that last night. The guy can't catch. Get him off the field.
You're right Dan. Barden had some really bad drops (i.e. first pass of the game, that thing hit him straight in the hands). Jud, get some optimism dude. This was their first game, under a new DC (the third in 3 years). I was actually quite encouraged. The first team D had some batted balls, one of which was INTed by Rolle and darn near taken back. Sure, the Dline did not get the pressure I was hoping, but I thought the secondary did a solid job with the lack of pressure. And I totally disagree on your JPP opinion. He did not look like he had a gut and he gave those OTs a fit. Go back and watch some footage, he was a handful. I was rather impressed, with the knowledge he is still VERY raw and has about 1-2 years of development ahead. From what I saw last night, he has the promise to be a very, very nasty DE.
ReplyDeletePreseason Game #1 thoughts
ReplyDelete1. Why was Eli still playing? He needs a handful of snaps if that to get ready and Coughlin should learn from his mistake by sitting starters more
2. Welcome to the Giants Victor Cruz! Whether its Barden (toldyall he sux) or Moss there is room for Cruz
3. Rolle and Grant are going to be the key offseason addiitons
4. Fewell needs to yell less and get these guys to simply understand who is in what package
5. What was up with our live blog? 1.6 billion and Ern cant get a decent internet connection??? They ruined our live blog last night
6. Can Victor Cruz return kicks? Ware and Brown are slow as molasses
7. Ghost of Jeff Feagles better be prepared to suit up. Dodge was an embarrassment and actually said he has kicked much worse punts in college, ugh
Vinny DiTrani Bergen Record:
ReplyDeleteHow about a flase fire alarm knocking out the PA system in this $1.6 billion piece of junk.
Why couldnt u get a decent internet connection Ern? Were any of the other scribes complaining about it? Did Hanlon have a response?
Tom - Very well said. I'm with you 100%. But then, I've been hoping they would get rid of Moss for the last two years, so I am biased.
ReplyDeleteJud - please tell me you're kidding. FIRST PRESEASON GAME. In other words, a glorified scrimmage. Here's some facts to soothe you 1) Coughlin NEVER shows his full offense or defense in preseason. Goes all the way back to Jacksonville. That's who he is, like it or not 2) Injuries - Lots of starters out last night. I'm not the team doctor, but I would bet half of them or more would have played if it was week 10 of the regular season 3) Last night was the Jets "Super Bowl". They have been talking s**t all offseason long. They desperately needed to back it up. Still LOTS of PSLs not sold for "gang green". With all that AND keeping their starters in the WHOLE half (unheard of in the first game), they had a field goal lead. A THREE POINT LEAD!!! And, if Jacobs hadn't taken out Eli, the Giants would have been ahead by one.
If you still think that all adds up to the 70s Giants all over again, then you really shouldn't watch football. Gets you too worked up for your own good. The ONLY thing that was truly disturbing last night was special teams. THAT was abysmal. The rest - pretty much what anyone would expect for the first preseason game. Sloppy and predictable. Just like every first preseason game. Try to remember the Browns just beat the Packers and the 49ers stomped on Indy. Doesn't mean that Cleveland and San Fran are Super Bowl bound and Indy and Green Bay will be picking in the first five of next year's draft. A little perspective goes a long way.
I agree special teams was terrible, although, Tynes probably had the best night of them all. But those returners were bad. And I think we know why you never draft a punter.
ReplyDeleteI think they can get some of that straightened out, but the punter is something that would concern me. He was terrible.
CE718 writes: Jud, get some optimism dude.
ReplyDeleteHey man, I'll try. :-) Been a G-men fan since '61 (age 7), I'm not gonna stop now. And I know Kenny Phillips didn't play. But I would have really liked to see more life in the starters, especially the D - the O to a certain extent gets a pass with the injuries on the line.
It's actually kinda strange for me to be this anxious, or this communicative about it. I'm a very even-tempered person, so much so that my wife actually tells me I should yell at the TV once in a while when I'm watching my beloved Giants. :-)
It was just so reminiscent of watching preseason last year, seeing the D not look good, then thinking it was all fine after the first 4 or 5 games, then New Orleans bringing all the concerns to reality.
Agree particularly with Wayno's #4, #6 and #7. #4 - As I mentioned in my first comment, too many guys out of position on D. (Think of Gruden saying last night that there's no way there should have been a hole in the Giants' pass coverage as big as there was on the Jets' early 3rd-and-17 conversion.) Hope that's just a symptom of this being the 1st preseason game. #6 - Didn't see a Jets' kickoff return held inside the 25 in the 1st half, or a Giants return that got outside the 20. The latter especially is poor. #7 - Punting game was absolutely scary. There has just got to be someone out there who fairly consistently kicks quick and high enough that punts don't get blocked, and can actually get some hang time. Not askin' for Shane Lechler or Feagles, just someone middlin' average, and so far Dodge ain't it.
That's funny Jud, because usually my wife is telling me to calm down and put the beer bottle down before I throw it through the TV. My favorite line of hers, "It's just a game". For some unknown reason, I am just rather optimistic about this team. I don't think that we are going to go 16-0, but I do think that the potential for 11-5 is there. As I said, this is the 3rd defensive coord in 3 years. These guys will buy what Fewell is selling. It will just take time and we have 3 more preseaon games to figure it all out. And believe it or not, I am agreeing with a lot of what Wayno lists.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I disagree with Wayno's list about is blaming the internet connection on the new stadium. Wayno: we all had problems. It had nothing to do with the stadium, and more to do with Google servers. You are gonna eventually have to stop blaming everything that goes wrong in Giants land on the stadium.
ReplyDeleteTom - the whole stadium and the PSLs are Wayno's "thing". It will go on the entire season. He's relentless. Best to just ignore it and focus on the game itself. Not sure what he's hoping to accomplish, the stadium is built and the tickets are sold, but we have all learned the hard way there's no way to talk him down off that ledge. I look at the upside - it's another post for Ernie to go with to advertisers and show how much traffic his blog is generating. Obsessive compulsives buy stuff, too.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Dweez. Yeah, I learned that the hard way a while back. No talking him down regarding PSLs and the new stadium.
ReplyDelete1. I thought the stadium looked sterile on the tube. The green glow was yuckafying.
ReplyDelete2. I hope they sterilized the stiches going into Eli's head? As I mentioned on the Live blog, Eli dropped as much blood as I have seen since rowdy roddy piper vs greg the hammer in the dog collar match, starcade83.
3. Mr Barden might find himself replaced by mr Cruz...or mr Cruz becomes this years Floyd Eddings/Coleman Zeno/Tracey Henderson/Al Young aka the pre season wr's that promise good times and disappear faster than David Blaine?
4. Mr Bulluck might be the glue that locks the run D together? Lets give them some time to work this out. Linval Joespeh certainly made some plays after replacing mr. Cofield, a sign of things to come?
5. Mr Rolle & Mr Grant appeared to be what was advertised. A very solid pairing that should make us forget the already forgotten CC Brown.
6. Welcome to the NFL mr. Dodge. I might be wrong, but I think 36 years ago (one Dave Jennings) also suffered a blocked punt on his first attempt in pre season. Some things never change.
CE718, after the 1st regular season game you gotta post telling us how many times you screamed at the TV, and I'll post saying how many times my wife told me I should. :-)
ReplyDeletePSLs: Would I rather seats were more affordable? Abso-freakin'-lutely. Would I rather go through with the full implications of that (finance the stadium with public tax $$$ increases)? Not so much.
Russ writes:
ReplyDeleteMr. Bulluck might be the glue that locks the run D together? Lets give them some time to work this out.
Certainly hope Bulluck helps. Too much non-tackling by starters on running plays (image I remember is a couple of guys, prominently Terrell Thomas, whiffing on LT down near the goal line), which should be fundamental, not need time to implement.
Linval Joseph certainly made some plays after replacing Mr. Cofield, a sign of things to come?
Only got a chance to look at Joseph on a couple of plays - looking forward to seeing more of him when I watch the 2nd half tonight. Have generally heard good things about him. Wouldn't mind seeing Joseph and Cofield paired. Cofield looks like he could use another big body in there next to him, and I'm not sure Bernard or Canty fits the bill.
There was not a bad internet connection all over the tri-state area, it had to do with Erns connection which can be blamed on the Giants not having enough bandwith in as Vinny Ditrani says the $1.6 billion piece of junk
ReplyDeleteWayno: Last time on this, and you can argue until you are blue in the face (I won't, since I used to work in IT), but the internet problems were not caused by the stadium. Regular shmoes like you and I who were not at the stadium were just as delayed trying to post as Ern was.
ReplyDeleteJud, will do. Just for clarification, do you want total time of all the screams or just the # times I start screaming, devoid of how long they last?
ReplyDeleteCE718, hah, for all the stats junkies out there, I think we need both!
ReplyDeleteOn the defense, something to remember - the first few games under Spags looked pretty ugly. Remember that? I think it wasn't until about the 3rd game in when things started clicking. So we may need a little patience with Fewell's defense. In the 1st quarter, when the Jets were making their way down the field, it looked WAY too much like last year, for my liking. But like I say, we need to give the defense a chance to get, and get all their pieces in place. Let's hope it all comes together!!
ReplyDeleteJohn makes a good point, but it takes a special coach to recognize specific problems and make the necessary corrections. This is what Spagnuolo proved that he can do, and Sheridan prove that he could not.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, the Giants surely proved why many rank the LB position as perhaps the most dreadful in the league. They were invisible and not one proved that he was able to shed blocks. And just to point out, Osi did not play yesterday and, therefore, cannot be used as a factor to the poor run defense.
Make no mistake, they have a lot of work to do.
Haj - You sure about Osi? I'm reasonably sure he was in for a few plays at least. BTW- The Giants LBs had at least 16 tackles in the game and Wilkinson had a forced fumble. Not saying it was an all pro performance, but they did make some plays. Pretty sure Boley caused the deflection that ended up in Rolle's arms, as well.
ReplyDeletedweez115, you're probably right. He probably did see some action. I really couldn't tell when they rotated. Just noticed the results being the same. And those tackles came from the 2nd/3rd unit. Not the starters.
ReplyDeleteEvery LB that played had at least one tackle. Again, was it all pro? No. But it was the first game under a new coordinator. Also, Coughlin never puts in his full offense or defense during preseason. Add on to that Pierce is gone. For all his faults, Pierce was the signal caller and the guy that made sure everyone had their assignment right. That role will probably fall to Bullock, it will probably take some time for him to learn the system perfectly, and, as you know, Bullock was on the sideline last night. Do I think it's a HOF LB crew? No, but I'm not ready to condemn them to the bottom of the League, either. Give it some time.
ReplyDelete