NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

The Packers may want to test the Giants rookie safety, Gibril Wilson. So far Wilson has been a pleasant surprise: he’s the first Giant since 1978 to ahve interceptions in consecutive games and he was the Giants leading tackler against the Browns. I’m voting for him to Rookie of the week. So far he’s only got 15% of the vote so it looks like Roy Williams or Ben Roethlisberger is going to win. By the way, (not to sound like a braggart, but) just remember that I said I liked Roy Williams way back in April before the draft.

More on Gibril Wilson and other defensive backs comes from Mike Garafolo, who likes what he sees. He did get that 15 yard penalty for a helmet to helmet hit, but Coughlin probably should ahve challenged:

On the second situation, first-time starter Gibril Wilson leveled Brown receiver Quincy Morgan at the sideline on a 29-yard pass to the Giants’ 17. But Morgan failed to hold onto the ball when he hit the ground.

Officials ruled a catch, however, and gave Wilson a 15-yard penalty for a personal foul on the hit. The play was replayed on the big screen at the stadium several times and it looked pretty obvious that Morgan neither came down in bounds nor held onto the ball.

Instead of challenging the catch, Coughlin let it go, and the Browns had a first-and-goal at the 8, which led to a touchdown.

”I didn’t have enough information at the time,” Coughlin said, ”and, to be honest with you, the flag distracted me a little bit, too.

From a recent comment on my post Giants Win = Credibility:

The short yardage game continues to be a problem, especially when Mike Cloud leapt right into the arms of a Brown near the goal line for a no gain.

I am concerned too, but not beacuae of Cloud. I can’t blame Cloud for that play at all. The offensive line was moving backwards, and there were no holes. Cloud had no chance but he tried anyway. And he did make his other short yardage run. I think the Giants have the right back; Cloud proved he can pick up tough yards with the Patriots. The line is improving but needs more work on short yardage…

By the way, I love comments so keep them coming!

Ralph Vacchiano details Seuberts efforts to return and notes that it must be decided by week 9. With the offensive line loking pretty good, Vacchiano wonders if there’s even a spot for a healthy Seubert.

Steve Serby from the New York Post ads that the Giants have been answering some of their critics questions, but may have to answer the trash talk of Brett Farve. Farve is ready to play and the Giants offense will be ready according to Mike Garafolo who details the Giants success on first down. Paul Schwarz credits the progress made by the offensive line for much of the Giants offensive success. He reasons that the Giants will need to score a bunch of points to beat the Packers and that they may be able to.

One thing that can help them is field positions, which, as Ernie Palladino writes, means that Jeff Feagles is an important weapon. Stephen Edelson writes about how the Packers defense hasn’t been too hot recently and how the Giants might be able to beat them and contend for a playoff spot. Just remember that I belived the Giants can win (and I mean compete for the playoffs) before any of these media guys.

The Eagles lost another back, John Ritchie, their fullback. For the Eagles (as with most NFL teams) there’s a big drop off in talent at fullback:

Rookie Thomas Tapeh, who was on the inactive list the last two games, is the only other fullback on Philadelphia’s roster since the start of the season. The Eagles re-signed Josh Parry, who was cut from the practice squad last week, and placed Ritchie on injured reserve. Veteran Dorsey Levens also could play fullback in certain situations.

Here’s a run down on many injuries in the NFL. Scary how long the list is in week 3.

Before the Giants Browns game, Neil Best wrote that containing Jeff Garcia would give Tim Lewis some credibiltiy. The Giants did win and the defense looked good against Jeff Garcia and his receivers. Of course without Suggs, Tucker, and Winslow the Giants defense had to make the Browns look bad in order to look good themselves. Strahan had to have a big day against the Browns backups and he did. Gibril Wilson wasn’t a huge liability starting for Shaun Williams. Garcia and the Browns receivers did get things going in the second half but it was too little too late.

It was also interesting to thear the announcers talking about Tom Coughlin during the game. It’s harder to attack a coach with a winning record and the announcers sounded like they were in Coughlin’s corner so to speak. As Mike Vacarro wrote before the game, the fans think Coughlin is just what New York needs. I think so. I want a coach who holds players accountable and makes them work hard. There’s nothing worse than watching a team that looks like it isn’t trying to win. Today Coughlin’s Giants looked and played like they wanted to win. Since they had more talent than the injured Browns they did win.

Williams hurt a knee in practice and may miss significant time. Neil Best writes:

Losing Williams, a seventh- year pro who plays a variety of roles, would be a severe blow. The Giants already have lost Omar Stoutmire, the other starting safety last season, to a season-ending knee injury. If Williams can’t play, the starters presumably would be Brent Alexander and Gibril Wilson, a rookie who made his NFL debut last weekend.

Emmons, Green, and Dayne were upgraded to probable.

BBI has the best preview I’ve read so far. It gos into some interesting matchups like Ebenezer Ekuban (who is replacing Brown but is a bit banged up – sore groin) at left defensive end facing Giants RT David Diehl. He is reported to show flases as a speed rusher, but since David Diehl did reasonably well against Jevon Kearse, we can expect another strong game from him.

The main concern seems to be the Browns backs and receivers. If terrell Suggs is healthy he may be a problem and William Green is a solid back up. The Browns receivers have big play ability as does Jeff Garcia. While not much of a preview, Yahoo sports offers a history lesson masquerading as a preview that covers the Giants disaster caused by Garcia and San Francisco.

The SportsNetwork stresses how important the running game is to the Browns, but offers none of the matchup info that BBI does. Marla Ridenour offers an in depth analysis of Ryan Tucker’s backup, who will be asked to block Strahan (with help from his friends).

MSNBC talks about how the Giants are trying not to look past this game.

Michael Eisen somehow mangaes to be far kinder while scouting the Browns than Tony Grossi was scouting the Giants. THough he finds lots of nice things to say abouth them, it would ahve to be considered a huge step back for the Giants defense if the Browns are able to move the football without Ryan Tucker (who was going to try blocking Strahan – now it will be 6-5, 315-pound Joaquin Gonzalez, a third-year pro who will make is fourth career start) and the tight end who is supposed to better than Shockey some day, Kellen Winslow.

With the starting left end and left tackle sidelined, the Giants should be able to give Warner more time. The offense will move the ball, but they need to find a way to do better in the red zone.

Here’s a Browns perspective on the upcoming Giants Browns game. It’s interesting, but it doesn’t make any predictions about how the Browns and Giants will match up. Some interesting conclusions are that Warner is becoming a dump off artist due to a suspect offensive line (these shorter routes were supposed to be annoying Shockey and Toomer but Shockey seems OK now). Also interesting is that the Wills are “supposed” to be able to cover man to man but are beatable. We’ve certainly seen Giants defensive backs get beaten a few times but things seem to be improving.