NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

Great Football Outsiders article says it better than I could:

The Titans’ game-tying drive involved the game’s oddest play. On fourth-and-10, Kiwanuka had Young in his grasp. Young made a pump-fake, and Kiwanuka, fearful of a roughing-the-passer penalty, released Young, who proceeded to scramble for a first-down.

This odd looking play has led to some condemnation for Kiwanuka, but this gaffe was certainly understandable. The NFL has seen a number of questionable roughing penalties, although not an overall increase. Had Young thrown the ball and Kiwanuka tackled him, the rookie would have been everyone’s goat for picking up a personal foul. A Tennessee drive had already been extended on a personal foul when Young was stopped short of a first down.

When he released Young, the quarterback still had over 15 yards to run for a first down, but Young evaded all tacklers. Will Demps had a perfect opportunity to make a game-winning tackle but missed. Demps’ failure is more cause for reproach than Kiwanuka’s.

Young’s feint raises a difficult problem for referees and the Competition Committee. Already, it seems that some quarterbacks are testing the rules by delaying their slides to the last minute or tiptoeing down the sideline, almost trying to induce the penalty. Protecting the quarterback is an important objective, but when players stop making legitimate plays for fear of a flag, the situation needs to be reexamined.

Believe it or not, that’s only a fraction of this detailed article.

Before the game, I wrote about how I hoped we wouldn’t have to watch another rookie QB outplay Manning. Yet, here’s a Texans fan bragging about how Vince Young outplayed Eli Manning. Do you agree?

I’m not sure why any of us should go through the pain of reading the articles about how badly the Giants sucked against the Titans, but here they are:

Mike Garafolo on the game, Garafolo’s much needed QB class for Manning, Shaun Powell on the Giants stink, and I suspect there are more but I’m not strong enough to keep looking for them.

It’s hard to root for Burress when the guy is a quitter. It’s hard to root for Manning when the guy makes you wonder if J-Load can take over. It’s hard to root for the coaches when they have too many flaws to list.

But it’s easy to root for the Giants, even after blowing a 21 – 0 lead by giving up 24 in the 4th quarter. Only because I root for the team rather than the individuals can I hope these slackers kick some Cowboy ass next week and make the playoffs.

We’re going to be thin at linebacker since Brandon Short didn’t come to Nashville. Arthur Staple reports that DE Michael Strahan, DE Osi Umenyiora, CB Sam Madison and T Luke Petitgout are also absent from nashville.

The New York Times discusses the big question, which Manning is in Nashville?

His completion rate, a source of frustration for the Giants in 2005, was 65.3 percent in the first five games this season but 49.4 percent in the past five. Only one quarterback has thrown more intercepted passes.

Let’s hope we don’t have to watch Manning get outplayed by another rookie – I don’t think I can take that kind of torture. The Daily news asks if we should expect that kind of torture (Manning playing like crap) for the next few years.

The USA Today game preview has some quotes from Manning as they state the obvious (the Giants have to win this game). The Courier News lists a few of the game’s key players including Pierce and Burress for the Giants. Burress’ drop on that bomb for a TD was more torturous than most of Manning’s throws last week. Mike Garafolo reminds us that when we should be thinking trap game we’re now actually wondering if the Giants are good enough to beat the Titans. The Daily News has a Kiwanuka quote about how hard it can be to defend Vince Young.

Well that’s it. I’m too scared to make my own prediction. If the Giants play hard they should ahve the talent to win. If they play like they don’t care (like some seemed to against Jacksonville) who knows…

He rightfully asks why the Giants don’t stick with the running game. Why would they rather put the game in Eli’s hands, than Tiki’s hands? The results are now gnawing at the hearts fo all Giants fans:

In those two games – losses to the Bears and the Jaguars – the Giants (6-4) have run just 36 times while attempting 76passes. That’s a startling ratio considering the Giants trailed in both games by less than a touchdown with 13minutes remaining. And it’s even more incredible when Manning’s struggles are factored in. In those two games, the quarterback completed just 45.2% of his passes (33 for 73) with four interceptions.

Barber takes some criticism for being a bad teammate, but I find myself wondering what the problem is. He’s being honest and I agree with him.

In a game against the Jaguars, there was only one Giant worth watching. Shockey seemed to be giving his best effort the whole game, but no one else put together a consistently good game. More analysis later, but I’m tired of Manningmaking poor throws on stupidly called pass plays. And I’m tired of the secondary not getting its job done, especially Corey Webster who makes a nice play to bat away a TD on one play and falls down to allow receivers to run aorund wide open on another. And I’m tired of missed tackles. Reggie Torbor losing the sack, Will Demps, just some ugly football.

I didn’t even realize Legree was available until I heard the Giants signed him. I think this is a great move. He knows the Giants and has played well for us before. He can play DE or DT and with all out injuries we need some versatility. He doesn’t seem to get hurt which is important – we all know how anooying it is when backups go down and we end up with guys recruited off the street (although that’s how we recruited Legree actually).

Anyway, this move should help us. until we can get Osi and/or Strahan back.

Here’s a Daily News article that gives an overview of the Giants injury situation in Fassel’s final year and in Coughlin’s reign. Clearly Coughlin hasn’t eliminated injuries like he said he would but the bigger question is what can be done? One doctor in the article says the Giants need a better field and more yoga / pilates.

The Giants say there’s nothing more they can do; they’ve studied it from every angle but it’s just plain bad luck. Every year.

I would like to see a comparison. They tell us how many Giants go on IR, but let’s compare that to other teams or to the league average.

Defensive end Justin Tuck, who missed the last three games with a foot injury, will undergo surgery on Friday and miss the remainder of the season. The surgery will repair a Lisfranc injury and will include inserting screws into Tuck’s foot. Dr. Robert Anderson will perform the surgery at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte.

We still don’t ahve solid info on how much time Osi and Strahan will miss. I do hope that the Giants do some rotating – William Joseph can’t play 50+ snaps at DE. Awasome needs to be rotated in some more.