NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

In a game that was extremely painful to watch in the first half because the Giants looked hopeless on defense as the Jags ran right through the Giants D, Big Blue managed to toughen up in the second half. In the second half the Giants weren’t abused so much by the Jags running game and they forced a couple of turnovers.

Meanwhile the Giants offense finally managed to go a game without turning the ball over. You win the turnover battle and it doesn’t matter if you got abused in the first half…

Who impressed today?

William Beatty had a strong game. Sure the Jags are a no-name defense but really the whole offensive line played better than I hoped considering the injuries & shuffled positions. And it’s nice that the Giants have 3 left tackles who can play well in Diehl, Andrews, and Beatty.

Jason Pierre-Paul and Joseph Linval. I don’t like giving the defensive line credit when they were abused in the running game for 30 minutes but both these guys were pushing people around. For JPP it was his first career sack, first career multiple-sack game, and 2 forced fumbles.

The Giants are now tied for first in the NFC East.

Injuries continue to pile on for the Giants at wide receiver. Hakeem Nicks, as a result of a hit he received to his lower right leg in last night’s game in Philadelphia, experienced swelling today and is being treated for Compartment Syndrome.

Compartment Syndrome is swelling in the lower leg which compresses nerves and blood vessels. This can lead to muscle and nerve damage if not treated immediately.

Nicks is undergoing a fasciotomy at the Hospital for Special Surgery this afternoon to address the issue.

According to the press release, Nicks is expected to miss approximately three weeks of action, which is what former Giant Jack Brewer missed when he suffered the same injury in 2004. However, 3 weeks is a pretty quick recovery time for this type of injury so it may be slightly optimistic.

It’s tempting to place some of the blame on the Giants defense for giving up big running plays in the second half but the story of this game was the turnover battle.

When the Giants defense came up with a turnover and the Giants went ahead 17-16 things looked good. Manning had been excellent in the second half (unlike in the first half). But turnovers continued to plague the Giants and Eli Manning’s near the end of the game was especially annoying. You pick and a 4th and 6 on a QB run and then lose the ball with no bad guys making contact? Pretty weak play from a guy who is supposed to be one of the NFL’s best quarter backs.

Granted, last week vs. Dallas was a stinker but 10 days ago most of the media had us going to the Super Bowl. Now they have us neck and neck with the Cowboys for last place in the NFC East.

Call me crazy but I think we can still beat the Eagles! Offensive line is a mess. Wide receiver is a mess. The Eagles pretty much have to put 8 in the box, stuff the run, and pressure Eli. We need our expensive QB to win this one for us.

And our defense. Our defense gave up some big huge plays against Dallas. Dallas had no drives but they had TDs. We’ll have to do better than that. The depleted offense won’t be making a ton of noise for the Giants so the defense is going to have to clamp down.

Steve Smith is out for a while and Barden is probably out for the rest of the season with a fractured ankle + ligament damage. Hixon is out.

The Giants have two good receivers on the field in Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. But 3 and 4 wide receiver sets are common and who do we put on the field? And you’d think the Giants need to IR Barden and sign another WR to the roster – who will it be (not Sinorice Moss)?

Teams without their starting QBs are supposed to be nearly helpless on offense, but the Seahawks were helpless on both sides of the ball as the Giants poured it on in the first half (35-0).

The only potential negative would be the injuries. Nicks’ ankle seems to be OK but Diehl is getting an MRI on a sprained hip tomorrow.