November 7, 2004
Giants vs. Bears
Adewale Ogunleye will be available to the Bears Sunday. He would line up against Diehl who has been inconsistent at right tackle. The returning DE hasn't bothered Warner. Kurt Warner seems confident enough:
"I think you have a good idea of what they're going to do,'' Warner told New York reporters this week. "They're not the most complicated defense in the world. It's something I've seen for years."I don't think Warner means to insult Smith. He has some nice things to say according to Paul Schwartz who writes about the Giants' interest in Smith.
Speaking of the Giants offense, Paul Schwartz asks if the Giants run so much because they are good at it or because they can't put together a potent passing attack. It does seem to me like Warner has been missing receivers when they are open and that receivers aren't getting open as often or as quickly as they should. Still, Warner is right to be confident about this one. As Steve Serby says, the Giants won't lose to the Midgets of Midway. But it's scary. Ralph Vacchiano writes about the fear of a letdown and that the Giants play down to their competition. I hope he's wrong, but I haven't forgotten the Detroit game...
Fittingly, there's not much in the press about the Bears offense, except that they run better than they pass. Ernie Palladino writes about the importance of both running games. With a rookie QB and no terrifying receivers, the Giants should be able to crowd the box and take care of the run. Plus if the crowd can get some pressure on Krenzel, you would expect a QB making his second start to make mistakes. Krenzel can't outplay the Giants defense. Of course Joey Harrington wasn't supposed to be able to either and he had the best game of his career a couple weeks ago (18 for 22). The Giants will need to play hard, but they can win.
Posted by James Trotta at November 7, 2004 9:21 PMThe Giants may not have an on fire type of passing game, but they have an effective passing game. And I'm too lazy to check on this, but isn't Warner's completion percentage around 65% right now? If so it sounds like he's doing exactly what is asked of him and doing it at a very high level.
Posted by: Tom at November 8, 2004 1:23 AMHe has already set a career high for fumbles in a season and is on pace to set a record. Some of this can be blamed on the line, but he is holding onto the ball too long and not holding on with two hands when the pressure reaches him.
Posted by: James Trotta at November 14, 2004 1:43 PM