NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

Giants beat Dallas!

It was a weird game but great. The defense let Dallas rule time of posession but held them to 17 points. I think they deserve a good deal of credit considering how they were outclassed by Dallas in previous games and how injuries hurt the Giants secondary. Aaron Ross came up huge for a rookie CB.

The offense had too many 3 and outs but scored more points than Dallas and didn´t turn the ball over. Bradshaw broke some tackles. Toomer had that great catch and run. Great game for the offense.

The refs didn´t bother anyone much - they didn´t even throw a flag for the Brandon Jacobs vs. Roy Williams fight.

TO practices - still a game time decision

The Giants defense has had trouble with the Cowboys offense this season so what happens with TO could be an important factor in the game. Will he play? Will Webster or whoever covers him keep him quiet (as Webster shut down Joey Galloway vs. Tampa Bay)?

Giants vs. Cowboys rematch

This article mentions how the Giants defense will soon be tested by the team that spanked them on opening day. The fact that the Giants defense has been the league's best since week 3 is nice, but the Giants haven't played any good teams since week 1 or 2.

What do you think will happen after the bye? And who is rooting for the Eagles to beat the Cowboys this week?

6 tackles, 6 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles

Obviously the entire Giants defense kicked ass. It was fun to watch them crush the Eagles even if the game wasn't a nailbiter. Not that the offense didn't try to keep it close...

But Osi, are you kidding me? 6 tackles, 6 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.

12 sacks in agame? Crazy!

Anyway, I'm very grateful that our defense is picking it up. Who would have guessed considering the first 2 games?

Giants Eagles week 4 preview

The Giants and the Eagles both need this game according to Ralph Vacchiano. Week 4 might be early to alk about being out of the playoff race, but I'd still love to kick the crap out of the eagles.

The Canadian Press says that the Eagles are bad before the bye week. Maybe. With Lito Shepherd out and William James hurt (the former Giants Peterson), teh Eagles may be in cornerback trouble.

Of course, the giants may be in receiver trouble with Burress hurting but likely to play. Still I'd like to see the Giants go 3-wideouts early and often. Moss or Mix and/or split out Shockey - someone has to be able to catch the ball.

Vinny DiTriani has a good list of injuries that could change the game.

Giants football we can watch!

Goal line stand to beat the Redskins! What can I say but that this season might not be so bad after all if our defense shows up once in a while. I don't sound as thrilled as I am - that was awesome!

Very depressing Giants loss to Cowboys

A list of reasons for Giants fans to drink heavily:

1. The score 45-35 means that not only did we lose, but our defense absolutely sucked.

2. Speaking of the defense, Kiwi was asled to do an awful lot of coverage - not his strength.

3. The safeties can't cover either, particularly Butler. Time to convert a CB to free safety. In fairness, Wilson did play well in run support. Too bad he and Pierce are the only tacklers on the team...

4. The defensive line got kicked in the nuts and took it like babies.

5. Injuries. We seem to get slammed every year. Just getting an early start in 2007. Manning, Jacobs, Umenyiora, and Dockery - it's like a nightmare. Hopefully these guys aren't hurt too bad.

6. Manning was under lots of pressure. Sure the offense played well and we balme the defense for this loss, but we still saw Manning under lots of pressure. I don't blame the offensive line too much - running backs need to do better picking up blitzers (Droughns was OK here). Manning was hurt thanks to an unblocked Cowboy.

7. Alford's snaps look like a problem.

8. The refs screwed us. On the long touchdown pass to Sam Hurd on third down and seven , Cowboys wideout Patrick Crayton stepped forward in his stance. The play should have been blown dead and there should have been a penalty. No doubt our defense would then give up a different big play considering how badly they sucked.

Things that weren't so bad:

1. Derrick Ward played real well.

2. Diehl is really an NFL left tackle.
Manning played real well - his one interception was a great throw where Burress fell down.

3. Burress (despite the fall) and Toomer played real well.

4. Tynes played fairly well. Sure there were some low kcikoffs with not enough hangtime, but let's face it - we didn't even know if this guy was an NFL kicker or not.

5. Bradshaw can return kicks. Too bad he got so many chances thanks to our crappy defense though...

More Giants Cowboys articles

Here's an article on Dallas' injuries.

Of course the Giants have their own concerns. For some the question is Eli Manning's leadership. I don't really care how he talks but how he plays will be pretty important...

And the New York Times is writing about Romo.

Giants vs Dallas part 1: injuries

Thanks to a few injured Dallas players, this Texas writer thinks the Giants have a shot.

This is due mostly to a lack of depth at linebacker (isn't a 3-4 with too few linebackers kind of silly - I mean is this bad luck or just Dallas being stupid) and the fact that Terry Glenn might not play (he's their only deep threat).

Personally, I think the Giants will dominate both lines of scrimmage and kick some Dallas butt in a low scoring game that isn't really as close as the final score.

NFC East team draft needs

Here's an interesting article from Football Outsiders that summarizes the free agency period to date plus the draft needs of the Giants, Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins. Of course the Giants have shown that they are not afraid to go BPA in round 1 considering the Kiwannuka pick last year.

I always laugh when people say we need to draft a starting linebacker in round 1. Sometimes a great pick falls to you at a position of need (like when the Patriots got Vince Wilfork) and sometimes the Giants have traded up to get a guy they wanted (Shockey for example or even Moss). But Ginat fans who won't wait past the first round for us to start filling needs are begging to be let down.

The Giants beat the Redskins

The Giants didn't look too sharp in the third quarter but played close to a complete game and beat the Redskins. On offense, it was all Tiki Barber. Gilbride did his job and kept getting the ball in Tiki's hands. 234 yards and 3 TDs says the strategy worked. Manning didn't do much at all unfortunately. 12 of 26 explains why many Giants drives stalled. 101 yards is less that Tiki's 2 long TD runs. At least he threw a TD and no interceptions.

On defense, the Giants had a nice first half although they did give up a TD on a trick play where Sam Madison had a great shot at the ball and let Sntana Moss beat him to it. In the second half the defense started giving up a lot of yards and points. so it looked like the Redskins would come back to win it. In the end they got the job done though it certainly wasn't pretty.

Happy New Year everyone!

5 questions with a Redskins blogger

I recently had the chance to speak with Ben about the upcoming game. You can read my questions and his answers over on his Redksins blog. His answers to my questions are below.

1. What went wrong for the Redskin this season? Was it a lack of
talent and will we see that lack of talent cost the Redskins the game
against the Giants?

Tough question. To put it all together, this was a coaching staff that too much power and got inappropriately involved in player acquisition. To hear Joe Gibbs say it over an over, these high-priced free agents, Brandon Lloyd, Adam Archuleta, Andre Carter, et al, are not guys that were brought in by GM-like professional talent evaluators, they were requested directly by the coaches, and the management, with no one smarter in the way to say, hold up, went along with it. The result is guys that don't fit.

It's not that there is no talent, it's that the new talent was never as good as their paychecks and because of that pay structure, there was no money left over for depth. In the secondary, you have a first round pick (Carlos Rogers), a top-shelf free agent (Shawn Springs), another first round pick (Sean Taylor) and the richest safety of all time (Adam Archuleta). When Shawn was hurt, Carlos was not ready to be a premier guy and Adam was benched, the backups were all journeymen who got beat in coverage like Tom Coughlin's dog.

The way the Redskins can get out of this tightening downward spiral is to fire the Redskins' Don Rumsfeld Vinny Cerrato, bring in a professional football guy and let him work witrh Joe Gibbs and keep Dan Snyder the hell out of the way.

No these public and well-documented problems will not stop the Redskins from pummeling a reeling Giants team looking at a Tiki-less future and led by what is at best an average quarterback who gets paid too much.

2. What's going right for the Redskins? What should we look for in
this game that will be a positive for them in 2007?

The offensive line has been the real story of 2006. These guys loooove to run block and a starter did not miss a game until last week. Ladell Betts has 1000 yards rushing, including 6 100 yard games, and that's only on 8 starts! That kind of play supports a quarterback getting comfortable in a starting role. Of the starting offensive line, only Derrick Dockery is a free agent after this season. Age is a consideration for these guys, but 2007 should be another good year for the O-line.

Dovetailing right from the offensive line is the quarterback. Jason Campbell is cemented as the starter and the Redskins will succeed or fail in 2007 with him under center. So far, I like what I see.

3. The Redskins ran like crazy of the Eagles. The Eagles then stopped
the Giants running attack. Can you explain that to me? What did
Washington do right that New York couldn't do?

The December 10 Washington game was the first of a three-game road stretch for the Eagles, all against division rivals, and the Eagles won all three. That has not happened since the Redskins won three straight division road games in 1971. That first game, against Washington was Jeff Garcia's third start after Donovan McNabb went down, a make or break game, and I think the team was focused on offense and getting Garcia settled, and the Redskins just ran it all over the place. The Eagles were playing not to lose and it worked.

When it came time the next week for the Giants game, I think the Eagles were more confident that the whole Jeff Garcia thing could work and were playing to win. They made a decision that Eli Manning was going to have to do what he did in week 2 in order for the Giants to win, and the Eagles did not believe he had another game like that in him, and they were right. They contained the run and let Eli be Eli. He had a good day passing but never scored the big play.

4. Are you happy about the Redskins QB situation now and for 2007?
What will we see (positive and negative) this game?

There was a whole to-do about Jason Campbell amongst Redskins fans which played out in the Redskins blogs as well. It comes down to this: Redskins fans are all confident Jason Campbell has the skills to be a good NFL QB, and 2007 will be all about Jason. Where the quibbling begins is what could the team have done to have a better 2006? If Mark Brunell was not the answer, should the team have known that in preseason and made Jason the starter now, reducing expectations for a 2006 playoff run and giving Jason eight more games to get better? Or was the preseason assessment that if the Redskins were going to win 11 games and go to the playoffs it was going to be on Mark? The debate is really about when the Redskins decided they were not a great team, because benching a veteran in favor of a practical rookie is not a decision a playoff team makes.

In this game we will see more of the Redskins same: a conservative passing attack designed to minimize mistakes, high-percentage passes, a lot of Chris Cooley and a few deep balls to keep the Giants honest. The passing game is not altogether different now that Mark has been replaced by Jason, it's just that, well, Jason can throw it more than 20 yards in the air, so they let him do that six or seven times a game.

5. Are you happy with the Redskins coaching staff? Have they done the
best possible work with a flawed team put together by an owner who
doesn't think longterm or did the coaches help squander the chance
for a playoff appearance with a talented bunch of players?

That's a trick question because it's Joe Gibbs. To the extent that Redskins fans revere anyone, Joe is the living embodiment of Redskins football, and so like the pope there is a tendency to think he is infallible, and that the team's problems all result from the world around Joe and not from Joe himself.

The reality is that there are too many cooks, too many coaches calling too many meetings and all sucking the air out of the room. Like any company with too much management, the team has spent too much time managing and not enough footballing. The team wants all these rich athletes to be inspired from within and have the coaches just there to direct that energy but even these guys, all grown men, still need daily motivation, supervision and personal encouragement to deliver the best product. The coaching staff needs to get leaner, the org chart needs to be flatter and the players need to understand the guy yelling at them after a loss is not going to be some young position coach or some 'quality control' guy, but rather the top guys, the head coach and the coordinators, the guys they are really playing for.

Bonus: Sean Taylor. Best safety in the NFL? Worth the #5 pick in the
draft? Is he easy to root for despite the spitting and off-field
stuff?

If not the best safety then damn close. Roy Williams would have been my pick a month ago, but even Cowboys fans are concerned that Roy is riding his rep from three years ago and missing tackles and taking bad angles. Looking at the Pro Bowl rosters, any of those guys, Troy Polamalu, Ed Reed, John Lynch, Brian Dawkins, all those guys force opposing offenses to tailor their gameplan around them and all would be welcome on any team.

The thing about Sean Taylor is that he's not human. He's a linebacker in a safety's body, he's the fastest guy on the field and he has an uncanny ability to direct the entire force of a hit right into the runner's forward motion. Because he plays a little wild, opposing receivers and anyone in the open field is looking around for him because no one wants to be on the business end of a Sean Taylor Signature Hit. He makes receivers go back into the huddle and tell the QB, hey how bout you don't string me over the middle one time.

The facemasks, the late hits, the spitting, the lying about the spitting, the gunplay, the legal problems, the ignoring the coach, all that stuff, is part of the package. If he keeps that up, the Redskins won't re-sign because he'll be a top-drawer free agent when the time comes anyway and his upside is tempered by his downside. No one want him to join the monastery, just to lay off stupid stuff. But yeah, he's fun to watch. You never know what's going to happen next.

That's it. Head over to Ben's blog for more of the thoughtful football talk you see here.

NIghtmares of our lines getting beat up

I'm flying from Seoul to New York via Tokyo in a few hours so no game review for a few days. Normally I sleep as much as possible on the long flights, but I'm afraid to sleep because I don't want to wake up screaming (alarming the other passengers no doubt) as I have nightmares of the Eagles kicking our butts, having their way with our women - I mean lineman -, forcing turnovers, etc.

See you in a few days.

Giants Eagles preview no.2

I don't have to tell you that the Giants Eagles game is a big one; the winner has a good chance of making the playoffs. The loser doesn't. The article I link to above is right to point out issues with the Giants secondary, but wrong to say that all those yards last week came against "the hardly-inspiring Chris Weinke". Well I'm not inspired by Weinke, but he did make some very accurate throws; some of the beaten Giants actually had decent position on the guy they were covering.

I suspect the real problem will be Brian Westbrook in the short passing game. I don't know that our zone will be any tighter around the middle of the field than it has been so far this year. If the Giants can take away those short passes to Westbrook I like our chances. The Eagles will have only moderate success running against us and Garcia can't beat us if he has to take his time to throw deep often. It's all about the short middle of the field.

On offense, the Giants need to establish Tiki and the running game. The Eagles know it. It would also be nice if Accurate Eli Manning shows up instead of Throws too High Manning. The Eagles defense can't beat us unless we let them. If Eli is accurate Burress and Shockey will make plays. The Giants and especially Manning have a bad habit of playing like crap for large parts of football games so let's hope they don't let us fans down.

Bleeding Green Nation disagrees with me and says the Eagles can cover the Giants receivers. Hopefully Manning will ahve a good game and we'll see who's right. This game preview is really just a bunch of quotes, some more interesting than others.

Go Giants!

Giants Eagles preview

On offense, we obviously Whitfield to continue improving and hope that if O'Hara's not 100% that Seubert plays well in order to avoid another 8 sace debacle like we had last Eagles game. We'll also have to find a way to run on the Eagles and Trotter (who Pierce said is a good linebacker but refused to say he's a good guy). I think the Giants will run, considering how Ladell Betts took the Redskins run defense, bent them over his knee, and then spanked them repeatedly. Let's hope the coaches stay committed to the run.

Hopefully Shockey and Burress will be involved all day. Burress for one thinks he'll have a good game. Let's hope he's right when he says the Eagles would be crazy to think they could shut him down. I wonder where and how much Will Peterson or James, the former Giant CB will play.

On defense, the Giants need to do something about Westbrook (Andy Reid on Mike & Mike said Westbrook does what no other player in the league does and is a probowler - I wishi I could disagree with more confidence). Garcia has been playing well lately but the Giants should be able to contain him (not that they did it well against Romo, but they did it against Vick).

5 questions with an Eagles blogger

I recently had a chance to talk with Jason who has an Eagles blog. He keeps it updated so go check it out for the latest on our upcoming opponent and for my answers to his questions. Below are his answers to my questions:

1. As we near the end of the season, how healthy / beat up is this Eagles team?

They're relatively healthy. Other than the obvious players that have gone down for the year(McNabb & Kearse) everyone should be good to go. They have no injuries that I know of coming out of last week, although you never know what the Thursday injury report will bring...

2. Which Eagles players from the 2006 draft should Giants fans expect to be impressed with on Sunday?

Well really only one. Omar Gaither, who has stepped in to start at WILL LB in place of the smaler, quicker Matt McCoy. He's done a much better job getting off blocks and bringing down the ball carrier at the point of attack. Plus, he got his first NFL pick last Sunday against the Skins. You may also see undrafted rookie WR Hank Baskett make some plays as he's done this year. He's a big WR that has shown alot of promise but has also been very inconsistent.

Otherwise, the 06 draft class is pretty nonexistent. First round pick DT Broderick Bunkley has inexplicably been in the coaches' doghouse and has barely played the past few weeks, 2nd round pick Winston Justice has not dressed for a single game this year, WR Jason Avant has only been activated for a few games, and 2 other guys(KR/PR Bloom & SAM Gocong) are both on IR.

3. Statistically, the Giants pass protection is improving. How will the Eagles generate pressure on Manning?

They'll blitz him. That's defense coordinator Jim Johnson's trademark. He likes to bring blitzes from all over and from lots of different people. He'll have LBs, Safeties, & corners coming at him every which way. Early in the season the Eagles blitzed alot less because they were getting so much pressure with their front four, however since the Kearse injury the front 4 have gotten less and less pressure.

4. Which back (Tiki Barber or Brandon Jacobs) will be more difficult for the Eagles to stop?

Well considering the Eagles run defense lately it's been tough for them to stop anyone... But clearly Tiki is the key to that Giants team in my opinion. If the Eagles stop him they win this game. I think Brandon Jacobs is a good back that has really imnproved from last year, but I don't see him as the kind of game changer that Tiki is.

5. Are the Eagles still a pass-first team and is the offense becoming more balanced?

They're still a pass first team for sure, but they've certainly become more balanced since McNabb went down. They've done a better job controlling the clock on the ground at the end of games, Brian Westbrook has rushed for a 100 yards 3 of the last 4 games if I remember correctly. They're certainly not quite as balanced as Eagles fans would like, but it's gotten alot better.

Bonus: There are some Eagles players that Giants fans hate, but which Giants players do Eagles fans hate and why?

Well... Shockey is an easy one. He's just a guy that everyone loves to hate, not just Eagles fans. So specifically for Eagles fans, I suppose I'd have to say Strahan. Mostly because he's had so much success against us.

Redskins, cut blocks, and cheap shots

Well here's a very well written article that says the Redskins offensive linemen want to do more cut blocking and the coaches will give them the opportunity. Why they want to be a part of that disgusting brand of football is one question. Another is what we can do about those idiots diving at our guys' legs. I don't know if I can hate the Redskins any more, but if a Giants player gets hurt on one of these dirty, yet legal plays I'll certainly find out.

Giants 3-0 in the NFC East after beating Dallas on the road

The Giants are sitting pretty in the standing having beaten all of their NFC East opponents on the road. A Cowbiys blog places most of the blame on Dallas; they don't have the talent to compete with good teams like the Giants. The blog rightfully puts alot of blame on the offensive line. While this article takes too narrow a view, blaming TO. No doubt the 4th down drop hurt, but TO played well most of the game while the Dallas offensive line was roughed up by the Giants defense.

Fred Robbins played real well (even picked up his second interception). Strahan tied LT (officially anyway - not all of LTs sacks made it into the official record books) in total Giants sacks and he still plays the run well; clearly the best DE in the NFL right now. Osi looked good but was hurt. 6 sacks overall tells the story. So does 4 interceptions.

Arrington was having a breakout game until a ruptured achilles knocked him out of the game and probably the rest of the season. Dallas got something going for a while when Arrington went down, but it didn't last. They also remind us that "cornerbacks Sam Madison (cramps) and Frank Walker (hamstring) also were sidelined by game's end."

Unlike the Cowboys' offensive line, the Giants offensive line is playing real well. Dallas had the #1 rushing defense in the league but the Giants averaged 4+ yards / carry (27 for 114 yards from Tiki, 10 for 40 yards from Jacobs). Dallas was able to get some pressure on Manning, but every offensive line gives up pressures and the occasional sack.

Basically, we saw the Giants outplay a good team in a division game: "They out-played us, they out-coached us, they out-everythinged us," Parcells said. "I am ashamed to put a team out there that played like that. I apologize to the people that come out and watch that. That is not good football." The Cowboys are now desperate.

Here's an article on how NFL officials are monitored. It's not quite satisfying because it doesn't ask why there seems to be no accountability. Plus there's no discussion of the Giants - Cowboys game.

5 questions with a Cowboys blogger

I recently swapped questions with Dave from Blogging the Boys. Check out his blog for my answers to his questions. Below are his answers to my questions.

1. Dallas' linemen, backers, and safeties are all runstoppers. Is the only way to beat the Cowboys defense through the air?

So far, that's been the case, The Cowboys run defense has been phenomenal, no team has been able to establish any kind of consistent running game against Dallas. Fred Taylor had 74 yards in the first game of the season and that's been the high-water mark for opposing running backs. On the other hand, the Dallas secondary is no push-over, for the most part they've been solid. Jacksonville was able to get something established in the air in the first game, and the Eagles shredded our pass defense for huge plays. But even the Eagles game was deceiving, because a couple of the big plays in that game can be traced back to our starting FS, Pat Watkins, who is a rookie and played an awful game. So if you want to attack Dallas in the air, going after our rookie FS Pat Watkins and our SS Roy Williams, who is excellent against the run but ordianry at best in coverage, may be the place to start.

2. Is the Dallas offensive line as bad as it looks?

Actually, they're not as bad as most fans from other teams think. Because I follow the Cowboys so closely and I break down their game film each week, I can tell you that they are an erratic group in pass blocking, but are very good in run blocking. Most people saw the failures against Philadelphia and could easily conclude that they stink. But what the game film shows is that they weren't getting beat physically, they were getting beat because of mental errors, especially Flozell Adams. So there is the hope that they can get their blitz protections schemes worked out. They gave up 7 sacks in the Philly game, but only 5 sacks over the other 4 games. Against Houston last week, another blitzing team - although nowhere as talented as the Eagles - the Cowboys did much better in recognizing blitzes and blocking them. In the running game, they are actually quite good.

3. Do the Cowboys have one of the better running attacks in the league? Compared with the Falcons running game, will it be easier or more difficult for the Giants to stop the Dallas running game?

The Cowboys do have one of the better running attacks in the league. Julius Jones is 3rd in the league in yards per game (98.8) and the Dallas rushing offense is tied with the Giants for 3rd in the league at 151.8 yards per game. Stopping the Dallas rushing attack is different than the Falcons run game. The Falcons rely on zone blocking up front and expect Warrick Dunn to find the cutback lane. They also rely on Michael Vick to pitch in quite a few yards per game. The Giants did a good job of schemeing against that by bringing the blitzes from the outside and hemming Vick into the pocket and the front four showed discipline and stayed in their lanes. Dallas uses the more traditional run blocking scheme of man-on-man and they also pull their guards and center alot, and loop the tackles to the outside while letting the TE's block down on the end. Dallas also uses 2-TE sets often and usually puts one TE in motion to act as a fullback. So I don't know how much harder it is to stop the Dallas running attack, but the Giants will have to use a different scheme than last week to some extent.

4. Do you expect the Cowboys to try a trick play at some point during the game?

I've been expecting them to try one for the last few games but so far they haven't. We traditionally use the flea-flicker a few times a season and most of the time it works. The WR target is Terry Glenn who is already very fast, so if they can get the CB and safety to take one step forward to attack the run on a flea-flicker, Glenn will take it to the house. I would also say if Skyler Green dresses, he was our punt returner last week, he's a good candidate to be involved in a trick play. If he's in on an offensive play, watch out for a gadget.

5. What are Cowboys fans most concerned about regarding the Giants? For example is the main concern the pass rush getting to Bledsoe, Tiki and co. establishing the run game, or something else?

For me, there are two keys to Dallas winning this game, and you just mentioned both of them. First, we have to protect Drew Bledsoe. It's no secret that when Bledsoe has time and a clean pocket to throw from, he can be an elite QB. But when he faces even an average amount of pressure, things get dicey quick and the turnovers usually follow. It's not even the sacks that worry me the most, it his penchant for throwing interceptions when he 's pressured. The number two priority is to control Tiki Barber. I watched the Giants destroy Atlanta with off-tackle plays, especially on the left side of the Giants line, for runs where Barber wasn't touched until he hit the secondary. Our OLB's and DE's have to stand up the blocking and force Barber back into traffic. If we can be successful in those two areas, I like our chances.

Bonus Question: Are most Cowboys fans still supporting TO?

I get asked this one every week. My standard answer is that Cowboys fans are all over the map on this issue. Some love him, some hate him, and most of us tolerate him. Now, if he produces 3 TD's like he did last week, then I'm sure a lot more will start to love him. I just wish we could install a "Mute" button into his mouth and brain. Really, we don't need to know every single thought that enters his brain.

Probably my last post on the Giants beating up on the Redskins

I want to start talking about the next game, but the Giants vs. Redskins game is still the one making all the news. The biggest concern for Giants fans is Shockey's foot / ankle injury. It might be time for Giants fans to accept that Shockey is injury prone. Shiancoe is a good backup, but maybe we need a third tightend who's more of a pass catching threat than Rich Seubert. Still, watching Seubert come in as a blocking tightend was pretty cool so maybe we should keep him as our #3 tightend.

The best news is that Giants coaches are finally letting their players outplay (instead of trying to out-think opponents):

To a man, the Giants talked about how their coaches flipped their focus during the bye week. Instead of complicating the defense, Tom Coughlin and defensive coordinator Tim Lewis opted to simplify it.

"It was guys being more prepared," said Pierce, who, along with Brandon Short and Gibril Wilson, had a team-high six tackles. "Coach simplified some things for us, trying to make things easier so we could just read and react, not think as much. We went out there and had the performance we were looking for."

The Redskins blogger I exchanged questions with asked where the hell was Sean Taylor? Apparently Taylor was busy threatening Brandon Jacobs. If you like reading people who criticize the Redskins defense, here's another article, this one from the Washington Times. Interestingly, he says that Carlos Rogers may never be ready to take over for Shawn Springs. That's why I called Carlos Rodgers a reach on April 24, 2005. I freely admit that when I'm right it might be more luck than skill but I'm still going to brag about it whan I'm accuarate.

Back to the posisitve stuff, the Giants. Glauber tells us about Tiki Barber's motivating message that the Giants have to make themselves good. It also helps that Barber does more than talk; Tiki leads by example. Steve Serby reminds us that Tom Coughlin also gets a lot of credit while Paul Schwartz reminds us that the Giants needed this win badly.

Giants beat the redskins with tough defense and an efficient offense

We played a good game. A few Giants penalties were irritating, and when the Giants got the ball at their 44 in the 4th quarter and couldn’t put the game away, that was disappointing. But overall we played a good game. I mean after the offense failed to put the game away the defense stepped up. Washington gave us the ball back. Tiki Barber had some nice runs to pick up yards and eat up the clock. It was like watching Giants football again. Then Brandon Jacobs comes in and picks up a big first down with a nice run. Sweet! We kick a field goal to go up 19-3 and the game is pretty much over with less than 3 minutes left.

The Giants defense deserves credit. Brandon Short did well replacing Carlos Emmons. Nice to have linebacker depth! Speaking of backup linebackers, Chase Blackburn did a nice job on special teams cover units. The starting linebackers played well enough, but not great. Pierce dropped an interception and Arrington wasn't in on many tackles. That's fine with me; it's a team game and we don't need one guy to have big numbers. If everyone gets the job done all year like they did today, the Giants are all set.

The Giants defensive line played well. Despite a number of blatant holds that went uncalled, we got good pressure from our front four. Strahan and Robbins picked up big sacks. Cofield still looks like a real NFL defensive tackle – great value from the rookie considering we got him late in the fourth round. The only downside here is that Osi Umenyiora had another quiet game. He did sack Brunell in garbage time. I didn't see the helmet to helmet hit the refs called. I think they gave Washington 3 points by blowing that call so I don't balme Osi there.

The secondary kept the Redskins receivers mostly covered. Sam Madison and Corey Webster get most of the credit from me. RW McQuaters played well when he was in. The Giants safeties still need to do more for me to be 100% satisfied.

Who am I kidding? I am 100% satisfied. We held them to under 100 yards passing and rushing. No way they could win with our defense dominating like that. 86 yards passing? 78 yards rushing? The Redskins 3.9 yards / rush isn’t bad but we had them much lower early in the game when it really counted. The Redskins 3.6 yards / pass is just bad (for them obviously). Something woke up our pass defense.

On offense, the Giants didn't put up big points but they moved the ball consistently, put together long drives that wore down the Washington defense, and didn't turn the ball over. In other words the offense played well. They did get lucky when Petigout recovered Tiki’s fumble (Sean Taylor made a nice play there – no need to worry about Tiki) but there's nothing wrong with a little luck.

The offensive line didn't give up a sack. Eli did face some pressure, often from the blitz (nice job by Jacobs picking some blitzers up) but came through with the big passes. Eli hung tough and there is no question – he is our QB and we're lucky to have him. If you think stats are important his completion percentage was closer to 70% than to 60%: 23-33, 256 yds, 1 TD, no interceptions.

The Giants receivers hauled in some nice catches, didn't drop too many (Shockey had what I felt was an important drop), and everyone showed up to play. Tim Carter might not lose the #3 job even if Sinorice ever gets himself healthy. Nice game Tim!

The offensive line had some nice run blocks and Tiki averaged over 5 yards a carry. Hard not to win when you do that.

On special teams, I already mentioned our coverage units when I mentioned Chase Blackburn. Tyree didn't do much, but other guys were able to get the job done. Chad Morton looked better than he has all season. The Giants did miss a 47 yard field goal attempt, but we made 4 others.

Defense (awesome), offense (good against a strong redskins D), and special teams (better than the other guys) – we outplayed the Redskins in every phase of the game. Let's build on this very solid effort.

If you're counting the Giants are 2-0 in the NFC East. Washington is 0-2. Now we get to watch the Eagles and the Cowboys beat each other up...

Questions from a Redskins fan about the upcoming game

I recently did a question exchange with Curly R's Redskins blogin which he answers my questions about the upcoming game and I answer his. Here are his questions and my answers:

1. Giants' Offense. What's your take on Eli? Is he developing? He's already thrown 5 interceptions this season and been sacked 9 times. He doesn't seem always to be on the same page as the receivers. What critical development factor is Eli missing and how long will the Giants' faithful have confidence in him?

Eli's passing has been more accurate than it was last season, particularly at the end of last season when he kind of fell apart. I believe two of the interceptions cam when Giants receivers knocked balls into the air that should have been caught but the other 7 are obviously an issue. It seems that the Giants offense doesn't use enough high percentage passes. Typically, Eli is throwing the ball down the field. The longer the ball is in the air, the longer defenders have to make plays. To fully develop, Eli needs to do a better job of throwing the ball where there are no defenders who can make a play on it. I think he's getting there, and that's why Giants fans still have faith. We'll have confidence in Eli for a long time. His come-from-behind heroics against Philadlephia gave us a good feeling that even the 1st quarter of the Seattle game couldn't take
away.

2. Giants' Defense. How serious is starting weakside linebacker Carlos Emmons' injury and how does his loss affect the Giants' defense? Will Allen and Will Peterson are gone, but the defense is giving up lots of points (over 30 per game) and lots of passing yards (nearly 850 yards in three games). What's the problem with the Giants' secondary and how are the Giants' planning to control the Redskins?

Well, the injury is not unexpected. Emmons has had an injury every year he's been a Giant. He was even injured when we signed him. How serious a loss Emmons is depends on the replacement noone has really seen, our 3rd round pick, Wilkinson (or less likely Brandon Short). Emmons strength is supposed to be covering the tightend from the SAM position, which he wasn't doing in the first three games. Considering how soft the Giants zone looked with Emmons in there I don't see how there could be a big dropoff. How could the giants zone get any worse? Emmons is a big, tough run stopper. Wilkinson is faster, but less experienced. I don't have the answers but will he fill the right gaps? Will he be fooled by play action? Will he be a tough, reliable tackler?

To control the Redskins, Giants fans want to get rid of the soft zone and play tough. We remember the good old days when Giants linebackers were knocking receivers off their routes. Sadly, I don't think that's what the Giants plan to do, but they will try to tighten up that zone.

3. Giants Roster. Who's your breakout player for 2006? If you had a mulligan on one player acquisition from last offseason, who would you use it on, why, and who would you have wanted in his place? What are the top two offseason priorities for this team?

Brandon Jacobs looks to be a breakout player for 2006. He's running tough. Sinorice Moss has been the biggest bust so far since that quad of his has kept him off the field for a very very long time. However, rather than replace hime with another draft pick, I would say IR him and keep Curtis Deloatch (now with the Saints) on the roster. The Giants special teams miss Deloatch.

4. Tom Coughlin. If history served, tight end Jeremy Shockey would be benched for at least part of the Redskins game for comments about the Giants being outcoached and outplayed against Seattle. Wednesday, Coughlin said Shockey would start. Is Coach sacrificing principle for expediency, trying to win now and save the season and/or his job? Or was Shockey's transgression simply not as serious as others that have earned a benching?
Is Coughlin losing the team? Where is the fanbase on Coughlin?

To my knowledge, Coughlin never said he's bench Shockey. Most fans feel Shockey has a big mouth but in this case we agree that the Giants coaches need to do a better a job. We're fine with TC's handling of the players but not fine with the game plans on offense or defense. The penalties are frustrating as well but no one really knows how much of that is on the caoch and how much is on the players. I don't see Coughlin losing the team.

5. Finishing Strong or Finished Off?. After winning the Division last season, expectations for 2006 were high for the Giants. The team had to deal with injuries and controversy on the week off, and the Giants already have a problem coming off the bye, where they are a combined 3-14. Can they turn it around? How do you see the NFC East shaking out?

It's true that the Giants have sucked after byes for a while. I don't follow statistics like that; to me the players control the game and history isn't even an influence. Can they beat the Redskins? Yes. The Redskins have the weakest offense of the teams the Giants have played
so far (basing this on performance to date, not potential). Either the Giants defense will pull itself together and the Giants will win or the Redskins offense will have breakout game and the Giants will lose. I see the Giants winning the NFC East (the defense will wake up sooner
rather than later), Dallas finishing second (Strong defense will win some games and their receiving threats will win a few more for them), the Redskins third (I don't see enough depth to withstand more than a couple of injuries), and the Eagles 4th (their injury problems are
already costing them games).

BONUS QUESTION: Tiki Barber. His first couple of seasons, he was finding his place on the team, and now he's a bona fide star. What was your honest take when the Giants drafted him, and where does he fit now in the pantheon of Giants ball carriers?

He didn't make much of an impression until he came in for Rodney Hapton one time. You could tell he was just much faster than Hampton and more exciting to watch. In other words, I didn't notice when we drafted him but I noticed the first time I saw him play in an NFL regular season game and was impressed. Tiki is the greatest Giants running back. As elusive as Megget and as tough as Hampton who were the guys I grew up watching.

Disagree with my answers? leave a comment and tell us why.

Trouble for Giants fans in Philly

Giants fans get punched and abused in Philly. No wonder they actually like Brian Dawkins, that less than human crapbag.

Which one will be the Giants and which one will be the Redskins?

The Pwned image is hosted on photobucket so I'm not sure how long it will last... Anyway, just remembering last year. The Giants Pwn the Redskins to the tune of 36-0. Then the Redskins Pwn the Giants as Santana Moss makes a joke out of the Giants secondary. Seeing as how our secondary and pass rush has been a joke much of the year so far, I think we Giants fans need to unite in prayer for some bye week magic...

Good articles on the Giants beating the Eagles in the Miracle at the Linc

Bob Glauber is focusing on the negative, "nine penalties, only one sack, eight sacks allowed, just 87 net yards in the first half, and a Plaxico Burress-Luke Petitgout shouting match on the sideline over the poor blocking. For three quarters, they absolutely stunk, and they knew it." He does mention that the Giants have the right attitude to correct their errors.

Paul Schwartz wants to see more no huddle offense from the Giants. It does seem to work so it makes sense to me. I also like going 3 and 4 wide because the other teams have to take their best run stoppers off the field and very few teams have 3 or 4 decent corners.

Speaking of Plaxico Burress and Luke Petigout, that seems to be a non-issue.

Rick Cleveland has some nice things to say about Manning:

Critics, including NBC's John Madden, have continued to compare Eli unfavorably to older brother Peyton. Madden kept stressing in the Colts-Giants broadcast that little brother is not as accurate a passer as big brother.

You ask me, that's like saying Mt. McKinley is not as high as Mt. Everest. True, but Mt. McKinley is still up there in the clouds. For the record, through two games, the two Mannings' statistics are remarkably similar. Eli: 51-for-77 for 618 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Peyton: 51-for-77 for 676 yards, four TDs and one interception. Peyton's passer rating is 103.1, ever so slightly higher than Eli's 101.5.

Mike Garafolo reminds us that our team sacrificed their bodies to fight for the victory over the Eagles.

I wonder if Eagles fans actually believe the lies their scumbag players tell, like when Akers says he didn't mean to hit someone without pads on. Obviously it was an intended cheap shot but I'm sure he wishes he had tried to cheap shot an older, smaller coach. Of course, Eagles fans thought they'd start the season 4-0 which shows how they'll believe just about anything, no matter how insane or obviously wrong.

Speaking of bastard Eagles, there's a picture of McKenzie getting kicked in the nuts in the giants locker room. Luckily, the foot didn't make solid contact. Jim Johnson is sticking up for Trent Cole, the assclown who kicked McKenzie in the nuts. I'm still waiting for the NFL to fine Cole - it sure didn't take them long to fine Burress for throwing the ball into the stands after his TD reception.

Stay tuned - I'll try switching my focus to the upcoming Seahawks game next.

Giants beat Eagles in overtime thriller

First, let me just say that the Eagles are scum:

But their fans get what they deserve, a need for Pepto Bismol. The Eagles also have some potentailly very bad news on the injury front, but I feel sorry for the guys who got hurt. I feel even worse that it wasn't Cheap Shot Dawkins who got hurt.

And (speaking of getting hurt) we Giants fans have a thing or two to be proud of. These Giants are fighters, not quitters:

In the end, Tiki Barber had to have X-rays taken of his battered left arm. Amani Toomer's body was so spent he needed two helpers to simply remove his uniform. Jeremy Shockey could hardly walk as he limped in for a shower.

We didn't give up and we won. Hearts of champions. Sure there was plenty of reason for misery during much of the game and maybe I'll talk about the offensive line and Arrington in coverage and a few other things later in the week. But this is one we can enjoy.

Would you believe me if I told you?

Well I'm finally on my new server and I finally have my new blog software. A very evil company named Micfo made sure that it took much longer and cost a lot more money than it should have.

Now over 1,000 dollars poorer, all I can say is it's good to be back. If I still have any readers, thank you! I'll make it worth your while for sticking with my Giants blog.

I'll start with this article. You can skip the crap at the beginning and start reading where it says "GIANTS OFFENSE VS. EAGLES DEFENSE" - it's a pretty good summary of the matchups for the upcoming game. The conclusion that the Eagles will win is pure stupidity.

One Game Changes Everything

Football fans who were open-minded enough to check out the other football (soccer) this summer probably noticed that the slogan of the World Cup was, “ One game changes everything.” Meaning that winning any one game can propel a team to a world championship.

I believe this sentence holds true for the NFL as well. One game defines the season for every team and can lead to momentum and the playoffs or failure and disappointment.

I thought it might be interesting to look at the games last year that defined the seasons for all the NFC East teams.

New York Giants – This was a pretty easy selection. Coming into week 7 the Giants were an up and down team. While they had blown out three teams, St. Louis, Arizona, and New Orleans, they had not convinced critics they could win big games. Losses to Dallas and San Diego left them with many questions to answer.

Those questions would all be answered in the week 7 game against the Broncos. After playing tough the entire game the Giants still found themselves down by six points with three and a half minutes to go. Eli calmly and steadily drove the Giants down the field, 83 yards in total, and passed the winning touchdown to Amani Toomer with five seconds left on the clock.

The team never looked back as they went on to lose only three more times the rest of the season.

Washington Redskins – Also a pretty easy choice. Down 13-0 against their division rival Cowboys in week 2, the Redskins had little to no chance of winning the game. With less than four minutes left and a stingy Dallas defense to boot, it seemed hopeless.

Enter Santana Moss. Traded for in the offseason, Moss exploded for two long touchdown runs to dash the Cowboys hopes. At the end of the season, the Redskins found themselves just one game ahead of the Cowboys for the final playoff spot.

Santana Moss would be the centerpiece of a passing game that propelled the Redskins to this wild card berth.

Dallas Cowboys – Because of their mediocre season, the Cowboys were a little tougher of a choice to make. Was their season defined by a win or a loss? After all, losing the week 2 game to the Redskins certainly dashed their hopes at the end of week 17.

Just coming up short, like in week 2, is what defined the Cowboys. They had a huge lead against the Redskins and let it slip away, and inconsistency in close games throughout the season left them with only nine wins.

Five of the Cowboy’s seven losses was by one score or less. It is fitting, therefore, that their season is defined by a game that they lost by one point.

Philadelphia Eagles – Coming into week 10, the Eagles were anything but out of the race for the NFC East division. No team had established themselves fully, though the Giants were on their way, as the clear choices for division favorites. With a win against Dallas, the Eagles would overtake the Cowboys as third in the division while keeping a winning record.

With little more than three minutes to play, the Eagles were up by thirteen points and in comfortable position to win. But the Cowboys, receivers of a similar comeback mentioned earlier, were not finished. A touchdown pass to Glenn left them down only six points.

On the ensuing Philadelphia drive, reliable quarterback Donovan McNabb threw one of the worst passes of his career. Forcing a pass into a spot that didn’t exist, McNabb gave up an easy interception to Roy Williams, who ran it back for the winning touchdown.

But the worst news was not the loss, but the season-ending injury to Donovan McNabb. The Cowboys managed to break the backs of a division opponent while picking up a win in this defining game for the Eagle’s 2005 season.

So there you have it. Disagree with my picks? Feel free to let me know by the usual means.

Random Thoughts and More Predictions!

Let the pessimism begin! In the last few weeks ESPN took it upon themselves to predict everything and anything they could think of about the upcoming NFL season. In the process they ranked depth charts, made playoff picks, and selected a champion.

Of course, we all know how summer predictions can sound in six months….

It seems, however, that ESPN has jumped onto the Dallas bandwagon, as with most of the nation. For someone who is a known team killer, Terrell Owens sure does bring a lot of optimism with him. Hard to argue right now though, Owens had a terrific first season with the Eagles.

The crew also picked the Redskins, of all teams, to win the division. Doesn’t Washington just seem like a one-hit team? They’re trying to repeat their 2005-2006 success too much, and I really believe they lost, instead of gaining, talent over the course of the offseason. Does anyone here really think Santana Moss is going to have another season like last year? Is Brunell going to be effective AND last sixteen games? The Redskins have a chance, like all NFC East teams, to make a run…but they really seem like the weakest team in the division right now to me.

Speaking of teams in the NFC East, what about the Eagles? Remember how dominant they were before last season? As long as Donovan McNabb is healthy, Philly can do well. Still, talent-wise they aren’t tops in the league at every position anymore.

Finally back to the Giants. Their success hinges on Eli Manning becoming an elite quarterback, or at least close to it. He has the experience and the tools to do it. Many around the sports world, John Clayton in specific comes to mind, feel his completion percentage is going to take an enormous leap. If it does, then the Giants will be a double-digit win team. The recent developments from the team, free agent signings and training camp reports, have swayed me a bit on the mighty G-Men.

So what does all this rambling sum up to? My division predictions, as of now, are

1. Dallas
2. New York
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington

Of course, in six months when Washington wins the division by one game over the Eagles, I’ll pretend this post never happened.

Reviewing NFC East offseason moves

Here's a nice summary of all 4 NFC East team's offseason moves including draft picks and free agnets. Like any summary, there are missing details (like the Giants free agent DBs), but I learned something about the other 3 NFC East teams.

Five Things The Giants Must Do To Guarantee Success

Over the past few weeks, New York has made some giant, excuse the pun, strides in defending their division title. Signing Arrington and adding a playmaker at the third wide receiver position were big moves and should have a direct effect on the win/loss column. That being said, there are a few things that the Giants have to accomplish to keep their season a good one.

Improve The Defense – You can only go so far with an all-offense team. Despite what Peyton has done in Indianapolis for the last few seasons, it is rare to see teams make the postseason on the virtue of their offense alone. Even the Colts realized this last year, spending a lot of money on improving their defense. Remember how good the Chiefs were on offense a few seasons back? Well not much has changed besides the postseason trip since then.

For the Giants to really improve they have to become a good defensive team. Make no mistake that the defense is the key to the season. Healthy players in addition to some playmakers added in the offseason should be enough to do the trick, but if the defense struggles the season could turn mediocre very quickly.

Develop Eli Manning – This shouldn’t be a big problem but it is worth mentioning that Eli had a very rough ending to the 2005-06 season. Eli showed signs of being a great quarterback at the beginning of last season and I truly believe he is a Pro Bowl quarterback this year if developed right. He has all the weapons on offense and a season of experience under his belt.

Barring any sudden injury problems, Eli should be a top quarterback in the league and anything less is a disappointment.

Continue Running – What made the Giants so good on offense last year was not only the fact that they had three good receivers for Manning, but also that they got a career year from Tiki Barber. The fumbles are gone and all that is left is one of the best running backs in the league.

That being said Tiki has to prove he can do this two seasons in a row now. Teams are going to concentrate their defenses on stopping him and he has to continue to be effective to keep his offense moving. And of course, keep the fumbles down again (I think this problem is gone for the most part though.)

Beat Division Rivals – All four teams in the NFC East could probably finish first in the division. The team that ends up winning the division, and being guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, will need to have a good record (4-2 or better) against the other three teams in the East. No matter what the Giants have to do to win the games, they just have to make sure they get the job done.

Every game in the NFL is important, but division games set the tone for the year and can make or break a season. Last year Washington scored a miraculous comeback win against Dallas in the early weeks of the season and it ended up being the difference in making the playoffs and not making them. Also remember that if Philadelphia had not lost a big lead against the same Dallas team in the mid-weeks, they would have been right back in the race.

I can’t state how important this is, the Giants HAVE to win division games and give each and every one everything they have.

Have A Short-Term Memory – Last season was a fantastic year for all the Giants and they really did do something not expected of them by winning the division. But last year is last year, and it is time to move on and to start over.

If the Giants do all these things they will put themselves in a great position by week 17 to make headlines throughout winter!

Giants lose

Watching the Redskins offense outperform the Giants defense wasn't fun, but the officiating made this game almost unwatchable.

I blame the Giants for this loss, because the Giants were outplayed. However I just don't understand why the NFL can't find better officials. Calling back Toomer's TD with a phantom holding penalty was stupid. And this sort of thing is bad for the NFL because what should have been an xciting game pretty much ended early due to poor officiating.

I'm also not too crazy about roughing the passer on Alonzo Jackson. No hit, no foul. He touched the guy but that's about it. The call against Tyree on the Giants first punt was wrong. Tyree was forced out. Officials who didn't see this should be fired. They suck at their jobs. The non-call when Shockey was interfered with on the Redskins interception was also plainly visible.

But like I said, the Redskins outplayed the Giants. The Giants offense came up small, starting with the first play of the game and Plaxico Burress dropping a well thrown ball from Manning. Burress for probowl? I didn't vote for him and I think everyone can see why. Without much of a running game, did anyone think the Giants could win? They just got beat by Washington's front 7.

Meanwhile on defense, the Giants front 7 got beat. Not as badly as the offense but when your team's strength is invisible (Osi Umenyiora especially). The decimated linebacking corps is no excuse. I don't know who decided that Will Allen should cover Snatana Moss one on one, but that was a mistake. I don't blame Will Allen either. He got beaten by a superior player. The coaches are to blame for letting it happen.

Then we have special teams. How many times did Chad Morton let the Redskins down a punt near the goal line? I give the Redskins coverage team credit and the Giants blockers some of the blame (they were totally outclassed by the Redskins coverage units) but Morton has to see the situation and catch the ball. Letting it bounce around with all the Redskins there to down it was a stupid mistake. He made the same stupid mistake again and again. Feely made a nice tackle on the blocked field goal, but why do I have to watch the Redskins block a field goal?

All in all while the first thing on many Giants fans minds was the very poor officiating, the Giants were outplayed today. If you're the religious type, say a prayer for Chase Blackburn.

Giants vs. the blitz

How well are the Giants handling pass pressure this season? If you look at the number of sacks, everything seems fine. But look at the number of hits and we have a problem:

For the most part, the Giants have been adept at handling pressure this season. Manning has been sacked only 22times (ninth in the NFL), thanks in part to his ability to avoid the rush and in part to a much-improved offensive line. In fact, in nine of the Giants' 12 games, Manning has been sacked two or fewer times.

Then again, according to STATS, Inc., Manning has been knocked down on passing plays 129 times this season. That's the third-highest total in the league and represents 29.4% of the Giants' 438 passing plays.

Giants defense

After winning the game against Dallas, you have to wonder what's next for the Giants defense. Even wihtout ballhawking corners they generate turnovers and are usually good against the run. They can play physical (see the way they manhandled the Dallas offensive line) and they are fast (see Osi chasing down Jones from behind when Jones was trying to get outside on a misdirection).

Sure we don't have speed everywhere. Nick Griesen is playing very well at WILL but is not particularly fast. Brent Alexander might be the slowest defensive back in the league.

So what's next? Hopefully some more victories. I look for the Giants to continue to focus on stopping he run and be successful there. They won't be able to limit every passing game to as few yards as Dallas got but the coverage is certainly more effective that it was earlier in the season and Deloatch responded with a fairly strong game.

Cowboys lose

Last week Dallas won but looked bad. This week they lost but looked good. Intersting that their defense held the Broncos prolific rusihing attack in check even if Denver was a bit undermanned. Very sweet that Dayne did more for the Giants on Thanksgiving 2005 then he had since his rookie season.

Anyway, what I'm wondering is this. When we lost to Dallas I questioned the play calling that led to so many passes and so few runs. Hopwever if Dallas is going to put 8 in the box next week we may have no choice but to do that again. But we should be talking about the Seahawks.

Nice to see the Giants

It sure was nice to see the Giants beat the Eagles. It had certainly been too long. It was also nice to see Manning play relatively good football - can't complain about three TDs vs. no interceptions.

It's nice to see the Giants in first place even if we are tied with America's least favorite team. Thanks to the Redskins for losing aother close game and the -13 turnover differential they have this season. That's what we like to see.

We don't like to see Dallas winning, but at least they managed to look bad doing it...

Giants shut out Redskins

It was New York's first defensive shut out since November 1998 in a game against Philadelphia. Washington Head Coach Joe Gibbs was shutout for the first time in 207 regular season games as an NFL head coach. The only other time he was shutout was a 17-0 loss to the Giants in the 1986 NFC Championship Game.

Tiki Barber lit up the Redskins and had a career high 206 yards rushing. How awesome was he? 16 carries for 171 yards in the first half. Defense and running. The right way for the Giants to win football games.

Down on the Giants

I was wrong last year when I said during the preseason the Giants would be competitive although the first games of the season had some people beleiving.

This year I go on record again saying the Giants are better than they get credit for. A prediction of 7-9 seems backwards so I go with 9-7. I say this because the defense has been playing as well as can be expected this preseason while the offense should find its stride when we see more Tiki Barber. We still haven't seen a huge passing game, but I'm confident it will come together with Manning, Shockey, Toomer, and Burress.

Corey Simon URFA

The Giants defense played real well against the Jets but it's hard to point out a defensive tackle (or a linebacker for that matter) that made it happen. It was very much a team effort although it was nice to see Justin Tuck stand out.

The Eagles have removed the franchise tag from Corey Simon (like they did with Trotter years ago), making him an unrestricted free agent. That guy is good, but I don't see the Giants finding cap room for him even though a stud defensive tackle would be real nice...

Giants getting some respect?

Pat Kirwan says that the Redskins and Cowboys are within reach of the Giants after watching a bit of camp. Considering how most journalists rank the Giants last in the NFC East, this is a step in the right direction.

Giants closer

Gary Meyers writes that the Giants are closer to competing with the Eagles but not there yet:

GIANTS: McKenzie will help keep Manning off his back, but the QB needs new receivers who scare defenses just a little bit. The fact they offered Plaxico Burress an $8 million signing bonus bidding against themselves shows their desperation. "They certainly improved themselves," the GM said. "Did they improve themselves enough to contend with the Eagles? No. When teams get good is when the quarterback is established and they have a solid defense. The Giants got better. But did they get good?" They should have signed Jay Fiedler instead of Jim Miller, who hasn't thrown a pass since 2002 and is now with his sixth team in his 12-year career. Not having a first-round pick hurts, but having Manning is better.

Comparing NFC East teams to the Pats

The Eagles get some credit for trying to succeed the way the Patriots have. They draft well, they don't overpay for players especially injured, older ones. They get good value from guys like Trotter.

The Redskins, Cowboys, and Gaints obviously haven't done as well:

The Giants, for example, went to the Super Bowl in 2000, then gave big money to defensive back Jason Sehorn, who declined markedly because of injury. That and some questionable drafts put the team in cap trouble and the Giants were 4-12 in 2003 and 6-10 in 2004.

Redskins crush Giants

Erik Boland confused me a bit whne he called Will Allen a safety, but got it right when he said the Giants were not tough enough against the Redskins. When one of the most predictable offenses in the NFL, an offense that has looked bad pretty much every game, walks all over your defense...

Eric from BBI blames the owners for sticking with Accorsi and hiring Coughlin. He says the Giants will not be a competitive football team for a long time. Still have hopes for this season anyone? The Giants defense may have suffered another injury: Green's knee is hurt again (thanks to an illegal block). Robert Royal claimed it was unintentional, but give me a break. You don't run right at somebody and dive to take out his knees by accident. It looked like a deliberate play and I wouldn't be surprised if the coaches were involved. Royal is now in an elite class of players who I'd actually like to see out of the NFL along with Dawkins and Roy Williams from our other division rivals.

Giants suffer injuries in Dallas

Does Dallas play dirty? Amani Toomer accuses Roy Williams of taking cheap shots. He claims he was injured by one of those cheap shots (not the time Williams ripped his helmet off). If you dislike Roy Williams as much as I do, at least Shockey beat him for a touchdown. Of course Shockey probably got away with one on that play. And at least Toomer is happy with the win, hopefully he'll be happy with xray results...

Also injured were Robbins and Carter. Carter had no catches and dropped a TD, so Robbins would be more sorely missed. Robbins has a sprained shoulder but there's no news about how serious it is. Diehl got poked in they eye and the officials made him get off the field. He got back on though...

Eagles lose fullback

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.

What are the Redskins thinking?

Here are a few articles from Washington's point of view. Some are happy that they held the Giants to 62 yards rushing and that Ray Brown did well enough against Strahan. Here's a writer who talks about all the mistakes. Imagaine for example if Portis's TD run hadn't been called back (the next play Washington turned the ball over). The Washington Post talks about a lack of intensity:

Q: The taunts of Giants fans are upon us. Why can't Washington win in the NFC East?
A: As with most curses, there are fundamental, coincidental and psychological elements. For years now, the Redskins haven't maintained the necessary intensity to compete in division games. Of course, they haven't maintained the intensity to compete in a lot of other games, too. And over time, a sense of destiny sets in. Yesterday's loss means the team probably gives Gibbs his first below-.500 season in the NFC East since 1982.

Giants beat Washington but concerns linger

Hey, it's great that the Giants beat the Redskins, but I have some concerns.

1. How many teams will turn the ball over 7 times?

2. When we have a +6 turnover ratio, should fans be waiting until the final two minutes for the outcome of the game?

3. Why does the defense look so scarily bad sometimes (like on Washington's first drive?

4. Why couldn't the offense move the ball late in the game (like when taking a few minutes off the clock and scoring would have put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter)?

5. Why wasn't Shockey more involved in the offense?

6. Why does it seem like Barret Green is the only fast Giant (including safetites but not corners)?

7. Why is Ron Dayne still the short yardage back?

8. Why can't we convert on third down?

Giants offenisve diversity

This Washington Post article talks about how the Redskins will have to play differently against the giants thean they did against Tampa Bay, but that there would still be plenty of pressure. It seems that Washington wants to ahve a different player star every week, like saftey Matt Bowen did last week. The Redskins defensive coordinator had this to say:

"We'll have to adapt when teams max protect more," Williams said. "For whatever reason Tampa chose not to max protect, and New York might, and if that happens then we're going to have to adapt."

Reid on Giants offensive line

Andy Reid says the Giants offensive line is OK. O'Hara says there's lots of room to improve an that it can only happen over time. One key is the Diehl-Kearse match up. Another key will be how well other Giants handle the blitz. We'll see soon enough...

Dealing with the Eagles pass rush

This Newsday article discusses how Jason Whittle and the Bucs handled the Eagles last season and what the Giants need to do opening day. As I keep saying, the offensive line will be fine. Presuming I'm right about the line, here's what has to happen:

1. The backs have to do a better job picking up the blitz.
2. Toomer and Hilliard have to embarass the Eagles coreners man to man.
3. Warner has to get rid of the ball quickly, hopefully to Shockey.

Giants vs. Eagles preview

This preview talks about how desparate the Eagles are to win and how the Giants aren't expected to improve much on last season's record. A few things ring true: The Giants offensive line needs to give Kurt Warner time. A pressured Warner is no better than a pressured Collins. If Warner has time, the Giants need to take advantage of the inexperienced Eagle secondary.

For some unknown reason Luke Petigout is touted as the only returning offensive lineman from last year, so obviously this wasn't written by a Giants fan as we all have high hopes for Diehl. Lucier may not start, but he's also returning. They also have the "key matchup" as Toomer vs. Pinkston. I can't explain that either.

Newsday doesn't give the Giants much of a chance. This article claims that the Eagles corners are good enough and that while Emmons will be missed the addition of Kearse is more important. I'd also like to note that the Eagles are so worried about losing Westbrook (their last good running back after injuries to Buckhalter and Staley) that he won't be returning punts.

Here's another article that treats things a little more fairly in my view but still concludes that the Eagles will win because there are fewer new pieces to fit into place. With so many new Giants learning Coughlin's new system, I can't help but worry about how well all the new Giants can work together. If they do come together as a team, they have the talent to match up against and beat the Eagles.

Eagles favored to win NFC

Here's an analysis of the Eagles which is generally quite (and hopefully too) optimistic. One thing that might make Giants fans smile is that the Eagles have little depth at offensive line - a mistake that made the Giants a laughing stock last season. The conclusion (I take exception to the part that says Dhani Jones is an improvement):

Philadelphia has been an elite NFL team for the past three seasons, and has seemingly gotten better with the addition of Owens, Kearse, and a pair of solid linebackers in Jones and Trotter. If they remain relatively healthy, the Eagles have the makings of a Super Bowl team. But make no mistake, depth will be a huge issue on this club. Reid's squad is thin at running back, wide receiver, on both lines, and in the secondary. Significant injuries to Owens, Kearse, Westbrook or either of the starting corners would be catastrophic. The Eagles will need an uncharacteristic streak of good luck in the injury department to be NFC champions. If they're still playing on Feb. 6, and the opponent is someone other than the deeper, more talented Patriots, Philadelphia could have its first-ever Super Bowl title.

Cowboys running to George

The Cowboys will probably sign Eddie George, who was released by the Tiatns (who quickly signed Antowain Smith for 660,000 dollars). A veteran backup for Julius Jones makes perfect sense for the Cowboys and should remind us of our own running game questions: Tiki Barber's fumbling and Ron Dayne's ability to produce like he did when he was a rookie. Then there's Delvin Joyce and Antwoine Womack...

Trotter to Eagles

The Eagles plan to sign Trotter if he passes his physical. His contract would probably be a one year deal for the minimum 660,000 dollars. The 260 pound Trotter will compete with the 235 pound Simoneau who could be moved to weakside linebacker.

NFC East according to Kirwan

Pat Kirwan discusses the prime time appeal of the NFC East:

(July 8, 2004) -- The NFC East is the premier place to be in NFL circles, like it or not. No team from this division has won the Super Bowl since the glory days of the Dallas Cowboys back in the mid-1990s, but it still draws the most attention on a national level.

NFC East according to Dawkins and Arrington

Arrington, Dawkins size up the NFC East by talking about each others' teams and the Cowboys a little bit. For example, Arrington says Terrell Owens is the biggest new name in the division while Dawkins says Portis and Julius Jones (Cowboy's rookie back) are the most important newcomers. They mention Coughlin but don't seem to to be thinking about the Giants at all.

The magic will return is a bit old (June 30) and basically says that even though Gibbs can still coach, the Redskins won't win much.

Manning in San Diego

Eli Manning Makes it to San Diego, After All by Jerry Magee goes through some of the old stuff about Manning and Rivers but has an interesting quote from each about how they are friends. It's from June 30.

More old news (from a June 22 press release) that I missed cause of the dog bite:

Jeremy Shockey elected to have surgery on his foot today. The surgery took place at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C. The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Anderson, an orthopedic foot specialist, and the procedure involved the placement of a screw to the fifth metatarsal of his right foot. Shockey elected to have the surgery now so his foot will be healed and healthy for the start of the football season.

Posted by James Trotta at 7:09 PM | Comments (0)

How much will the Eagles use Westbrook?

Here's an interesting article about how Westbrook may be too small to be an every down back but how the Eagles want him on the field as much as possible. Naturally they talk about his 84 yard return and how "he can run by the whole Giants" team. They also compare him to Tiki Barber because he wasa third dwon back converted to a full-time featured back. Anyway, clearly the Giants will have to do a better job stopping Westbrook than they did last year...

Redskins happy with Barrow; don't miss Trotter

This article on how Barrow plays younger than he is (it's from the Washington Post, so you'll have to register to read it) suggests that he'll do very well for the Redskins. 6 years for 13 million seems like a bargain for a guy who led the Giants in tackles for three years and even led the NFC last year with 148.

Eagles looking for another big name?

I read some mildly disturbing rumors that Eddie George wants to play for the Eagles. With the addition of Owens plus Detmer and Blake backing up McNabb, the Eagles seem to be in pretty good shape offensively. Eddie George didn't put up such great numbers in 2003 (3.3 average and 5 touchdowns) but he would be another capable guy in the backfield...

NFC East QB questions

This overview of the many question marks various NFL teams have points out that in the NFC East, only the Eagles are set at QB. The Giants still need a veteran for Eli Manning. The Cowboys have Quincy Carter and Drew Henson. Henson may be the QB of the future, but it's hard to believe he'll be ready to start this season. The Redskins have Mark Brunell and Patrick Ramsey. Brunell seemed to be losing his stuff when he lost his starting job and we'll have to see if he can buy it back with the 43 million dollars the redskins are giving him.

The most annoying (and dumbest) article I've read today is very misleadingly titled "Coughlin's Playbook" but has nothing to do with football plays. Instead, it's all about the spat between Coughlin, a few Giants, and the players association. The bit about Strahan and Barber being in danger of getting cut for salary cap reasons was interesting (but wrong for Barber if he stops fumbling and wrong for Strahan is he plays at the same level he always has). The line about not watching games because the off-field politics was more interesting earned this article my "most annoying" label. Subscription required to read this drudgery.

QB rumors in the news

Warner visits the Giants today. He can talk and take a physical but no contract negotiaions or tryouts until he's officially cut. Nevertheless, Palladino guesses that around 1 million in bonus and salary would be a resonable offer. That certainly seems reasonable, especially in light of the 50 million ESPN thinks Eli will get over 6 years. This article also goes over some of the not so happy details from the Giants mini camp and reminds us that rookies like Elway, Marino, and Aikman didn't do well.

Meanwhile, the Packers are working out Huard. The "insiders" claim that the Giants are interested (The ESPN article linked to above also mentions Huard), but it seems pretty clear to me that there are other QBs (beside Warner who is #1 on the list for now) the Giants prefer.

Interestingly, Huard is considered expendable by New England because their guy in NFL Europe is playing so well. But the Giants Ryan Van Dyke is doing equallt well:

QB Ryan Van Dyke is having an MVP-type performance for the Cologne Centurions in NFL Europe this season. Van Dyke has completed 115 of 176 passes (65.3 percent) for 1,358 yards, 12 touchdowns and eight interceptions. All of those figures lead the league (he is tied at the top in touchdown passes with Rohan Davey of Berlin and the New England Patriots).

Posted by James Trotta at 12:02 AM | Comments (2)

Redskins sign Barrow

The MLB cut by the Giants for cap reasons signed with the Washington Redskins. A lot of NFC East linebackers have switched teams but stayed in the division. Dhain Jones went to the Eagles. Carlos Emmons went to the Giants. Now Barrow goes to the Redskins...

Don't forget that the former Giants Cornelius Griffin also signed with the Redskins. Speaking of defensive tackles, William Joseph is hurt, but is expected to be ready some time during training camp.

Can the Giants compete?

Not according to Michael Radano, who expects the Eagles to go 14-2 and the Redskins to be tougher opponents than the Giants. I'll go on record here and predict that he'll be wrong on both counts.

NFC East draft needs

An article about how NFC East teams might approach the draft.

Redskins long term outlook

With so many high priced veteran signings and so few draft picks, the Redskins might be in big trouble soon. I won't cry. Here's the article about how valuable draft picks are to buidling teams and teams that are already contenders.

NFC East

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/10810710383640.xml is an interesting article about how the NFC East is a tough decision and how the Eagles are the team to beat.