NFL-Giants: NY Giants football news

This article on Barry Cofield basically says he doesn’t want to play with a one year contract. Of course, at this point in time, he only has a one year contract. Thanks to the lockout, he is a restricted free agent for the 2nd year in a row.

Apparently Tiki is coming out of retirement and when the league says it’s OK, the Giants will release him so he can start looking for a new uniform.

Tiki’s motivation? He has no money. Apparently leaving your wife for a 23-year-old isn’t the best career move.

This article makes it sound like there’s a good chance Barry Cofield won’t be coming back. He has been very good for the Giants. Otherwise i don’t see much of note except, of course, that the Giants have not tried to sign any free agents at all due to the CBA expiring / possible lockout / etc.

A lot of Giants have been getting free passes thanks to the 2007 Super Bowl win over the 18-1 New England Patriots. But no one can deny hat the Giants currently have a problem. Is it Eli Manning?

A lot of the debate focuses on his interceptions and whether they are Manning’s fault.

Let’s compare Eli manning to some other QBs stats (attempts/INTs).

E.Manning: 510 / 24
Brees 571 / 19
P.Manning: 638 / 17
McNabb: 472 / 15
Bradford: 554 / 14
Sanchez: 507 / 13
Rivers: 504 / 12
Schaub: 552 / 12
Orton: 498 / 9
Freeman: 448 / 6
Cassel: 417 / 5
Brady: 476 / 4

Obviously he gets credit for the TD passes but how much blame does he get for the interceptions? Two against the Packers came on desperation passes in garbage time. Tom Coughlin has said some interceptions are on the receivers but what does that mean? Why does Tom Brady thrwo so few ints? Sure some were dropped but not 20+. Are the Pats receivers that much better than the Giants receivers? Is our offense design screwed up? Or is our QB an overpaid lug?

Anyway, how much blame do you place on Manning?

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.