By Alex Lewin - InReeseWeTrust.com 9/15/10
Flash forward to 2010, and those same Panthers who came into Giants Stadium and smacked around the Giants were coming back to open up the bland slab of Titanium Stadium also known as the New Meadowlands Stadium (which by the way is the worst stadium name in recent memory). The Giants talked all training camp about gaining revenge, and putting 2009 behind them. Well, the Giants did just that opening up 1-0 with a sloppy 31-18 win. Look, my theory in the NFL is that you should throw out the first 2-3 games of the season. For example, when the Giants opened up 0-2 in 2007 and were blown out at home by the Packers. Of course, as we all know the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl that year, beating that same Packers team in the NFC Title game along the way. So don’t take this game too much to heart.
Quarterbacks:
I thought Eli Manning played a somewhat above average game. His throws to Hakeem Nicks on the first two touchdowns were right on the money 26 and 19 yards respectively. With that being said with the good comes the bad and Eli ended up with three interceptions, two of which were not his fault, but still ends up in the INT category. In addition, the Giants struggled to get the offense going the first couple of series, much of that was due to Eli’s poor decision making. But look, 20-30 263 3 TDs and 3 INTs were respectable for the opening game. His play does need to be turned up a notch if the Giants want to stun the Colts next week.
Running Backs:
Take away the Ahmad Bradshaw 39 yard run and this unit had a combined 79 yards rushing. That is unacceptable, especially for a team that just two years ago prided itself as the most dynamic rushing attack in the league. If the Giants cannot establish the run game this season then forget about them. Seriously, unless you have Peyton Manning or Drew Brees throwing the football, which of course the Giants don’t, you need a good running attack. Frankly, the Giants rushing left a lot to be desired from what I saw Sunday. Bradshaw had a dynamic pre season, but outside of that 39 yard run, he looked bad. He was not hitting the holes (more of the offensive lines fault more than Bradshaw as you will see below) and he danced around the line far too much. As for Jacobs, outside of a few five yard runs and that shocking 22 yards pitch to the outside, he was a non factor. We all know Jacobs is not the back he was in 2007 and 2008, but he at least needs to pound the ball more and he just doesn’t do that anymore.
Wide Receivers:
Very mixed reviews for this group. On one hand you had Mario Manningham who not only drew a few pass interference calls, but got the most YAC (yards after catch) on the team and has clearly established himself as the big play threat this season. In addition, you had Hakeem Nicks who now leads the NFL in TD catches with three and ran some excellent post routes, including the one where he finally got open on his last TD catch. However, Nicks dropped a pass that led to Eli’s first pick, Steve Smith could not get open, and Ramses Barden looks like his hands are made out of stones. This group has GOT TO STOP DROPPING PASSES! This is not a new thing with this group. I understand they are young and for the most part inexperienced, but that’s no excuse for the amount of dropped passes that we saw Sunday. On a final note, Ramses Barden should not be out there unless the Giants are on the opponents three yard line and they are throwing a fade or sluggo route to him. That’s it, period. As for the tight ends, Kevin Boss had another concussion, which seems as often as a failed Jim Belushi sitcom. Seriously, Kevin Boss has had more concussions than games played at this point. The sad part is I don’t know how this can be avoided, he is a very physical player who makes a living going over the middle. Bear Pascoe is back as the blocking tight end as Travis Beckum showed he could not block a single player on the Panthers.
O-Line:
Again, mixed reviews. Against the pass I thought they did a decent job. Eli for the most part had time to throw, the most obvious was the before mentioned last TD he threw to Nicks. However, the run blocking was atrocious. Pretty much everyone not named Chris Snee was blown off the blocks on every play. Wait until the Giants play the Bears, or the Cowboys because if they looked this bad against the Panthers with the run block, then just don’t rush the ball. I thought they improved a bit in the second half, but not enough to feel comfortable going forward. With that being said, Indy just gave up 250 yards rushing so maybe this Sunday won’t be such a big test for the Giants run attack.
D-Line:
The D-Line looks like they are back to their 2008 form. EXCELLENT job against the Panthers running attack, which I might add is one of the top five in the NFL with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart. The first half did not feature such a great pass rush, but they turned that on in the second half, simply dominating the Panthers o-line. Guys who stood out were Justin Tuck, Chris Canty, Kiwi, and Barry Coefield who almost had two sacks on back to back plays which is like seeing pigs flying through the air. They have the personnel to accomplish this dominance, but then again they had pretty much the same names last year so we will see.
Linebackers:
Overall a solid job by this group. Nothing special, but nothing bad either. We were all worried about the lack of middle linebacker or for that matter ANY linebacker but Michael Boley stepped up and had a solid game, while Jonathon Goff and Keith Bulluck did their part. Not a lot to report out of this group other than letting the Panthers drive down the field at the end of the first half. AWFUL job letting giving up the underneath routes on that drive. But give them credit, besides that and a few third down passing situations, the bent but did not break, ironically the motto for Perry Fewell’s defense.
Defensive Backs:
Outstanding job by both the d-line and the d-backs in this game. They pretty much shut down the Panthers passing attack, and forced Matt Moore into three interceptions. Deion Grant, Antrel Rolle played very well as did Corey Webster. It was Kenny Phillips though who played an OUTSTANDING game. He saved a touchdown on a DeAngelo Williams run in the first half with a ridiculous one handed tackle, as well as pick off Matt Moore in the end zone to effectively seal the game. Add Aaron Ross to the mix and this unit could be very dangerous down the road. The one negative about this group was Bruce Johnson who was torched but with Aaron Ross back it won’t matter. The safeties last year was the weak link of the defense, so seeing Rolle and Phillips patrol the middle was a great sight to see.
Special Teams:
I don’t even want to discuss the special teams. This unit, in all fairness, might be the worst unit in the NFL. I truly believe this. The coverage was horrible, Tynes’ kicks were short and my god Matt Dodge looked like he was a fan the Giants pulled out of the stands and said “hey kid, go punt.” Matt Dodge punting for the Giants reminded me of the movie “Eddie” where the Knicks picked Whoopi Goldberg out of the stands and made her coach of the Knicks. If Matt Dodge is around by week 4 I think I might gauge my eye balls out. And to the Giants fans who chanted “we want Feagles” um, no you don’t. Do you remember Jeff Feagles last year? The same Jeff Feagles who pretty much single handedly lost the Cardinals game and botched about four punts in both Eagles games? If the Giants give the Colts the same field position as they gave the Panthers, they might give up 70 points.
Overall:
Solid job by the Giants, especially in the second half. They looked like a team that was determined to erase the bitterness that surrounded the 2009 season and came out and smashed the Panthers in the second half Sunday. I think all Giants fans should feel that this team will come to play Sunday Night in Indy, and though they might now win, it very well might come down to the wire.
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