Giants’ Danny Clark Chose to Go Green With a Smart Car

Danny Clark and his Smart car, with moon roof and tinted windows, outside Giants Stadium.

By Joe LaPointe - NY Times 10/30/09

Reid keeps Westbrook's status in air

By Jeff McLane - Philadelphia Inquirer 10/31/09

Les Bowen: Eagles rookie McCoy needs to show up vs. Giants

By Les Bowen - Philadelphia Inquirer 10/30/09

Westy 'Questionable,' Birds Talk Series

By Philly.com 10/30/09

Giants 'D' needs to pressure Eagles QB

BIG TARGET: In his three games against the Giants last season, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw a total of 106 times, but was never sacked. The Giants will look to change that on Sunday.

By Steve Serby - NY Post 10/30/09

Two is enough for this Giants losing streak

By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/30/09

NY Giants face Eagles tackle Winston Justice for first time since 12-sack game

The Giants' Osi Umenyiora sacked Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb a team-record six times in a September 2007 game, including this sack in the first half.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/31/09

Game 8 Scouting Report

By Ernie Palladino - Giants Beat 10/31/09

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: OCTOBER 31, 2009

Final Word: NFC East

By Matt Mosley - ESPN.com 10/30/09

Ross' return getting "real close"

By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/30/09

Giants vs. Eagles Preview

By Paul Dottino - WFAN.com 10/30/09

A look ahead to NY Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Giants tight end Kevin Boss should be benefiting more from the extra attention defenses are giving wide receiver Steve Smith.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/30/09

GREAT BLUE NORTH GIANTS DRAFT REPORT Vol 4, No 10 October 30, 2009

Is it okay to start panicking yet!!

There seems to be one constant about the Giants. They always seem to find a way to make things interesting (to wit difficult) for themselves. After rolling to a dominating 5-0 start that had folks around the NFL whispering Super Bowl, the Giants crashed to a second straight defeat Sunday with a disappointing 24-17 home loss to Arizona. What makes the whole business so confounding is that while it was the defense that got steamrolled in New Orleans two weeks, Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals falls largely at the feet of an offense that sputtered most of the evening, that is when it wasn’t stuck in neutral period. Indeed, it appeared at times that Arizona had to playing 12 or even thirteen men on defense as they consistently rushed a full blitz package, had every Giants’ receiver covered like a blanket, yet still seemed to have a safety or two who popped up to double the team the intended receiver on just about every play.

QB Eli Manning had a particularly frustrating game versus the Cardinals. In fact, it was the second straight sub-par outing for Manning who saw his completion percentage dip below the 60% mark for the season, while his interception doubled as he threw three picks on the night. To be fair, two of those picks came on outstanding, athletic plays by Arizona DBs who made great catches, while the third was a tipped ball. Still, it appeared that Eli was doing a lot of heaving and hoping against the Cardinals. Manning also wasn’t his usual sharp self audibling at the line of scrimmage as he apparently checked the Giants out of either running plays or short, high percentage routes on more than one third and short yardage situation and went long instead hoping to take advantage of possible mismatches that really just didn’t appear to be there. Manning was also guilty of letting the play clock run out on a couple of occasions, both of which turned third and shorts into third and long, neither of which the Giants converted. 

Manning, though, was the only culprit on a night when the offense collectively looked like it missed the wakeup call from the pre-game nap. LG Rich Seubert and C Shaun O’Hara, for example, had their share of troubles accounting for the up-the-middle pass rush. Indeed, Cardinals’ DT Alan Branch, a nominal back-up who had never had a sack in his three-year NFL career, sacked Manning twice on Sunday on straight bull rushes up the gut on that side. Meanwhile, the Giants’ young receiver corps couldn’t get open. WR Steve Smith and T Kevin Boss, though, made terrific catches in heavy traffic that got the Giants out of really lousy field position as the Giants made a game of it late. On the other hand, WR Mario Manningham had a huge drop inside the Cardinals’ five-yard line that likely cost the Giants a TD and made their ultimately unsuccessful late rally all that much more difficult.

There were a couple of other positives on offense Sunday against the Cardinals. In particular, RB Brandon Jacobs was running a whole lot more like the Brandon Jacobs of old as he averaged 5.8 yards per carry in the process running over a number of Arizona defenders. The only problem was that Jacobs, who carried the ball only 13 times, didn’t get enough touches to really impact the game. What hurt even more was that Ahmad Bradshaw, who had twelve carries, was not at all effective as the Giants rotated backs on every series. It may be that Bradshaw’s sore foot finally came into play as Bradshaw has not been at practice this week and instead has been down in North Carolina having a specialist looking at the injury. Meanwhile, OT Will Beatty, who started at RT for Kareem McKenzie, also held up reasonably well. Again, Beatty showed good feet and excellent athleticism, but clearly needs a year of off-season weight training to get stronger.

Meanwhile, the Giants defense looked nothing like the unit that was shredded the previous week and probably deserved a better fate on Sunday night. Indeed, the Giants held the Cardinals to just 15 first downs and allowed only 3 of 14 third down conversions as Arizona QB Kurt Warner completed only 20 of 36 passes (56%). Warner was under pressure most of the night from a much improved Giants’ pass rush led by Mathias Kiwanuka who had a sack and a bunch of other QB hurries. What was awfully frustrating, though, was that while the Giants had bodies flying all around Warner all night long, they only had a couple of sacks and weren’t able to force any big turnovers as the game progressed. 

The Giants’ coverage units were also much better than in New Orleans as the Giants went to a lot of man schemes. For some inexplicable reason, though, the Giants opted to go with the old ‘soft-shoe’ zone on the Cardinals opening drive of the second half and Warner was able to find Larry Fitzgerald running wide open in space for 27 and 26-yard gains that was about all Arizona needed on its only long scoring drive of the night. Most of the night, though, the Giants cover guys led by CBs Corey Webster and Terrell Thomas were all over the Arizona receivers. 

We almost lost our lunch, though, on a couple of plays when the Giants lined up undrafted rookie free agent corner Bruce Johnson on Fitzgerald, just maybe the most dangerous receiver in the game today, if not the best player period. Granted, Johnson was supposed to get help over the top from safety C.C. Brown, but it never came and Johnson got eaten up. We understand why coaches want to mix things up every once in awhile, but it's hard not to figure that both Warner and Fitzgerald’s eyes absolutely lit up when they saw they had a match-up working against the Johnson-Brown duo! 

One wonders if coaches working 13-14 hours a day isn’t always a good thing as they can sometimes outsmart themselves! Bottom line is that if the Giants are comfortable moving guys like Webster and Thomas around - and they are - then why #23 wouldn’t take the other team’s top receiver, #24 their #2 guy and so on just about every play just seems to be a no-brainer. What’s the old baseball adage: if they can’t hit your fastball why would you ever even think about throwing a curve! 

What it all means… Even though the Giants are 5-2 and still lead the NFC East by a half game over Dallas and Philadelphia, things have suddenly gotten very nervy for the Giants as they start a stretch of 6 games in which they play teams with a collective 69% winning percentage starting with the Eagles on Sunday. At least for now, the Giants can probably forget about home-field advantage if they do make the playoffs as they have lost to two of the other three conference divisional leaders, and play the third - Minnesota - on the road later in the season. All that should bring the Giants’ focus back to the division race which could end up being a three-way struggle right to the end. It also puts tremendous import on divisional games with the Eagles and Cowboys. 

So is it time to panic? The simple answer is probably not, although we are always worried because football is a game played with a pointy ball that takes a lot of crazy bounces. Sports in general are also a lot about streaks and slumps and here’s hoping the Giants are just in a bit of a mid-season swoon. Certainly, in his history, Eli Manning has been prone to stretches where he looks like he’s never been on a football field before at times, but has almost always been able to right the ship. 

Its not hard to figure, though, that over the next 11 weeks or so, the Giants’ offense is going to see the kind of pressure that they got from the Cardinals defense from just about every time they step on the field the rest of the way. So far, the Giants have attempted to beat the pressure by keeping in maximum protection while seldom sending out more than three receivers. In the past, that worked, in large part, because they had a guy in Plaxico Burress with the size to beat even a good double team. 

With Plaxico cooling his heels in the pokey, though, the whole nature of the Giants’ receiver corps has changed dramatically. While they don’t necessarily have that one guy who can consistently beat the double team - although Steve Smith is a decent facsimile - the strength of the unit is its depth as the Giants have four wideouts who can start in the league, as well as at least one (Boss) and maybe two (Beckum) TEs that can get open and catch the ball. 

As such, count us among the growing legion that would like to see the Giants offense evolve into something of a more up-tempo (or any tempo at all at least based on what we saw against the Cardinals) approach. In fact, if it were up to us, if opposing teams insisted on bringing 6-7 guys on every play as the Cardinals did, and the Eagles are almost assuredly going to do on Sunday, we’d put Eli in a shotgun, spread the field with four receivers and run sprint draws for ’balance.’ 

The bottom line is that the NFL is all about match-ups and we just don’t think there are that many teams in the league that can put a 4th corner on the field that can cover a Domenik Hixon - or a 3rd one that can handle a Hakeem Nicks - and it's those guys that you attack. Indeed, one of the frustrating aspects of the Carolina game was that one didn’t need any fingers at all to count the number of times that the Giants went after Arizona’s #3 CB, who for the record, is former Giant Ralph Brown who we can guarantee is not going to the NFL Hall-of-Fame. 

We aren’t going to hold our breath on seeing any major adjustments any time soon however. Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride has taken a lot of heat from the media and the internet based peanut gallery over the past couple of weeks, but the bottom line is that this is Tom Coughlin’s offense and we haven’t seen much evidence during his 5 and a half year tenure with the Giants that he is going to change up much on offense.

And in the end, no matter how productive the Giants’ offense is the rest of the season, how far the team goes this year is still likely to be largely determined by the kind of pressure exerted by the defense. And while there were some encouraging signs on Sunday, the bottom line is that the Giants will need a lot more productivity in that area from the likes of Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, who so far have combined for only 6.5 sacks between them, about what one would hope to have from each at this point. It also hasn’t helped that the 3-man DT rotation has a measly one sack between them, while the LBs have 2.5. 

Help may be on the way however. LB Michael Boley should be back after the bye in two weeks, while there are some encouraging signs that DT Chris Canty could also be back after the week off. There are even reports that CB Aaron Ross has started to do a little work and could be back sooner rather than later, although no one is holding their breath on his return at least at this time.

On to Philly … If the Giants pass rush is going to continue to get better in a hurry then there may be no better place than start than Philadelphia this Sunday as the Eagles have really struggled to protect QB Donovan McNabb. Indeed, McNabb has already been sacked 12 times in just four games working behind a very patch work offensive line. Osi Umenyiora, for example, will be working this week against backup Eagles RT Winston Justice whom he scorched for 6 sacks in a single game two years ago. Just how much, if any pressure Umenyiora gets against Justice this week could be a pretty good indicator of how far he has come back and/or still has to go after missing all of the 2008 season with a knee injury.   

With his line leaking like a sieve, it has also been a tough go for Eagles’ QB Donovan McNabb who has completed just 52% of his pass attempts the past couple of weeks (although that’s still better than Eli Manning who was actually under 50% in the same period.) In fact, one of the Philly papers this week is describing one of Sunday’s starting QBs as ‘we've seen lulls before. We've also seen him throw it in the dirt and overthrow guys by miles’ and they weren’t talking about anyone wearing #10. 

Indeed, other than a couple of big plays on Monday night against Washington, including one on an end-around play, the Eagles offense has really sputtered the past couple of weeks. And it won’t hurt that Eagles’ RB Michael Westbrook likely won’t play after he was forced out of Monday night’s game with a concussion That will leave the Eagles’ running game in the hands of rookie LeSean McCoy, who‘s been better as a receiver out of the backfield to date where he has 13 catches rather than as an every down runner where he has averaged only 3.6 yards per carry. 

The guy the Giants have to shut down to be successful on Sunday, though, is second-year WR DeSean Jackson who has emerged as one of the NFL’s most dangerous big-play threats. Jackson is averaging over 20 yards per reception so far this fall with three TD catches. It also appears that like the Giants’ Hakeem Nicks, WR Jeremy Maclin, the Eagles’ #1 pick at the 2009 draft is starting to emerge as a quality complimentary target who can also get deep. Meanwhile, TE Brent Celek has emerged as a decent short-yardage option who leads the team with 33 receptions. 

This is the Eagles’ though and that means pressure D even though long-time defensive coordinator Jimmy Johnson is no longer around. Indeed, the Eagles already have 21 sacks through just 6 games including 6.5 (there’s that number again) by DE Trent Cole who will be working primarily against Giants’ LT David Diehl. And what the pressure has done for the Eagles (and was supposed to have done for the Giants) is force mistakes from other teams. The Eagles lead the NFC in creating turnovers with 18 including 12 interceptions. CBs Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown have been especially opportunistic with 4 and 3 picks respectively.

Looking down the road… It's not necessarily a great weekend of college football coming up, but those that plan to while away the hours until 1 PM ET Sunday with some college fare might want to check Kansas FS Darrell Stuckey (#25, 6-0, 205), a solid mid-to-late second round secondary prospect when the Jayhawks play at pass-happy Texas Tech in a 3:30 PM ET ABC regional game. Keep the clicker handy as there are a couple of good junior DTs to check out cross the dial at that time when Miami plays at Wake Forest in another ABC regional game, while Florida plays Georgia in their annual shootout in Jacksonville. Miami’s Allen Bailey (#57, 6-3, 290), for example, is starting to get some attention as a possible late first rounder, while Florida junior Lawrence Marsh (#90, 6-4, 305) is an emerging second round candidate. Also keep an eye on Wake DT Boo Robinson (#96, 6-2, 325), a big, run-stuffing mid-round prospect, as well as CB Brandon Ghee (#17, 5-11, 185) one of the better senior cover corners in college football, while Georgia also has a fine pair of veteran DTs in Geno Atkins (#56, 6-1, 290) and Jeff Owens (#95, 6-2, 300) and junior FS Reshad Jones (#9, 6-1, 205) is also a good one.

Week 8 Fantasy Fix

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Countdown Daily AccuScore Report:NYG-PHI

Eli Manning Interview on ESPN1050 w/ Michael Kay 10/26/09

David Diehl Interview on ESPN1050 w/ Brandon Tierney 10/27/09

NY Giants linebacker Michael Boley and defensive tackle Chris Canty both back to practice

Giants linebacker Michael Boley is back to practice for the first time since undergoing surgery earlier this month.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/29/09

New York Giants wide receiver Steve Smith thinks Big Blue can throw on Philadelphia Eagles

New York Giants receivers Steve Smith (12) and Mario Manningham (82) think they can have success against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

 By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/29/09

NY Giants' Steve Smith looking to make big plays against Philadelphia Eagles

Giants receiver Steve Smith has seen a lot of double coverage recently, but against the aggressive Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, he could see some 1-on-1 looks.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/29/09

NY Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw visits specialist about foot and ankle injuries

Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who said his injured ankle was grabbed on right before his fumble against the Cardinals (above), flew to see a noted orthopedist in North Carolina Wednesday.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/29/09

Reese keeps faith despite Giant sputter

Smith has fodder for Eagle ears

By Paul Schwartz - NY Post 10/29/09

Video: NY Giants discusses matchup against Philadelphia Eagles

Coughlin: Giants face Eagles in a 'noisy, hostile environment'

Countdown Daily Huddle: NFC East

Countdown Daily Fantasy Preview: NYG-PHI

Nicks named NFL's best October rookie

By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/28/09

NY Giants defensive lineman Chris Canty inching toward return to field

Chris Canty says he's so close to returning it's "scary." You know what's scary? The fact that this is the one of only a few pictures of Chris Canty in a Giants jersey because he can't get himself on the field!

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/28/09

2010 Pro Bowl Balloting has begun (Vote for your favorite GIANTS!!!!)

New York Giants want quarterback Eli Manning to pass in the biggest spots

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By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/28/09

Looking back, looking ahead as the NY Giants get set to visit the Eagles

The Eagles' Brian Westbrook, who has been a Giant killer in the past, was helped off the field Monday night after suffering a concussion against the Redskins.

By Mike Garafolo - Star Ledger 10/28/09

Big Blue on 'red' alert

By Paul Schwartz - NY Post 10/28/09

Will Beatty's performance for NY Giants in Kareem McKenzie's absence gets mixed reviews

Giants rookie OT Will Beatty gets pushed off by the Cardinals' Matt Ware in the fourth quarter Sunday.

 By Jenny Vrentas - Star Ledger 10/27/09

New York Giants want to exact revenge after losing to Philadelphia Eagles in 2008 playoffs

Eli Manning and the Giants couldn't beat the Cardinals, but want to beat the birds they'll be playing this week: the pesky Eagles.

By Ralph Vacchiano - NY Dailynews 10/27/09

After losses to Saints and Cardinals, New York Giants must beat Philadelphia Eagles

Eli Manning and the Giants have been sacked by two superior opponents in consecutive weeks and have a must-win against the Eagles on Sunday.

By Gary Myers - NY Post 10/27/09

Eli needs some help

 By Steve Serby - NY Post 10/27/09

Giants vs. Cardinals Review

By Alex Lewin - InReeseWeTrust.com 10/26/09

In a game the Giants needed, a game they needed to show the national public that they were for real and not a team that beats up on the weak, the Giants came out and fell flat on their face.  Losing to the Cardinals at home is not the point, it is how they lost this game.  Leading at the half, the Giants never found a groove in this game and fell apart losing 24-17 to the defending NFC Champions.  Again, its not the team they lost to, the Cardinals are playing very good football on both sides of the field, it’s the way the Giants lost the game, and it does not give me any confidence in this team down the stretch. 

Quarterbacks:

Eli Manning played by far his worst game of the season.  He missed receivers left and right, his only touchdown was on a batted ball that landed in the lap of Hakeem Nicks who ran 62 yard to the end zone.  Eli was 19-37 for 243 but added three picks including the game sealing one with a minute remaining.  Yes, one interception was not Eli’s fault, it was tipped, but the first one and last one were horrendously thrown, and could have easily been avoided.  What ever it is, the swirling winds, the cold, the way Giants Stadium is constructed, Eli simply does not play well there, and this is something that looks like it will not change.  It has been six years now of Eli at the helm, and his Giants Stadium record is 24-18 including the two playoff losses.  Considering he is 27-13 on the road, (including playoffs) this is clearly evident. 

Running Backs:

Brandon Jacobs cant catch a break.  The two games he broke out, last week he would have, and this week, the Giants were forced to throw the ball.  Down the whole game in New Orleans, and down ten in the fourth, the Giants had to pass, and that limited Jacobs’ production.  However, when he did run the ball, he was the old Jacobs.  He plowed the Cardinals defenders into the end zone to make it 7-0 Giants, and had runs of 24, 14, and 10 during the game.  His final line was only 76 yards but on 13 carries results in an impressive 5.8 yards per carry.  The same could not be said for Ahmad Bradshaw, who not only had a terrible game on the ground (12 runs for 32 yards) he lost his cool, and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct that ultimately killed a Giants drive to tie the game.  He has got to calm down, Coughlin and the rest of the coaching staff needs to make sure of this.  In addition, Bradshaw also fumbled that killed another potential scoring drive.  Bradshaw needs to get his game, and more importantly his act together.

Wide Receivers:

I thought Steve Smith played well, but not great.  His 35 yards catch at the end of the game was spectacular, but there were still times he failed to get open, which was extremely crucial in this game because all the Cardinals did was blitz, blitz, and blitz some more.  The star had to obviously go to Hakeem Nicks.  What a heads up play to catch that ball on the tip.  Nicks has already surpassed any rookie wide receiver in the last 25 years for the Giants in yards and touchdowns.  Pretty pathetic on rookie wide receivers the Giants have had in the past, and good work by Nicks, the 20 year old out of UNC.  I know some Giants fans were upset that they did not trade up to get Kenny Britt, but boy, does Hakeem Nicks show potential.  Mario Manningham, however, needs to stop dropping passes.  I counted three officially, but there could very well had been more.  He dropped that pass Eli actually threw perfectly, which would have easily been a touchdown.  His inconsistency boggles the mind, if only he could hold on to some balls.  Great job by Kevin Boss on that sliding catching for 25 yards at the end of the game.  The bad news is that he probably has a concussion, the good news is that he is one of the only guys in the NFL who would have enough you-know-what to make that play over the middle. 

Offensive Line

Terrible, just terrible game, the worst I have seen in years out of this unit.  There were false starts left and right, holding calls here and there, as well as Eli getting called for delay of game, and as an O-Line YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIM AWARE OF THAT.  I think a lot had to do with McKenzie not being in there, but that still is no excuse.  Beatty is a second round pick, you had to figure one or more of the O-lineman were going to go down at some point.  Diehl played an atrocious game, he could not handle the outside rush, and the constant blitz from the Cardinals seemed to rattle the Giants.  I just have no idea how they are going to handle the Eagles next week who will literally blitz every single play from scrimmage.

Defensive Line

They faltered when the Giants needed them the most.  Yes, they got a few sacks, Kiwi and Danny Clark, and got pressure to Warner, but it was not enough as Warner picked them apart in second half, especially the third quarter.  Justin Tuck played well despite being double teamed, but the main question is Osi Umenyiora.  His stat line: one tackle no sacks.  ONE TACKLE OSI, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, ONE LOUSY TACKLE!!  I have been saying this since week 2, on this space and others, Osi Umenyiora is not the same player he was since the knee surgery.  He has not been, and he has looked as bad an inept as Kiwi did at defense end at the end of the 2008 season.  The Giants were counting and hoping on this guy returning to form, and what they got was a guy who is not even 50% of what he used to be.  In seven games he has 14 tackles and three sacks, two of which came against the Chiefs.  That’s beyond bad, especially for a guy who used to be a perennial pro bowler.  Chris Canty also needs to come back in the worst way.  Any day now Chris, we have only been waiting for 6 weeks now. 

Linebackers:

Again, I was very unimpressed with the defense, but the linebackers were pretty awful yesterday.  I know what your going to say, the Cardinals only rushed for 72 total yards a 3.3 yards per carry.  But when you give up almost 70 yards, and a 5.0 yards per carry to Beanie Wells, that is pathetic.  Beanie Wells had 100 yards rushing on 35 carries going into this game.  You do the math, that’s a 3.5 yards per carry.  Beanie Wells last night was rushing 10 yards here, 13 yards here, a touchdown that he blew around the corner there.  It was upsetting to me that Antonio Pierce, Danny Clark, and Chase Blackburn could not contain Beanie Wells.  BEANIE WELLS.  In addition, he was also hurt going into this game and they were unsure if he was going to play.  This is a weakness, a HUGE weakness without Michael Boley, and the Giants are just going to have to suck it up for the next few weeks until he comes back.  But this unit is still not as bad as….

Secondary:

THE SECONDARY!!  What are we in 2003 and 2004 seasons where the Giants secondary left guys wide open left and right?  What am I watching the Will’s here?  AWFUL, AWFUL performance again by this depleted secondary.  Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, were open all night, and if not for the bit of rush we got on Warner, including Warner’s open ineptness, this game could have been a blow out.  Maybe I am making a bigger deal than it is, but when Larry Fitzgerald is wide open down the seams in a 14-10 game, that’s bad news.  Boldin’s catch of 44 yards, Steve Breaston had a 23 yard catch.  It wasn’t that the Giants gave up all these plays, it was the BIG PLAY they gave up.  Yes, the Giants defense did not play as badly as last week, but that doesn’t mean it played well, and that for sure does not mean that one interception by Terrell Thomas makes up for leaving guys wide open left and right in a big spot in the game.  It was like the Giants defense made some stops here and there, and then the Cardinals unleashed a huge play and the Giants fell apart.  Its frustrating beyond belief.  Aaron Ross needs to get back and get back fast, but the big issue is the loss of Kenny Phillips was much bigger than we all though.  C.C Brown is simply a back up, and not capable of starting in this league.  Don’t give me the tackles, just show me the times he stopped a receiver over the top.  I am still waiting.

Overall:

I wrote that of the Giants lose this game they are in deep trouble, and I stand by that statement sitting here today.  The Giants have to hit the road to Philly (Giants at 1:00, Yankees-Phillies Game 3 at 8:00…WOW), home vs. the Chargers, a bye and home vs. the Falcons, at Denver on Thanksgiving, home vs. Dallas and the Eagles before they play two awful teams the Redskins and Panthers.  That’s six very tough games in a row, and I would not be shocked to see the Giants lose four of them.  I personally think they are going to get killed in Philly next week, which means the Chargers game has a lot riding on it.  The defense does not look good, it gives up too many of the big plays, and the offense looked asleep last night, and Eli looked scared when they blitzed.  It might be possible there is still something wrong with that heel, and teams are just trying to come after him.  Whatever it is, the Giants better get it together, and get it together fast before this season turns into 2006.

Alex Lewin is a senior at Syracuse and can also be read at ineptfassel.blogspot.com

Giants vs. Cardinals Review

By Alex Lewin - InReeseWeTrust.com 10/26/09

In a game the Giants needed, a game they needed to show the national public that they were for real and not a team that beats up on the weak, the Giants came out and fell flat on their face.  Losing to the Cardinals at home is not the point, it is how they lost this game.  Leading at the half, the Giants never found a groove in this game and fell apart losing 24-17 to the defending NFC Champions.  Again, its not the team they lost to, the Cardinals are playing very good football on both sides of the field, it’s the way the Giants lost the game, and it does not give me any confidence in this team down the stretch. 

Quarterbacks:

Eli Manning played by far his worst game of the season.  He missed receivers left and right, his only touchdown was on a batted ball that landed in the lap of Hakeem Nicks who ran 62 yard to the end zone.  Eli was 19-37 for 243 but added three picks including the game sealing one with a minute remaining.  Yes, one interception was not Eli’s fault, it was tipped, but the first one and last one were horrendously thrown, and could have easily been avoided.  What ever it is, the swirling winds, the cold, the way Giants Stadium is constructed, Eli simply does not play well there, and this is something that looks like it will not change.  It has been six years now of Eli at the helm, and his Giants Stadium record is 24-18 including the two playoff losses.  Considering he is 27-13 on the road, (including playoffs) this is clearly evident. 

Running Backs:

Brandon Jacobs cant catch a break.  The two games he broke out, last week he would have, and this week, the Giants were forced to throw the ball.  Down the whole game in New Orleans, and down ten in the fourth, the Giants had to pass, and that limited Jacobs’ production.  However, when he did run the ball, he was the old Jacobs.  He plowed the Cardinals defenders into the end zone to make it 7-0 Giants, and had runs of 24, 14, and 10 during the game.  His final line was only 76 yards but on 13 carries results in an impressive 5.8 yards per carry.  The same could not be said for Ahmad Bradshaw, who not only had a terrible game on the ground (12 runs for 32 yards) he lost his cool, and was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct that ultimately killed a Giants drive to tie the game.  He has got to calm down, Coughlin and the rest of the coaching staff needs to make sure of this.  In addition, Bradshaw also fumbled that killed another potential scoring drive.  Bradshaw needs to get his game, and more importantly his act together.

Wide Receivers:

I thought Steve Smith played well, but not great.  His 35 yards catch at the end of the game was spectacular, but there were still times he failed to get open, which was extremely crucial in this game because all the Cardinals did was blitz, blitz, and blitz some more.  The star had to obviously go to Hakeem Nicks.  What a heads up play to catch that ball on the tip.  Nicks has already surpassed any rookie wide receiver in the last 25 years for the Giants in yards and touchdowns.  Pretty pathetic on rookie wide receivers the Giants have had in the past, and good work by Nicks, the 20 year old out of UNC.  I know some Giants fans were upset that they did not trade up to get Kenny Britt, but boy, does Hakeem Nicks show potential.  Mario Manningham, however, needs to stop dropping passes.  I counted three officially, but there could very well had been more.  He dropped that pass Eli actually threw perfectly, which would have easily been a touchdown.  His inconsistency boggles the mind, if only he could hold on to some balls.  Great job by Kevin Boss on that sliding catching for 25 yards at the end of the game.  The bad news is that he probably has a concussion, the good news is that he is one of the only guys in the NFL who would have enough you-know-what to make that play over the middle. 

Offensive Line

Terrible, just terrible game, the worst I have seen in years out of this unit.  There were false starts left and right, holding calls here and there, as well as Eli getting called for delay of game, and as an O-Line YOU HAVE TO MAKE HIM AWARE OF THAT.  I think a lot had to do with McKenzie not being in there, but that still is no excuse.  Beatty is a second round pick, you had to figure one or more of the O-lineman were going to go down at some point.  Diehl played an atrocious game, he could not handle the outside rush, and the constant blitz from the Cardinals seemed to rattle the Giants.  I just have no idea how they are going to handle the Eagles next week who will literally blitz every single play from scrimmage.

Defensive Line

They faltered when the Giants needed them the most.  Yes, they got a few sacks, Kiwi and Danny Clark, and got pressure to Warner, but it was not enough as Warner picked them apart in second half, especially the third quarter.  Justin Tuck played well despite being double teamed, but the main question is Osi Umenyiora.  His stat line: one tackle no sacks.  ONE TACKLE OSI, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME, ONE LOUSY TACKLE!!  I have been saying this since week 2, on this space and others, Osi Umenyiora is not the same player he was since the knee surgery.  He has not been, and he has looked as bad an inept as Kiwi did at defense end at the end of the 2008 season.  The Giants were counting and hoping on this guy returning to form, and what they got was a guy who is not even 50% of what he used to be.  In seven games he has 14 tackles and three sacks, two of which came against the Chiefs.  That’s beyond bad, especially for a guy who used to be a perennial pro bowler.  Chris Canty also needs to come back in the worst way.  Any day now Chris, we have only been waiting for 6 weeks now. 

Linebackers:

Again, I was very unimpressed with the defense, but the linebackers were pretty awful yesterday.  I know what your going to say, the Cardinals only rushed for 72 total yards a 3.3 yards per carry.  But when you give up almost 70 yards, and a 5.0 yards per carry to Beanie Wells, that is pathetic.  Beanie Wells had 100 yards rushing on 35 carries going into this game.  You do the math, that’s a 3.5 yards per carry.  Beanie Wells last night was rushing 10 yards here, 13 yards here, a touchdown that he blew around the corner there.  It was upsetting to me that Antonio Pierce, Danny Clark, and Chase Blackburn could not contain Beanie Wells.  BEANIE WELLS.  In addition, he was also hurt going into this game and they were unsure if he was going to play.  This is a weakness, a HUGE weakness without Michael Boley, and the Giants are just going to have to suck it up for the next few weeks until he comes back.  But this unit is still not as bad as….

Secondary:

THE SECONDARY!!  What are we in 2003 and 2004 seasons where the Giants secondary left guys wide open left and right?  What am I watching the Will’s here?  AWFUL, AWFUL performance again by this depleted secondary.  Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, were open all night, and if not for the bit of rush we got on Warner, including Warner’s open ineptness, this game could have been a blow out.  Maybe I am making a bigger deal than it is, but when Larry Fitzgerald is wide open down the seams in a 14-10 game, that’s bad news.  Boldin’s catch of 44 yards, Steve Breaston had a 23 yard catch.  It wasn’t that the Giants gave up all these plays, it was the BIG PLAY they gave up.  Yes, the Giants defense did not play as badly as last week, but that doesn’t mean it played well, and that for sure does not mean that one interception by Terrell Thomas makes up for leaving guys wide open left and right in a big spot in the game.  It was like the Giants defense made some stops here and there, and then the Cardinals unleashed a huge play and the Giants fell apart.  Its frustrating beyond belief.  Aaron Ross needs to get back and get back fast, but the big issue is the loss of Kenny Phillips was much bigger than we all though.  C.C Brown is simply a back up, and not capable of starting in this league.  Don’t give me the tackles, just show me the times he stopped a receiver over the top.  I am still waiting.

Overall:

I wrote that of the Giants lose this game they are in deep trouble, and I stand by that statement sitting here today.  The Giants have to hit the road to Philly (Giants at 1:00, Yankees-Phillies Game 3 at 8:00…WOW), home vs. the Chargers, a bye and home vs. the Falcons, at Denver on Thanksgiving, home vs. Dallas and the Eagles before they play two awful teams the Redskins and Panthers.  That’s six very tough games in a row, and I would not be shocked to see the Giants lose four of them.  I personally think they are going to get killed in Philly next week, which means the Chargers game has a lot riding on it.  The defense does not look good, it gives up too many of the big plays, and the offense looked asleep last night, and Eli looked scared when they blitzed.  It might be possible there is still something wrong with that heel, and teams are just trying to come after him.  Whatever it is, the Giants better get it together, and get it together fast before this season turns into 2006.

Alex Lewin is a senior at Syracuse and can also be read at ineptfassel.blogspot.com

Lots of questions, no answers

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Giants vs. Cardinals History

By Alex Lewin - InReeseWeTrust.com 10/25/09

 

As the Giants prepare to take the field tonight against the Arizona Cardinals, it will mark the 124th time the Giants will have played the Cardinals franchise, including stops in Chicago, St. Louis, and now Arizona.  That ranks third all-time behind the Redskins (153) and the Eagles (150). 

 

The Giants have historically dominated the Cardinals, posting an 80-41-2 record since 1925, which equates to a .660 winning percentage for the Giants.  The Giants and Cardinals have never met in the postseason, and the Cardinals are currently on a two game skid against the Giants, last beating them in 2004.  As most of you know, the Cardinals were a member of the NFC East starting in 1970 all the way until 2001.  Prior to that, the Cardinals won the 1925 and 1947 league titles while in Chicago.  It took until 2008 for the Cardinals franchise to win another title again (NFC Title). 

 

In the 14 years the Cardinals were in the Arizona, they swept the Giants only once, which was in 1999.  Amazingly, in the 32 years the Cardinals were part of the NFC East, they swept the Giants only five times, and four of those were in the second half of the 1970's (1974-1976, 1979).  Conversely, in that time period of the two teams being in the NFC East, the Giants swept the Cardinals 13 times. 

 

Few games have been memorable between the so called "rivals" but the Cardinals were the first game after Jim Fassel's infamous, "this team is going to the playoffs speech" in 2000.  The Giants ended up winning that game 31-7 and went on to win the next 6 games in route to a Super Bowl apperance.  Another memorable game was back in 1995 when the Giants rallied from a 14 points down to beat the Cardinals 27-21 in ovetime.  Another was back in 1990.  The Giants were 5-0 and down 19-3 to the then Phoenix Cardinals.  The Giants rallied back behind Jeff Hosteler who came in for an injured Phil Simms, and won the game on a last second field goal 20-19 and keep their perfect season alive. 

 

The last time these two met was last year in Phoenix, where the Giants took care of the eventual NFC Champs by the score of 37-29.  The last meeting between the two teams at Giants Stadium was back in the regualr season opener in 2005, a 42-19 Giants win.  The last time the Cardinals beat the Giants at Giants Stadium, you have to go all the way back to November 28th, 1999, a 34-24 beat down of the Giants, led by Jake "the Snake" Plummer.  In fact, the Giants are 5-0 at home Vs the Cardinals this decade, and going back to 1976, the first year of Giants Stadium, the Giants are 20-6 at home vs. the Cards including a consecutive winning streak at home from 1984-1994.  So, if going by numbers alone, the Giants have a good shot of beating the Cardinals tonight.

NY Giants Game Day: The breakdown vs. the Arizona Cardinals

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NY Giants looking for big bounceback game against Cardinals after blowout loss to Saints

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