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