Just what the doctor ordered… Indeed, if ever a team needed a laugher it was the banged up Giants and that’s just what they got in Tampa Bay on Sunday in a dominating 24-0 win over the Buccaneers That score flattered the Buccaneers who didn’t pick up their initial first down until late into the third quarter and finished the game with a mere 5 first downs to the Giants’ 27. And the rest of the stats were just as ugly as the Giants out-gained the Buccaneers 397 yards to 86 and held the ball for a remarkable 43 minutes of clock time. In fact, the only mystery on the day was maybe why the score wasn’t even more lopsided. However, while the Giants truly dominated, they didn’t get many big plays on either side of their ball. As well, to their credit, the Buccaneers, especially the defense, never really gave up as one might expect from a team that was pounded at every angle.
And no surprise here, but with the odd hiccup the Giants graded out pretty well right across the board after such a lop-sided win. Indeed, we wonder if the coaches might have even thought about canceling the Monday morning film sessions this week just so the guys don’t get a little too confident. That said here are our grades for this week’s game:
Offense: Efficient was probably the best word to describe it as the offense ground out 226 yards on the ground, while QB Eli Manning and the passing attack had another 176 yards. There were also no sacks or turnovers. Heck, the Giants even scored on three of 5 red zone opportunities. If one wanted to be picky one might note there weren’t many big plays. An Ahmad Bradshaw 38-yard run on a 3rd and short was the only play over 25 yards, while there were a couple of 20 yard plus pass completions, but otherwise just about everything else was more of the dink-and-dunk variety. The Giants also need to work on their dump-off passing game as Manning went 0-5 on such passes to RB Brandon Jacobs, FB Madison Hedgecock and back-up TE Darcy Johnson. Grade: B+
Offensive player of the game: RB Ahmad Bradshaw provided just the spark the Giants’ offense needed rushing for over 100 yards on just 14 carries as he averaged 7.4 yards per carry. It also almost goes without saying that anytime a team rushes for over 200 yards and the QB doesn’t get sacked, everybody on the offensive line also gets a game ball. Of note, there wasn’t a huge drop-off when William Beatty and Kevin Boothe took over from dinged starters Kareem McKenzie and Rich Seubert in the game’s latter stages.
Defense: After being badly gashed, at least on the ground, in Dallas last week, the defense rebounded with one of its best efforts in years. Indeed, the shutout was the first on the road in over a quarter century. And even the measly numbers the Buccaneers managed to accumulate were inflated by their final drive when the Giants appeared to take just a little pressure off the accelerator. Indeed, the Buccaneers had only one first down and 33 total yards of offense when they took over the ball with just under 10 minutes to play in the 4th quarter. The best thing about the win in Tampa was that the battered Giants defense literally got a chance to rest as Tampa Bay ran only 36 plays on the day compared to 76 by the Giants. As a result, DE Justin Tuck, who somewhat surprisingly was dressed despite that shoulder injury, was only forced to play on 8 snaps, while DE Osi Umenyiora was spelled early and often by Dave Tollefson. Meanwhile, the defensive front seven was so dominant that safeties Michael Johnson and C.C. Brown, starting together for the first time in the wake of the loss of Kenny Phillips, probably should have been asked to pay for admission they had so little to do! Again if one wanted to be picky one could complain that the Giants went sackless on the afternoon, however, they did harass Tampa QB Byron Leftwich into both a miserable day and a spot on the bench as he has been replaced as the Buccaneers’ starter by unheralded second-year QB Josh Johnson from D1AA San Diego. Grade: A+
Defensive player of the game: The Giants’ DTs were missing in action last week in Dallas, but were camped out in the Tampa Bay backfield on Sunday. Fred Robbins, in particular, looked more like his old self as he consistently got terrific penetration and disrupted the Buccaneers’ offense such as it was. DE Mathias Kiwanuka, filling in at LDE for Tuck, was also a force most of the afternoon as he used his lateral quickness to hurry Leftwich time and again.
Its still early, but … the Giants have to like where they stand after three games. They already have a one-game lead on both Philadelphia and Dallas - two actually on the Cowboys as the Giants won their head-to-head match-up in week two - in the tough NFC East which may not be quite as tough as expected as it looks like Washington may have already played itself out of the race after being shocked by winless Detroit last Sunday. Better, the Giants have played two of their three games to date on the road, while both the Eagles and Cowboys have played twice at home.
The Giants also have a chance to extend their lead in the NFC East with their next two games against Kansas City and Oakland, the woeful AFC West’s bottom-feeders. This is the NFL, though, where the mantra is ‘on any given Sunday’ so the Giants don’t want to be caught peeking ahead to a week six date with unbeaten New Orleans. Indeed, once past the Chiefs and Raiders, there aren’t many soft touches on the Giants remaining schedule with their remaining 11 opponents - 8 of which are 2-1 or better - sporting a 21-12 combined W-L record.
The more things change, the more they change … Heading into the season, the feeling around the NFL was that with the return of star DE Osi Umenyiora and the addition of a passel of veteran free agents including DT/E Chris Canty, WLB Michael Boley, DT Rocky Bernard and S C.C. Brown, the Giants could have a stifling defense. If the offense, which had to rebuild its receiver corps after losing both starting WRs Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer, could just hold its own this fall then the Giants would be in business.
However, with the emergence of WRs Steve Smith and Mario Manningham as more than adequate replacements for the departed wideouts, the Giants’ offense suddenly looks like it could be very difficult to defend this fall. Indeed, with opposing defenses bringing extra bodies into the box to defend the run through the early going this season Smith and Manningham having been running free in the secondary. Indeed, Smith and Manningham are on pace to catch 123 and 92 passes respectively at their current rate. Of course, no one really expects them to maintain those numbers over the course of the season; however, with the expected return of Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon in the next week or two from ankle injuries, and hopefully with the development of TEs Kevin Boss and Travis Beckum, the Giants could actually have a much better receiver corps than ever. And that poses some real potential headaches for opposing coaches. Come up to try and stop the run and you leave yourself very vulnerable to the pass. Drop into coverage though and the door is open for the Giants to simply pound it on the ground.
The issue, though, may not be ultimately so much what opposing teams choose to give the Giants, but whether the Giants will be willing to take what defenses give them. As we have noted before, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has this almost ideological desire for the offense to be ’balanced’. In response to a question from reporters after this week’s regarding the team’s apparent new found ability to move the ball either through the air or the ground Coughlin responded simply that “No, I think that what you are looking for is balance, like we always are.” He then added “we want to be able to run the ball even against the eight-man fronts. We want to be able to stay with the running game knowing full well that we need to demonstrate the ability to effectively throw the ball versus that kind of front. So we want the balance.” We think there is some reasoning in there, but we’re still working on it.
Of course, this could all be just coach-speak and not giving anything away. One is also tempted just to shrug it off and say that’s just Old Tom and in the end it has never cost any games. Unfortunately, it has. The meltdown in Tennessee three years ago, for example, when the Giants blew a 21-0 4th quarter lead started with the a totally inexplicable interception on a 2nd and four when there was no reason in the world to be putting the ball in the air. Coughlin’s justification at the time was the need for ’balance’. A pretty good case, for different reasons, can also be made that the Giants might have had a better chance in last’s January’s playoff loss to Philadelphia if they had stuck with the run in that game rather than continually force Eli Manning to throw the ball on a day when he was clearly struggling. But that’s balance. Time will tell.
The other emerging issue for the offense these days is the surprising ineffectiveness to date of starting RB Brandon Jacobs. Through three games, Jacobs is averaging just 3.3 yards per carry and has yet to run with any kind of power and authority. To be effective, Jacobs has to take on defenders at the point of attack and keep his feet moving once contact is made, however, so far this fall he appears to be trying to step around opposing tacklers and that is just not his game.
Hard to know what is going on with Jacobs, but we hope it isn’t a case of the dreaded George Young disease. When free agency was first introduced Young feared that many players having received big contacts would settle into a kind of complacency and complacent would certainly describe the efforts of Jacobs, who got a big contract extension this off-season. At the same time, it is possible that Jacobs, who has had injury problems in the past in large part because of his running style, has changed his approach in hopes of staying healthy. Whatever, Jacobs obviously needs to pick up the pace or he could easily find himself losing carries to Ahmad Bradshaw who is currently averaging over two yards more per carry. Jacobs though may be safe for this week as Bradshaw showed up at practice earlier today wearing a walking boot to protect a foot and ankle injuries that were aggravated against the Buccaneers. The Giants, though, are still suggesting that Bradshaw will be able to play against the Chiefs this week. Meanwhile, if Jacobs needs a reminder of how he used to run, he just has to watch newly signed RB Gartrell Johnson who got a few snaps against the Buccaneers in garbage time and ran with the kind of physicality that marked Jacobs game in the past.
Meanwhile, there isn’t a whole lot to be gained by dwelling on the troubles of PK Lawrence Tynes who missed a chippy for the second week in a row. For now, the Giants say they have no plans to bring in anyone to compete with Tynes, but that can’t last if he continues to be so erratic.
Another game, another injury or two or three… While its been the defense that has absorbed most of the Giants’ injury woes to date this season, it was the offense that got dinged in Tampa as both starting RT Kareem McKenzie and LG Rich Seubert were forced to leave the game early, while Ahmad Bradshaw aggravated an old ankle injury. There were particular concerns that McKenzie could be lost for awhile after he was carted to the locker room with a knee injury, however, early reports indicate it was nothing more than a mild sprain and he is expected to play this week in Kansas City. Same for Seubert who dislocated a shoulder, but had it popped right back in and is also expected to be back at practice later today.
In fact, there just may be some light at the end of the Giants’ injury tunnel. WRs Domenik Hixon and Hakeem Nicks are both expected to be inching closer to 100%, DT Chris Canty and CBs Aaron Ross and Kevin Dockery are all expected to start to workouts again this week, although on a limited basis. Given the way the early schedule has played out to date, though, there doesn’t appear to be any particular need for the Giants to rush any of the three back into the lineup and risk a potentially season-ending complication.
With the injury to McKenzie in last Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay, the Giants got a chance to give 2009 second rounder William Beatty some meaningful snaps. In fact, it was a bit of a surprise that when McKenzie went out, Beatty got the call over the more experienced Guy Whimper. Beatty, though, held up reasonably as he continues to show significant improvement from those first disastrous outings during the pre-season. No question, for example, that Beatty is an excellent athlete with very quick feet; on running plays he was able to consistently seal off his man with a long, quick first step. He also showed pretty good strength at the point of attack holding up his man to the whistle although he didn’t get much push off the line of scrimmage. Beatty also showed the athleticism to get a chip block on a defensive lineman coming off the snap and then continue on to the second level where he was able to get a second block on a LB. Beatty also has excellent lateral range protecting the passer and on a couple of occasions was able to slide across the pocket and pick off a loose edge rusher.
Beatty, though, still continues to have some problems in straight up pass protection. While very athletic for an OT, Beatty is still somewhat choppy and mechanical while backpeddling; he also doesn’t set very well and tends to be off-balance when he absorbs the initial contact. And while Coughlin was generally complimentary when evaluating Beatty’s performance against the Buccaneers, its worth noting that he wouldn’t commit to using him at RT if McKenzie was sidelined for any extended time saying that there were other veterans that could be in the mix. Also interesting in that context was that Coughlin did mention Kevin Boothe by name as another potential replacement for McKenzie but didn’t mention Whimper.
Meanwhile, it was nice to see 2009 third rounder Travis Beckum also get some meaningful minutes in the Buccaneers game as the Giants used him as both a slot receiver as well as lining him up at WR on occasion. Beckum had his first two career receptions and while they were both simple hitch passes for only 8 yards, Beckum also got open on a couple of other very crisp routes. The Giants also snuck rangy rookie WR Ramses Barden into the game in the Giants initial foray into the red zone and just maybe had the Bucs looking for a fade route his way which just maybe helped to open the way for Brandon Jacobs 6-yard TD run on a sprint draw up the middle.
Draft peek-ahead… Even before FS Kenny Phillips was lost for the year with what just could be a career-threatening knee problem a pretty good case could have been made that safety would be near the top of the Giants shopping list at the 2010 draft. And now with Phillips’ long-term availability somewhat in question the need at the position could be intensified. The good news is that the upcoming draft will be reasonably strong at safety, although Tennessee junior Eric Berry and Taylor Mays of USC, both of whom are considered to be among the best prospects at the position to come along in a while, will likely be long gone by the time the Giants make their initial selection this coming April.
Fortunately, though, there could also be some decent depth at safety in this this year’s draft class especially if juniors like Reshad Jones of Georgia, Georgia Tech‘s Morgan Burnett, LSU’s Chad Jones, or the Florida duo of Major Wright and Ahmad Black opt to leave school early this winter. UGA’s Jones, in particular, has the physical tools to be a value pick in the latter part of this year‘s opening round, while Burnett should be a solid second rounder.
Also keep an eye on emerging senior FS Nate Allen of South Florida, a 205-pounder with 4.5 speed and range who would be the kind of player one would love to pair with a Kenny Phillips. Meanwhile, other senior safeties to watch include Darrell Stuckey of Kansas, Harry Coleman of LSU, Jordan Lake of Baylor, T.J. Ward of Oregon, and Van Eskridge of East Carolina, although there is something of a drop-off from the top-tier of safeties to the next level. At the same time, other sleeper types to watch at safety include Steven Jackson of Ohio, Cam Nelson of Arizona, Andrew Sendejo of Rice, Eddie Hicks of Southern Miss, Da’Mon Cromartie-Smith of UTEP, Robert Johnson of Utah, and Will Harris of USC.
This and that… A couple of mea culpas from the past couple of reports. Last week, for example, we inadvertently referred to Giants WR Sinorice Moss as Santana, his more productive brother over at Washington. Appropriately miffed, Sinorice made a nice TD reception against the Buccaneers and even with the expected return of Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon likely isn’t going anywhere soon. Moss doesn’t look like he’ll ever be a star, but he does so many things - back-up WR, back-up slot, back-up KO return, and back-up punt returner - that he’s a good guy to have on the roster on game days… We also implied that rookie LB Clint Sintim was a healthy scratch so far this season, but he’s actually been sidelined by a groin injury since the end of camp… Kenny Phillips reportedly had his surgery this week and now faces a long rehab process, but the expectation appears to be that he will play again. Phillips, though, won’t be able to start running again until around March… Remember that banged up Giants defense; the unit currently ranks second in the NFL in total defense behind only Denver which has played a cupcake schedule. For the record, the offense ranks 6th in yardage and 7th in total points… Nice gesture by the Giants to give Bradshaw a carry late in garbage time to get him over the 100-yard mark… Also kind of like the decision to run three straight draws late in the 3rd quarter and settle for a FG ran than try and throw the ball into the end zone and risk an interception. At that point, what absolutely mattered was getting some kind of points to make it a three-score game; it also gave Tynes a second-chance at a FG such that he wouldn’t end up stewing all week about the misses in the past two games.
