Sunday, October 30, 2011

Here come the 'Fins


     The Miami Dolphins make their second trip to New Jersey in three weeks to play the New York Giants this Sunday at 1:00 Eastern. The Dolphins currently sit at 0-6, and rank near the bottom of most statistical categories.  They average 15 points a game and are a -7 in turnover ratio.  They  lost their starting QB Chad Henne a few weeks ago, and former Panther Matt Moore will take the snaps from center this week.  They have a decent running attack that they stick to relentlessly during the entirety of the game.  Daniel Thomas has rushed for 300 yards in 75 carries, and Reggie Bush has 230 yards on 60 attempts. They have allowed 22 sacks this season.
      On Defense they have a total of 14 sacks, with Cameron Wake having 5 of those.  Their starting secondary has a total of zero interceptions, with the team totaling only two.  They allow an average of almost 380 yards a game while yielding over 24 points per contest.
      The good news for the Giants this week is the health of their players.  Justin Tuck is back. Chris Snee is back.  The entire team is healing in time for the second half push.  While this is one of those games where the Giants might start slow, and look a little sluggish, I am hoping that the Seattle disaster a few weeks ago is fresh in their minds.  I hope they start quick, get the Dolphins down early, and cruise to an easy win before their schedule turns brutal.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Who are The Giants?


The Giants have a bye this week so we do a little thing coaches like to call Self Scout.  The Giants have used this as a learning tool since Tom Coughlin arrived.  It really helps to look at your own tendencies and see how you would game plan against yourself.

The Offense (B):  The Giants offense is starting to click at the right time.  Although the running game has not quite reached the level they will need it to, the overall offense is moving in the right direction.  When you see Eli feel comfortable with the likes of Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard you know the offense is working.  It is great to see guys step up and make plays.  Yes, teams will start to keep an eye on Ballard now, but that only opens up opportunities to get the ball to the backs, and to the other wideouts.  The O-Line continues to be the victim of injuries, but again this builds depth for the rest of the season.  All in all this offense which ranks 9th in points and 7th in passing is moving in the right direction.  The running game will prove to be the final piece of any success they enjoy this season.
The Defense(C):  It seems the defense has been struggling since day one.  They must rely on pressuring the QB and have to find a way to limit the running games of opponents.  Hopefully Justin Tuck will return in the next week or two and be able to stay healthy the remainder of the season.  This is a big piece of the puzzle.  The pressure that a healthy D-Line puts on the offense is key.  Not only in the passing game, but against the run.  Hopefully the second half sees the beginning of the career of “The Prince”.  Prince Amukamara will allow the safeties to return to their natural positions and should strengthen the defense overall.  Health is the key for this defense.
Special teams(B):  The most pleasant surprise here has been Steve Weatherford. Top ten in average and top 5 in return yardage against is a big reason the specials have been better.  Aaron Ross has stabilized the punt return position.  I still would look for Jerrel Jernigan to get a shot somewhere here this season.  He did dress for his first game last week.  The kickoff returns have been so-so, but no turnovers in either category is a goal achieved.  Lawrence Tynes has been stellar on kickoffs, but the confidence certainly isn’t there on the field goal front.
The Outlook:  30-16….That is the combined record of the teams the Giants will face after the Dolphins leave town.  Not only do the Giants face some traditionally good teams, they play them at all the wrong places and times.  IN New England, IN New Orleans on a Monday Night, IN San Francisco, IN Dallas on a Sunday Night, add to that home games against Green Bay and the cross town rival Jets.  This is a tough challenge.  Now, you never know what a team will look like when you finally play them, but it lays out as a very tough road.  Maybe the best thing that happens for the Giants this year is Philly, Dallas and Washington stay mediocre to poor, and the path gets a bit easier.  The Good news is this team can only get healthier.  Hopefully they will continue to improve on this front and have a complete team to compete with going forward,

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Positive Step

      If you read the post below, you know we called on the Giants to accomplish a few things in order to defeat the Buffalo Bills.  We asked that Ryan Fitzpatrick QB of the Bills visit the turf more than he had in the previous weeks.  He had been sacked 4 times in 5 weeks.  Welcome to Giants stadium Mr. Fitzpatrick.  Sacked three official times, and two other times he scrambled for one yard gains.  Next we asked the Giants to keep Eli upright.  No sacks recorded, and really not much pressure at all.  Eli was superb in the first half and steady throughout.  21/32 for 292.....and no turnovers.  The biggest key to this game was going to be turnovers.  Buffalo was an amazing plus 11, with 12 interceptions.  The Giants not only held onto the ball themselves, but forced Buffalo into two huge interceptions.
     Now, the Giants did not play a perfect game by any means, but they did seem to take a few positive steps.  They still need to trust one another on defense, and get a healthy offensive line in place.  The bye week comes at a very good time.  They should get Tuck, Snee, and Jacobs back for the Miami game.  They may even see the likes of  backup center Adam Koets, WR Ramses Barden, and hopefully "The Prince" will make an appearance.  With the toughest schedule in the league to face after the Miami Scrimmage, it will be a good time to be completely healthy.

Preview of the second half and a little self scout on Friday.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Who Are The Bills??


     The Bills are a surprisingly good team this year.  With wins over Oakland, New England and Philly already, they travel to New York to face the Giants Sunday afternoon.  I say the Bills are surprising because some of their stats belie their record.  They are 30th in yards per game on DEFENSE.  They give up a little over 420 yards per game, however they have 12 interceptions to counteract that fact.  They are 29th in the league in rushing defense, while forcing 5 fumbles in the process. They are last in the league in sacks with a total of 4.  To say that this was a stout defense would be a lie, but they manage to create turnovers, and that’s how they have won some of these games.  With all of that yardage and the negative statistics on defense, they are in the middle of the pack allowing 24 points per game.  They do have some injuries to their defense this week.  Their nose tackle Kyle Williams most likely will be out of the line-up Sunday as will Steroid freak Shawn Merriman, no great loss there.  Merriman has been missing in action for them for a while now, even when he has been on the field.  It is a bad stat when your safeties lead your team in tackles, but when your D-Line has a total of 30 tackles and no sacks thru 5 games, someone has to be stepping into the hole.
On Offense the Bills rank third in points scored with almost 33.  They are 4th in rushing yards and 13th in passing.  They are led by Ivy League (HARVARD) QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who seems to have found a system he can work within.  Head coach Chan Gailey has turned this part of the team around.  Fitzpatrick  now completes 66% of his passes.  He has 10 TD’s with 4 INT’s.  He has not fumbled the ball so far this year.  He is a possession Qb with the ability to throw the ball deep.  Again the stats say he averages 7 yards a throw, but he has only been sacked three times, and has thrown for a total of over 1200 yards.  Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson are the stars of this offense.  The Bills know how to spread the ball around through the air, and can pound you on the ground.  This is a true west coast offense, one that can give the Giants fits if they are not careful.
Finally we face a team without a Special teams nightmare waiting to happen.  The Bills average 7 yards a return on punts with a long of 10, and 24 yards on kickoffs with a long of 25.  Hopefully the Giants can win a field position battle this week.
Giants need to avoid the turnovers this week, and turn both of the sack stats of Buffalo around.   The Giants should be able to keep Eli upright against a team with a total of 4 sacks, and hopefully can have Ryan Fitzpatrick visit the Meadowlands turf more times this game than he has all year…it would go as a big plus towards winning this game.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Giants in Trouble Now.......

     This is not usually a title you see from me...I am Mr. Positive.  I know it's a long season, but something disturbing occurred to me the other day.  When the Giants started the season, and lost to Washington on the road, we figured those things happen, they had lost their middle linebacker a few days earlier, and were still in disarray.  Then they beat a Ram team that had a very good defense and a top quarterback, then on to Philadelphia to play the top rated Eagles.  They defeated the Eagles and erased some demons.  They then traveled across the country and beat an improving Arizona team with top notch talent that had lost their two previous games by a total of 4 points.  Now here's the problem.  The Rams, Eagles, and Cardinals have not won a game since!  The Giants have beaten three teams with a total of two wins.  The Eagles which was thought to be their signature win for this young season can't beat anybody.
      If the Giants manage to beat Buffalo and Miami they will be 5-2.  Not a terrible start. But looming ahead are the likes of: Green Bay, New England, New Orleans, and of course two against the Cowboys, and another match-up with Washington.  If they get things straightened out and play well....can they get to 10?  Beating the Eagles, Cowboys, and San Francisco now only gets you to 8.  Can they beat the Cowboys twice?  Will the Jets be done by Christmas? Starting to look at Wild card spots this early can get depressing, and confusing.  I hope this team gets it's act together quickly.

Preview of The Bills on Friday

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Giants Seahawks Preview


     The New York Giants welcome in the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday at 1:00 Eastern.  This amounts to a morning game for the visitors from the great Northwest.  I have read that this is a trap game, or an opponent the Giants may overlook.  That might be true in other cities, but that doesn’t happen here very often.  The Giants and their coaching staff always find the strengths of the team they are playing, and make sure the team is prepared.  This is a key difference between Tom Coughlin’s philosophy and other coaches     (especially the other guy in town).  He never says a bad word about a team he is going to face.  He may have a few choice words after the contest, in private, and to his players, but never in the week leading into a game.  Pointing out your superiority over another team just makes the players more vulnerable to a let down, a feeling of not needing to prepare.  I like it our way better!
The Seahawks Offense:  Led by old friend QB Tarvaris Jackson, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, and RB Marshawn Lynch.  Saying the offense hasn’t hit it’s stride yet would be an understatement.  They currently rank at or near the bottom in every offensive category, and this week they may be without a big weapon in Mike Williams.  Williams suffered a concussion last week and hasn’t practiced as of this writing.  Also not practicing were CB Marcus Trufant, and LG Robert Gallery.  The ‘Hawks start two rookies on the right side of their line, and now with Gallery out, it becomes a very young line, and one that has a few people out of position.  The job of the Giants will be to fix their run defense this week.  Marshawn Lynch is a very capable, strong runner with some speed.  He will test the Giants defense this week.  While Tarvaris certainly has the arm to throw it down the field, and Sidney Rice has the talent to get open, the Giants will have the luxury of not having to cover Mike Williams.  They should be able to do as they have done the past few weeks and keep the receivers in front of them.  Not giving up big plays to this team will be the key.  They should be incapable of sustaining long drives if the run defense does a decent job, and then exploit the young O-Line on passing downs.
The Seahawks Defense: The ‘Hawks play a 4-3 defense with an undersized linebacking core.  The team has only recorded 5 sacks this season, and has given up an average of 5.1 yards per play.  If they are indeed without their CB Marcus Trufant, it could be a long day for the ‘Hawks defense if Eli Manning remains hot.  The Giants will do their usual plan of attack in using the run to bring down the safeties, and then exploit them with play action passes down the field.  The Seahawks are a -4 in turnover ratio.
Special Teams:  Usually I don’t put a section on Special Temas, but this week it is relevant.  Former Jet Leon Washington returns to the Meadowlands as an explosive and very intelligent return man.  He also is used on third downs and even in some wild cat formations.  Leon is about the only thing that could wreck the game plan for the Giants this week.  Look for the Giants to force the ball deep on kickoffs, and to completely neutralize him on punt returns.
 The Seahawks are basically akin to a bad basketball team.  They can play with the bad teams in their own building, even lose by a point or two against a better opponent.  Send them on the road and they have no shot. The Giants take care of business in this first of three straight at home.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Giants Run Down Cardinals


     The Giants beat the Cardinals Sunday with a fantastic 4th quarter comeback.  Eli Manning was again efficient in the second half, and superb in the 4th quarter.  Eli is 32-40 for 415 yards, 4TD’s and no INT’s in the second half of games in the past three weeks.  That is just an amazing performance.  However, I believe that this game was actually won in the first half.  The defense that gave up some second half points, and some big chunks of yardage against the run, was superb in the first half.  The Cardinals first three drives were as follows:
1.  After an Ahmad Bradshaw fumble, the Cardinals started in the Red Zone (the Giants 16), and got three points.
2. After forcing the Giants to punt, Arizona got the ball at their own 48, and turned the ball over in the Red Zone( Giants 17).
3. 15 plays 80 yards 9 minutes of possession, and got three points.
The first half defense by the Giants, and their uncanny knack of denying points from point blank range, put the team in position to win the game in the end.
Last week I mentioned how statistically equal these two teams were.  Well yesterday did nothing to change that.  Here are some stats:
Total Plays: Giants 65  Cardinals 70
Total Yards: Giants 360 Cardinals 368
Turnovers: Two each
First Downs: Giants 24  Cardinals 22
The Cardinals had lost two games by a total of 4 points…now it’s three by 8 points.
Not much is different about these teams except the Giants have shown the ability to finish games this year, something the Cardinals still need to perfect.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Giants Vs. Cardinals Preview


     The Giants (2-1) face the Arizona Cardinals(1-2) Sunday afternoon at 4:00 Eastern time on Fox. The announcers will be Kenny Albert, Moose Johnston, and Tony Siragusa once again. Actually I don’t mind having the same crew back to back, as they might actually remember how the Giants played last week, and have some useful insight. We can only hope. This match-up may sound one sided, but the reality is, you can’t find a more statistically even game on the schedule. Despite their 1-2 record, the Arizona Cardinals will be a very tough opponent. They have lost to Washington and Seattle in the past two weeks, but only by a total of 4 points. Returning home, they will need to make a statement, where even in the weak NFC West, falling to 1-3 is not a good thing to do. After the Giants, they face the 0-3 Minnesota Vikings before their early bye. You know they would love to hit the break with a winning record.
On Offense: The Cardinals have struggled so far to gel as an offense. New Qb Kevin Kolb, whom the team acquired from Philadelphia in the off-season, has struggled in his decision making. He has not yet found a chemistry with his teammates. He has thrown for 5 TD’s while also throwing 3 picks, and fumbling once. He has also been sacked 8 times in this young season. Of course the Cardinals have All-World WR Larry Fitzgerald on their team, and he can be instant offense for any QB. Fitzgerald is capapble of making any catch against any number of defenders. We can only hope this isn’t the week Kolb and Fitzgerald find the same page. Also back in the mix for the Cardinals is running back Beanie Wells. Wells was out last week, but says he’s ready to go for the game on Sunday. Wells has 32 carries for 183 yards in 2 games, a great average, but if he only carries the ball 15 times, the Giants will have done their job. The Cardinals are a veteran team that have not learned how to work together.
On Defense: The Cardinals play a 3-4 defense. They are very strong up front and have an active Line backing corps. They are particularly strong on the left side with Darnell Dockett, Joey Porter, and rookie CB Patrick Peterson. Once again they are a veteran group, except at the two corner spots. Second year man A.J. Jefferson joins the rookie Peterson in the defensive backfield, however they are backed up by 18 years combined experience at the Safety spot in Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes. Look for Rhodes to blitz off the corner on third downs. The Giants must establish some dominance in the running game to neutralize the safeties. The more the Giants can run, the better chance they will have to throw it over the top of the defense for some big plays.
As I stated earlier these two teams are statistically similar. Let’s take a look:
Offensively the Giants rank 10th in the NFC, the Cardinals 8th. Yards per play, and total yards are almost identical. The Giants hold the edge in points per game and also in the all important turnover category. The Giants are +4, while the Cardinals are -1. On Defense the Giants currently rank 8th, while the Cardinals are at 14. However yards per play and points scored are virtually identical.
This contest will be all about turnovers, and pressuring a Qb in Kevin Kolb that hasn’t quite grasped his new system. Kolb will throw some prayers against pressure, the Giants have to hope Larry Fitzgerald doesn’t answer those prayers. Controlling the running game and forcing Kolb to look across at JPP, Tuck, Canty, Osi, Kiwi, and Michael Boley all day on third and long should prove a successful formula for the Giants. If this team were coached by anyone other than Tom Coughlin I would warn against the long travel, and a let down after last weeks big win. I don’t feel these are concerns. Giants should prevail, but this game is closer than most people think.