Giants - Eagles preview part deux

Since this is a playoff game, I thought I would do a little more preview of the game.

It would be really nice if the Giants could improve their kickoff coverage. Coughlin likes to not put too much of a burden on his starters, consequently he limits how many of them he uses on special teams. When Hixon moved into the starting lineup as WR with the Burress incident, he removed him from kick return duties. This is very unfortunate, because he is a great kick returner. But there's another thing I noticed: Giants kickoff coverage got worse at about the time that Chase Blackburn was promoted to starter at OLB. It may not be coincidental because Blackburn might be the Giants best special teams player and kick coverage guy. I am not sure why Kehl and DeOssie can't do just as well in kick coverage, since they have similar physical attributes to Blackburn. Nevertheless, I wonder if the Giants might take a chance in the playoffs in putting Blackburn and Hixon back on the kick coverage and return teams. I would be tempted with Blackburn and would be inclined to leave Hixon out.

I wondered in an earlier post whether Coughlin would consider dressing Tynes in addition to Carney, letting Tynes handle the kickoff duties. Eagles don't have a particularly great kick return game, but field position may prove to be very important in this game, so he might just do it.

Eagles will try to take advantage of Giants LBs in the middle of the field. They will use their talented TEs Celek and LJ Smith and will try to get Westbrook out in pass routes and screens. Giants were deadly stopping screens last year but have been a little vulnerable lately. Since Eagles are a great screen team and this play gets the ball into the hands of their best play maker Westbrook, Giants have to be very wary of those screens.

Giants need a big game out of their OL and their DL because of the specific way that the Eagles play. Giants will try to run the ball against the Eagles, but if a defense really sells out to stop one phase of the opposing offense, it can often do a decent job doing so. Eli and the Giants WRs have to have a productive game and make some big plays for the offense to operate efficiently.

The first round playoff bye and the week off was a real boon to the Giants. The team had several players that were nicked up and needed rest to heal. Robbins and Cofield were battling shoulder and knee injuries respectively and the rest helped them tremendously. Against the Eagles, Cofield did not play and Robbins was banged up so the DTs did not get the big push they usually do. It is very important for DTs to make penetration against McNabb. If the DEs can get some pass rush from the outside, they can greatly limit McNabb's ability to get outside of the pocket and limit his effectiveness. The Giants last 10 games of the year were against teams that were over .500 at the time they played them, which has never happened in the league before. 7 of those 10 teams ended up making the playoffs, adding to the difficulty of this part of the schedule. Furthermore, the Giants regular season bye came after week 3, the earliest in the league, so in addition to the degree of difficulty of the games, they have also been playing the longest stretch of consecutive games possible in the league. I think they were physically and mentally exhausted; and the week off will help restore their pep and put some spring back in their step. Kiwanuka in particular has never played so many games before in his life. The college season is of course much shorter than the NFL and in his rookie year he did not take snaps in every game. Last year he was injured and did not play the last several games of the year, so this is the first year that he has played a full NFL schedule while taking most of the snaps as starter. Tuck was nicked up and also played a fuller load than he ever has before. I am hopeful that both took advantage of the week off and will come back refreshed. Neither one vacationed in Cabo, Mexico.

Brandon Jacobs is not listed on the injury report, which should mean that he's ready to go. As important as Jacobs is in the running game, he may be even more important in the passing game. He is an absolutely deadly pass blocker picking up the blitz. He always picks up the right blitzer and is very quick to move from side to side to do so. When most RBs pick up a blitzing LB, they are usually able to slow them down for a second or obstruct the lane they are rushing in so they have to take a slightly wider route to the qb. If the RB is successful, he is able to give the qb an extra second or so to throw, but often the pocket is collapsing as he makes his block so the qb will not have a clean pocket to step into his throw. Not Jacobs - he's like having an extra G on the field, but one that is as quick and nimble as RB. When he picks up the blitzer and blocks him, he stands him straight up and the guy STAYS blocked. With the propensity that the Eagles have to blitz, his presence on the field will be really important. Too bad he drops half the balls thrown to him, otherwise he'd be really deadly.

As much as we think that this game is all about establishing the run and stopping Westbrook, it will also be really important for Eli to have a big game. I'd be a lot more confident in this game if Giants had Burress playing. Unfortunately he is injured, suspended and nearly indicted. Hixon is going to have to step up, but I think we are going to have to see another WR - not Toomer - make plays down the field this week. Using Smith or Boss as a surprise deep threat, or even TE Darcy Johnson might be an unexpected change that will surprise the Eagles defense. I would love to see Moss on the field, but I'm not holding my breath.