In a lot of ways, the Cowboys and Giants are similar teams. Both have offenses that have productive QBs and some dangerous skill position players. At the TE position, while Witten is much more accomplished and has a better resume than Ballard, neither TE is a real down field threat, they are both more in the classic mold of throwback TEs, working the short and intermediate routes often in the middle of the field. Both teams have OLs that have undergone major changes coming into the year and have performances that have been somewhat spotty throughout. Cowboys have run the ball much better than the Giants, largely because their FB blocks well. Both offenses have been averaging about the same number of points per game.
The similarities don't end there, because the defenses are comparable as well. Both teams have defenses that are predicated on the pass rush. Both have a very good DL and like to come after the QB. As well, both have holes and weaknesses in the back 7. Cowboys have better LBs, and the Giants probably are slightly better at CB, though Ross of the Giants has certainly been up and down this year.
What does this all mean? It means to me that this is likely to be a fairly high scoring game (take the over) and the team that will win is the one whose OL can protect the QB and neutralize the opposing DL/pass rush best. Turnovers are always crucial in every game (do I sound like Coughlin yet?) but somehow it seems to me that in this game they will be even more important. If points flow easily like water through a faucet, defensive stops will be few and the best way to get that stop will be to take away the ball, giving your offense another possession. The truth is that mathematically, turnovers are probably more important in a low scoring game, because the offense will have less of an opportunity to make up for its own turnover. But if the only way to get a stop is through a turnover, that could be really important.
As much as I love Nicks, Dez Bryant is just a freak of an athlete. With Miles Austin back, who is also a dangerous player, if the Giants pay too much attention to them on the outside and give S help on both, the middle will be open for Witten. Giants will need a big game from the LBs - Blackburn, Boley and especially Williams in defending the TEs and the middle of the field to keep up with the Cowboys offense. Giants don't need to completely shut down the Cowboys running game, but they do need to slow it down so they get Romo in some 3rd and long plays and hope they can beat him with a pass rush. Not easy to do. Giants should go to school on what the Cardinals did to slow down the Cowboys last week.
Showing posts with label 2011 week 14 preview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 week 14 preview. Show all posts
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Giants: 6-6
Most of the enthused Giants fans I speak to are very positive about the prospects of the season now. Somehow it has turned around with the effort against the Packers and they are confident that the Giants will beat the Cowboys this Sunday night. I wish I could share their confidence, and I am as much of a fan as the next guy, but let's face facts. Giants are a mediocre team. A wise old Giants coach once said you are what your record says you are, and the Giants at 6-6 define mediocrity.
Here's the thing though - there are many paths to mediocrity. You can be mediocre by having most of your team mediocre - average OL, average skill position players, average QB, average defense.... you get the idea. Overall freakin' average. But there is another way to be swallowed up into mediocrity. You can have some excellence in various parts of your team that is limited by various flaws and weaknesses that bring it down. The games you win are when the weak parts of your team are not exposed by a strength of the opponent, or the weakness steps up a notch and does not kill the team, allowing the excellence on the team to overcome the weakness. I suggest that this latter description is actually the state of affairs with the Giants. The Giants at 6-6 are mediocre, but not mediocre everywhere on this team. They have excellent WRs and a very good RB when he stays on the field. Their OL has been decent. Of course you know what I think of the QB - he is one of the best in the league. On the defensive side, they have superior talent on the DL, some good players in the back 7, but definitely some exposures and weakness back there, without much depth. You could certainly argue that many of the games the Giants won this year were because the weak parts of the team did just enough to keep the Giants in the game and the superior parts, i.e the QB and the passing game, won it at the end.
The hope for the Giants, if you're a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, is that the DB field will get a little better as Amukamara plays better. Further, you would hope that the LBs will be a little better with Boley back, with the addition of Blackburn and with the continued maturation of some of the young LBs, especially Williams. That's the hope, but the reality might bring us down and disappoint us.
Here's the thing though - there are many paths to mediocrity. You can be mediocre by having most of your team mediocre - average OL, average skill position players, average QB, average defense.... you get the idea. Overall freakin' average. But there is another way to be swallowed up into mediocrity. You can have some excellence in various parts of your team that is limited by various flaws and weaknesses that bring it down. The games you win are when the weak parts of your team are not exposed by a strength of the opponent, or the weakness steps up a notch and does not kill the team, allowing the excellence on the team to overcome the weakness. I suggest that this latter description is actually the state of affairs with the Giants. The Giants at 6-6 are mediocre, but not mediocre everywhere on this team. They have excellent WRs and a very good RB when he stays on the field. Their OL has been decent. Of course you know what I think of the QB - he is one of the best in the league. On the defensive side, they have superior talent on the DL, some good players in the back 7, but definitely some exposures and weakness back there, without much depth. You could certainly argue that many of the games the Giants won this year were because the weak parts of the team did just enough to keep the Giants in the game and the superior parts, i.e the QB and the passing game, won it at the end.
The hope for the Giants, if you're a glass-is-half-full kind of guy, is that the DB field will get a little better as Amukamara plays better. Further, you would hope that the LBs will be a little better with Boley back, with the addition of Blackburn and with the continued maturation of some of the young LBs, especially Williams. That's the hope, but the reality might bring us down and disappoint us.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Giants: Vikings game delayed
Because of severe storm in the mid-west, the Giants - Vikings game was delayed and rescheduled to Monday night. However, I just heard a report on the news that said that because of the snow on the roof of the Metro Dome, Mall of America Dome, Hubert Humphrey Dome or whatever the heck they call the stadium nowadays, apparently, the bubble deflated and the stadium will not be playable even Monday night.
It seems to me that it is the responsibility of the home team to provide a playable stadium and if they cannot, they forfeit the right to have the game played in their city. To reschedule the game to Tuesday night on the hope that the stadium will be playable by then creates an enormous disadvantage for the Giants for the following week's game. It seems to me there are a few alternatives:
1. Vikings forfeit the game - obviously no one is going to want to do that
2. Move the game to NJ or a neutral field and play it Monday night
3. If the Vikings can guarantee that the stadium will be ready the following day, play the game Tuesday night and move the Giants-Eagles game next week to Monday night, so the Giants will have the extra day to prepare for that game.
There is precedent for option 2; it is what the league did when Katrina hit and the New Orleans Super Dome was unplayable. The Giants and Saints played in Giants Stadium. Of course it gives the Giants a bit of an advantage with what is in effect an extra home game, but if the Vikings can not provide a playable field, that's their loss. Theoretically, the game could be played on a neutral field somewhere as an alternative.
Two neutral sites that are relatively nearby and are apparently being considered are Ford Field in Detroit and Lucas Field in Indianapolis. It would be pretty cool to have the game played in Lucas Field because the Colts fans would obviously welcome Eli, their quarterback-in-law and root for the Giants. Playing at Ford Field in Detroit would also be special, but only for me on a personal level. You see, my son is an undergraduate at University of Michigan and misses a lot of the Giants home games. This would give him an opportunity to go see the Giants and root for them. (I hope he took his Eli Manning jersey with him to college!)
It seems to me that it is the responsibility of the home team to provide a playable stadium and if they cannot, they forfeit the right to have the game played in their city. To reschedule the game to Tuesday night on the hope that the stadium will be playable by then creates an enormous disadvantage for the Giants for the following week's game. It seems to me there are a few alternatives:
1. Vikings forfeit the game - obviously no one is going to want to do that
2. Move the game to NJ or a neutral field and play it Monday night
3. If the Vikings can guarantee that the stadium will be ready the following day, play the game Tuesday night and move the Giants-Eagles game next week to Monday night, so the Giants will have the extra day to prepare for that game.
There is precedent for option 2; it is what the league did when Katrina hit and the New Orleans Super Dome was unplayable. The Giants and Saints played in Giants Stadium. Of course it gives the Giants a bit of an advantage with what is in effect an extra home game, but if the Vikings can not provide a playable field, that's their loss. Theoretically, the game could be played on a neutral field somewhere as an alternative.
Two neutral sites that are relatively nearby and are apparently being considered are Ford Field in Detroit and Lucas Field in Indianapolis. It would be pretty cool to have the game played in Lucas Field because the Colts fans would obviously welcome Eli, their quarterback-in-law and root for the Giants. Playing at Ford Field in Detroit would also be special, but only for me on a personal level. You see, my son is an undergraduate at University of Michigan and misses a lot of the Giants home games. This would give him an opportunity to go see the Giants and root for them. (I hope he took his Eli Manning jersey with him to college!)
Friday, December 10, 2010
Giants: Vikings preview
On paper, the Vikings are really good, regardless of their issues at the QB position. On offense they have a big OL, the best RB in football in Peterson, and weapons in the passing game in Harvin, Rice and Shiancoe. Rice and Harvin are apparently nursing injuries so they may not be at full strength this week. You see how important QB play is in this league - Favre has had an absolutely awful year with 18 INTs, only 6 TDs, a host of bad decisions, poor yards per attempt and one fired coach on his resume. I think we see what happens when the Vikings get even marginally improved QB play - last week Tavaris Jackson came in and put up 38 points, despite throwing 3 INTs himself. So there is no doubt that the Vikings are a a dangerous offensive team. I have not followed them closely, but the word is that their OL has underperformed this year. Maybe the firing of unpopular coach Childress woke them up a bit and inspired the OL to play more fiercely. This will be the second team that the Giants play that has taken the unusual step of mid-season coach firing. Let's hope the results are different this time.
On the other side of the ball, their run defense is strong, but their pass defense is so-so. Their pass defense is predicated on getting after the QB and not giving him time to throw, but the DL has not played inspired football, with Jared Allen having a mediocre year. If the Giants can protect Eli, which they have done fairly well recently, with the OL getting a starter back and with Nicks and/or Smith probably coming back, the offense should be able to move the ball. I would come out throwing and establish the run later on. That's my mantra this week: Throw early, run late.
During the rash of OL injuries the Giants signed a backup OL-man named Jamon Meredith and he has been active the past few weeks. He has been playing occasionally as the extra TE and the reason I bring him up is that he is an impressive looking physical player. He is tall, looks muscular but lean, and the few times I saw him on ST, looked like he can really run. I have no information on him, other than that he is a 2nd year player out of South Carolina and I don't even know what team he was on last year. He looks good, though. Look for # 79 if you get a chance.
I was surprised to see Shawn Andrews back in the locker room and back at practice, though only working on rehabbing his back. I thought he was done for the year and maybe for his career. He spoke optimistically about returning this year, as soon as a few weeks.
I guess it was a great move by the Giants to keep Beatty on the roster and not put him on IR when he broke his foot early in the year and missed 6-7 weeks. His presence on the roster really helped these past few weeks. I'd like to see him get some more playing time and develop his skills, but I can't argue with using Diehl. The match up between Jared Allen and Diehl is a critical one this weekend.
No wind, fast turf, in the dome, starting WRs coming back - look for Giants passing game to take some shots down field this week.
On the other side of the ball, their run defense is strong, but their pass defense is so-so. Their pass defense is predicated on getting after the QB and not giving him time to throw, but the DL has not played inspired football, with Jared Allen having a mediocre year. If the Giants can protect Eli, which they have done fairly well recently, with the OL getting a starter back and with Nicks and/or Smith probably coming back, the offense should be able to move the ball. I would come out throwing and establish the run later on. That's my mantra this week: Throw early, run late.
During the rash of OL injuries the Giants signed a backup OL-man named Jamon Meredith and he has been active the past few weeks. He has been playing occasionally as the extra TE and the reason I bring him up is that he is an impressive looking physical player. He is tall, looks muscular but lean, and the few times I saw him on ST, looked like he can really run. I have no information on him, other than that he is a 2nd year player out of South Carolina and I don't even know what team he was on last year. He looks good, though. Look for # 79 if you get a chance.
I was surprised to see Shawn Andrews back in the locker room and back at practice, though only working on rehabbing his back. I thought he was done for the year and maybe for his career. He spoke optimistically about returning this year, as soon as a few weeks.
I guess it was a great move by the Giants to keep Beatty on the roster and not put him on IR when he broke his foot early in the year and missed 6-7 weeks. His presence on the roster really helped these past few weeks. I'd like to see him get some more playing time and develop his skills, but I can't argue with using Diehl. The match up between Jared Allen and Diehl is a critical one this weekend.
No wind, fast turf, in the dome, starting WRs coming back - look for Giants passing game to take some shots down field this week.
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