Steve Weatherford had a great game punting for the Giants, particularly with some 50+ yard punts in the 2nd half when the Giants needed to protect field position in the low scoring game. He also made a great play on the low snap to pick it up and get it down for Tynes on the game winning FG. Laces out for Ray Finkel.
Also - great punt by Weatherford early in the 4th quarter, aiming to kick it right off Kyle Williams knee so the Giants could recover. They must have worked on that in ST all year and finally it paid off. Great throw by Eli to Manningham on the TD pass that put them ahead following this muffed punt recovery. It was also a gutsy call to throw the ball into the end zone there. It would have been real easy, on 3rd and 15 to play it safe and settle for 3 points on the theory that you only then need a FG to win the game. Great call, great read, great throw.
That's two conference championship games in a row that Giants have been in where Tynes hit the game winner in OT following a turnover by the opposition deep in their territory. This game also hearkens back memories of the last time Giants played a conference championship game on the road against the 49ers. Of course, that was the famous 3-peat game, when Matt Bahr kicked 5 FGs, the last one coming as time expired, also after a late 49er turnover in Giants 15-13 victory. Not that I'm superstitious or anything, but I watched the game Sunday with my good friend, with whom I also watched that game in 1990. That 1990 game had everything in it - Giants called a half back option pass on the goal line with Dave Meggett throwing to a wide open Maurice Carthon in the end zone and Carthon dropping the easy TD pass. It had a fake punt by the Giants early in the 4th quarter, with Giants LB Gary Reasons who was blocking as the up-back taking the snap from C and running about 30 yards to set up the Giants 4th FG. It had the Giants knocking Joe Montana out of the game on a blind side sack from Leonard Marshall. It had the 49ers bringing in Steve Young off the bench, who nearly won the game for the 49ers, until DT Erik Howard stripped RB Roger Craig with LT recovering the fumble. Hoestetler hit a few plays to Mark Bavaro and Stephen Baker to move the Giants in FG range and Matt Bahr kicked the winning FG ending the 3-peat. I love nostalgia, now back to the 2011 season.
Did anybody notice that Jacobs did not even see the field in the 2nd half. Bradshaw ran tough, if not very effectively and caught a nice pass down the sideline. After the Giants recovered the fumble in OT, Bradshaw made some nice runs to make the kick easy instead of a long nail-biter like the one in Green bay 4 years ago.
Giants first two Super Bowls were four years apart, in 1986 and 1990. They won last in 2007 and it is now 4 year later in 2011. I'm just saying. Giants beat the number one and number two NFC seed in 2007 to get to the Super Bowl and have done the same this year. Again, I'm just saying. Lots of other similarities, but let's leave it at that for now.
The coverage by the Giants CBs against the 49ers WRs was excellent. I am not forgetting the bad/blown coverage on the two Vernon Davis TDs, but that turned out to be errors by the safeties and one (IMO) formation problem. Nevertheless, the coverage on the WRs was excellent. Giants have to put on their defensive thinking caps to figure out how to handle the Patriots very talented TEs.
I watched the Patriots-Ravens AFC conference championship game replay on NFL Network tonight and Patriots defense looked average. Not terrible, which is a step up from where they have played this year, but not unbeatable either.
Giants OL had it taken to them in the 2nd half against the 49ers. They need to play much better against the Patriots, who don't have the depth and quality at DL that the 49ers do. Vince Woolfork is still in the middle of the Patriots 3-4 defense but is not quite the dominant run stopper he used to be. Giants blocking by the TE position against he 49ers was average and against a 3-4 it needs to be really sharp, especially with athletic LBs which the 49ers have. There was a phantom holding call against Baas which set the Giants deep in their own territory. The delay of game call on the Giants at the end, when they had two timeouts left was inexcusable.
On the 49ers first possession of the 2nd half, the Giants had them in a 3rd and 21. They had good coverage and forced Smith out of the pocket but Aaron Ross was called for an illegal contact penalty. It was a terrible call, Ross reached out and pushed the WR within 5 yards, not beyond it, so it was a legal push. Giants stopped the 49ers on that possession, so you could say it didn't really hurt the Giants, but remember that football is all about field position. 49ers got a first down because of that penalty, then gained another 20 yards before they were stopped on 4th down. This means that instead of punting from their own 28 they punted from the Giants 49 and with a good punt pinned the Giants down on their own 7. When Giants punted back, the 49ers got a good return and had the ball out near midfield again and scored on this drive on the second TD pass to Vernon Davis. Field position is king in football.
Showing posts with label conference championship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conference championship. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Giants: NFC CHAMPS !!!
Some game - The defenses were clearly dominant, but IMO, the weather had a lot to do with the offenses not producing and particularly hurting the Giants. Nobody was whining about it and the field did not look muddy, but it was slick, especially in the 2nd half and particularly outside the numbers. You could see often that WRs were slipping when they tried to cut outside. This hurts the Giants - some of Eli's best throws are his out routes, his back shoulder fades on the sidelines and these were taken out of his arsenal. As a result everything had to be thrown in the middle of the field, between the numbers, where the 49ers active safeties were roaming, where their fast LBs were taking their drops and it was very crowded.
That having been said, the 49ers defense was very impressive. Their DL in the 2nd half particularly was taking it to the Giants OL. But there have been a few games this year where other defenses stopped the Giants offense, largely on the strength of a dominant DL performance. i am thinking of the home Eagles and Redskins game, where the Giants OL just couldn't block anybody. but I have not seen a game where the Giants WRs were covered so effectively by an opposing DB-field. The Jets did a good job, but that was mostly Revis; Cruz did in fact get free for a big play in that game, as you might remember. But aside from Revis, Giants WRs have had a great year and have been getting open for Manning all year. Not Sunday. 49ers DBs were all over them.
BTW - that play by Cruz will go down in NY Football lore, regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, as one of the most pivotal plays in any season at any time. it will go down there with Bavaro dragging the entire 49er secondary for 15 yards on a Monday night football game during the 1986 season. In case you don't remember, or weren't alive at the time, 49ers led by Montana were all over the Giants and were up 17-0 at halftime. Simms hit Bavaro on a short pass and he would not be brought down. It inspired the entire team to stay with it, not give up and the Giants won 21-17. The 99 yard catch by Cruz turned around the Jets game, propelled the Giants into the playoffs and took the Jets out.
Jacquian Williams is going to be a star in the league when he gets a little more experience. his physical gifts are enormous. He made the big strip to force the fumble that won the game because of his speed and strength.The kick returner thought that he had eluded Williams and he was past him and he was not anticipating a hit. But Williams accelerated, reached out with his long arm and punched the ball out. The returner did not clamp down on the ball and secure it because he did not see it coming. Williams also showed great speed in pass defense earlier in the game. He knocked down a pass and showed great closing speed to get there. He was running like a CB.
Chase Blackburn played a good game also from the LB position. He is not the most talented athlete and got knocked around in the running game on a few plays. But, even though he is not the fastest, he made some real good drops in the passing game and also got his hands on a pass intended for Vernon Davis.
Giants gave up two long plays to Davis, mostly on blown coverages by the Giants. Other than those plays, 49ers had little offense. They ran the ball fairly well, gaining 150 yards on the ground. But nowadays, that does not win football games. You have to pass it.
Eli played a great game, this time showing how tough he is by taking hit after hit, hanging in there and throwing for 300+ yards. He is as good as any QB in football. Rodgers and Brees may run a little better, but Eli can make every throw on the football field and putting it in a somewhat convoluted way for comparison purposes: there is no throw that Rodgers can make that Eli can't. Trent Dilfer on ESPN today said it like this: Comparing Eli and Brady, the latter has a much more accomplished body of work, he has been in the league longer, won more playoff games, more Super Bowls and more games. But there is no QB in the league playing better than Eli is right now.
You have to hope Nicks recovers from his shoulder ding. He looked somewhat compromised to me in the later part of the game, even though he was out there. The extra week off should help.
That having been said, the 49ers defense was very impressive. Their DL in the 2nd half particularly was taking it to the Giants OL. But there have been a few games this year where other defenses stopped the Giants offense, largely on the strength of a dominant DL performance. i am thinking of the home Eagles and Redskins game, where the Giants OL just couldn't block anybody. but I have not seen a game where the Giants WRs were covered so effectively by an opposing DB-field. The Jets did a good job, but that was mostly Revis; Cruz did in fact get free for a big play in that game, as you might remember. But aside from Revis, Giants WRs have had a great year and have been getting open for Manning all year. Not Sunday. 49ers DBs were all over them.
BTW - that play by Cruz will go down in NY Football lore, regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, as one of the most pivotal plays in any season at any time. it will go down there with Bavaro dragging the entire 49er secondary for 15 yards on a Monday night football game during the 1986 season. In case you don't remember, or weren't alive at the time, 49ers led by Montana were all over the Giants and were up 17-0 at halftime. Simms hit Bavaro on a short pass and he would not be brought down. It inspired the entire team to stay with it, not give up and the Giants won 21-17. The 99 yard catch by Cruz turned around the Jets game, propelled the Giants into the playoffs and took the Jets out.
Jacquian Williams is going to be a star in the league when he gets a little more experience. his physical gifts are enormous. He made the big strip to force the fumble that won the game because of his speed and strength.The kick returner thought that he had eluded Williams and he was past him and he was not anticipating a hit. But Williams accelerated, reached out with his long arm and punched the ball out. The returner did not clamp down on the ball and secure it because he did not see it coming. Williams also showed great speed in pass defense earlier in the game. He knocked down a pass and showed great closing speed to get there. He was running like a CB.
Chase Blackburn played a good game also from the LB position. He is not the most talented athlete and got knocked around in the running game on a few plays. But, even though he is not the fastest, he made some real good drops in the passing game and also got his hands on a pass intended for Vernon Davis.
Giants gave up two long plays to Davis, mostly on blown coverages by the Giants. Other than those plays, 49ers had little offense. They ran the ball fairly well, gaining 150 yards on the ground. But nowadays, that does not win football games. You have to pass it.
Eli played a great game, this time showing how tough he is by taking hit after hit, hanging in there and throwing for 300+ yards. He is as good as any QB in football. Rodgers and Brees may run a little better, but Eli can make every throw on the football field and putting it in a somewhat convoluted way for comparison purposes: there is no throw that Rodgers can make that Eli can't. Trent Dilfer on ESPN today said it like this: Comparing Eli and Brady, the latter has a much more accomplished body of work, he has been in the league longer, won more playoff games, more Super Bowls and more games. But there is no QB in the league playing better than Eli is right now.
You have to hope Nicks recovers from his shoulder ding. He looked somewhat compromised to me in the later part of the game, even though he was out there. The extra week off should help.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Giants: NFC Championship game - Really Last Thoughts
Last night the NFL Network replayed the regular season game between Giants and 49ers and I took a peak. Somehow my recollection of the game was that the 9ers beat the Giants pretty badly and the Giants had a last gasp chance to tie the score. After watching the game again last night, with a sense of detached analysis rather than being emotional watching when the game was played live, my impression is quite the contrary. Giants moved the ball well against the 49ers and failed a few times in the red zone against the 49ers tough red zone defense. They gave away two second half 49er TDs when Weatherford hit his only bad punt of the year giving 49ers great field position. They scored their second TD when Eli threw an INT as a result of Manningham cuttingoff his route with the ball going right to the DB. Boley was injured right before both of those 49ers possessions and replacement rookie Greg Jones blew his assignment on both 49ers TDs. The first was pass to TE Davis and the other a run by Kendall. That was it. Those two plays were the entire 49ers second half offense. Giants marched down the field and got a TD to get them within 7 and marched down again with a chance to tie the game, but failed on 4th down from the 10. Give the 49ers credit because they did make some big plays. but it is also true that the Giants beat the 49ers at the line of scrimmage. If the Giants play a clean, tight game, limiting big mistakes and turnovers, they have a chance.
I think Harbaugh is a dangerous coach and he could pull some real tricks out of his bag. He may decide to play nickel all game to try and stop the Giants passing game, almost daring the Giants to run. He may feel that his LBs are so good that the defense can stop Giants running game even if they get away from their 3-4 strength, playing an extra DB instead of 4 LBs. Giants are going to have to pass the ball to win the game, even though they did run the ball fairly well against the 9ers in that first game. Ballard (Pacoe/Beckum) may become key players if the 49ers do this, finding holes in their zone coverage.
On defense, Giants do not use that much deception, so playing strong at the point of attack and not over-committing to stop the run is what got the Giants here and it will have to be what gets them through this game also.
I think Harbaugh is a dangerous coach and he could pull some real tricks out of his bag. He may decide to play nickel all game to try and stop the Giants passing game, almost daring the Giants to run. He may feel that his LBs are so good that the defense can stop Giants running game even if they get away from their 3-4 strength, playing an extra DB instead of 4 LBs. Giants are going to have to pass the ball to win the game, even though they did run the ball fairly well against the 9ers in that first game. Ballard (Pacoe/Beckum) may become key players if the 49ers do this, finding holes in their zone coverage.
On defense, Giants do not use that much deception, so playing strong at the point of attack and not over-committing to stop the run is what got the Giants here and it will have to be what gets them through this game also.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)