Corey Webster has a sore back and did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. He is an important player to the Giants defense.
Eagles will load up to stop the run because they don't respect Eli and the Giants passing game, especially with Plaxico out. Burress always had big games against the Eagles, going back to the TD he caught in OT in Philly. In fact, that was the prototypical play that describes the Eagles defense. It was 3rd and long with the Giants on the outer edge of FG range. Eagles went for an all-out blitz on the play, leaving Burress in 1-on-1 coverage. Eli backpedaled, waited as long as he could for Plax to get down field and then as he was getting hit by a blitzing Dawkins, he threw the ball up in the air, knowing that the 6'6" Burress would outfight the smaller DB for the catch. Eagles remember that and will come in thinking that Eli can't hurt them with plays like that anymore now that Burress is out. So Eagles will load the line of scrimmage in running downs to stop the run, hope they can put the Giants in 3rd and long passing downs and then will blitz like crazy, bringing as many people as they can. Giants have to be prepared for that type of defense.
As a response, Giants have to come out prepared to throw the ball early. Early in the game and early in the down count. The mantra for this game: throw early, run late. If Eagles sit back and defend the pass, which I doubt that they will, then Giants can try to run against them. Gilbride has been very faithful to the run this year - and has not abandoned it even in the games where the opponents defended Giants run well - like Steelers game and early in Redksins game. In return, even in those games, Giants made enough runs to be effective and keep the defense honest. Late in those games, Giants got the running game going a little bit and Gilbride was rewarded for his patience. Gilbride was very predictable last year with the offense and has really done a great job this year of being balanced and varying the offense much more from week to week.
I would not be surprised to see Giants run some stuff for Manningham this week. I think the coaches really like his skills.
A bubble screen to Moss or Manningham would be an interesting play to blunt the Eagles blitz. Also - look for that quick screen to Ward or Jacobs to beat their blitz.
An indication of how deep the Giants are: rewind to last year. If the Giants had lost Plaxico in week 14, Giants fans would have been pulling their hair out and would have been borderline suicidal about the team's chances in the playoffs. Now - even though we know we lost a top player, we are confident (maybe slightly overconfident) that Hixon will just fill the void seamlessly and the Giants will not miss a beat. I think Giants fans are misjudging the situation, but only slightly. Giants offense will not fall apart but it definitely took a hit with loss of Burress.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Plaxico redux
Law-and-order proponent NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg went out of his way to make a statement about prosecuting Plaxico Burress to the fullest extent of the law. I understand he wants to get guns off the streets and the accident could have hurt an innocent bystander instead of only Plaxico himself. I am not minimizing the crime, but let's keep some perspective - Burress is not a thug or a hardened criminal who carries the gun to commit a crime or menace other people. I'm not saying he should be freed - he committed a crime and there is not much ambiguity in the law about it. I am just saying that Bloomberg's strong law and order attitude is a little misplaced and somewhat inconsistently applied. Bloomberg's disdain for the public figures who see themselves as above the law and his desire to make an example of them, seemed to be absent when NYS Governor Eliot Spitzer was supporting prostitution, transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes and laundering money in the process. He was lining the pockets of organized crime by giving money to hookers which makes what he did damaging to society rather than just a victimless crime. How come his honor the Mayor wasn't screaming for Spitzer's hide?
I agree that Plax should be prosecuted and treated exactly according to the law. But from the broader perspective - it's really sad. This one act, one mistake, one moment of poor judgment in which nobody got hurt but Plaxico himself, will ruin his life. His contract with the Giants will be canceled. If he is sent to prison for two years beginning in the 2009 season, he will probably not be eligible to return until the 2011 season at the earliest, at which time he will be 34 years old. It's very doubtful that any team is going to sign a 34 year old WR, who's been out of football for two years to a big NFL contract. Returning in 2011 is probably a best case scenario. It could be worse: the trial could drag on for a while and not be concluded until the end of 2009, in which case, Burress might not see the field until 2012. He deserves to be punished because he broke the law. Guns are dangerous, so I understand that the laws have to be unambiguous and the punishments severe. I am just saying that in this case, I'm not sure the punishment of ruining a man's life fits the crime.
On the football side of it and how it might affect the Giants, as high as I am on the rest of WR corps, it's hard to say that the Giants are just as good without Burress. We can say that Burress has not been very productive this year. Everyone says that it's because he is being routinely double-teamed on every play, but I don't buy that. He was getting double teamed last year also and still was productive. In the playoffs, he was very good in the Tampa Bay game, was very quiet in the Cowboys game (Toomer was the star WR in that game), he was other-worldly in the Packers game and he was practically invisible in the Superbowl. OK - maybe it's stupid to call him invisible, when he was the guy that caught the winning TD in the Superbowl with less than a minute to go. What I meant was - Burress only caught two passes in that game - the first and last passes thrown by Eli and he caught nothing in between. Giants surely would not have won a Superbowl last year without him, but their WR corps is so much deeper and more talented this year. In fact, I think that's the reason Burress numbers are down this year. Last year when he was getting double teamed, Eli still had to try to force the ball in to him at times since he was the only deep threat. It hurt Eli's numbers in completion percentage and INTs but it kept Burress in the game. This year, with so much more depth and quality at the WR position, the need for Eli to force it to Burress dissipated and spreading the ball around to other targets has contributed to making the offense much more productive. My proof for this hypothesis is a look back at last year's offense and how much more potent it became when Steve Smith came back onto the field. Suddenly, with another target available for Eli to throw to, Giants had a much more capable passing game.
My assertion that the WR corps is much more talented and deeper than last year is easy to demonstrate. Last year, the depth chart at WR during the playoffs was: Burress, Toomer, Smith and Tyree. David Tyree was on the team as a ST player and filled in as an emergency WR. When some injuries hit, he was elevated to the 4th slot. This year the depth chart is: Burress, Toomer, Smith, Moss, Hixon, Manningham. If Tyree had to make the team as WR, he would be in trouble. Smith has grown since last year; Hixon is a star waiting to get his chance; Moss looks like he's ready to contribute and Manningham has physical skills that Tyree never had. Eli has grown into the type of qb that prospers when he can spread the field, make his reads, use his brains and get things done by going to many targets.
That's the glass half-full view: that with the depth at WR and with the emergence of Hixon as a real deep threat, Giants will be fine. But the more realistic view is that Burress did give them one thing that will be difficult to replace. His height created match up problems and he could catch a ball even if he was well covered on a play because of his size and strong hands. This will especially be a problem on the goal line. Giants offense will probably not be hurt between the 20's, but inside the 20, on the goal line, the big target and the threat of that corner fade route being removed might hurt the offense. I think the Giants need to be a little more creative with their offense at the goal line and perhaps start using Boss as a big target to compensate for the loss of Burress. Eagles have a very, very good goal line defense, so the Giants will surely be tested in that area this week. It may not be great this week - this may be the Giants laboratory experiment week for goal line offense. I have been very impressed with Gilbride and Eli's ability to fix things and improve the offense, so I'm hopeful that they will come up with something.
In a slightly more trivial way, Burress helped the running game a little bit by drawing the safety to him which provides slightly better running lanes. He was also a great blocker downfield for runners.
Giants offense will be a little below what it was with Burress, but the best offense in the league will not fall apart.
I agree that Plax should be prosecuted and treated exactly according to the law. But from the broader perspective - it's really sad. This one act, one mistake, one moment of poor judgment in which nobody got hurt but Plaxico himself, will ruin his life. His contract with the Giants will be canceled. If he is sent to prison for two years beginning in the 2009 season, he will probably not be eligible to return until the 2011 season at the earliest, at which time he will be 34 years old. It's very doubtful that any team is going to sign a 34 year old WR, who's been out of football for two years to a big NFL contract. Returning in 2011 is probably a best case scenario. It could be worse: the trial could drag on for a while and not be concluded until the end of 2009, in which case, Burress might not see the field until 2012. He deserves to be punished because he broke the law. Guns are dangerous, so I understand that the laws have to be unambiguous and the punishments severe. I am just saying that in this case, I'm not sure the punishment of ruining a man's life fits the crime.
On the football side of it and how it might affect the Giants, as high as I am on the rest of WR corps, it's hard to say that the Giants are just as good without Burress. We can say that Burress has not been very productive this year. Everyone says that it's because he is being routinely double-teamed on every play, but I don't buy that. He was getting double teamed last year also and still was productive. In the playoffs, he was very good in the Tampa Bay game, was very quiet in the Cowboys game (Toomer was the star WR in that game), he was other-worldly in the Packers game and he was practically invisible in the Superbowl. OK - maybe it's stupid to call him invisible, when he was the guy that caught the winning TD in the Superbowl with less than a minute to go. What I meant was - Burress only caught two passes in that game - the first and last passes thrown by Eli and he caught nothing in between. Giants surely would not have won a Superbowl last year without him, but their WR corps is so much deeper and more talented this year. In fact, I think that's the reason Burress numbers are down this year. Last year when he was getting double teamed, Eli still had to try to force the ball in to him at times since he was the only deep threat. It hurt Eli's numbers in completion percentage and INTs but it kept Burress in the game. This year, with so much more depth and quality at the WR position, the need for Eli to force it to Burress dissipated and spreading the ball around to other targets has contributed to making the offense much more productive. My proof for this hypothesis is a look back at last year's offense and how much more potent it became when Steve Smith came back onto the field. Suddenly, with another target available for Eli to throw to, Giants had a much more capable passing game.
My assertion that the WR corps is much more talented and deeper than last year is easy to demonstrate. Last year, the depth chart at WR during the playoffs was: Burress, Toomer, Smith and Tyree. David Tyree was on the team as a ST player and filled in as an emergency WR. When some injuries hit, he was elevated to the 4th slot. This year the depth chart is: Burress, Toomer, Smith, Moss, Hixon, Manningham. If Tyree had to make the team as WR, he would be in trouble. Smith has grown since last year; Hixon is a star waiting to get his chance; Moss looks like he's ready to contribute and Manningham has physical skills that Tyree never had. Eli has grown into the type of qb that prospers when he can spread the field, make his reads, use his brains and get things done by going to many targets.
That's the glass half-full view: that with the depth at WR and with the emergence of Hixon as a real deep threat, Giants will be fine. But the more realistic view is that Burress did give them one thing that will be difficult to replace. His height created match up problems and he could catch a ball even if he was well covered on a play because of his size and strong hands. This will especially be a problem on the goal line. Giants offense will probably not be hurt between the 20's, but inside the 20, on the goal line, the big target and the threat of that corner fade route being removed might hurt the offense. I think the Giants need to be a little more creative with their offense at the goal line and perhaps start using Boss as a big target to compensate for the loss of Burress. Eagles have a very, very good goal line defense, so the Giants will surely be tested in that area this week. It may not be great this week - this may be the Giants laboratory experiment week for goal line offense. I have been very impressed with Gilbride and Eli's ability to fix things and improve the offense, so I'm hopeful that they will come up with something.
In a slightly more trivial way, Burress helped the running game a little bit by drawing the safety to him which provides slightly better running lanes. He was also a great blocker downfield for runners.
Giants offense will be a little below what it was with Burress, but the best offense in the league will not fall apart.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Look ahead to the Eagles
The Plaxico story is in the books. His season is over officially by the actions the Giants took putting him on non-football injury reserve list (which I predicted, btw). Giants also took a very conciliatory tone with Plaxico and did not immediately cut him, which was also my recommendation. By saying that they supported him and cared for his health and well-being, they avoided any locker room disharmony from any players who supported their fallen teammate. He was going to be out for 6 weeks anyway according to the team doctor, so Burress having an impact on the season or the playoffs was a moot point. Giants did the right thing and handled it properly. In the off-season away from the pressure and glare of the season they can make the divorce final. According to various media reports, Reese did a very intelligent job with the contract and the salary cap hit for cutting Burress will be minimal.
I am somewhat concerned about this Eagles game coming up. On paper, we shouldn't be worried: Giants beat them already in their building, they are only 6-5-1, Giants are 7 1/2 point favorites, but still.... It's not who you play, it's when you play them. Did the Eagles turn the corner last week with their big win against the Cardinals? Maybe. In the three games before that, they lost to the Giants, tied the Bengals (Donovan- are ties allowed in football?) and got absolutely spanked by the Ravens. That's three bad games in a row before beating the Cardinals. But - Cardinals had a late game against the Giants the previous Sunday, had to travel cross country for a Thursday night game, which means that they had one day to practice and prepare for the Eagles. Cardinals turned the ball over a bunch of times and Eagles got on a roll. I'm talking myself out of being concerned about the Eagles - rather than the Cardinals game being a turn around for the Eagles, it was probably an anomaly itself; but the Eagles are a funny team. They are not as sound and balanced as the Giants, but they have two players that can come up with big plays on offense - McNabb and Westbrook. I have said many times before on this blog that I don't think McNabb is a great qb; he is simply not a consistent passer and lord knows the grey matter between the ears may be a bit lacking. But he is a great athlete and he can come up with a big game now and then and propel his team. Westbrook seems to be getting healthy again and of course is a dangerous player.
In the first game, Giants ran the ball very effectively against the Eagles. Eagles have a slightly undersized DL and Giants OL pushed them around a bit. I think that despite how well Eli played against the Redskins last week, most teams will come in with the same game plan that the Redskins did: stack the line of scrimmage to take away the running game and make Eli beat them. This is a particularly inviting tactic now, with Plaxico gone for the season. With the additional awareness that the Eagles got punished in the running game last time Giants played them, I would be surprised if Eagles did not try the same tactic this week. Fortunately, the Eagles DB-field is overrated and a little banged up, so if Eli has to throw the ball, I feel confident that he will be able to do so, even without Burress in the game. The one thing that will be challenging for the Giants is that Eagle DC Johnson likes to blitz a lot and when they blitzed safeties from Burress side of the field, thy left him in single coverage and got burned. Burress had big games against the Eagles in the past. Hixon is going to have to step up big to replace Burress.
Also - Giants ran a few screens to Ward last week very effectively. The one that looked best was not the old-school classic screen pass, where the OL lets the DL rush and then slides out to the flat to block for the RB. Rather - the RB simply slipped out to the side, right next to the OT on that side of the field not all the way into the flat, but actually right on the line of scrimmage. It was a quick developing screen and Ward broke one of them for a long gain.
On defense, the Giants should change it up a little bit against McNabb. Last time, they blitzed selectively and tried to keep him in the pocket. It was fairly effective, but the Eagles did score 31 points. I guess it is true that they got 14 points off turnovers, so the 31 points can't all be charged to the defense. Nevertheless, I think Spags can open it up a little and blitz more. You don't want to give a team the same exact looks twice in a row. Then again, if you're better than the other guys, just line up, keep it simple and beat their brains in.
Boss could be a big weapon for Giants this week. He's getting better every week; Gilbride is now starting to use him all over the field - on the outside as well as over the middle in the territory formerly reserved for Steve Smith, and he's running slightly deeper routes. Most of all - Eagles like to blitz a lot and rely on their db-field to go 1-on-1 with the opposing receivers. Often this means they will leave the TE alone or singled up on a LB. Boss has been very good at reading defenses and getting in the right spots for Eli (as opposed to that other TE Giants used to have who was very, um, creative with where he was on the field) and Boss could make some big catches for the Giants. Remember the play Boss made last week against the Redskins - he accurately read a blitz, he chip blocked for a moment to slow down the pass rush, and then floated a few yards down field where Eli hit him with a 6 yard pass that turned into 25 with the run after the catch. We could see something like that this week. On other plays, we could see Boss staying in to max-protect at times and try to let Eli go down the field to one of the WRs.
Last time, I said that on a neutral field Giants would win by 10 points but in Philly, who knows what could happen. Well, the game is on Giants turf now, so from that perspective, we should be OK. Still.... I'm a bit nervous
I am somewhat concerned about this Eagles game coming up. On paper, we shouldn't be worried: Giants beat them already in their building, they are only 6-5-1, Giants are 7 1/2 point favorites, but still.... It's not who you play, it's when you play them. Did the Eagles turn the corner last week with their big win against the Cardinals? Maybe. In the three games before that, they lost to the Giants, tied the Bengals (Donovan- are ties allowed in football?) and got absolutely spanked by the Ravens. That's three bad games in a row before beating the Cardinals. But - Cardinals had a late game against the Giants the previous Sunday, had to travel cross country for a Thursday night game, which means that they had one day to practice and prepare for the Eagles. Cardinals turned the ball over a bunch of times and Eagles got on a roll. I'm talking myself out of being concerned about the Eagles - rather than the Cardinals game being a turn around for the Eagles, it was probably an anomaly itself; but the Eagles are a funny team. They are not as sound and balanced as the Giants, but they have two players that can come up with big plays on offense - McNabb and Westbrook. I have said many times before on this blog that I don't think McNabb is a great qb; he is simply not a consistent passer and lord knows the grey matter between the ears may be a bit lacking. But he is a great athlete and he can come up with a big game now and then and propel his team. Westbrook seems to be getting healthy again and of course is a dangerous player.
In the first game, Giants ran the ball very effectively against the Eagles. Eagles have a slightly undersized DL and Giants OL pushed them around a bit. I think that despite how well Eli played against the Redskins last week, most teams will come in with the same game plan that the Redskins did: stack the line of scrimmage to take away the running game and make Eli beat them. This is a particularly inviting tactic now, with Plaxico gone for the season. With the additional awareness that the Eagles got punished in the running game last time Giants played them, I would be surprised if Eagles did not try the same tactic this week. Fortunately, the Eagles DB-field is overrated and a little banged up, so if Eli has to throw the ball, I feel confident that he will be able to do so, even without Burress in the game. The one thing that will be challenging for the Giants is that Eagle DC Johnson likes to blitz a lot and when they blitzed safeties from Burress side of the field, thy left him in single coverage and got burned. Burress had big games against the Eagles in the past. Hixon is going to have to step up big to replace Burress.
Also - Giants ran a few screens to Ward last week very effectively. The one that looked best was not the old-school classic screen pass, where the OL lets the DL rush and then slides out to the flat to block for the RB. Rather - the RB simply slipped out to the side, right next to the OT on that side of the field not all the way into the flat, but actually right on the line of scrimmage. It was a quick developing screen and Ward broke one of them for a long gain.
On defense, the Giants should change it up a little bit against McNabb. Last time, they blitzed selectively and tried to keep him in the pocket. It was fairly effective, but the Eagles did score 31 points. I guess it is true that they got 14 points off turnovers, so the 31 points can't all be charged to the defense. Nevertheless, I think Spags can open it up a little and blitz more. You don't want to give a team the same exact looks twice in a row. Then again, if you're better than the other guys, just line up, keep it simple and beat their brains in.
Boss could be a big weapon for Giants this week. He's getting better every week; Gilbride is now starting to use him all over the field - on the outside as well as over the middle in the territory formerly reserved for Steve Smith, and he's running slightly deeper routes. Most of all - Eagles like to blitz a lot and rely on their db-field to go 1-on-1 with the opposing receivers. Often this means they will leave the TE alone or singled up on a LB. Boss has been very good at reading defenses and getting in the right spots for Eli (as opposed to that other TE Giants used to have who was very, um, creative with where he was on the field) and Boss could make some big catches for the Giants. Remember the play Boss made last week against the Redskins - he accurately read a blitz, he chip blocked for a moment to slow down the pass rush, and then floated a few yards down field where Eli hit him with a 6 yard pass that turned into 25 with the run after the catch. We could see something like that this week. On other plays, we could see Boss staying in to max-protect at times and try to let Eli go down the field to one of the WRs.
Last time, I said that on a neutral field Giants would win by 10 points but in Philly, who knows what could happen. Well, the game is on Giants turf now, so from that perspective, we should be OK. Still.... I'm a bit nervous
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Redskins post mortem II
One last look at a few plays against the Redskins:
Toomer made a great move to get a release and beat the press coverage on his 40 yard TD pass. In fact, Toomer looked young and spry all day - running down the sideline on his TD; on another play catching the ball and holding onto on a 3rd down 15 yard in cut, getting smacked by the safety right after he caught the ball. Toomer looked very fast all day and the Giants will need that to replace some of Burress big plays down the stretch and in the playoffs.
Hixon and Eli seem to have developed very good communication and timing already. They practiced a lot together during training camp, and with Plaxico missing games and practice time this year because of suspension, injury, etc., I guess they have been getting a lot of reps in practice. I particularly liked the back shoulder throw Eli made to Hixon, a play that usually takes a while for a qb/wr combination to perfect. On Eli's INT, Hixon didn't get his head around quickly enough to pick up the ball on what was a well thrown ball, so I guess they still need to do some work in practice.
Eli's passing was outstanding on Sunday. The TD pass to Toomer was a thing of beauty. Perfect depth, perfect location, perfect arc on the ball. Toomer said after the game; it was such a perfect throw, I couldn't help do anything BUT catch it. Eli threw one ball that was almost intercepted, but dropped when two Redskins db's collided with each other. He overthrew Hixon once in the 4th qtr, but the rest of the time he was very accurate.
Alford had a good game in the middle replacing Robbins at DT. Tuck had a monster game at DE/DT. Kiwanuka was not real visible. He's holding his own against the run, but he's been a little quiet in the pass rush. Tollefson has been a real find. He was solid on Sunday, and he is a real ood role player.
Ward made a few beautiful runs, especially off of some short passes and screens. Gilbride called a very good game, calling for screens at perfect time, catching the Redskins in their blitz, leading to some very good gains.
Toomer made a great move to get a release and beat the press coverage on his 40 yard TD pass. In fact, Toomer looked young and spry all day - running down the sideline on his TD; on another play catching the ball and holding onto on a 3rd down 15 yard in cut, getting smacked by the safety right after he caught the ball. Toomer looked very fast all day and the Giants will need that to replace some of Burress big plays down the stretch and in the playoffs.
Hixon and Eli seem to have developed very good communication and timing already. They practiced a lot together during training camp, and with Plaxico missing games and practice time this year because of suspension, injury, etc., I guess they have been getting a lot of reps in practice. I particularly liked the back shoulder throw Eli made to Hixon, a play that usually takes a while for a qb/wr combination to perfect. On Eli's INT, Hixon didn't get his head around quickly enough to pick up the ball on what was a well thrown ball, so I guess they still need to do some work in practice.
Eli's passing was outstanding on Sunday. The TD pass to Toomer was a thing of beauty. Perfect depth, perfect location, perfect arc on the ball. Toomer said after the game; it was such a perfect throw, I couldn't help do anything BUT catch it. Eli threw one ball that was almost intercepted, but dropped when two Redskins db's collided with each other. He overthrew Hixon once in the 4th qtr, but the rest of the time he was very accurate.
Alford had a good game in the middle replacing Robbins at DT. Tuck had a monster game at DE/DT. Kiwanuka was not real visible. He's holding his own against the run, but he's been a little quiet in the pass rush. Tollefson has been a real find. He was solid on Sunday, and he is a real ood role player.
Ward made a few beautiful runs, especially off of some short passes and screens. Gilbride called a very good game, calling for screens at perfect time, catching the Redskins in their blitz, leading to some very good gains.
NFC East - reevaluation
Coming into the season, virtually every expert analyst, preseason forecast and prognostication had the Cowboys as the designee to come out of the NFC and to win the Superbowl. They were so much better than everyone that they were going to win the Superbowl - not just get there. Giants were ranked 3rd in the NFC East by most experts and were ranked last by a few. When the Giants started winning a few games at the beginning of the year, they were elevated somewhat, but they were still not considered the best team in the NFC East. One week it was Dallas, then it was Philadelphia, then it was the Redskins that were each the class of the East and the best team in football. For the last several weeks, most of the experts are grudgingly admitting that the Giants really are the best in the East, but there are still many who give the crown to Dallas and say that the Cowboys are behind only because Romo missed 3 games, 2 of which they lost.
Experts also have been saying that the NFC East is the best division in football and I would like to take another look at this, because I am not so sure. After watching the Giants beat the Redskins twice quite convincingly, and seeing the Redskins paucity of offensive weapons and their incredibly mediocre qb, I don't know how anybody can consider them one of the elite teams in the league. They are 7-5 for a reason; that is a fairly mediocre record and they are a mediocre team. They have a very good defense and very good db-field, but an offense that doesn't scare anybody.
The Eagles have been exposed as another mediocre team over the last several weeks. Their defense is very overrated and their defensive coach is WAAAAAY overrated. Johnson has one tool in his toolbox of defensive schemes - blitz. Everyone said that DC Spagnuolo would install the same aggressive blitz-oriented defense in NY that he learned while coaching under Johnson in Phillly. He borrowed some principals from Johnson, but look how much more varied the Giants defense is than the Eagles. Giants are not afraid to blitz and come with varied and creative blitz packages. But Giants blitz much more selectively, which makes it less predictable and more effective. The Eagles have one great offensive player in Westbrook and even he is not an unstoppable force. McNabb is a much better qb than Campbell, but I still would not put him up there as one of the elite qbs in the league. As such, at 6-5-1, the Eagles are probably right about where they deserve to be. The Eagles team statistics seem a little misleading, because when they win, they win by huge scores, and when they lose, they lose very close games. That's a little hard to figure out. I am somewhat surprised that the Giants are 8 point favorites over the Eagles this Sunday. I would have guessed it would be less than a TD, maybe 5 1/2 points, like it was against the Redskins.
Cowboys, on the other hand, have very good personnel and can line up with anyone in the league. They have some weaknesses, IMO. Their OL is massive but not quick and can be beaten by an athletic, talented DL and a defense that blitzes from different angles which requires a nimble OL adept at switching and moving around. The Cowboys other weakness is their secondary, which is vulnerable to the passing game. The Cowboys have excellent players in their front 7, but their pass defense is predicated on getting to the qb before he can throw. If you can block them at the line of scrimmage, I think you can make plays against them in the passing game. But - they do have a lot of talent on the team especially on the offensive side of the ball. The game between the Giants and Cowboys in Dallas in two weeks will be very interesting. If the Cowboys lose to the Steelers this week and the Falcons win, then the Giants can just about knock the Cowboys out of the playoffs if they beat them.
Experts also have been saying that the NFC East is the best division in football and I would like to take another look at this, because I am not so sure. After watching the Giants beat the Redskins twice quite convincingly, and seeing the Redskins paucity of offensive weapons and their incredibly mediocre qb, I don't know how anybody can consider them one of the elite teams in the league. They are 7-5 for a reason; that is a fairly mediocre record and they are a mediocre team. They have a very good defense and very good db-field, but an offense that doesn't scare anybody.
The Eagles have been exposed as another mediocre team over the last several weeks. Their defense is very overrated and their defensive coach is WAAAAAY overrated. Johnson has one tool in his toolbox of defensive schemes - blitz. Everyone said that DC Spagnuolo would install the same aggressive blitz-oriented defense in NY that he learned while coaching under Johnson in Phillly. He borrowed some principals from Johnson, but look how much more varied the Giants defense is than the Eagles. Giants are not afraid to blitz and come with varied and creative blitz packages. But Giants blitz much more selectively, which makes it less predictable and more effective. The Eagles have one great offensive player in Westbrook and even he is not an unstoppable force. McNabb is a much better qb than Campbell, but I still would not put him up there as one of the elite qbs in the league. As such, at 6-5-1, the Eagles are probably right about where they deserve to be. The Eagles team statistics seem a little misleading, because when they win, they win by huge scores, and when they lose, they lose very close games. That's a little hard to figure out. I am somewhat surprised that the Giants are 8 point favorites over the Eagles this Sunday. I would have guessed it would be less than a TD, maybe 5 1/2 points, like it was against the Redskins.
Cowboys, on the other hand, have very good personnel and can line up with anyone in the league. They have some weaknesses, IMO. Their OL is massive but not quick and can be beaten by an athletic, talented DL and a defense that blitzes from different angles which requires a nimble OL adept at switching and moving around. The Cowboys other weakness is their secondary, which is vulnerable to the passing game. The Cowboys have excellent players in their front 7, but their pass defense is predicated on getting to the qb before he can throw. If you can block them at the line of scrimmage, I think you can make plays against them in the passing game. But - they do have a lot of talent on the team especially on the offensive side of the ball. The game between the Giants and Cowboys in Dallas in two weeks will be very interesting. If the Cowboys lose to the Steelers this week and the Falcons win, then the Giants can just about knock the Cowboys out of the playoffs if they beat them.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Plaxico
Plaxico Burress has played his last game with the Giants, maybe his last as a professional NFL player. That last statement might be a bit much, because if Pacman Jones can come back and if Michael Vick is contemplating a comeback, then you can't guarantee that anybody can be banished forever.
New York State is very strict with enforcing gun laws, so Burress will probably do some jail time. I don't want to speculate on his conviction or his sentence, but it seems pretty cut and dried. He had a gun. It wasn't licensed. End of story. Furthermore, the minimum sentence is supposed to be 3 1/2 years. The only way he can get out of it would be if Mayor Bloomberg keeps shooting off his mouth (pun definitely intended) and Plax's lawyer Brafman convinces the judge that an impartial jury could not be selected from a pool of jurors that is influenced by his strong statements. Burress next appearance in court is not until March 31st, so it means the NFL and/or the Giants would have to deal with the discipline in this case. I would expect the Giants to put Burress on the non-football injury list, which means that he is done for the year and they do not have to pay him. Apparently there is a $1M roster bonus due for Burress on Dec 10 and that could be a decision point for the team. However, this $1M amount is not enough to force the Giants into a hasty decision about Burress that could jeopardize team chemistry and unity. What is more important is the long term affect of his big contract on the salary cap in the future.
What I mean by that is - despite Burress antics and the coaching staff and management's ambivalent feeling towards him, the management of the team should realize that he is well liked by many in the locker room. Cutting him summarily in the middle of the year could create a divide in the locker room between those players that wanted him to stay and those that may have been less supportive. Most of all it could cause a schism between the players and the coaching staff. Even though it may be a front office/management decision, players will equate management and coaching and Coughlin may lose much of the good feelings and capital he has worked so hard to build up in the last two years.
The best course for the Giants is probably to deactivate Burress for the rest of the year saying that his situation is too disruptive to the team and could cause a distraction from team goals. They could also say that because of the injury to the hamstring and the gunshot wound, they can not be certain when he would play next, so deactivating him for the rest of the season is in the best interest of the player's recovery and this deactivation will also maintain team unity and focus. That way they would still be paying him for the year, so he is not being punished severely and they can be seen as a supportive organization not taking draconian measures against a player that is already in some trouble. Kicking a player to the curb is the impression they want to avoid making to the locker room. They can further say that this will give them time to evaluate the legal situation more calmly and decide what disciplinary actions if any will be taken by the league and the team.
Then during the off-season they can address the long term situation and simply say that it has become clear that Burress legal problems create uncertainty for the team and they will cut him with less fanfare, less pressure and have the entire off-season to repair the locker room.
I read in the NY Post that the $35M contract that Burress signed before the season has lots of out clauses in it based on performance and other factors. Apparently the Giants anticipated (quite accurately, apparently) that Burress was not the most stable character and they did not want to guarantee all the money so they could walk away if needed. This was positively prescient by Reese and it means that the Giants would not be thrust into salary cap problems if they had to cut Burress.
Interesting sidelight that I mentioned earlier is the benefit that this might have to Amani Toomer. Giants have five important free agents at the end of this year that they have to make decisions on, one of them being Toomer. Giants have 6 talented WRs currently on the team: Burress, Toomer, Hixon, Smith, Moss and Manningham. Toomer might have been cut loose at the end of the season, because 5 is too many to keep on one team - one of the WRs usually doesn't dress. If Burress does not come back next year, Giants may change their plans and sign Toomer, since it is useful to have one experienced WR on the team. Of the other 4 WRs none of them has been in the league more than 3 years.
Another possible beneficiary is David Tyree. If a WR slot opens up, he might be kept on the team as a ST player who can also fill in productively in an emergency at WR. For example, whenever the Giants call that play that requires Manning to throw the ball high and the WR to catch it on his helmet, Giants should send in Tyree for that play. He does it pretty well.
New York State is very strict with enforcing gun laws, so Burress will probably do some jail time. I don't want to speculate on his conviction or his sentence, but it seems pretty cut and dried. He had a gun. It wasn't licensed. End of story. Furthermore, the minimum sentence is supposed to be 3 1/2 years. The only way he can get out of it would be if Mayor Bloomberg keeps shooting off his mouth (pun definitely intended) and Plax's lawyer Brafman convinces the judge that an impartial jury could not be selected from a pool of jurors that is influenced by his strong statements. Burress next appearance in court is not until March 31st, so it means the NFL and/or the Giants would have to deal with the discipline in this case. I would expect the Giants to put Burress on the non-football injury list, which means that he is done for the year and they do not have to pay him. Apparently there is a $1M roster bonus due for Burress on Dec 10 and that could be a decision point for the team. However, this $1M amount is not enough to force the Giants into a hasty decision about Burress that could jeopardize team chemistry and unity. What is more important is the long term affect of his big contract on the salary cap in the future.
What I mean by that is - despite Burress antics and the coaching staff and management's ambivalent feeling towards him, the management of the team should realize that he is well liked by many in the locker room. Cutting him summarily in the middle of the year could create a divide in the locker room between those players that wanted him to stay and those that may have been less supportive. Most of all it could cause a schism between the players and the coaching staff. Even though it may be a front office/management decision, players will equate management and coaching and Coughlin may lose much of the good feelings and capital he has worked so hard to build up in the last two years.
The best course for the Giants is probably to deactivate Burress for the rest of the year saying that his situation is too disruptive to the team and could cause a distraction from team goals. They could also say that because of the injury to the hamstring and the gunshot wound, they can not be certain when he would play next, so deactivating him for the rest of the season is in the best interest of the player's recovery and this deactivation will also maintain team unity and focus. That way they would still be paying him for the year, so he is not being punished severely and they can be seen as a supportive organization not taking draconian measures against a player that is already in some trouble. Kicking a player to the curb is the impression they want to avoid making to the locker room. They can further say that this will give them time to evaluate the legal situation more calmly and decide what disciplinary actions if any will be taken by the league and the team.
Then during the off-season they can address the long term situation and simply say that it has become clear that Burress legal problems create uncertainty for the team and they will cut him with less fanfare, less pressure and have the entire off-season to repair the locker room.
I read in the NY Post that the $35M contract that Burress signed before the season has lots of out clauses in it based on performance and other factors. Apparently the Giants anticipated (quite accurately, apparently) that Burress was not the most stable character and they did not want to guarantee all the money so they could walk away if needed. This was positively prescient by Reese and it means that the Giants would not be thrust into salary cap problems if they had to cut Burress.
Interesting sidelight that I mentioned earlier is the benefit that this might have to Amani Toomer. Giants have five important free agents at the end of this year that they have to make decisions on, one of them being Toomer. Giants have 6 talented WRs currently on the team: Burress, Toomer, Hixon, Smith, Moss and Manningham. Toomer might have been cut loose at the end of the season, because 5 is too many to keep on one team - one of the WRs usually doesn't dress. If Burress does not come back next year, Giants may change their plans and sign Toomer, since it is useful to have one experienced WR on the team. Of the other 4 WRs none of them has been in the league more than 3 years.
Another possible beneficiary is David Tyree. If a WR slot opens up, he might be kept on the team as a ST player who can also fill in productively in an emergency at WR. For example, whenever the Giants call that play that requires Manning to throw the ball high and the WR to catch it on his helmet, Giants should send in Tyree for that play. He does it pretty well.
Redskins post mortem I
I'm sticking to the game first and will talk about this ridiculous, awful Plaxico incident in a later post.
It's difficult to overstate how thorough the domination of the Giants over the Redskins was yesterday. Except for one reverse that the Redskins ran - a real nice play that was an effective design against the Giants fast, pursuit oriented defense - Redskins really didn't come close to scoring any points yesterday. Redskins had 320 yards of offense yesterday, which is not a terrible number, but 110 of them came in garbage time on their last two meaningless drives, when the game was over and Giants were playing soft zones giving away underneath stuff in the pass. In the first half, Redskins on their first three possessions were: 3-and-out; 3-and-out; and 1 first down on their third possession ending in a punt to the Giants after 6 plays and 32 yards gained.
The Giants first three possessions ended in 3 scores. So after those first three possessions for each team, Giants had 13 points and 190 yards of offense and the Redskins had 3 punts and 47 yards of offense. That is called setting a tone. Redskins had everything to play for and were the far more desperate team. If Giants had lost yesterday, they would still be in control of the division crown and a first round bye. Redskins on the other hand are now on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFC wildcard race as there are two teams ahead of them for the final slot. In addition, the Redskins tried to stoke the emotions of their team and their crowd by retiring the number of Sean Taylor before the game. They saw the Giants play with great emotion when their owner Wellington Mara died two years ago and the Giants beat the Skins 36-0. They were trying to use the death of Taylor to return the favor. (Frankly I thought it was a really cheap, sleazy maneuver, that tried to leverage the tragic death of a young man as a prop for winning a football game, but that's me.) With everything to play for and great emotion sparking them, you would think they would come out and smack the Giants in the mouth at the beginning and the Giants would have to recover and try to stabilize the game. Instead the Giants flattened the Redskins right from the beginning.
On their fourth possession the Redskins made a few plays and scored their TD on the 29 yard run, after a Webster INT was waved off because of a soft penalty. At the end of the first half they moved the ball a bit and missed a FG, but that was it. At no time did it look like their offense could be effective against the Giants defense.
When the Giants had the ball, the Redskins decided that they had to stop the Giants running game. It's not a bad strategy, really. Giants ran all over the Redskins in the first meeting and have a powerful running game. If you can't stop their running game, Giants will dominate the game easily. Furthermore, Plaxico was out and the weather was forecast to be rainy and windy so they though it would be difficult for Eli to throw. In the first half, with 8 and 9 guys at the line of scrimmage (not just in the box, but actually at the line of scrimmage and run-blitzing all over the place) it was hard for the Giants to establish a consistent running game. But the Giants are such a balanced powerful offense that they simply put the ball in the hands of Eli Manning and he played brilliantly. Nearly every pass was on the money. Every read was perfect. His decision making was impeccable. The really impressive thing about his performance is that the Redskins have an outstanding db-field: they have 4 outstanding CBs in Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot, Shaun Springs and newly signed D'Angelo Hall and an excellent safety in LaRon Landry. Eli hit a few wide open receivers when Redskins blitzed and he found the hot receiver. But there were several other throws where the receiver was well covered and Eli threw a perfect ball for the completion. Even his INT was a good throw that Hixon did not locate in time.
What made the Giants passing game work a little more effectively was the personnel groupings that the Redskins used. It looked to me like the Redskins were reluctant to switch to nickel/dime personnel even when Giants showed pass. They kept their base personnel in the game more often because they were so committed to stopping the run. After Eli had thrown for 220 yards in the first half and Redskins backed off the line of scrimmage a little bit, Giants got their running game going and were fairly effective with it. They scored a TD running on their first possession of the second half and coasted after that.
Snee is a star on the OL. Diehl is playing better than he did last year. O'Hara is very mobile and can stand up to the big DT's in the league. The thing that makes the Giants DL so good is how athletic and quick they are. Giants do not have a huge OL, but are well prepared, well coached, smart and athletic.
Boss is really maturing as TE. He is making big plays nearly every week. His presence will become more important, especially with the loss of Burress - maybe Boss can be the tall target around the goal line. I would think an ex-basketball player could elevate, could catch the ball while jumping - like rebounding - and could be the big target at the goal line. In the past few weeks Boss as shown his jumping ability by hurdling over an Eagle DB two weeks ago and by jumping over a couple of Redskins yesterday on his 25 yard pass play yesterday. I said last year that in the Giants offense, Boss was a a better fit than Shockey and had a more prototypical body type for TE. I think I was right. Boss is a year or two away from being an all-pro player. Last year, there was hand wringing and worrying when Shockey went out that the Giants running game would falter because Shockey was such an exceptional blocker. I think we can stop worrying about that one since Giants are the leading rushing team in the league.
Robbins was out with bad shoulders and Jay Alford, who I think is a coming star, stepped in and did a great job. Cofield was under the spotlight a little more and played very well. Tuck was dominant.
Speaking about the defense: the Giants defense is very different in character from last year and I think is much better. yesterday, Giants blitzed a lot and relied on a pass rush to stop the opponent's passing game. The defense was oriented towards the front 7 and the db-field was mediocre. This year, the front 7 is still strong, but the db-field has improved and is as good as any in the league. Webster is a star and Ross has improved at CB. Terrell Thomas was a great draft pick and seems to have supplanted Kevin Dockery as the regular nickel back. Add in Kenny Phillips at safety and much better play from Johnson and Butler and we can understand why Sammy Knight never saw the field, was used only on special teams and now has been IR'ed. Sam Madison and RW McQuarters were Giants best dbs last year and they never get on the field and often are inactive for the game.
Big picture: Giants played the Redskins twice and held them to one TD in each game. I think that means that the Giants are way freaking better than them. In fact the games had some similarities. Giants got off to a quick lead. Redskins offense was stymied. Redskins running game was completely shut down in both games. Redskins made a few plays right at the end of the first half and scored a TD to make the game close on the scoreboard. Giants dominated the 2nd half and won in a walk. The only difference between the two games was that in he first game Giants offense was run based and in the second game the Giants beat the Redskins with their passing game.
I really think the Redskins are a very pedestrian team offensively. Their OL is solid, but outside of Santana Moss they have no WR with any speed. Cooley is good at TE but not great. Portis is really good and tough, but he's not great. I don't think much of Jason Campbell. He is a great runner and is an average passer. He went on a little run early this year when Redskins put in their new west coast offense and teams didn't know what to expect. Now that they're getting scouted by defenses a bit, he's settling down to his true level of ability.
At some point the world will wake up and realize that Eli Manning is the best qb in football. No Plaxico? No problemo. Last week against the Cardinals, no Plaxico or Jacobs - Giants still dominate offensively. There are only two common denominators - the OL and the qb. Imagine the Redskins without Santana Moss and Clinton Portis. Imagine the Cowboys without TO and Marion Barber. Giants don't miss a beat.
The only negatives from yesterday's game from a Giants perspective were: 3 FGs instead of TDs and soft KO coverage.
Finally a look at the refs:
Ridiculous call on Webster negating his INT. The call was illegal hands to the face and there was no chuck at the line of scrimmage, there might have been some incidental contact, but it was a ridiculous call.
Second ridiculous call was the offensive holding that negated Derrick Ward's long run in the second half. You know it was a bogus call because the ref didn't give a number, he just said it was on the TE. I looked carefully at the play several times and neither Matthews nor Boss held.
Giants may have gotten one favorable call with the PI that was not called against Michael Johnson when the WR ran into him. I think Johnson was standing still, had his position and the WR initiated the contact, almost like an offensive foul in basketball. But it is a call that the refs usually make, so Giants may have gotten away with one there.
It's difficult to overstate how thorough the domination of the Giants over the Redskins was yesterday. Except for one reverse that the Redskins ran - a real nice play that was an effective design against the Giants fast, pursuit oriented defense - Redskins really didn't come close to scoring any points yesterday. Redskins had 320 yards of offense yesterday, which is not a terrible number, but 110 of them came in garbage time on their last two meaningless drives, when the game was over and Giants were playing soft zones giving away underneath stuff in the pass. In the first half, Redskins on their first three possessions were: 3-and-out; 3-and-out; and 1 first down on their third possession ending in a punt to the Giants after 6 plays and 32 yards gained.
The Giants first three possessions ended in 3 scores. So after those first three possessions for each team, Giants had 13 points and 190 yards of offense and the Redskins had 3 punts and 47 yards of offense. That is called setting a tone. Redskins had everything to play for and were the far more desperate team. If Giants had lost yesterday, they would still be in control of the division crown and a first round bye. Redskins on the other hand are now on the outside looking in when it comes to the NFC wildcard race as there are two teams ahead of them for the final slot. In addition, the Redskins tried to stoke the emotions of their team and their crowd by retiring the number of Sean Taylor before the game. They saw the Giants play with great emotion when their owner Wellington Mara died two years ago and the Giants beat the Skins 36-0. They were trying to use the death of Taylor to return the favor. (Frankly I thought it was a really cheap, sleazy maneuver, that tried to leverage the tragic death of a young man as a prop for winning a football game, but that's me.) With everything to play for and great emotion sparking them, you would think they would come out and smack the Giants in the mouth at the beginning and the Giants would have to recover and try to stabilize the game. Instead the Giants flattened the Redskins right from the beginning.
On their fourth possession the Redskins made a few plays and scored their TD on the 29 yard run, after a Webster INT was waved off because of a soft penalty. At the end of the first half they moved the ball a bit and missed a FG, but that was it. At no time did it look like their offense could be effective against the Giants defense.
When the Giants had the ball, the Redskins decided that they had to stop the Giants running game. It's not a bad strategy, really. Giants ran all over the Redskins in the first meeting and have a powerful running game. If you can't stop their running game, Giants will dominate the game easily. Furthermore, Plaxico was out and the weather was forecast to be rainy and windy so they though it would be difficult for Eli to throw. In the first half, with 8 and 9 guys at the line of scrimmage (not just in the box, but actually at the line of scrimmage and run-blitzing all over the place) it was hard for the Giants to establish a consistent running game. But the Giants are such a balanced powerful offense that they simply put the ball in the hands of Eli Manning and he played brilliantly. Nearly every pass was on the money. Every read was perfect. His decision making was impeccable. The really impressive thing about his performance is that the Redskins have an outstanding db-field: they have 4 outstanding CBs in Carlos Rogers, Fred Smoot, Shaun Springs and newly signed D'Angelo Hall and an excellent safety in LaRon Landry. Eli hit a few wide open receivers when Redskins blitzed and he found the hot receiver. But there were several other throws where the receiver was well covered and Eli threw a perfect ball for the completion. Even his INT was a good throw that Hixon did not locate in time.
What made the Giants passing game work a little more effectively was the personnel groupings that the Redskins used. It looked to me like the Redskins were reluctant to switch to nickel/dime personnel even when Giants showed pass. They kept their base personnel in the game more often because they were so committed to stopping the run. After Eli had thrown for 220 yards in the first half and Redskins backed off the line of scrimmage a little bit, Giants got their running game going and were fairly effective with it. They scored a TD running on their first possession of the second half and coasted after that.
Snee is a star on the OL. Diehl is playing better than he did last year. O'Hara is very mobile and can stand up to the big DT's in the league. The thing that makes the Giants DL so good is how athletic and quick they are. Giants do not have a huge OL, but are well prepared, well coached, smart and athletic.
Boss is really maturing as TE. He is making big plays nearly every week. His presence will become more important, especially with the loss of Burress - maybe Boss can be the tall target around the goal line. I would think an ex-basketball player could elevate, could catch the ball while jumping - like rebounding - and could be the big target at the goal line. In the past few weeks Boss as shown his jumping ability by hurdling over an Eagle DB two weeks ago and by jumping over a couple of Redskins yesterday on his 25 yard pass play yesterday. I said last year that in the Giants offense, Boss was a a better fit than Shockey and had a more prototypical body type for TE. I think I was right. Boss is a year or two away from being an all-pro player. Last year, there was hand wringing and worrying when Shockey went out that the Giants running game would falter because Shockey was such an exceptional blocker. I think we can stop worrying about that one since Giants are the leading rushing team in the league.
Robbins was out with bad shoulders and Jay Alford, who I think is a coming star, stepped in and did a great job. Cofield was under the spotlight a little more and played very well. Tuck was dominant.
Speaking about the defense: the Giants defense is very different in character from last year and I think is much better. yesterday, Giants blitzed a lot and relied on a pass rush to stop the opponent's passing game. The defense was oriented towards the front 7 and the db-field was mediocre. This year, the front 7 is still strong, but the db-field has improved and is as good as any in the league. Webster is a star and Ross has improved at CB. Terrell Thomas was a great draft pick and seems to have supplanted Kevin Dockery as the regular nickel back. Add in Kenny Phillips at safety and much better play from Johnson and Butler and we can understand why Sammy Knight never saw the field, was used only on special teams and now has been IR'ed. Sam Madison and RW McQuarters were Giants best dbs last year and they never get on the field and often are inactive for the game.
Big picture: Giants played the Redskins twice and held them to one TD in each game. I think that means that the Giants are way freaking better than them. In fact the games had some similarities. Giants got off to a quick lead. Redskins offense was stymied. Redskins running game was completely shut down in both games. Redskins made a few plays right at the end of the first half and scored a TD to make the game close on the scoreboard. Giants dominated the 2nd half and won in a walk. The only difference between the two games was that in he first game Giants offense was run based and in the second game the Giants beat the Redskins with their passing game.
I really think the Redskins are a very pedestrian team offensively. Their OL is solid, but outside of Santana Moss they have no WR with any speed. Cooley is good at TE but not great. Portis is really good and tough, but he's not great. I don't think much of Jason Campbell. He is a great runner and is an average passer. He went on a little run early this year when Redskins put in their new west coast offense and teams didn't know what to expect. Now that they're getting scouted by defenses a bit, he's settling down to his true level of ability.
At some point the world will wake up and realize that Eli Manning is the best qb in football. No Plaxico? No problemo. Last week against the Cardinals, no Plaxico or Jacobs - Giants still dominate offensively. There are only two common denominators - the OL and the qb. Imagine the Redskins without Santana Moss and Clinton Portis. Imagine the Cowboys without TO and Marion Barber. Giants don't miss a beat.
The only negatives from yesterday's game from a Giants perspective were: 3 FGs instead of TDs and soft KO coverage.
Finally a look at the refs:
Ridiculous call on Webster negating his INT. The call was illegal hands to the face and there was no chuck at the line of scrimmage, there might have been some incidental contact, but it was a ridiculous call.
Second ridiculous call was the offensive holding that negated Derrick Ward's long run in the second half. You know it was a bogus call because the ref didn't give a number, he just said it was on the TE. I looked carefully at the play several times and neither Matthews nor Boss held.
Giants may have gotten one favorable call with the PI that was not called against Michael Johnson when the WR ran into him. I think Johnson was standing still, had his position and the WR initiated the contact, almost like an offensive foul in basketball. But it is a call that the refs usually make, so Giants may have gotten away with one there.
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