Giants record in games that have mattered since the start of the 2007 season looks like this:
2007 regular season: 10-6
2007 post season: 4-0
2008 regular season: 12-4
2008 post season: 0-1
2009 regular season to date: 3-0
total: 29-11.
That's a hair under .750 winning percentage. Not bad.
Cowboys without TO are morphing into a run-first team, which probably suits their personnel well. The OL is huge but not that fast and are probably better run blockers than they are pass blockers at this point in their careers. Flozell Adams got fined for another trip this weekend on Julius Peppers and Felix Jones got fined for a leg whip while trying to block. I guess that is the blocking technique that they teach in Dallas. Fines of 15,000 or so don't mean much to a guy who is making millions. Flozell Adams should be suspended for a game or 2.
Felix Jones is a scary player with enormous speed. I think the Cowboy WR's are ordinary. The Roy Williams trade, where Cowboys gave up draft choices in the 1st, 3rd and 6th round may go down as a gross overpayment for the return they got. It's still not as ridiculous as what the Patriots gave for Randy Moss - a 4th round pick.
As much as we all love Ahmad Bradshaw, he really does not have breakaway speed. He can take a hit very well, especially for someone who is only 200 lbs. He has great balance, great vision and can cut back very well, but when he gets in the open field he is not a true burner. I like Bradshaw, but I would like to see the Giants have a pure speed RB back there.
If Manningham emerges as a star and either starts or at least takes a significant number of snaps, it will take some playing time away from other WR's. If Hakeem Nicks continues to improve and pushes his way into the offense, it would mean a slightly diminished role for Domenik Hixon. This might be good for the Giants, because the lighter burden might encourage the coaches to put Hixon back as the KR and/or PR. He is a deadly KR and it would improve the Giants field position. The new no-wedge rules on kickoff returns reduces the threat on kickoffs and there have been fewer TD returns of kickoffs this year, but field position is still important.
I'll say it again: Eli is the most underrated QB in the league and Romo is the most overrated.
Eric Mangenius may get run out of Cleveland by Thanksgiving. He has no clue how to manage people. He is a dumb version of Tom Coughlin before the Coughlin-personality-makeover. In addition ti his poor people management skills, his personnel decision making is awful. Consider this: He trades down with the Jets and gives his former team the franchise QB they need instead of drafting Sanchez himself. Presumably, he did not draft Sanchez because the Browns drafted their own franchise QB a few years ago in Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. Furthermore their QB situation was deep because of Derek Anderson's presence on the roster. Anderson had 1 good year in his career two years ago, when the Browns surprised everyone in the league with a 10-6 record and almost snuck into the playoffs. So what does Mangenius do? He drives everyone crazy with his QB competition in the off season and totally mismanages the situation. He waits until 3 days before the season opener to inform everyone who the starter will be, Brady Quinn. So everyone assumes this is the start of the Brady Quinn era in Cleveland. Except, after 2 bad losses, at half time of the third game, when his entire team is being completely overwhelmed, he replaces Quinn as QB. Anderson throws 3 INT's in the 2nd half of the game. The QB switch gives the entire world the impression that the only reason the team lost is because of the poor play of the QB. The team is great. The coach is brilliant. Only reason we are losing is the QB. He managed to destroy the confidence of both QBs and undermine the ability of either one to run the team. What a dope.
2 comments:
Turns out that Phillips had microfracture knee surgery this week. As an NBA fantasy junkie, my experience says that, in basketball, that is a two year surgery, with the player being able to play some, though not effectively, in year one. So the Giants now officially have a (somewhat) long-term safety problem. Considering the likelihood that will contend this year and next, they really need to acquire a vet who can bridge this gap.
Ray,
You're right - microfracture surgery can be serious. Alan Houston had it and never came back from it, never regained his mobility and his spring. He was much older and more advanced in his career when he had it, however. Fred Robbins had the same microfracture surgery this past off season and looks like he is back playing near or at the same level that he was before the surgery. Maybe it depends on what the unerlying injury was. In Phillips case, the arthritis is very serious and I am less than optimistic about his complete recovery.
For this year, C.C. Brown looked like he played pretty well last two weeks. Dockery played at CB this week and if Aaron Ross comes back, the Giants will have a surplus of CB's. If so, I would think about giving Ross or rookie Bruce Johnson some practice at S for the short term. Long term, sadly, I have to agree with you and think that the Giants should protect themselves at S.
-wm
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