Manning, Jacobs and the Ravens

Ultimatenyg comments in red

Out of Blue, Eli Manning hits a slump (where have we seen this topic before?)
By RALPH VACCHIANO
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Tuesday, November 11th 2008, 8:50 PM

For 23 remarkable minutes Sunday night, Eli Manning was putting on a quarterback clinic. He had recovered beautifully from his opening-drive interception, which was batted at the line of scrimmage. He was right on the mark on almost every pass after that.

Then, suddenly, it all disappeared. He went from a brilliant, 13-for-17, 143-yard performance in the first 23 minutes against the Eagles to 4-for-14 for 48 yards over the final 37 minutes. Sure, the Giants won, 36-31, but the drop-off in the passing game was pretty dramatic. To be fair, he had a few dropped passes, but it is the "Old Eli" who would not be able to play 4 quarters with the same consistency and urgency.

Still, while Tom Coughlin admitted he'd prefer to see Manning "statistically being a little more proficient," he didn't sound concerned about what appears to be a quarterback slump. Manning may have failed to top 200 passing yards in any of the last five games, but the Giants (8-1) have won four of those. Maybe, just maybe, it is the job of Gilbrown to put Manning in play action for his pass atempts when the run is so effective, and NOT have Manning in shotgun? Ya think?

"We still had a lot of production," Coughlin said. "And we would prefer to have pretty much a mix (of the run and the pass). You'd like to come off the field with an explosive team like Philadelphia and have the ball for 39-plus minutes. That's the way you would want the game to come out. Gilbrown has the best OL in football. This was a game when punching Jacobs was more than adequate. To be fair, it was not Gilbrown's fault that Jacobs decided to do his Olympic hurdles imitation.

"If you could sit and design something where everything was perfect, that would be fine. But it's not going to be that way."

The Giants did hold the ball for 39:10 against the Eagles, and their powerful rushing attack had its fourth 200-yard game of the season (219). Add in a stifling (huh? what DL non-existent pass rush were you watching?) defense that held the dangerous Brian Westbrook to just 59 total yards, and it's clear the Giants don't need big numbers from Manning to win.

The problem is that eventually they will need more from him - maybe even this Sunday when they host the Baltimore Ravens (YES, correct, Ralph... Ray Lewis and company will be waiting to tackle the behemoth and they will not be nearly as charitable as the Eagles), who have the best rushing defense in the NFL (65.4 yards per game). Through the first four games of the season, when Manning was completing 63.6% of his passes (84 for 132) for 1,032 yards with six touchdowns and just one interception, nobody doubted his ability to deliver. But starting with the Giants' lone loss in Cleveland on Oct. 13, Manning's numbers have dipped. (Manning Malaise, ahem.) His completion percentage in those games is at 57.7 (86 for 149) and he has thrown five interceptions to go with his eight touchdown passes. His yardage total in those five is 894, with a high (at Pittsburgh) of just 199.

Is it a slump? Is it a product of playing tougher defenses? Is it just because the Giants are content to rely on the run? And how can the Giants explain his dramatic in-game decline in Philadelphia, which seemed to start the moment Brandon Jacobs lost a second-quarter fumble? Until the Giants pulled in the reins in the fourth quarter and ran on their final 13 plays, they were a perfectly balanced team - 32 runs and 32 passes. (Gilbrown wuz here.)

But after his hot start, Manning went 1-for-5 for just six yards in the final 6-1/2 minutes of the first half, and was 3-for-9 for 42yards in the second half.

"I don't know what exactly the reason would be," Coughlin said. "There are always things as you look at a play you go hindsight. Sometimes there is a balance issue, there is a set issue or whether the quarterback is rushed or whether he just makes an inaccurate throw, or whether the receiver wasn't on the same page with the quarterback and that type of thing, or a Gilbrown in shotgun."

Those issues are part of the reason why the Giants' once-dangerous passing game is now ranked just 16th in the NFL (205.8yards per game). And those are issues Manning needs to work out down the stretch, against a difficult schedule. A powerful defense and running game could carry the Giants to another Super Bowl championship.

But at some point they're going to need their quarterback, too.

This was a fantastic article by Ralph Vacchiano. He nailed it. This Sunday we will need to pass against what Wonder refers to as a suspect group of DBs for the Ravens. Yes, we have to run vs the Ravens to keep them honest. But Manning is going to have to deliver. Hixon and Burress need to stretch the field, because if this team cannot go vertical, that just means the Reed and Lewis poaching will get ever more pronounced. The Giants like to punch, and that can work against an undersized Eagle DL, but against the front 7 of the Ravens, punching with Jacobs will not be as effective as BOXING with a mix of passing, passing deep, running with Ward and running with Jacobs. DO ALL 4, and don't be utterly anal in your attempt to be balanced. Jacobs does not need 20 touches this game for us to win, spread it around, keep this defense off-balance, Lewis knows tendency better than anyone. I may be wrong, but I fear that Jacobs' lack of speed will be a tremendous liability against this run defense.

All things Giant

1) I fear Bradshaw has been sent to the fumbler's doghouse. Not that it is not deserved. If he gets one CARRY this Sunday that will be a major victory for the Bradshawlics. This team needs his speed, he stretches the field and causes a great deal of trouble for defenses.

2) Adalius Thomas out for the year. That guy still gives me nightmares, glad he can't possibly meet us in Super Bowl XLIII.

3) Shockey is an even smaller pea brain than I thought. Brees won't take his Brown (here is a link to a Monday article in case you missed it), he needs an intervention and fast. But for our sake, we hope he will continue to cause as many problems as possible for another 7 games because...

4) ...that set of draft picks the Giants get from the Saints just keeps on getting better and better. Based on their schedule, looks like they will finish ~8-8, but that assumes they win at home vs GB and ATL, so perhaps it can get a little uglier for them. They will not lose to KC or DET, but those are desperate teams and anything is possible.

5) The Giants need to respect the fact that they are only 1 game ahead of the Panthers, and they play them later this season. Get the bye AND the homefield advantage. No let up. This team needs every game.

6) If you think the nitpicking that goes on here is a lot, just go down to Philly. If they could run Reid out of town, they'd do it in a heartbeat.

7) Buy low. Purchased #44 jersey (25% off, see link ad to the right) AFTER the fumble. He may go to the doghouse, but I am loyal.

8) I guess Serby voted for "Block 'N' Blue."

9) The league's second- and third-highest scoring teams play in the same New Jersey stadium: the Giants (262 points) and Jets (255).

10) Everyone was talking about the Eli heel that kept him behind the line of scrimmage. But last week's move by leon Washington, who grabbed a kickoff while standing out of bounds, was even better. How many of you knew that instead of the Jets getting the ball at the spot of the touch, the ball goes to the 40 yard line?!!!

11) The Giants are -6.5 vs Baltimore.

The Beautiful Game: Prevent Offense

On Saturday we did a little soul searching for why Ultimatenyg came to be, what drives this site. I take it all back, it was all a crock of Brown*, the real reason why Ultimatenyg exists is to preach one message above all else:

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THE PREVENT OFFENSE

What is so pathetic is that I have become so anesthetized to the prevalence of the Prevent, that when it occurs I shake my head in dismay and take it up the Brown like the Brown that I am. I have been beaten into submission. I am carrying a glass of water thinking this will be my vessel to hydrate the desert. I am fighting with sticks against tanks. It got to be so bad Sunday night that all I could think was- well at least it isn't TWO possessions of nausea like in Dallas last January.

If I could rid this planet of the scourge that is the Prevent Offense, I would gladly consider my life complete. James Allen so eloquently asks aloud, "why is it noble to trust the defense to end the game but not the offense?"

FACT: the Giants OL was dominant Sunday night

FACT: the Giants DL could NOT get pressure on McNabb

So why try to win the game with the defense when the OL can get it done ALL game except with RRRK? The prevent offense is horseBrown. The coaching staff did a great job, this was a great win that we are entitled to celebrate, but we want to know: Why can't they have a little more respect for themselves and their opponent by playing 60 minutes instead of 54:30?

* Dave "Brown" has been chosen as the Official curse word of Ultimatenyg 2008 NY Giants season. (For 2009, we'll put it to a vote, but I think "Handley" has the inside track. Other candidates include Dayne and Rust.)

NY Giants 36 Philadelphia Eagles 31

very nice td grab by Boss

1) GREAT WIN despite a few intragame nightmares.

2) If the Giants can cut down on these turnovers/fumbles, this team will be hard to beat, because the only team out there that can beat the NY Giants is themselves.

3) PROTECT THE BALL. Repeat after me, I will not carry the ball like a pineapple at the fruit stand. Didn't Tom Coughlin teach Tiki to carry the ball high and SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE HIS FUMBLES? So why do we keep seeing these balls squirt loose? There are 11 people on the other side of the ball who want to strip the ball EVERY PLAY. This is known. What is not known is why the Giants RBs are not carrying the ball high, and why they are not putting two hands on the ball when contact/tackle is upon them.

4) Bradshaw is the best back on this team, but he does not deserve more playing time until he can demonstrate that he can protect the ball. He and the Giants are very lucky that that ball skips out of bounds. At least he caused a fumble on specials. The Giants coaches must correct the way he carries the ball so that he can gash defenses. He ran wide and completely exposed the Eagles defense.

5) On the Jacobs NIGHTMARE fumble, we were not so lucky, and it cost the team so much that the Giants might have won the game by 20 points if he does not cough up the ball there. The crowd was out of it, the Giants were driving the ball, they could not be stopped, the team was up by 10 on its way to be up by 13-17 points and Jacobs fumbles away almost everything.

6) Was this a football game or the Olympic 100M Hurdles?

7) Great call by Coughlin to challenge the Manning pass over the line of scrimmage.

8) THE GIANTS OFFENSIVE LINE IS DOMINANT. THE GIANTS OFFENSIVE LINE IS DOMINANT. The only thing the Giants needed to do more of this game was use more play action when they were passing. The run was SO GOOD that it (and the play action) would work all game.

9) After the beginning of the game, the Giants DL did not get the pressure on McNabb. As the DL goes, so goes our defense. The offense must take responsibility and carry the load when the Giants pass rush is not there. It did that up until 5:30 mins left. (see #13 below)

10) The Giants were lucky that Andy Reid and the Eagles went to run on 3rd and 4th down. MISTAKE, ERROR! These two playcalls cost them a realistic shot at the game. The Giants DL could not pressure McNabb, so why are you running it? Even Madden nailed it, he said he keeps the ball in McNabb's hands, but he did not articulate why. The reason is that the OL of the Eagles was giving McNabb so much time that he had (a) all day to find a receiver (b) even more success given the Giants pass rush springing a leak and not containing the pocket. That was a gift. Thank you Eagles.

11) Madison Hedgecock's pass catching is deteriorating. Good blocker. But lately he is killing drives with his drops.

12) Gilbride found his TE! Overall a very good game plan, pounding that small Eagles DL repeatedly. 45 carries, 39 mins possession. The gmen should have won by more if not for the errors, but if you clean them up this team/offense is unstoppable.

13) The only thing the Prevent Offense prevents you from doing is winning the game. 5:30 left. RRRK. Barf. On third down, the Eagles had 8 men in the box and by the time the ball was snapped they had TEN men in the box. Ya think the Eagles knew what was coming? To make matters worse, the play is a big loss, and if it was still near the line of scrimmage, the next play (offsides, 5 yards on Eagles on the punt snap) gives us the first down. Instead we have to give them the ball and decline the penalty because we had more than 5 yards for a first.

14) We have said this before, but it will get repeated- the Giants need to have Manning and their RBs practice the swing pass/check down out of the backfield. It can be far more lethal if executed better.

15) I know Webster got beat on one play late, but I really like the way he is playing.

16) This was a very good team the Giants beat on the road. Despite the turnovers, the team held on, it deserves tremendous praise.

17) I love the smell of roasted Eagles fans in the evening.

18) 8-1. 3-0 in the division. 1 win vs all three divisional opponents. The Giants are nearly a lock for making the playoffs, they are in tremendous position for the division and they are in very good position for a bye/homefield thru the playoffs. This team knows how to win games, and (repeating) the only team out there that can beat them is themselves.

Intragame NYG-PHL Commentary, moderated by Nature

Keep the language clean. Pound the Eagles DL w/ Jacobs, but if they give us a lot of 8 men in the box, we have to be ready to throw the ball too. SCREEN PASS PLS.

Deactivated:
RB Droughns
RB Ware
CB Dockery
S Butler
LB Wilkinson
T Koets
WR Manningham
DE McDougle

Tynes and Carney both activated... I bet Coughlin is going with Carney on FGs and Tynes on long FGs and kickoffs. That is what I would do. Not having both Droughns and Ware for specials coverage is a risk.

Phil Simms and Wonder in total agreement on Game Plan for Sunday

Giants-Eagles. Simms harped on the same thing that Wonder said Friday night (which I will paste below)- the most important thing Simms wants to see is how the smaller/faster DL of the Eagles (as compared to prev years) deals with the Giants OL. Can they stand up to the Giants running game? Is there enough size and strength? (The Skins wore them down, remember?!) Does the Giants OL have the power to do that? The Giants are the better team, but Simms implied that the Eagles were very good, very close. Simms separately notes that both QBs handle the blitz well and showered the Giants front four with the typical praise we understand. Simms would NOT make a call on the game- he was not specifically asked, but that does not stop him from laying it out there, so this tells us what we already know- a tight game. (Simms laid it out there two weeks ago and told us he felt the Giants would win vs the Steelers under similar circumstances, as road +3 dogs.)

Wonder from Friday night email: "ANDY... game plan on sun. should be ...RUN JACOBS...with the intent that the o-line and having to tackle that load will take its toll on their d-line so that they don't have anything left in the tank to rush Eli later in the game..then go play-action.. Phil. is more "quick" than powerful...so Bradshaw not good option early on (other than screens, flares, etc...)...I also think it will have extra bonus of keeping OUR D off the field and fresh to KILL McNabb...and when we have the chance, MUST TACKLE him..no "escape" plays down the field !! we MUST win Time of Poss battle..and Jacobs is the key...if he runs for 90+ yds on about 18-20 carries, mail it in...Jints win...their strength is pass rush and secondary...make those little f***s have to TACKLE Jacobs a few times...they won't like it...will also "shorten" the game and keep the crowd out of the game as McN won't have that many poss to dev a rhythm...trust me on this one !!"

Just like Rob was quick to point out that you have to pass vs the Dallas secondary, Simms and Wonder are clear that there is an oppty (NEED for RUN!) vs the smaller Eagles DL. I still want to see some Ward mixed in too (we'll never get Bradshaw in for the screens, where his speed will certainly be necessary for this group), but yes Wonder, okay, we hear you, more Jacobs this game is fine because of MATCHUPS. Generally I feel Jacobs gets too much of the offense, but tonight I can easily understand why you want to out-physical that DL. The Skins did it, and so can we.

What is the Ultimatenyg NY Giants Blog?

What is the driving force of Ultimatenyg? What makes this wacko blogger post nearly every single day? It certainly isn't the money! This isn't my day job. So what drives this?

1) Like all of you who have visited the site, we all share the same passion for the Giants. I tell people all the time, I'll trade 162 Yankee wins for ONE Giants win. I'll trade 16 Jets wins for one Giants win (sorry, Wonder).

2) >Championship or bust. Any franchise can get a Schottenheimer or Fassel or Denny Green and make their franchise get some wins and restore credibility. F credibility. I root for championships, for titles, that is why the title bar has three Super Bowl victories up there.

3) The (sometimes not so pretty) truth about this team. I do not care if this team is 16-0 or 0-16, if there is something that is wrong about the team I am going to mention it. Some people call that nitpicking after a win. What they do not understand is that I call that consistent objectivity. If there is a problem that could have cost us dearly (turning a win into a loss), it gets mentioned in a loss AND A WIN because it is hypocritical to ignore the same problem just because we got more points that day. As an example, shutting down the offense with 9:27 left in Q4 vs Dallas last January was a cardinal sin that EASILY could have cost us that game and (obviously) a Super Bowl title. The fact that it did not end up costing us the title does not pardon the error, and if you think otherwise you are wrong. (Wouldn't it be nice if every time OUR OPPONENT was up by 4 points that they went into the Prevent Offense and gave us one or two extra chances per game?! Why can't OUR team get THAT charity?)

4) Education. Everyone in this forum gets to learn from others what is going on, what is driving what, what is happening. Other sites, books. What Phil Simms is seeing. What's the latest psycho rant from Wonder.

5) Community. This internet thing is amazing. I've made Giants friends all over the country, and they are grateful to find a home away from home with the same passion in the Giants that they used to have when they lived in the NY area. This is only a side benefit though... truth be told, I'd trade every last one of you for another Giants championship. (Hey, I had the Giants written into my Ketubah. I'm not going to let a marriage get between me and the Giants.)

6) THE GOSPEL. This blog started in Nov 2006 when the team was going nowhere. 16 years without a title. This is not a bandwagon blog. Do not mistake criticism for lack of loyalty. Do not mistake momentary emotional despair for lack of support of the team. In 2002 I wrote a letter to Accorsi, the response for which leaves no doubt that our voice is heard.

The Manning Malaise

We are witnessing the efficiency of Eli Manning drop off in 2008 as this season progresses, and some of have wondered aloud whether there is anything to that observation. I have made the same anecdotal observation over the past few seasons, so I decided to grab some numbers. Even though the passer rating is not a great statistic, I am not about to invest the time in something better, so we will use that metric from 2005-2008 to see what is there. We normalized the data from 2008 vs the first three full seasons and threw out those last ~6 games* from 2004 when he was a rookie in an incomplete year.

From week 1 to Week 17, here are the ratings:

80, 99, 82, 93, 102, 70, 76, 63, 84, 47, 94, 57, 66, 83, 63, 48, 94.
( i.e. Week 1= average 80 passer rating, Week 2= 100 etc..)

You can slice and dice these numbers anyway you like, but obvly you have to be careful and consistent in not doing any curve fitting. Whatever tranches you use, there is clearly a rolling moving average that TRENDS DOWN FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END OF THE SEASON. Essentially, Manning peaks in his first 5 games and then slides thereafter, leveling off after Week 10. Remember that this data has 56 observations, a fairly decent set which satisfies my criteria (should be between 30 to 100 datapoints) for relevance.

Average Weeks 1-5: 91
Average Weeks 6-10: 68
Average Weeks 11-17: 71

A dropoff of 21 points in the passer rating is significant, especially when considering this is based on a total of 56 games spread out over 3-4 seasons. I'd rather have the next 8 datapoints for 2008 before using this, but keep in mind that if you just use 2005-2007 you get the same results (yes, the dropoff is actually a little worse).

Why the dropoff?

Lack of urgency? Tiring? Defenses catching up to Manning's/offensive tendencies? Maybe after Manning gets out of the box really well in each season, the coaches ask more of him and he cannot handle the broader role. In any event, the simple observation is pretty relevant and any QBs coach has to know these things about his player/s.

* 2004 would have only skewed it worse than it already is.

more Hall ideas

Wonder: If D.Hall goes to Pats, I'm going to barf...he's not a press cover kind of guy, but he's excellent in Zone and understands how to play Pats' scheme....so I PRAY jints grab him as he'd be PERFECT for their system as they hardly ever leave their corners on an island..and when they do, the QB usually doesn't have time to go deep. In any event, I'm not sure he could get totally acclimated by time of Jet game...but he would def bolster a pathetic secondary of the pats.

Ultimatenyg: Hall could take the corner and Ross takes the nickel slot.

Wonder: Totally agree...and IF moron Hall is smart, he'll go to Jints as they will 'protect' him the best..would be real smart for NYG as they are "strong" enough in the locker room to keep him in line with team goals...

Ultimatenyg: Re him being smart to go to the Giants, he has a reputation, deserved (Atl) or not (Oak). This could be a very good move for him to go to the Giants, leverage his skills behind that DL, get a ring, and re-establish his value/career in the league. Could you imagine this lucky peckerwood, making $8M, getting released, going to the SB champs, putting them over the top and helping them win ANOTHER ring? Others would be dismayed (understatement) to believe this guy's good 'luck.' All he has to have is the slightest bit of intelligence and it is all his (and the Giants).

Wonder: All true..but I'm betting on Pats getting Hall...2nd- Cowboys.

Ultimatenyg: I am counting on Reese's interest from last Feb still being there.. if he was interested with a #2 being asked, he has to have interest for him as a free agent. If Reese gets outbid, so be it, but he kills two birds w one stone if Dallas is interested. And why even give NE any help either?! They're in the other conference but w Brady around, no need to help them.

Addendum: video on Hall added. He cleared waivers earlier this evening. Get him please.

The Giants, the Eagles and the secondary

1) Hall was cut. Everyone with half a brain will wait for him to clear waivers and become a free agent before talking to him. After that it could get a little interesting. If the Giants could do an Arrington-type of contract which is heavy on the incentives and light on the commitment, it would make sense. Remember that (a) with nickel and dime packages on the field so often, you can never have enough good corners (b) Dockery (nickel) and Butler (S) got hurt this past weekend.

Just got off the phone with Wonder, and he is outspoken as ever...

2) Wonder: Cowboys or Pats will end up with Hall. Giants should go for him. They need A LOT of help at Secondary. "THE GIANTS SECONDARY S***S." We saw from Cleveland that when the pass rush is not there, the Giants secondary gets abused by any reasonable QB. Aaron Ross is woeful. (I got Wonder to concede that..) Webster is playing ok. I think that Hall will end up in New England.

3) Wonder on the Giants: Because the Giants secondary is bad, the way to beat their defense is you have to max protect and give a few of your options the oppty to challenge them. You must negate that Giants DL in order to have a chance. Run flares, screens, play action. Despite this weakness in their secondary, the Giants are still the most well-balanced team and they will be favored in a Tenn-Giants Super Bowl because even if the good Tenn OL thwarted the pass rush, they don't have the passing options (only Mason) to hurt the Giants. The Eagles (on the other hand) have Curtis back, DeSean Jackson and Westbrook out of the backfield, that is a problem for the Giants. This is why the Eagles are my #2 NFC team next to the Giants. Even if the Eagles lose to the Giants they are definitely making the playoffs. McNabb is playing well, you better rush him, hit him and disrupt him or else he is going to do well Sun night. (The Skins would be nowhere except for the weak second half schedule they have.)

4) The Eagles know the gmen well. They will run blitz, they will pass blitz, they will force Eli to beat them. Eli will have receivers singled up and will have to find them. If the Eagles have 8 men in the box it will be up to the Giants to throw first and run second. This is NOT the Bengals where you can run against 8 men in the box, wake up with 5 mins left and charge down the field to get a score for a win.

5) What works really well against run blitz and pass blitz? SCREEN PASS TO WARD AND BRADSHAW. It won't be Bradshaw because Gilbride has him buried in the depth chart, but Ward has improved a lot in his pass catching (still not as good or as fast as #44) to be a threat.

6) Tyree was put on season-ending IR.

DeAngelo Hall etc..

1) This past February/March the Falcons decided to move DeAngelo Hall. He was looked at by a few teams, including the Giants, Cowboys and Redskins. The Raiders traded a #2 draft pick for him and picked up a huge salary. ...Now he quite possibly could get cut by the Raiders. The Giants showed some interest in him before, but NOW I suspect they will let him go through waivers so they don't have to eat that salary... if they are even at all interested. How desperate is Jerry Jones for another malcontent in that loonie tunes locker room? Dallas was also rumored to be interested in Hall before he went to the Raiders.

2) We better win the SB this season because Spags is going to be ultra-hot and ultra-gone in 2009. All the nightmare teams with interim coaches et al. Lions, Raiders, 49ers, Rams, Bengals, Chiefs have to be looking at him. Maybe all you Gilbride-lovers can explain to me why your boy was not sought after last season and will likely not get any interest yet again for a head coaching job.

3) A win by the Giants on Sunday night would assure the Giants of at least a split vs all division rivals and essentially put us ~3 games in the loss column over all of them, since Dal-Wash the following week will generate another loss. The bottom line on that one is that beating Dallas this past weekend was a tremendous tonic for the end of season scenarios and another win over Philly is going to make it really tough for all of them to have any serious division chances. And considering what is happening in the NFC South, the wildcard is no picnic either.

4) Garafolo makes a "bold" midseason call about the gmen vs the Cardinals in the NFC Championship, but where did you hear that first? Try Wonder, 3 WEEKS AGO!

5) Let's look at the Eagles' 3 losses. Cowboys Week 2, 41-37 shootout. Bears w/o Westbrook. Redskins without Westbrook after early injury in Game when they were leading comfortably 14-0. In other words, with Westbrook playing, this will be a very good game.

Flag Football

Roger Goodell has a very big problem. Football is a contact sport, in case any of you did not notice. I just reviewed the tape of that Tuck hit on Bollinger. (Q3 5:55 left, incomplete pass, 15 yard personal foul.) It is a sad state of affairs for the league when a referee can even THINK of calling a penalty on that play. Tuck's hit and subsequent penalty are part of a much bigger trend (CAMPAIGN?) in trying to rein in hits and injuries. You might as well whip out another 94 flags and place one on each player's hip so we can remove hitting altogether. This is quite simply madness and someone somewhere needs a wakeup call.

Rumors and theories are circulating more violently than any of these hits. Allegedly the league is trying to protect players as it expands the regular season to 17 games and reduces preseason to 3. If this is the cost, then someone needs to realize quickly that this is 6% forward to go -106% back.

Football is a violent sport. I grew up watching Dick Butkus and Deacon Jones. I just checked their weights, and the Sports Encyclopedia lists them as 245 lbs. and 272 lbs. respectively. Is the game bigger and faster? Yes, certainly at the line of scrimmage. But Strahan was slimmed down to 255 lbs. in his last year as a pro. He played most of his career at 275 lbs., but the point is that the game has not gotten that much bigger and faster. Tuck's hit on Bollinger looked softer than garden variety LT. Granted that no one ever saw anyone with the size and speed of Taylor when he came into the league, but the point here is that if the league is so worried about preserving the health of players, then DON'T have a 17th game!

The economy is in a recession. Television networks are releasing earnings- ad revenue is dropping. If the NFL teams and players experience a reduction in their revenue and salaries too, well, welcome to the rest of the world. Please don't become like baseball and manufacture synthetic growth at the cost of the product. The NFL is so much better than this. Or is it?

NYG 35 Dallas 14

Boss TD in Q1 was a great playcall, a great pass, a nice catch and nice feet for the TD.

Thanks everyone for the color. I just got in, saw around 25 mins of clock time in the airport, it was 28-7 when I boarded the plane and nice that it pretty much ended that way. I may not have a chance to watch the rest of the (videotaped) game, the sports bar I was at was noisy and we intermittently lost the feed too. But here are the takeaways at first blush:

1) Above all else, the Giants got their business done against a weak opponent. The most important thing you do to weak opponents is remind them who they are- the drive near the end of H1 to make the score 21-7 was fantastic because you cannot dominate the half with only a 7 pt lead to show for it. Do not give weak opponents hope! (See Bengals game)

2) Yes, kudos to Gilbride. Just because we trash the guy for being the loser he is when he makes egregious mistakes does not mean he is incapable of change and getting it right. He did more than a few things this game which he simply did NOT do last game:

a) He was much more willing to pass, especially against this defense (which was extremely depleted in the secondary). Rob emphasized this in Saturday's post, and Gilbride had the correct game plan. (ESPN's Tom Jackson was lauding the Giants in the red zone for being 5-5, for running the ball into the end zone, but the last time I checked, they scored their first THREE TDs on this defense by THROWING IT INTO THE END ZONE. The answer is to try to do BOTH.)
b) He used Ward much more in (H1) the red zone.
c) He broke tendency. After a first down pass, Dallas was playing run, they bit on play action perfectly and Manning had all day to connect. The pass sailed high, but I DO NOT CARE- it put the Giants in a great position to succeed AND makes the RUN NEXT TIME LESS STACKED TOO.

3) This was a complete win in all categories.

4) If and when Dallas gets healthy again, which we assume will be for the second game in Dallas, the tone of this game will be entirely different. The Dallas offense today was ugly, and the Giants defense did just about everything right. Romo was sorely missed. When Romo comes back, many things change instantly. Simms has said in the past that he is continually amazed at how many times Romo single-handedly makes plays for the entire team. So to see the Dallas OL become very average is not surprising in this light. Romo has tremendous pocket presence and leverages what he has in his OL to extract whatever advantage he possibly can. He adlibs very well. Johnson and Bollinger cannot do that, so the warts become visible quickly. My hope is that Romo has some rust when he first comes back, digging as deep a hole for that franchise as possible. That team is not dead with a QB like that. Some have pointed out that Romo may yet be fatally flawed, that he will crumble when the going gets very tough, but in the meantime w/o him the Cowboys are simply awful.

a) Even if it is for only a few days or their entire bye week, at least '5-4' will put a nice smile on our faces. How 'bout 'dem cowboys, Jerry?!

5) Winning without the consistent and strong contributions of Burress is certainly possible, but all things being equal is not desirable. Manning and Burress must get on the same page. I read after the game that they say that pick was Manning's fault, but it does not matter- it is both of their faults. If we can get the two of them clicking again, my goodness it will be frightening. Gaudy upside riches possible here.

6) Yes, the kickoff field position was nauseating. Carney is going to be on social security soon, but if he makes all of his FGs I guess you make that deal. As soon as he starts missing then you have (the) Tynes (accuracy) and Tynes gets the nod because Tynes is deeper on kickoffs. Between both of these guys, at least we have some overall credibility, unlike in other years when our FG kicking parade of new contestants was worse than Murphy Brown's weekly search for a secretary.

7) The 4 sacks that the OL gave up were were much more about Manning holding onto the ball too long than the OL getting beat. I think at least three sacks were excursions of Manning into the town of Moonachie. LOL, who does he think he is, Tony Romo? (Now if we could only convince him to run ONCE per game.)

8) Quietly all year Webster has done a great job at corner. Those two INTs were not so quiet. He has given up some plays some of the time, but most of the time the silence you hear is him quietly shutting down yet another good WR.

9) TURNOVERS! Pierce's strip was fantastic. We mentioned the two from Webster above, the Butler pick. Awesome way to play. This is what was missing earlier this year. VERY ENCOURAGING.

10) LB is a our weakest unit on the team, but w/o a Dallas QB it was certainly easier for Clark to focus on Barber. Nice job. Suffocating these players and plays is what games like these are all about- not letting them get in a rhythm.

11) At the end of the game, there was Coughlin being the nitpicker. "The only thing that is the real negative for me right now is the turnovers. The turnovers kind of take the heart right out of the game so to speak. The timing of those things were very bad and we haven’t been doing that, so it is something we do have to improve upon. We are very, very thankful for the win, excited about that, we are 7-1, and I think we can play better." This is the magic recipe for winning a title. Win a big game and emphasize how the team can still get better for next week's game. All good.

12) I read how some were praising Jacobs. Yes, he played well, but even Jacobs is smart enough to praise the real guys who are getting it done EVERY WEEK, that OL: "Our offensive line did a great job of knocking them off the ball."

13) Justin Tuck is outstanding.

14) Giants are +3 vs PHL. While I think realistically that you have to expect a split vs PHL this season (which implies the more realistic loss in PHL), I would not bet against the Giants in either game. With Westbrook playing, the Eagles are a formidable team, and the line should be respected. But so should the gmen.

Summary: Great win all around. It is not who you play, but when you play them. The Giants played a weaker team but they still had to go out there and get it done. Nice quality win. Nothing left to chance.

Insert comments here for Dallas-Giants game

I'm at the airport in Austin TX right now (probably watching the beginning of the game at a bar with a bunch of Dallas fans before I board my flight). Won't be back until midnight. Please supply any and all color to the group.

Game plan from Rob

Rob gives us his offensive blueprint for this weekend:

There is a saying by Fassel, it is not who you play, but when you play them. As Giants fans, we could not have asked for a better time to get the Cowboys. Except if perhaps the game was in Dallas.

If we are truly going somewhere this year, then we need to win this game. They are missing so many key players that it is just a shell team. And we are pretty healthy.

Have no pity. Go after them from the get go. I would like to see Gilbride throwing early and often. If he comes out and starts trying to run the ball, then he is a fool and attacking the one Cowboy strength that isn't diminished. If they go nickel from the get go, we should bring out 4 WR. The more WR we field the weaker they are because the people they are putting out there are lower and lower on their depth chart.

From a strategic and tactical perspective, we should be throwing more than running. If at the end, we are "balanced" in run vs pass, then he is stupid. My only proviso on that statement is that if the game is a Giants blowout and the Boy's have given up, then we can run at the end. But somehow, I don't think that will be the case.

Close the deal. Put them on the ropes at 5-4. This game will be tougher than many expect. The Cowboy's will be up and if our game plan is to run, they can stop our run. My kingdom for an offensive Spags.

Ultimatenyg here. Sounds logical. This reminds me of what the Giants did against Minnesota in the Jan 2001 NFC Championship. We were a fairly balanced team, but Minnesota's secondary was the one with the worts, and Payton went after them. The game was over by halftime and all the oxygen was sucked out of them. Do not let them believe they are in this game. Open up a can of whoop a** and end the game before they know what hit'em.

I particularly like this for another reason- it burns Jerry Jones directly for going after Pacman Jones. How many of you remember that rookie game for Kiwi vs the Titans when Vince Young had his coming out party and Pacman Jones roasted us? Well, Jerry Jones wanted a piece of that and now it is time to remind him that the bill is coming due. Give them the loss while the guy is out on suspension and put Dallas one loss closer to not making the playoffs.

No mercy. They would do the same thing to us.