Patriots 38 NYG 27

The Giants were up 21-0 in Q1 and they lost 38-27. So what does that tell you? Once the Giants 1st string units were out, it got ugly. There was no depth on defense. A lot of the players left out there will not make the team.

On the bright side, the first string Giants offense operated efficiently vs the second string Patriots. Manning hooked up with Boss for 44 yards. Moss collected 2 TDs. Nicks made a nice adjustment to the ball and then scored. Pretty. Bradshaw had a blitz pickup to enable that TD.

Nicks went out in Q3 with a hip flexor injury. Did not see the play, not sure how serious it is. Nicks said he was fine after the game was over.

Manningham looked good again. He gets separation play after play. On one play he runs an inside slant, the ball is thrown behind him by Carr, he makes a great catch and gets tackled for a 9 yard gain. When Montana hits Rice on the same exact play it is in stride and you tack on another 10 or 20 yards. It's preseason and this is starting to get redundant already. Manningham gets separation when he makes his break. And because he does it so quickly, Carl Banks is practically drooling. He starts commenting how these Giants WRs are all very different, each one having different skill sets. TRANSLATED: Manningham has natural ability to get free in his route because he is so fast on the break, so if you are the QB you better know it is HIM you are throwing to because everyone else is in one spot and Manningham is already in the center of the field. On one play Manningham gets a 35 yard pass reception, goes back out on the very next play and splits two defenders with a step on each of them for another bomb but it is overthrown. Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would be having pitch and catch with this guy all day long. I do not want to hear how we do not have Wide Receivers. Manningham is a Wide Receiver.

Quick extras from the game:
-Wilkinson, Travonti Johnson and Terrell Thomas had nice open field tackles before the 8th stringers led the swiss cheese assault on our senses
-Woodson and Bomar both threw picks, the first gave the Pats 6 and the second cost us 6. But I'll still take Bomar because he is spry, "flicks" the ball out so fast, give him time. If the Giants put him on the practice squad it is a mistake because someone will pick him up. Reese is smarter than that.
-another uncovered punt that is allowed to fall in with terrible field position
-poor kickoff coverage

Summary- first team Offense and Defense (2 sacks) did fine vs the Pats scrubs, scrubs NYG defense did miserably.

Box Buster Recipe #5:
Step 1> Manningham needs to play
Step 2> Manning needs to get his timing with him
Step 3> Other teams will get roasted if they leave Manningham alone one on one

NYG-Pats Intragame comments

Out:
Phillips, Diehl, Boley, Canty, Ross, Tyree, Ware, Whimper

Back:
Pierce

Wonder on the Giants and the NFL

Guest commenter Wonder throws in his remarks on developments with the Giants and around the league.

1) Recap of Giants-Jets preseason game: "DON'T look at stats...Eli played GREAT...best I've seen him look in AGES...Nicks is NOT the answer THIS year...in spots, yes..but Smith still the most solid...and yeah, I know he dropped a PERFECTLY thrown bomb...Hixon MUST catch that ball..terrible..sh*t happens but NOT THAT..your QB will get "cold feet" throwing that pass to you...and Boss is not "awesome"...he's a good player who is often the beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time...O-line and D-line will be great...BUT, they MUST get SOMETHING out of their LB's..and their secondary is a real issue...Phillips...as I stated, he'll be ok-good..but "really good-great" ? NEVER...any plays he makes will be due to DL pressuring the QB....if I were Jints, 2 things worry me:

1. Opp teams load up the box and dare the WR's to make plays; and
2. Opp teams max protect and air it out against the D...plus run screens, bubble screens, quick slants

I think the Jints need a GAME PLAN that includes screens, short circle routes and dumpoffs to Bradshaw and Ware...I also don't believe they run NEARLY enough play action with crossing routes to take advantage of opp LB's "creeping up" to protect against the run..of course, they executed perfectly the play action post bomb to Smith that he dropped..but don't give up on that..."

2) Andre Smith INJURED: "Gee, what a shock...that a FAT, OUT OF SHAPE PIG would get hurt trying to do something "athletic"....do you think he was working with a kick*ss personal trainer the last 5 months?? duh, I don't think so...I can't think of ANYBODY who thought that he was "overrated" in the draft..can you???"

3) When I commented to Wonder about wanting Maualuga but did not know about the 'roid use, he had an interesting comeback: "You WANT guys who HAVE already "roided up"...so they don't NEED TO DO IT IN THE PROS SO THEY DON'T TEST POSITIVE !!!!!....as long as they keep "working out", they keep MOST of their built up muscle mass...BUT, they can't just stop or take a vacation..or they might "lose it"...soooooo, I think MAU would have been a stud classic 4-3 MLB TACKLING MACHINE....critical in a good 4-3."

Ultimatenyg here. MORE screens. MORE play action. To Gilbride's credit, he uses play action, but NOT ENOUGH. You cannot overuse it if the defense is loading the box as much as they did late last season and as much as you know they will be doing again this season.

Osi mea culpa

1) Osi Umenyiora beat a hasty retreat, admitted this AWOL incident was entirely his fault and conceded that this whole thing should never have happened. This was about the best outcome we could have hoped for. Please let that be the end of it. Next.

2) On Monday night this blogger let loose on Wide Receivers with a remark in the comments section of the post. It is nothing most of you have not already heard before. Just go to Rule #3 of The Rules for Winning in the NFL. Then on Tuesday night, I got some good company from none other than the Dean of Wide Receivers, Jerry Rice. The good news for the Giants is that our crop of WRs are pretty grounded and not totally infatuated with themselves. Diehl raves about Nicks. Manningham is a fallen (3rd round) angel. Smith is a 2nd round piece of steak, hold the sizzle. No more Plaxico. Do you really want a player like Marshall who will drop a ball on purpose? Just give me a meat and potatoes LBer in the first round, for crying out loud.

Umenyiora bails on Sheridan/practice

1) Osi Umenyiora stormed out of practice. It may be over but where there is smoke there is fire. The last thing this team needs is a coordinator/head coach whose authority is questioned. That authority has to be unquestioned. A Pro Bowl player cannot do this. He is a leader. This incident has a chance of disappearing. Let's hope it is not any bigger than it already is.

Is it me or does this entire situation feel like the 2004-2006 Coughlin era is back? Players vs the coaches. IF the relationship between the coaches and players is anything less than 100% supportive we do not have a chance.

2) Carl Banks on WFAN yesterday.
a) these WRs are able to get open
b) Lack of veteran leadership at WR can be a negative for the young WRs (drops)
c) Giants: "a long way to go and a short time to get there"
d) the NFC East is too strong, the Giants have no choice but to get there

3) Boley is back.

4) 7th round draft pick CB Stoney Woodson was cut.

Sunday Tom Coughlin Conference Call

Here is the transcript to Tom Coughlin's Sunday Conference Call.

Coughlin's Positives:
1) Run Defense
2) 3rd down defense (1 for 9)
3) punt coverage.. and physical on kickoff coverage
4) Eli cadence to draw penalties on opposing DL
5) Guys are getting open downfield
6) David Carr, Hakeem Nicks
7) first string OL
8) penalties (4 for NYG, 12 for NYJ)
9) Boley progressing well, perhaps we see him this Thurs(?)
10) Good to see Bernard out there, did some good things

Coughlin's Negatives:
1) Defense still giving up big plays, altho there were less
2) Offensive kickoff return
3) Punt Return ball drop-in (Crazed Giant Fan correctly alluded to this one)
4) Two minute drill
5) The Hixon tip for Jets INT
6) No turnovers for Giants defense

Kudos to Mitch for being ahead of the game on Nicks. He wanted Nicks (and Manningham) to start and Coughlin spelled out that Nicks was going to be moving up the depth chart. Good.

NYJ 27 NYG 25

There were some good things, there were some bad things, but in the end this game was not enough to make us feel that we have something special brewing this season. Not YET at least. Coughlin echoed this sentiment with a VERY MIXED review of the team's performance.

1) Mitch commented last evening that he'd rather see Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks line up wide and put Smith in the slot and take our chances. Interesting. VERY INTERESTING and thought provoking, to say the least. Of course we would never see that because that would require "stones." And as we have seen from the Giants too many times, they do not roll the dice. They are deliberate and patient. Riverboat gamblers they are not. They'll leave that to Rex Ryan and others to do the dice rolling.

But what of the notion of MM and Nicks? Each of these guys dropped a pass this evening. The Giants WRs dropped 6 passes that I know of. Mario Manningham may be RAW but he has the most talent of all of the Wide Receivers by a "wide" margin. We have been pointing to his play in the prior 2 preseason games:

"Good" Versus the Panthers>"Manningham- executing, got behind coverage on bomb"

Versus the Bears>"Some positives: Manningham is going to create opportunities with his separation."

And now this evening, Manningham is getting busier once again. His one drop was bad, but he looks like a bonafide threat out there. He can do major damage to a team in one on one. You cannot "teach" that.. either you have it or you do not. And Manningham has IT. What he can be taught is to correct the many mistakes we see him still make. Carl Banks was not complimentary of Manningham on one play, saying he needs to use his body to box out, not his arms. This is the raw part of Manningham. But that does not concern me. And it does not concern Mitch. He'll just get better each game and let his skills explode on the upside. The intriguing part is the break in his route- it looks like Plaxico Burress out there. The Mitch plan is bold. It is aggressive. The Giants won't do it. But they should. The reason why is that you play to win championships. Mario Manningham is a bonafide WR with star skills that can make your offense powerful. In a regular season game he will make that catch and then we will all be going gaga over him.

Hixon and Smith are 'capable.' I voted for Smith in the poll on the right. Now there is not even a question in my mind that Manningham is the one with the ability to have a breakout season. Yes, Hixon and Smith will probably start and contribute, but these guys are like Buicks compared to Manningham the Sports Car. To be fair, Smith did get behind the defense. But he pulled a Hixon, dropping the TD pass. I'd rather take my chances with the 2nd year and 1st year player dropping passes and growing big time through the season than see Smith and Hixon dropping the same passes. It seems that on almost every play I see Manningham getting separation. Smith is reliable enough- keep him in the slot and shoot the moon with your horses.

Hixon could not make one catch, it bounced off his hands into the hands of a Jet defender on the deflection. Not good. Not inspiring.

As for Nicks, same theory. Let him play. He has been making progress at the end of training camp and made more 'strides' this evening (2 TDs). On the first one, he looked like Amani Toomer, slowing down and boxing out so that he could get underneath the ball. It took Toomer three years to learn that maneuver and Nicks just pulled it off in his 3rd game of preseason. Good for him. Does he know all of the playbook and is he ready for the load of a starting job? Doubtful. WR is a very hard task for any rookie to manage. Regardless, he deserves more time.

Other quick comments:
2) We were worried about CC Brown before the game and saw only more things to be worried about. Considering that Michael Johnson is average, our safeties are thin. Absolutely no safety help on this play?
Addendum: transcript of Coughlin: "We gave up some plays in the secondary that we just shouldn't give up. The one touchdown on the crossing pattern should not have happened. It was a heck of a play by the young quarterback just to stay alive, but the receiver never should have been that open."

3) OL and Eli Manning did fine. This was a good recovery after the Bears game.

4) Carr has REGRESSED into the Texans Carr. GET RID OF THE DAMN BALL! If he is not careful the Giants will cut HIM and keep Woodson and Bomar. WOOF! Coughlin feels differently, but there continue to be some very disturbing tendencies, including taking too many sacks.

5) Gilbride/Manning threw 3 times that I saw to Boss. We see how great the Bossman is when he is thrown to in the same zip code. The offense needs to give this man so much load, it is frightening. Until opposing defenses start doubling Boss, the Giants should be using him to break the box.

6) Tynes looked good. Not worried about the miss from 50, at least he was accurate. Coughlin knows his range.. that FG kick was done intentionally to see the range.

7) Any predictability in the preseason playcalling should not be a concern just yet.

8) The Giants still have red zone woes. They got one TD because of Eli drawing DL players offsides enough times to cure what ails us. The two Nicks TDs were beyond the red zone, so it was more like the offense was 0-3, because we stalled at the 20 and 8 yd lines in Q2.

9) No big injuries as far as we are aware of. "Ware nicked up."

Summary: WR misses were troubling. Defensive backs looked out of position on a few big plays. The Giants bounced back and played a better game but Sheridan needs to iron out a few things. The Giants still have questions to answer. Like which WR to play.

Around the NFL

1) Inactives tonight: Canty, Boley, Pierce, Tyree, Ross, SWoodson, Thompson

2) Brandon Marshall Headcase was suspended for the last two games of preseason. He wants out. He may get his wish. This is a talented WR, but the Giants will not show interest if he ends up hitting the trade block. It is simply too close to Plaxi-show and the Giants are done with divas for the time being.

3) Speaking about Brandon Marshall, here is a pretty good wrapup of the NFL-preseason. Wait till they get to the Vick segment, LMAO.

Jets Saturday night

I'll be missing this preseason game, but will catch it on tape thereafter. Please everyone.. give color on what happened. Some of the important things to watch vs the Jets:

1) Boss has the Blutarsky (0.0 receptions). Please correct.
2) Manning should play into Q3. Let's see rhythm, accuracy, YAC.
3) How is the execution of the screen pass? This is the box-buster, practice makes perfect, KG.
4) Diehl and McKenzie should be back to their old selfs, reliable, seen and not heard. Correct?!
5) Snap from center after O'Hara is taken out of game.
6) Of course, WR progress.
7) How many of the walking wounded on Defense play this preseason game?
8) Lane control on run and pass rush addressed and corrected?!
9) Goff/Wilkinson/Kehl MegaMillions LBer sweepstakes.. any winners?!!
10) Tynes adventures in groin babysitting.
11) Improvement by CC Brown needed immediately.

Is Manning Bedrock?

There is no escaping the injuries now. With little more than 2 weeks and 2 more preseason games before Week 1, the injuries are now centerstage. Of course the finality of Andre Brown and Jay Alford is known. But what of Robbins, Boley, Canty, Ross, Pierce, et al. What of the others who have missed enough practice time like Webster, Snee, Seubert, Phillips? If the Giants do not heal up quickly and get ready for primetime, then 2009 will be like 2008. That would be sad, because there is every reason to believe that the pieces are there to go all the way. We said after the Bears loss that there is no need to panic, it is just preseason. Believe that. Believe that the Giants will clean up their execution issues in preparation for the Jets. Believe that enough of these pros who are hurt will do whatever is necessary to be ready Sept 13. Believe that the losses of Alford and Brown, while larger than most Giants fans realize (DEPTH, PREPPING FOR EVEN BIGGER CONTRIBUTIONS THAT GET DELAYED BY A YEAR), will not be harmful to a Super Bowl run. Believe that this team's bedrock (Webster, Jacobs, Tuck, Umenyiora, Snee, and yes .. Boss and Bradshaw) will be there.

Notice the trouble in putting Manning in that category. What do you get with Manning? 2007's postseason or 2008's postseason? 2007's regular season or 2008's regular season? Manning continues to be an enigma. If he can play with the consistency of 2008's regular season and 2007's postseason, wow! Still others will argue he just needs the latter, that the Giants are good enough to get into the playoffs, let'm squeak in and then go on the road so that we keep the guy OUT of the Meadowlands. Is this season going to boil down to the play of Eli Manning? Is it fair to say that the "ultimate" reason we won and lost in 2007 and 2008 was always about Eli?! We'd like to think that that is utterly simplistic in a team sport with numerous coaches and too many other invaluable contributions. But that is not entirely clear. The one thing that is clear is that we need everyone healthy first before Manning can then decide our fate. This sounds like a poll question- does Eli deliver for the Giants in 2009? The answer may very well determine the outcome of this season. If you have the answer to that question, please do share.

Movie Review: Big Fan

"Big Fan" is not a story about a big Giants fan. It is the story of a compromised 35 year old named Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) who is obsessed with football. Everyone of us knows of a Paul in our lives - a relative, a neighbor, a friend's neighbor or relative. He's part of a group of lost souls who are missing something that connects them with the rest of mainstream society.

Patton Oswalt delivers a strong performance as the kid who never grew up. Imagine an adult who never got past the beginning of adolescence and you have Robert Siegel's screenplay. The backdrop of football is perfect for this character, since his passion for a professional sports team knows no age boundaries. Paul is safe in this world wearing NY Giants Blue until he gets a little more attention than he bargained for.

One day per week we are unable to distinguish between the rabid adult and the mentally compromised. When life resumes during the other 6 days, we see behavior that is as uncomfortable as it is real. Siegel dishes out "uncomfortable" in large portions, which makes the movie difficult to watch. "Big Fan" does not give us exhilaration because it is too busy giving us truth. Give Siegel credit for finding the lost soul; if you're up to the discomfort of finding it with him, it is worth going to see.

MM

Mario Manningham gets out of his break quickly and gets that separation that you crave. So it is time for the QBs to make practice perfect and start hitting this guy in stride. Those WR fears will melt away IF that happens. Watch the replay of Manningham on that pass that Payne breaks up in Chicago Sat evening. It is only one play, but it is part of the problem and represents part of the solution when corrected and executed.

From Garafolo on his initial writeup:
Coughlin might breathe easier when he sees Eli Manning's numbers: 7-for-10 for 62 yards. But he's just as likely to throw down his remote control when he looks at the tape of the first drive and sees how Manning missed Mario Manningham on third-and-7.

"Yeah, that's me," Manning said. "He ran a good route, we had the good coverage, I just didn't throw it far enough near the sideline."

The Giants need Eli Manning more than ever. Maybe when the DL is healthy and the defense is dominant, Eli does not have to carry the team. But with Robbins and Cofield trying to come back from injuries, with Canty nursing a hamstring tear, Alford gone, this team needs execution and fast. LIFT THESE YOUNG WRs UP, Eli. They may not be Plaxico but they are good enough for a consistent passer.

Jay Alford- Torn MCL

On Saturday night, we noted re Alford that "they said it was a sprain but it looked worse" and we said to wait for confirmation. It was worse. Torn MCL and partially torn ACL. One of the original email guys (from the precursor to this blog, pre 2006) is an MD and said he was fairly confident it was a torn MCL. And he reminded me that they said the same thing about Osi before revealing the full extent of the injury.

Alford is not a loss on the scale of Osi Umenyiora. But this is the first MAJOR injury of 2009. Remember, DL is not like any other unit. Every person on the roster who is on the DL is a starter. Everyone. They ALL play. Every time you see tongues hanging out it in the Q4, every time you see Osi or Tuck on the sidelines wondering why they are there.. it is because these guys get exhausted getting pounded on by 325 lb. linemen and then chasing after QBs play after play for 60 minutes. So Alford is a big loss.

We also found out yesterday that Canty's injury is a hamstring tear. This from the DL who has not missed a single game in his 4 year career. It is worth noting that the 3 prime (high profile) free agent signings of Boley, Canty and Bernard have not yielded a single snap so far. Bernard is on the mend and Coughlin hopes that he'll get practice and minutes this Saturday night, but this is not like any of them are "game ready."

Coughlin and Motown (last night) remind us we are not deep anymore at DL. How true. Alford: season-ending IR? Not the DL roster solution we were looking for.

One more item.. Alford was a long snapper, so this makes Zak DeOssie's chances for a roster spot significantly greater. After all, who else on this team is a long snapper?! DeOssie did not add anything to our LB corp, so we were quietly hoping he would not make the squad so that another LBer would.

Bears 17 Giants 3

The score was not indicative of how one-sided this loss was. The Giants got their butts kicked.

The bloom is off the rose. Good. Plenty of work for this team to do. We specifically wanted to see how the LBers would handle Forte and the verdict was not good. Carl Banks singled out Blackburn on the 33 yd TD run, where our backup MLB (Pierce out for game) was roasted on the play.

Cross and Banks had this team's flaws noted well. On Defense, lack of lane integrity meant the Giants got gashed up the middle, taken to school. And that same lack of lane integrity on pass rush meant Cutler carved up the Giants when he ran out of time, quickly going out of the pocket and buying plenty of time to reset plays and kill the pass defense. These are the fundamentals Cross and Banks highlighted as being absent. On offense, McKenzie and Diehl made enough mistakes (2 sacks and 1 penalty) to essentially kill 3 drives. Manning did not have time to throw. Ugly.

Woodson hit Nicks on a 55 yd pass play, but could not finish the drive with a TD. Considering he could not help the team finish the previous drive either, this is not going to help his roster chances.

Jay Alford was carted off the field. They said it was a sprain but it looked worse. Let's get more confirmation in coming days on that one.

Some positives:
1) Manningham is going to create opportunities with his separation.
2) Tollefson saved a TD and created a FG, so 24-0 instead of 17-3 at the half w/o him
3) Bradshaw behind the 2nd team OL once again looks like he can break it whenever he touches the ball
4) Jacobs looked great behind the sloppy first team OL
5) Ware looked good

Do you want excuses or not? The Giants played poorly. Coughlin wanted to have more than 5 days in between preseason games and the team seemed disorganized. No need for panic. It's preseason. The Giants won the Super Bowl after getting ripped apart for 80 points in the first two regular season games. Back to fundamentals. Blocking and tackling. Keeping your lanes on the run, keeping the edge contained on the pass rush. It will be nice to get guys like Snee, Seubert, Pierce, Tuck, Bernard and Canty back.

Intragame comments Bears vs Giants