New York Giants: Running Game Taking On New Persona

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

O.J. ANDERSON

SUPER BOWL XXV MVP

 

The Age of Smash Mouth Football

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:

The Big Buddy and Little Buddy Show Had a Great Run.

 

PRE SEASON

Game Two - Giants vs. Jets  Post-Game

Pre Season Pigskin; Giants vs. Jets

 

N.Y. GIANTS OFFENSE

Eli Manning Is Now Beyond The Coach

On Kevin Gilbride, And An Offensive Line Preview

At this very moment, the Giants' feature back is doing what he normally does at this time of year.  He is healing from injuries and missing practice.  If not his feet or ankles, then you knew something else would afflict Ahmad Bradshaw.  It's always something with him.  Every season we all ask, how many games will Ahmad Bradshaw miss?  For he always misses at least a couple.  This season however, Big Buddy Brandon Jacobs isn't around to pick up Little Buddy's slack.  Brandon Jacobs now has his own knee issues to contend with in San Francisco.


This year's reason why Ahmad Bradshaw's training camp has been compromised?  He is nursing a hand injury suffered early in last week's game against the Jets.  The trauma was downgraded to just a bruise, and reports are Bradshaw is fine.  But Coach Coughlin already hinted he wanted rookie David Wilson, and returning vet, D.J. Ware, to get a lion's share of touches against the Chicago Bears this Friday night anyway.


Heading into the 2012 season, Ahmad Bradshaw, David Wilson, and D.J. Ware, are all tasked with improving upon last year's running game, which ranked dead last in rushing yardage.  An Offensive Line thrust into transition by Jerry Reese was partly to blame.  After Jerry Reese cut Shaun O'Hara, and Rich Seubert last season, injuries and uncertainty dominated the left side.  Additionally, Center David Baas' initial integration into the line didn't go so smoothly either.  It took him all season to get right.  And he also suffered through a neck injury for a few weeks.  Baas played much better in the playoffs.  This season, Jerry Reese continued to flip the O-Line by parting ways with Right Tackle; Kareem McKenzie.


Another reason the Giants ranked last in the NFL in rushing was Brandon Jacobs was no longer the Brandon Jacobs of old.  While he did have his moments last season, it was pretty evident the Giants would not be bringing him back.  However, he wound up ending his New York Giants career in grand fashion.  After supplanting Tiki Barber as the Giants feature back, the big guy went on to help Big Blue win two Super Bowl Championships.  Along the way, he also became the organization's all-time rushing touchdowns leader.


Despite career long bi-pedal problems, Ahmad Bradshaw is now THE guy in the backfield.  The Big Buddy and Little Buddy's show had a great run.  That is officially the past now.  Rushing forward,  and quite understandably, Ahmad Bradshaw's durability is in question.  But when it comes to heart, there is none larger.  He's a gamer in every sense.  But how long can he stay on his feet this season?  We almost expect Ahmad to miss a few games.  Therefore, David Wilson will no doubt have a large role to play this season.  Whether the rookie fulfills his role adequately remains to be seen.  Friday night he'll get a chance to show what he can do.  Wilson will get an opportunity to run behind the starting O-Line for at least one half of football.  Many interested eyes will be on him, and perhaps none larger, than Tom Coughlin's.   D.J. Ware is already a known commodity.


Apparently, a team can be the worst rushing team in the NFL, and still win a Super Bowl.  Go figure.  But make no mistake, smash mouth football is not dead.  That style of football still owns credibility in today's modern Age of the Quarterbacks.  Somehow, Eli Manning and Kevin Gilbride squeezed just enough out of last season's running game, and made it good enough; good enough for another Lombardi Trophy that is.


In the past, Kevin Gilbride's implementation of the running game often drew my ire.  I'm sure this season will be no different for me.  But the truth is, the Giants' running game will indeed take on a new persona this season, and old-time fans will have to adapt.  In terms of game planning, the Giants did their best rushing behind the right side of the line last season.  But to his credit, Kevin Gilbride maintained a strict balance between running left, middle, and right, regardless of clear statistical trends.  The Giants Offensive Coordinator has now helped orchestrate, not one, but two last minute Super Bowl winning drives.  So where the Giants running game is concerned, only the Offensive Coordinator knows where he's taking it.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see.





Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Eli Leads Giants Ground Game

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

Cowboys  14

GIANTS   31

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL ~ Big Blue Wins NFC East Title Over Dallas Cowboys.

The Last Word: Pre-Game

Don't Worry Pop.  I Got This.

 

TAKE ONE:

Eli's Legs Kept the Clock Moving Against Dallas as

Eli's Arm Keeps the Giants Winning.

Yeah!  Smash Mouth Eli!  The only Star last night didn't come on a Dallas helmet.  Eli Manning was the biggest star last night.  And everyone from here to Dallas knew it.





It took Eli Manning's fourteen yards on six rushes to get the Giants over 100 yards rushing for the game.  And his scrambles should not go under spoken either.  They were very important.  Otherwise, Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, and D.J. Ware combined on twenty five rushes for ninety-two yards.  That's 3.7 yards per gain and not a bad game by any stretch; not as it pertains to the Cowboys game and I'll tell you why.





The Cowboys came out in the second half having made some good adjustments.  It took the entire third quarter before Perry Fewell and the Defense caught up.  That was a glimpse into Dallas' ability to score as quickly as the Giants.  But the time the Giants spent running the ball and consuming the clock with the lead, helped tremendously.





Dallas only rushed the ball sixteen times all game.  The Giants rushed twenty five times with six more scrambles by Eli for a total of thirty-one rushes.  Both teams had sixteen first downs throwing, and made three first downs running the ball.  The Giants only had seven more total plays from scrimmage that Dallas.  But the Giants were 7/15 on third down efficiency and the Cowboys were only 4/12 on their third down conversions.





Two turnovers by the Cowboys, and the Giants running the ball fifteen more times than Dallas kept the ball in Big Blue's hands for 34:33 versus 25:27 for the Cowboys.  That's why even when the running game isn't racking up huge yardage, it's still important to run the ball.  It keeps the other team off the field.  The Giants held on to the ball nine more minutes than Dallas yet only got off seven more plays as I stated earlier.





Of course, Eli Manning was a beast throwing the ball.  Or is the fact Victor Cruz was an even larger beast catching the ball a bigger menace to the Cowboys?  Victor Cruz accounted for more than half of Eli's throwing yardage.  Cruz caught six passes for 178 yards.  And seventy-four yards came on his touchdown scamper up the left side.  Eli attempted thirty-three passes and completed twenty-four, for 346 yards.  But Eli also threw touchdown passes to Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw too, for a total of three on the night.





I give Kevin Gilbride a lot of credit for sticking with the run even though at times it seemed to get stuffed at the line.  I even credit Gilbride for calling some planned roll-outs.  And I additionally credit Gilbride for incorporating Bear Pascoe and Travis Beckum into the game plan.  Eli Manning's six scrambles aside, twenty five rushes by the backfield was still enough to keep the Cowboys honest and the clock moving.  Because very simply, with more time of possession, Tony Romo could have done more to affect the outcome of this game.  Mind you, the conversation regarding the Giants Defensive effort is coming in my next post.





But I want to touch upon the running game getting stuffed at the line.  Center David Baas is not creating any push off the line of scrimmage.  Instead, he was getting stood up by Dallas, and once again, there was no yardage to be had up the middle.  For yet another week with Baas at Center, better holes were being created off-Tackle.  While that's been the case all season, at least with Boothe playing Center, the middle opened up somewhat.  And on pass protection, I'm sorry, but David Baas looked like a back-pedalling, arm flailing fool.  The Giants should be thinking long and hard about returning Kevin Boothe to Center, Mitch Petrus to Left Guard, David Diehl back to Tackle, and David Baas back to the sidelines.  For the good of the team of course.





DEFENSIVE observations coming soon.





Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Paint the City Blue

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  G-Men Take Care of Business in The Jets' House of Blues.

SNOOPY BOWL - I

Giants  29

Jets      14

After a crushing loss to the Redskins, I pretty much left off thinking the Giants just better show up against the Jets and make the final showdown with Dallas matter otherwise there would be all kinds of hell to pay.  And as the game drew closer, I still found my team a little too confusing for me to predict anything heading into Week Sixteen.  So what I wound up doing was reverse engineering my way through last week's win over the Jets.  That's right.  My own team confused the bajabbers out of me, so I put myself in the Jets' shoes and figured things out that way.




Prior to game-day game, in  N.Y. Jets; A Clash for TITANS  -  I asked if Mark Sanchez was up to snuff heading into this game?  But I also asked if the two headed Offensive Coordinator Schotty-Moore can find the right plays to suit his touch?  The answer I gave on the first question was no; Sanchez wouldn't be up to snuff.  And we found out the answer to the second question as to whether the two-headed monster would dial up plays tailored for Sanchez was a resounding NO; with fifty-nine pass attempts and a total of eighty-nine futile plays from scrimmage piled up as evidence.




Then in N.Y. Giants - Eve of Frustration -  I said, even with a suspect (Giants') Secondary, I still dare Marc Sanchez to throw the ball.  And the more he throws the ball, the better the chances are the Giants win this game.  ....And so, I'm banking a quarterback still trying to get a firm footing in this league won't be able to carry the Jets on his back today.   And he didn't.  And by throwing the ball fifty-nine times, the Giants chances of winning sky-rocketed.




Ultimately in my weekly PIGSKIN picks I said,  I have no idea (who'd win the game).  Both teams have pluses and minuses that cancel each other out.  So when I put this game in the hands of the quarterbacks, I side with Eli.




Okay fellow Giant Fans, why so preoccupied with the Jets?  Well, because as I pointed out in N.Y. Jets - Living in a Big Blue World, how on the one hand the Giants did what they needed to in order to win, and on the other hand the Jets did everything possible to lose that game.  So as a Giants fan who now has his playoff aspirations on the line versus Dallas, I'm concerned by the fact as I just stated, the Jets did more to lose, than we did to win.




The Victor Cruz touchdown was a busted play amongst two Jet players.  The tackle should have been made.  And if the Jets hadn't veered so far off their game, I think it could have been a much different game.  On a day Eli Manning only completed nine of twenty-seven passes and threw an interception, and a day when the Giants Offense as a whole had thirty-four less plays from scrimmage than the Jets did, their quarterback failed to do better. 




As part of thirty inconsequential pass completions, Marc Sanchez' two interceptions were pass attempts into the abyss and deserved getting picked-off.  Marc Sanchez also held on to the ball way too long and gifted the Giants with at least two of their five sacks and a fumble (recovered).  A second fumble came off a bad snap with the Jets threatening from the two yard line.  That fumble kept the Jets off the board.  And a Giant sack of Sanchez in the end-zone conversely put points on the board for Big Blue.




WHAT THE GIANTS DID WRONG ON OFFENSE:




The number of three-and-out possessions is keeping almost every team in games.  The failure to consistently get first downs has resulted in the Giants losing the time of possession battles more frequently.  It's continually resulting in teams far surpassing us in plays from scrimmage.  That in turn lends itself to exposing the Defense.




Kevin Gilbride resorted to the same losing formula that waisted everyone's time during the Redskins game.  There was never an attempt to establish the run in the first half.  With numbers almost identical to the week prior, Gilbride called for eighteen passes and just seven running plays during a 10-3 first half.




Furthermore, I didn't agree with the reinsertion of David Baas at center.  I thought the combination of Kevin Boothe at Center, with Mitch Petrus and Chris Snee at the Guards was working very well.  With David Baas at Center, the middle of the Line has been closed to the running game.  Saturday's game was no different.  Except for one big rush Ahmad Bradshaw busted off Center, all the Giants success came running off the Tackles.  Ahmad Bradshaw and D.J. Ware found daylight running between Chris Snee and Kareem McKenzie.  Brandon Jacobs found his daylight running off David Diehl. Throughout the first half however, Kevin Gilbride insisted on running up the middle when it clearly wasn't there.




WHAT THE GIANTS DID RIGHT ON OFFENSE:




For starters, Kevin Gilbride finally turned to the run once he found out Eli was going to have a bad day.  After the first half, the running game turned up the heat.  The trio of Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Jacobs, and D.J. Ware combined on twenty-five rushes and 116 yards.  Two of the three Giants touchdowns came on the ground.  And Bradshaw should be given a special mention for running with power.  The final splits between plays were twenty-seven passes, and twenty five running plays.




The Giants may have only had fifty-five plays from scrimmage, but they still averaged over six yards per play.  Thank Victor Cruz for that.  He had a 99 yard touchdown grab that padded the stats.  But he also became a Giants record breaker.  The day was also a measure of satisfaction after a week of verbal jousting with Darelle Revis.




And well, whether I disagree or not, with David Baas, the Offensive Line gains a measure of depth again.




WHAT THE DEFENSE DID WRONG:




For the second straight week, the Defense took a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty.  This week's directly led to the Jets' first touchdown of the day.




In dire need of a defensive stop with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter, after just trucking over Marc Sanchez on a first and ten play, second and twenty became third and twelve, which became a first and goal after a Giant penalty.  Sanchez ran a bootleg in for a touchdown.




Lastly, the Jets running game was building steam until they got derailed by their own coach.




That concludes a very short list.  That can only mean good news.




WHAT THE GIANTS DID RIGHT ON DEFENSE:




For having a quarterback throw the ball fifty-nine times with thirty completions, and for a team that ran eighty-nine plays and held the ball for thirty-six minutes, the Giants defense limited to the Jets to 331 total yards for the day.  The Secondary didn't get lit-up, and instead intercepted Sanchez twice.




The Giants' Pass Rush made it's triumphant return to dominance sacking Mark Sanchez five times for a loss of thirty-two yards.  The pass rush also caused the Jets' Center to mis-snap the ball in haste causing a fumble at the Giants' two yard line which the Giants recovered.




The Defense also scored two points with a Safety against Sanchez which pretty much ended the Jets' last stand.  Chris Canty was the one who got a hold of Sanchez.  And thus closed out the game for the Giants in a formidable manner.




Perry Fewell's unit did their job well Saturday considering the amount of time they spent on the field as the offense could only generate first downs at a 26% clip.





RELATED POSTS:

N.Y. Jets - A Clach for TITANS
N.Y. Jets - Living in a Big Blue World

N.Y. Giants - Eve of Frustration. But For Who?






Mike.BTB