N.Y. Giants ~ Defensive Synchronicity

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

2011

WILD CARD WEEKEND

PLAYOFFS

Atlanta Falcons

vs.

NEW YORK GIANTS

FROM

GIANTS STADIUM

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  For the Giants' Defense, Timing Will be Everything.   In Order to Search and Destroy Matt Ryan, the Giants Still Must Keep Down Field Safe and Secure.



POST: N.Y. Giants; G-Men and the Department of Defense




The Giants are 2-2 against Birds this season; (Philadelphia 2x; Arizona; Seattle).  If you include the Jets game, the Giants are 3-2 against things that fly.  So naturally, the question begs to be asked - how do the Giants ground the Falcons?  Very simply, the answer is with Synchronization.





Here's the difference between the Green Bay and New Orleans games per say versus Giant wins against the Jets and Cowboys.  Drew Brees and Aaron Rogers managed to stay just a finger tip away from the rush.  But they faced a depleted rush, as there was no Tuck and no Osi, in addition to no Michael Boley.  The point is, at least against Green Bay, the coverage for the most part was there (and no, I'm not talking about the utterly confusing aspects of the Secondary's failures in zone coverage -not right now).  OK, they've sucked all season.  But coverage only lasts so long before a dipping and dodging QB dances long enough until a down field break down occurs.  That's exactly what happened against Aaron Rogers.  What happened against Drew Brees was just mass confusion and something else all together.  So let's grade on a curve here.  The Giants still came frustratingly close to Brees; quite literally within hands reach.  But he just skipped away and killed us.  There were many things wrong with the Giants Defense that night.  Among other things, we were ill prepared for the task personnel wise.





I still don't have an answer for the Redskins game.  But these last two weeks, a fully loaded pass rush got their hands on the QB as they were still going through check-downs.  At first glance Marc Sanchez' and Tony Romo's first and second options were covered.  However this time, the pass rush got their man.  In these last two weeks Coach Fewell largely ditched his confusing zone as well.  The horrific gaffes that occurred against the Packers and Saints that left receivers all alone have not happened since then. 





I leave the Giants win over the Patriots out of this because Tom Brady is a freakin statue.  He leads the NFL in completed passes with pigeons on him.  He's as fleet of foot as a table.  That's why we continue to play New England well.  But I digress.  Matt Ryan isn't exactly a mad-scrambler either.  He CAN be found in the pocket.  The only question is how quickly can the Rush get to him, and how long will the Secondary afford them.  If Justin Tuck; Osi; Jason Pierre Paul; Chris Canty; and Dave Tollefson are all in the rotation Sunday, the Giants may have something.  But Justin Tuck had a week of limited practice and Osi admitted he's sore as hell.  Then, if Ross; Webster; Grant; Rolle; Phillips; and Prince, can manage coverage long enough in order for the rush to get at Matt Ryan, the Giants may have something going for them again.  And in that case, mission accomplished.  But it's going to take synchronization on the part of the Secondary and the Pass Rush to make good things happen on defense.





Now should the Falcons decide they want to establish the run against us with Michael Turner, I'd welcome that.  The Giants are not the same team they were against the run through the first half of the season when they were at their worst.  The Problem lied quite obviously with our Linebackers or lack there of.  Heading into Sunday, Michael Boley appears to be operating at full capacity again.  While Jacquian Williams is a vastly improved player since week one till now.  And of course, the hybrid- Mathias Kiwanuka always poses a problem for offenses.  Over all, the stats say the Giants are the worst team in the NFL against the run.  But not lately.  They've defended the run below their season average and are allowing 86+/- yards over their last four/five games.  Additionally and not so quietly anymore, Chris Canty is doing an increasingly good job plugging up the middle.  And Jason Pierre Paul is exhibiting discipline against the run as well.





If the Giants appoint Michael Boley or Jacquian Williams to Tight-End Tony Gonzalez like we did against Jason Witten of the Cowboys, Big Blue should get the same result.  The Giants neutralized Jason Witten very well last week.  I have no reason to think they can't repeat the effort again.





These teams are pretty evenly matched.  So what's not to like about our chances?  As fans, the most frustrating part of this season was knowing we should have done better.  We know the Giants have enough personnel to accomplish great things.  That's what makes the let-downs so heavy.





This game against the Falcons is pretty well set up for the Giants.  This will be our first home playoff game since the 2000 NFC Championship and the first playoff game in the new Giants Stadium.  And for everything I detailed in my last posting;  G-Men and the Dept. Of Defense;  health, experience, and cohesion finally seem to be on Perry Fewell's side.  This posting basically puts a bow on what I started then.





Next up - The Offensive Plan





Let's Go Giants!





Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Defense; There's Beauty in Simplicity

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  Yes; There is Beauty in Simplicity.   But There's an NFC East Title to be Won With Defensive Agression.


POST:  N.Y. Giants - Romo's Hand?  Victory May Rest in Kevin Gilbride's Hands



Let's make something perfectly clear.  The Jets did much to make the Giants Defense look good last week.  They employed a bizarre game plan that didn't involve exploiting the Giants' Secondary.  Rather, the Jets did everything to highlight their own flaws and put them on full display.  The few times Marc Sanchez attempted to go down field, he heaved-up up several dying quails that were easily intercepted.  The old guy from the Benny Hill Show could have intercepted those passes.  And interspersed among thirty other in-completed pass attempts, Sanchez was busy taxing his compromised Offensive Line and giving the Giants pass rush plenty of time to get their hands on him. 




So as you'd now expect, I caution my fellow Giant Fan - last week was not a game from which to draw false hope.  This Defense still has the problems it's had for two years running.  And if they're not careful, Tony Romo and the Cowboys can make the Giants look silly on so many levels. 




That's precisely the way the Giants don't want to end their season.  As I stated last week before the Jets game, - I am pretty much through with logistics.  That stuff is strategy and plotting through the season.  Those are weekly issues with full knowledge another game awaits the following week.  The Giants have no such reassurances this week.  This is the end of the regular season.  If they don't win, while on the one hand going home to their families for the Winter sounds wholesome and Americana'ish, the other hand is some players and even coaches will be asked to stay there and not return.  Such as life in the NFL.  Such as life for a NY team. 




In losing seven games this season; at least three of them very inexplicably; the Giants have chummed their own waters off the Hudson.  There will be a Media feeding frenzy awaiting the Giants just beyond some curtain in a room within the bowels of Blue Life-or-Death Stadium; for then it will have been three straight seasons Big Blue misses the playoffs.  That's a nice chunk of meat to start sinking their teeth into and probably only the beginning.  People need to be held accountable for some of the things we saw this season.  And the not so funny thing is that organizations, the Media, and Fans all have a different way of going about that.




I said such as life in the NFL?  Then a win changes everything it seems.  It always does.  A win not only saves the season, it will most likely save jobs also.  And even then, I'd have to do an awful lot of combing over the deficiencies of this team of which there are many.  The short list of who to blame has already been drawn up.  At this point, the only question is if names will get added to it.




But low and behold, the Giants have one more game.  Sunday night we all get to find out if the New York Football Giants are a playoff team.  No one really cares much how you get there, just as long as you're there.  The late great Wellington "The Duke" Mara once stood upon a hastily constructed TV podium at the fifty yard line on a field of green painted mud..., and sarcastically chided the Media, and proudly hailed his 2000 team as the worst team ever to win the NFC Championship...!  That was the late Mr. Mara's last truly great moment as owner of the team his dad founded back in the 1920's.
 



The era that ended on the night Scott Norwood missed wide right has since ushered in four head coaches.  The Giants tried the in-house thing with Ray Handley.  They then tried the established NFL coach approach with Dan Reeves.  The Giants moved on with an off-campus - thinking out of the box type hire in Jim Fassel. 




Then with the hiring of Tom Coughlin, the Giants made a return to their roots.  Wellington Mara liked Coach Coughlin very much.  Tom Coughlin was part of the old regime here when they won Super Bowls under Bill Parcells.  Today there are three of them; -  three Vince Lombardi Trophies won via the Bill Parcells/Tom Coughlin Laws of Football.  That is not a coincidence.




In that spirit,  It's time to DO IT FOR THE DUKE.




The reputation this organization has long maintained was built on the defensive side of the ball.  It was true of the 1986 and 1990 teams.  It was the Defense which shut-out the Vikings on that field of green painted mud back in the 2000 NFC Championship.  Then the return to defensive dominance  culminated in the organization's third trophy in 2007.




In 2007, Kevin Gilbride was the Offensive Coordinator.  And since he's been to the mountain top with us, it's with a heavy heart I turn to him this week and plead for clock management and ball control through the run.  Of course Eli will throw his share of passes.  That's not only a given, it's needed indeed.  But I beg for the smash-mouth aspects of the Giants' attack to make a mark on this game in order to minimize Tony Romo's and Dallas' big play ability to overly affect the game.




Perry Fewell's defense is still suspect.  And as a long time Giants fan with several decades worth of mental reference to draw from, no Giants' team in my recollection ever accomplished much when the Offense was the more dominant unit of the team.  For all my lifetime, Giants' success has been solidly built on Defense.  Less offensively talented Giants teams have outscored the likes of the mighty 49ers; Broncos; Bills; Green Bay; and the Patriots; in the biggest games in the organization's history.  But they were able to do so, because the Defense put them in positions to do so.




There is no such dynamic at work between the Giants' Offense and the Defense this season.  They are an inharmonious, and an uncomplimentary team.  One unit is usually forced into bailing out the other -  Or worse yet, logistically speaking, conspiring against each other.




Number one, the Offense is too slow to the line.  Too many time-outs have been used because the play clock ran out.  The play needs to get in and the players need to be ready.  That comes from the coach.  Second, the three-and-outs are putting the Defense in harms way.  Too many needless pass attempts and questionable play calling inevitably result in not spending enough time on the field.  The Offense is losing the time-of-possession game.  In my last post, I explained how I think Kevin Gilbride needs to win this game for the Giants, because Perry Fewell's unit is as of right now, unreliable.




The Defense has mostly suffered from mass confusion in the Secondary.  We know.  Untold points have been scored against the Giants as a result of busted coverage; and worse yet, no coverage at all.  Over two season under Perry Fewell, what's become evident is that Aaron Ross, Corey Webster; Antrel Rolle, and Deon Grant; those four in particular; and include their coaches Peter Giunta and David Merrit; clearly do no grasp what Coach Fewell is teaching.  Those four players and their subordinate coaches have been together for a time exceeding Perry Fewell's tenure as Giants  Defensive Coordinator.  So, isn't it safe to deduce that which ails the unit is the leader himself?




All I'm going to say about that is:  SIMPLICITY.  There's beauty in simplicity.  There's another saying for that - Keep it simple stupid!  At some point you have to give up on what hasn't worked, and go back to what you do best.  I'd say the last game of the season, - a do or die game for the NFC East title is a good time. 




In the Secondary's case, Tony Romo will no doubt try to exploit them.  And he has the arm for it.  So  let the guys play man and just let them be Football players.  And bump them off the line please?  Yes, physicality plays a large part in this too...thank you.  But just let them play without too much to think about.  Just let them run around and keep an eye on their man.  We can not have two defenders looking at each other again and have them both claim to be in the correct spot; not when twenty five yards away there's a guy in the end zone with the ball and doing a little dance with his team mates.  Not in this game.  Play it that way because clearly, no one understands the new zone coverages and all it's built in options and I have no reason to believe they'll learn by Sunday.




Otherwise, everything else is elementary Watson.  Make sure we have the right linebacker covering Jason Witten.  Then let the other linebackers do what they've done since high school, which is plugging holes against the run, covering backs out of the back field, and help rush the passer. 




No!  Better yet... Here's an idea, make the backfield engage the Linebackers in their back field when we blitz!  C'mon Coach.  You have to unleash a blitz at some point.  The Cowboys have a quarterback with a compromised wrist.  He's going to be very protective of it.  And just because Romo's wrist might feel fine Sunday morning, with one shot, he's right back at square one, if not worse off.  So they have to get after him.




Perry Fewell has done very little however in the way of disguising anything really.  There have been no Safety blitzes; Linebackers; none of that.  He's been overly concerned with coverages and relying on his four man front to supply all the pass rushing.  It's not a terribly wrong way to compensate for a flawed Secondary, but when you play a team twice in a season, so close together like the Cowboys and Giants are playing, you have to change things up.  And what Perry Fewell hasn't been lately, or much at all this season, is aggressive.  Maybe that's exactly the kind of change needed for this particular game.  If you remember, we barely escaped Dallas with a victory, thanks in part to a ball lost in the lights.




Osi might play, and if he can spell Justin Tuck and JJP at times, and is healthy enough to get inserted together with them from time to time, the Giants will have a distinct advantage.  And if Chris Canty and Dave Tollefson continue to raise their games like they've been, even better for the G-Men.




I'd rather lose this game and rest easier knowing I went all out trying to get at Tony Romo than if we adhere to a much more conservative plan.  We know Tuck, Osi, and JPP and others like Kiwanuka can bring pressure upon quarterbacks.  That's a given.  But my question is how well will Coach Fewell enhance their abilities to rush the passer.  How well will he compliment their effort?  How confident is Coach Fewell if he throws numbers at Romo, that we can get to him before he gets off a pass or breaks the pocket?  All I can say is nothing ventured - nothing gained.  If we were meant to die because of the Secondary...let's die with the Secondary then.  But all I know is that we need to make the pocket, and the Box, a dangerous place for him to be.




In keeping things simple, Perry Fewell is also going to have to take chances.  In football, aggression shouldn't be considered taking risks at all.  In football, it's a way of life.  And Giants' History by the way, is based on it.




I've asked Coach Gilbride to really put on his thinking cap for this one.  I think his unit can play a larger role towards securing a win.  Perry Fewell's unit however has repeatedly shown they can do little to prevent a loss.  See Eli manning on that one.  So, if your back is up against the wall, you damn well better go down swinging.  No?




And if the Giants Defense rises to the occasion with a superlative effort, well then, they'll look like heroes.




Naturally.








Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Romo? Victory May Be in Kevin Gilbride's Hands

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

2011

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

East Division Title Game

Dallas Cowboys

vs.

NEW YORK GIANTS

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  Kevin Gilbride is the Key to Powering Up a GIANT Win and Limiting Romo's Chances of Exploiting Our Secondary.




When Center David Baas missed time to injury and Kevin Boothe moved to Center and Mitch Petrus filled in at Left Guard, running holes suddenly opened up the middle that previously were not there before with Baas playing.  Prior to Baas being sidelined, the Line assignments were breaking down causing Jacobs to get met at, or behind the line of scrimmage.  Not even Bradshaw broke through.  The Offensive Line's push/surge forward never....pushed.  They got pushed instead.  But the fans chose to focus their ire on Jacobs forgetting Shaun O'Hara and Rich Suebert were longer opening up holes for him (them) and because he generally has a big mouth.  But everyone likes the way he dealt with Rex Ryan last week right?!  Don't be a hypocrite!   I digress.




But since the most recent in-season O-Line shake-up, yes, the running game improved substantially with 100+ yards games to show for it.  However, regardless of the situation at Center, the Giants have run their best football outside the Guards, and off-Tackle in particular.  Yet for the longest, Kevin Gilbride kept insisting on running off Center.  Last week's game against the Jets was no different.   Gilbride tried going off Center with Baas reinserted into the line-up.  And once again there was very little to be had there with only Bradshaw managing to bust a run up the gut on the play he destroyed the Jets' Brodney Pool on.




Gilbride seemingly may be catching on now.  Last week, Bradshaw's; Jacobs', and Ware's biggest gains, and most important rushes of the day all game outside the Guards and off-Tackle.  But they didn't come till the second half.  For after several games of 100+ yard results , Kevin Gilbride started the Redskins game with seventeen passes and only five rushing attempts in the first half.  And against the Jets?  He did the same thing.  For a majority of the first half, the score remained 10-3 Giants.  So why on Earth was Gilbride calling for 17+ passes and rushing the ball a mere seven times?  After prior success, for two consecutive first halves, the answer is he ignored what worked.  Last week Eli completed seven passes all game.  Yet for too long Coach persisted until turning to the run in the second half more.  The week prior against the Skins, he very literally waisted the entire third quarter trying to establish (not re-establish!) the run after a mere five first half rushes.




Let's assume Tony Romo's hand will be fine Sunday.  The best way to beat the Cowboys is still to keep the ball out of his hands.  The best way to do that is by possessing the ball ourselves.  Look..., clearly Eli, Nicks, Cruz, and even Ballard are not who they are today ( I say that loosely) without Gilbride dialing up a lion's share of plays for them.  And quite frankly I get this is an uber-passing League now.  But with so many quick strike touchdowns, we're giving the opposition too many opportunities with ample time left to make life very unpleasant.




I'm just saying the name of the game against Dallas should be first downs.  Third down conversions have been a big, big problem.  The growing number of three-down-and-out possessions borders on alarming now.  The Offense is making Steve Weatherford look like a star.  And many of those possessions have been pass intensive; or worst, Gilbride chooses to run on second and long.  But that's neither here nor there.  The Offense needs first downs, because even though the Giants are capable of scoring in the high-twenties or even breaking thirty points Sunday night, the fact remains, Gilbride's pass happy offense leaves the other team entirely too much time with which to work with.  Then the game becomes a battle of who has the ball last.  And for the most part this season, Eli has nearly mastered that aspect; albeit needlessly.  And I say needlessly because of all the time the Defense is made to spend on the field.  The Giants have been losing the time-of-possession battles.  That's a fact.




All I'm asking for is a little ball control and better clock management coach.  I don't mind Gilbride taking chances early in the game; or late; or whenever.  It's nice to work with a lead; especially against the Cowboys.  But at some point during the first quarter, Gilbride needs to show a willingness to run the ball with meaningful power.  This time, he can not afford to blow an entire half and wait until the second half to run to daylight.  No; not this game.  Because this game is most definitely the last game if we don't get things churning forward and making sure the clock is our ally.




Because here's the deal.  Tony Romo can do exactly what Aaron Rogers, Drew Brees, Alex Smith, and what Rex Grossman did twice to the Giants this season; and that is absolutely destroy our Secondary.  We are not playing Marc Sanchez this week who made our Secondary seem buttoned up and tight as a clam.  The Jets never really tried going down field on us.  Romo will no doubt go vertical and over the top on us.  He'll definitely be putting up rainbows for Dez Bryant and company hoping to catch that little pot-o-pigskin worth six points a pop.  And whether I hate the Cowboys or not the fact remains, they can score in a hurry when they need to.




Even as Giant fans hear that Justin Tuck, JPP, Tollefson, and a returning Osi may all wind up on the Line across from Romo together for the first time in a long time, the fact is Romo can shake and bake long enough to make even the best downfield coverage fall apart.  And like I said in my last posting, Tony Romo throws the ball with his body contorted in all kinds of crazy positions while on the run no less, and still gets off passes with strength and accuracy.  It drives me crazy!  And here's problem number two I see about that.  If Jason Witten takes Michael Boley along for a trot down field, Romo will have the entire middle of the field all to himself.




So you see, of all people I thought the Giants would have to rely on this season to be the smartest guy on the field this Sunday, I honestly didn't think it would have been Coach Gilbride.  After all, I put him on my Hot Seat back in September.  Here we are none the less.  And we need him to come up with an effective plan to run the ball behind our best Offensive Linemen, and then set Coach free to do what he and Eli work out together.  But make the running game matter.  Three-and-outs that take all of 1:08 off the clock and are like torpedoes into the bow of the best laid plans; at least against the good QB's of the League.  So if by holding on to the ball by making a concerted effort to get ourselves in third-and-short situations, then execute and ride first downs...., cool.




The more Kevin Gilbride; not Perry Fewell; can limit the opportunities Tony Romo gets to attack our Secondary the better our chances are of winning.  That's right, I'm saying Marc Sanchez is not the right QB to gaining false confidence from.  He was simply not up to the task.  And Perry Fewell's new-fangless- twilight zone coverage-New Jersey devil's trap-....or what ever it is, clearly isn't something Aaron Ross, Corey Webster; the Safeties; Coach Peter Giunta; and Coach David Merritt are understanding very well.  And against Tony Romo, it can easily turn nto - here we go again.  Don't forget..., last game was won because of the stadium lights...riiiight, and because of JPP's giant hand.




So now the cat is out of the bag.  Help us Kevin Gilbride.  You're the only one who can save the Giants from our Secondary getting burnt like breakfast toast in Hell's kitchen.  Get first downs.  Keep the Offense on the field for 38:00 minutes and score some points.  Of course we are going to pass the ball.  It's what has delivered us to this very game and moment.  Of course I don't want to muzzle Kevin Gilbride's passing game.  Just trust the run and keep Dallas having to stop it.  We know which components of our Offensive Line work best and how.  So be smart, creative, and throw hell at them.  But don't get too cocky like is your want, and Run With Power Man.




C'mon Dude, you need to bail your fellow coordinator out this week.  The NFC East Title or nothing, depends on it.




A defensive point of view and more about Perry Fewell is coming in my next post. Check it out.

POST SCRIPT ~ Stuff that wasn't supposed to make it, but I left in anyway:


Perhaps this is the game I've been waiting all season for.  No; I hope this is the game.  You know, the one where Tony Romo breaks Dallas' heart and that of greater Texas in the only way they know how out there - In a BIG way with a total fail effort, then goes on TV wearing that taxi cab's hat and recounts how he blew the game and takes total responsibility.  I love that part.  Anyway, I've been waiting patiently.  But, perchance to dream; -  it hasn't come yet.  Today, a buddy of mine said Romo already had that game.  He said it came against the Jets.  In Week One I asked?  Yeah, he said.  I pondered that for the rest of the day.  And here I am.



Did he really get that out of his system in Week One?  Is this the season Tony Romo finally comes through for the Cowboys and their fans?  If it that happens against us, you know what's going to happen around here...don't you?







Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Week 8; Needing a Win Before the Storm

From the desk of:  DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:  Big Blue Must Avoid Sleeping With The Fish Before Playing League's Elite Teams.



Health.  Fish.  Health through fish.  Dolphins are not fish.  They're mammals.  And there's roughly fifty-three of them from Miami trained to play football; albeit not very well.




The Giants are slowly gaining health.  They're getting some of their premiere players back for this game.  Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck seem ready to suit up while Chris Snee and the O-Line used the last two weeks to recover from some issues.  But it looks like Prince Amukamara still needs one more week till he returns. 




If Prince does indeed return next week, it won't be too soon as the schedule will take a drastic turn towards some very stiff competition.  So welcome to the last soft spot in the schedule.  That's why the Giants can't do anything stupid this Sunday....like lose to the worst team in the League the way they stumbled against Seattle.  Big Blue just can not be THAT team that lays a Big Egg against the Fish.  OH!  Poseidon help the Giants if they lose this game to a team that more resembles a pack of manatees than the Dolphin emblazoned on their helmets.




The Giants will have the Fearsome Foursome defensive line of JPP, Osi, Tuck, and Tollefson in place and available together for the first time this season.  Just in time too.  They'll have this game against the Dolphins to reacquaint themselves before the Giants start a chain of games against the Patriots; Niners; Eagles; Saints; and Packers - which means a heavy dose of Brady; Vick; Brees; and Rogers.  The Giants have been surviving this season due in large part to their ability to get key, timely sacks.  They'll need a healthy pass rush more than ever now.





The return of Justin Tuck presents it's own possibilities with regard to Mathias Kiwanuka.  There's an opening here for the hybrid to be even more dynamic on the pass rush from linebacker.  I'm very interested to see how Coach Fewell implements him.  Then if Prince Amukamara comes back ready to help next week, and if Kenny Phillips' ribs can do the same, Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, and the rest of the Secondary and the entire Giants' Defense stand to benefit substantially.  Then maybe we can finally prevent that one big rush against us, and that one big pass play against us from happening on a now near weekly basis.  But in order for that to happen, the Giants need to close that gaping hole in the middle.  That's where Michael Boley needs to re-establish himself, and the area Mathias Kiwanuka and Coach Fewell need to address now.




On the other side of the ball, Brandon Jacobs and his big mouth are back.  Is what he said surprising to you?  It shouldn't be.  That was nothing we haven't heard before.  And you know what?  He's right.  If you've followed me blog about the Giants, then you know how much complaining I've done regarding the Giants' misuse of Brandon Jacobs; the healthy Brandon Jacobs, that is.




He's griped to the media before and no one ever likes that.  But when it comes to the field, he's always been all-in and a good, supportive team mate.  So he can complain if he wants to, because there's large grains of truth in what he says.  Coach Coughlin went as far as admitting Jacobs was under-utilized at the conclusion of last season.  And he did after all renegotiate his contract allowing the Giants to resign his Little Buddy Bradshaw.  But I also understand, Jerry Reese could also have cut him at any time based on an injury history and his inability to catch passes out of the backfield alone.  As unwise in my opinion as cutting him may have been, they still continue misuse Jacobs none the less.  And it remains my contention Brandon Jacobs will be an important factor in December football should Coach Gilbride continue to stay flexible and remain patient with the running game.




I think Jacobs is wrong however in this respect.  I don't think there's another team willing to feature him as their full-time back.  And that's even before bringing age into the conversation.  I believe his home is here with the Giants, in this system with Bradshaw.  Although within this system, he is deserving and correct in asking for more carries.  Jerry Reese hasn't positioned the Giants to make a break from Brandon Jacobs yet.  He'll need another draft for that.  So it's probably best if the Giants just pound him into opposing defenses and soften them up for Bradshaw.





The Giants must absolutely take advantage of this match-up against the Dolphins and solidify their precarious lead they have in the NFC East.  Philly and Dallas square off Sunday as well, with the loser getting smaller in the division's rear-view mirror.  The Redskins in my opinion, look ready to fall from the race like a piano out of the sky.  Therefore a Giant win Sunday against the Dolphins will go a long way towards creating space between Big Blue, and the Cowboys, and Eagles.




We've been here before...with the Cardinals game.  And don't forget, the Skins, Cowboys, and Eagles play all the crappy teams the Giants did.  Just sayin'.





Let's Go Giants!






Mike.BTB