N.Y.Giants: Did The Chiefs Tomahawk Big Blue's Season?

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

Picking Up Reese's Pieces

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: With A Quarter Of The Season Wasted, Big Blue's Underlying Condition Must Be Realized And Dealt With. 

The Giants are off to their worst start in twenty-seven years.  The first four weeks of the season have been a recurring nightmare, and any playoff aspirations the team may have held entering the 2013 season are now all but ruined.  Tom Coughlin might be happy to see his worse ever month as Head Coach of the GMen finally end.  But make no mistake, there will be no joy in the land of Giants.  They've dug such a hole for themselves, that at this point, there is likely no way out.  At the moment, the only thing they have working for them is time, as twelve games remain in the regular season.  Outside of that, the Giants have invited rampant and wide ranging speculation upon themselves.

This may be a hard subject to broach, or seem like a knee-jerk reaction after only Week Four, but the truth of the matter is the Chiefs may very well have served GM Jerry Reese with rebuilding papers this afternoon.  Just look where the Kansas City Chiefs have been the last two seasons, and look at them now.  Ditto goes for Seattle.  The same thing happening to the Giants is also happening to Pittsburgh.

No GM can ever flip a roster in one week much less one season, but with Giants respectability hanging by a thread, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Jerry Reese has upwards of forty-five question marks on both offense and defense which demand considerable attention.  Therefore, the coming second quarter of the season, and the rest of the year for that matter, begs for a different kind of team evaluation.

It is sad to be speaking about 2014 so soon, but the Giants condition must be realized and dealt with.  Offensively, I do not believe the return of a healthy David Diehl will make a difference.  He hardly made a difference last season.  Instead, the entire offensive line needs rebuilding - all five positions.  Eli Manning began as a rookie playing behind an established elite veteran offensive line, and was supplemented by an equally powerful backfield, and additionally always had a capable tight end at his disposal.  David Diehl, Chris Snee, Kareem McKenzie, Shaun O'Hara, Rich Seubert, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw collectively had their last hurrah together in SBXLII.  Injuries, age and declining ability have since took their toll on the offense.  Naturally with the passage of time, the collective skills of the offensive line and backfield were diminishing just as Eli was entering his prime, but the overlap of careers was still good enough to win two titles.  However, inadequate replacements have hastened the Giants demise.  In spite of his performance against Carolina, Will Beatty is a good pass blocker, but the Giants won't be doing much running behind him.  Beatty also does not come cheaply, and that's a hindrance to forward progress, just as David Baas' price tag and lack of performance have likewise been a hindrance towards success.

Defensively, despite Corey Webster's and Aaron Ross' past ability to rise up to occasion, ruinous injuries have hampered Jerry Reese's ability to upgrade the secondary for years.  Since Antonio Pierce, and despite a failed sizable investment in Michael Boley, the position of linebacker has been largely ignored.  While it's true, the Giants were able to rise up and win two Super Bowls on the strength on their pass rush, they currently rank last in the league in sacks.  Justin Tuck recorded just two tackles last week versus Carolina.  This week against the Chiefs, he made just one tackle.  He has exactly one-half sack after four games.  While the defensive line is where Jerry Reese has focused most of his attention in recent years, the results are lacking.  Tackle Cullen Jenkins was brought in for big money, and now reports have it Jerry Reese is looking to extend Linval Joseph.

That said, the Giants have faced massive salary cap issues for several years now as well.  Will Beatty and David Baas were already mentioned.  Victor Cruz' money barely fit under the cap, while Hakeem Nicks will be looking to cash in next season.  None of this bodes well for the Giants, this year or next.  This era may have finally reached its Law of Diminished returns.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants: Underwhelming Defense Getting Overwhelmed

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

WEEK FOUR

New York Giants @ Kansas City Chiefs

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: The Defense Must Do More Than Offer Yet Another Yawn Inspiring Performance.

17th In NFL Against Pass

Watching Peyton Manning and Cam Newton dissect the secondary

makes it seem much worse.

 

27th In NFL Against Run

Denver and Carolina ran outside their Tackles at will,

and with great success.

 

In Week One, Dallas showed the Giants defense was flawed.  In Week two, Peyton Manning stripped them down and left the defense exposed.  Last Week, Cam Newton and the Panthers finished them off by thoroughly demoralizing them.  All told, the Giants got out-scored by a 115-54 margin in three games to date.  They will now face the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where the defense can either put forth a formidable Big Blue effort for a change, or continue to devolve.

Adversity is supposed to reveal character, but in the Giants case they are facing something much more primitive - the instincts to fight or flee.  Game Four is the crucible of their season.  And so begins the conversation as to whether this assemblage of defensive players is finished.

If I were drafting a defense from the pool of current Giants players, my first two selections would be JPP and Prince Amukamara.  My next two picks would be Mathias Kiwanuka and Linval Joseph. Everyone else you can have.

Jason Pierre Paul is getting a little healthier by the week.  He made five tackles against the Panthers, but still can't generate a pass rush.  Mathias Kiwanuka has suffered from what I'm calling the Joba Treatment (as in the Yankees handling of Joba Chamberlain), which was failing to establish him at one position or another.  This season he is back to being a lineman.  Mathias wouldn't have had to be moved to linebacker in the first place if GM Jerry Reese had paid more attention to the position.  There is still a lot of potential in Prince Amukamara's game, and with the departure of Chris Canty, Linval Joseph has not embarrassed himself one bit.

We all know the Giants present linebacker situation can be described as pedestrian at best.  Jesse Armstead was the last linebacker of impact drafted by the Giants.  A long succession of superior linebackers ended with him.  Antonio Pierce was a very good acquisition along the way.  But outside of the recent surprise seasons provided by Kawika Mitchell and Chase Blackburn, the position on the whole has been impotent.  The Giants caught a bad break when Dan Conner went down for the season in Week One.  He was supposed to solidify the middle.  But his injury only magnified how thin the Giants already were to begin with.

In the secondary, Ryan Mundy continues to play well, while Antrel Rolle continues to talk-up a good game. Injured - Corey Webster will sit out Sunday's game.  Truth is, he has looked no better getting burnt on deep plays, than say Aaron Ross or Terrell Thomas have.  Speaking of which, Terrell Thomas' knees just may be two years past their usefulness.  That's just speculation on my part, but talk is he's already wearing down.  The Giants corners haven't gotten help from the defensive line this season either, and that's not about to change unless Justin Tuck starts to play elite football.

The naysayers have already lined-up against him, saying Justin Tuck can't.  After a supposedly superior off-season training program, Tuck led us to believe he would be playing rejuvenated and inspired football this season.  So far, he's been perpetrating a daydream and making Subway commercials.  He has exactly one-half sack this season, and last week only made two tackles all game, which ranked eleventh on the team!  His sub-par play is now bleeding into its third season.

As a whole, the Giants defense is understaffed, and the offense currently has them overburdened, as offensive time of possession has been terrible this season.  At the same time however, the defense is collectively underachieving and has been underwhelming to say the least.  The once mighty sack machine is now among the worst pass rushes in the league.

There are many fans who would agree the Giants have enjoyed success in spite of Perry Fewell.  He continues to assemble yawn inspiring defensive game plans.  Coach Fewell believes in winning individual battles up front that the Giants defensive line have been increasingly less able to do over the last two seasons.  Don't expect any creativity on his part to compensate for depleted or compromised ability.  Coach Fewell has never been that "wiley" before.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants: Big Blue's Soft White Underbelly

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

Def. Coordinator Perry Fewell

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: Will Big Blue's Linebackers Please Report To The Field Please?

One of the many things I found difficult to watch last week was Denver's Knowshon Moreno rushing for ninety-three yards on just thirteen carries, and scoring two touchdowns.  His first TD in the second quarter was a romp-right, for twenty yards.  His second touchdown was a third quarter romp-right, this time good for twenty-five yards.

Where do we start, with the fact it's taken Moreno the better part of three seasons for even the Broncos to think of him seriously, and that last Sunday Moreno ran outside-Tackle with fury?  Or should we bring up the fact Justin Tuck got, not just sealed off, but wiped out on both TD plays?  How about the fact that not a single Giants linebacker touched Moreno during either romp down the right sideline.

Up the middle with Linval Joseph and Cullen Jenkins the Giants have been solid enough, but Justin Tuck is still yet to step up his game, while JPP is not yet fully recovered from off-season back surgery.  But even more concerning to me, is the lack of presence by the linebackers.  It is the team's soft white underbelly.  As if getting beat twice with the same play wasn't bad enough, on Knowshon's second touchdown, the Giants had a seven man front, with three linebackers on the field; Jacquian Williams, Keith Rivers and Mark Herzlich; and still not one touched him.  The Giants only had two linebackers on the field during his first touchdown.

If the Giants front does manage to break down the pocket this Sunday, the linebacker situation still makes it very easy for me to envision the middle of the field opening up for Cam Newton to take off running unmolested.

As a team, the Giants rank 15th in the NFL against the run, so, all is not lost.  But from Week One against Dallas, to their performance against Denver in Week Two, they took huge step backwards in respect to both stopping the run, and getting to the quarterback.  In Week One, the Giants allowed eighty-seven yards rushing.  Tony Romo dropped back to pass forty-nine times, got sacked two times, and got hit six more times.  In Week Two, the Giants allowed over 100 yards.  Peyton Manning dropped back forty-three times, didn't get sacked and only got hit twice all game.  The drop-off might be partially explained by the loss of linebacker Dan Conner, who was having a nice game against Dallas until suffering his season ending injury.

Granted, having been on the wrong end of ten turnovers committed by the offense, the defense has had their hands full.  And to be fair, the Giants played Denver tightly in the first half before things took a turn for the worse in the second half.  So far however, the numbers tell the story of a middle of the pack defense.




Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants: Week Two; Manning Versus Manning

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

Week Two:

Denver Broncos @ NEW YORK GIANTS

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: I Believe Issues With The Backfield And At Linebacker Are Too Much To Overcome In Time For Achieving Week Two Success.

I don't care much for things like the Manning Bowl, but Peyton's seven touchdown passes in Week One sure got my attention.  This week, he'll be calling signals against a secondary containing a safety (Antrel Rolle) nursing a groin issue, and Prince Amukamara at corner who is one more solid hit to the helmet away from missing significant time with a real concussion.  Not to mention, Peyton stands to befuddle a depleted and common linebacker unit.

That said, the Giants defensive line, and Justin Tuck in particular had a good Week One.  Tuck led the team with eight tackles and assisted on a sack.  Linval Joseph combined with Tuck, while JPP recorded a solo sack.  Tuck and Joseph also had another two QB hits apiece.  Peyton Manning is a statue and goes down easy, so there is a good chance the Giants can get their hands on him - but with Peyton's smarts and timing, not too much.  There is no reason why they couldn't create enough havoc however, to induce an interception or two.  And that's what the Giants will need - maybe a score by the defense, but certainly a turnover or two.

That's where Coach Fewell comes in.  He needs to do a good job of disguise and deception, and figure a way to deliver some aggression Peyton's way.  If the GMen just man-up against him, he'll dissect them like a Meadowlands swamp frog in some Secaucus high school biology class.  This is why I prefer a 3-4 set over a 4-3 front.  I guess in a 4-3 Mathias Kiwanuka is athletic enough to release from the line and cover a back or tight end, but without stunting, a four man front doesn't lend itself to much deception without blitzing.  Otherwise, JPP's play last week was very encouraging.

I'm afraid the Giants are headed for a shoot-out.  And why shouldn't they be able to hang around?  Eli threw for over 400 yards last week and three different receivers caught passes for over 100 yards each.  Even though the backfield is unsettled, at some point, the Giants could find themselves in the fourth quarter with a chance to affect a win.  I just don't think the defense will be able to make enough stops to make anything stand - not without cashing in on turnovers.

I'm afraid the Giants just weren't prepared for the first two weeks of the season folks.  Next week, regardless of opponent, the Giants will restart the season right.  Sure, 0-2 is troublesome.  But parity will rule the day.  The NFC East division is up for grabs this year, and every team will stumble along the way.

Circling back to the running game, I fully expect Coach Gilbride to call at least twenty-five rushing attempts.  But if Brandon Jacobs gets more than nine of them, something went very wrong.  At this stage in his career, I don't know what game ready for Jacobs is, but I feel he needs at least another week before he becomes somewhat impactful, or at least helpful.

Trust me, I'd love to be wrong about all of this.



Mike.BTB

New York Giants: G-Men Send Tremors Through Frisco

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:

G-Men Shake Up San Francisco 49ers.

Defense Dominates In Last Visit To Candlestick Park.

Sacks, turnovers, and the Rushing game.., Oh My!  The Giants went out to the Left Coast and gave their fans a San Francisco treat.  While the Giants defense was causing tremors in the Bay area, it was a former Giant; Mario Manningham; who turned out to be the 49ers greatest weapon Sunday.  No surprise there.  And no help either.


Six sacks - that's a hell of a wake-up call.  They didn't come from Osi or Justin Tuck.  Two came from JPP, which was reassuring to see.  But I'm very encouraged we got sacks from our linebackers and tackle.  Linval Joseph and youngster Adrian Tracy picked up one each.  Jacquian Williams and Mathias Kiwanuka got the others.


Under duress all afternoon, the Giants harassed Alex Smith into throwing three interceptions.  Antrel Rolle stepped in front of two Smith errant passes and Prince Amukamara picked off the third Alex Smith INT.  Otherwise, in a great down field effort, the Secondary rendered Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis all inconsequential.


The Giants defense limited the 49ers to 4-14 on third down, and 0-2 on fourth down.


The defensive game ball no doubt goes to everyone who made a tackle and aided in stopping San Francisco's running game.  Big Blue limited Frank Gore to thirty six yards on just eight rushes.  Additionally, they didn't allow Gore to get uncorked by catching passes out of the backfield either.  In total, all the 49ers could muster were twelve rushes for sixty two yards.  The yards gained on the ground by Manningham, Smith, and Colin Kaepernick only color the 49ers ground effort in a deeper shade of pathetic.


Antrel Rolle not only picked off two Alex Smith passes, he also tied for the team lead with six tackles.  Give that man a game ball.


This was about as dominant a whoop-ass I've ever seen the Giants hand a good San Francisco 49ers team in a long, long time.




Mike.BTB

New York Giants: Injuries Have Defense In A Bind

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

We're goin' back to San Francisco fellas.  California here we come!   - Lawrence Taylor

 

 

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL: This May Turn Into The Revenge Game The 49ers Have Been Itching For.

If The Giants Defensive Line Is To Cause Any Tremors,

Obviously, San Francisco Is The Place To Do It...

The 49ers are still sniveling about last year's game.  They haven't budged from their contention they are better than the Giants either.  Sunday, maybe they will be.  Recent, and not so recent history says, they beat us in the regular season then we beat them in the playoffs.  Save a game or two, that's the way it usually goes between the Giants and 49ers.  At any rate, here we go again.  Sunday, San Francisco finally gets their rematch after last season's NFC Championship loss.  Hey, the sun shines on a dog's posterior once a day too ya know...  So good luck with that.


I haven't been too bothered by injuries before.  But the ones to Kenny Phillips and Rocky Bernard concern me.  The Giants are weakened up the middle as a result.  Chris Canty and Rocky Bernard were supposed to be the two stating Tackles this season.  Now they are both out of action.  While playing well, Linval Joseph must now play big man on campus, and keep Markus Kuhn's and Marvin Austin's head in the game, and focused on stopping Frank Gore.


I think losing Kenny Phillips is a big problem.  Kenny was off to a great start this season.  His tackling was stellar.  And that's what the Giants will miss most Sunday.  Antrel Rolle will no doubt have to babysit 49ers tight end, Vernon Davis.  But who will tackle Davis in the open field?  The guy is 6'3" and weighs 250 pounds!  Kenny Phillips would have.  He has the size to bring down Davis.  Kenny Phillips is 6'2" and weighs 217 lbs.  I feel Phillips was the best defense against Davis dominating the game.  Who now for the G-Men?  Steve Brown stepped in last week for Phillips and played very well.  But it was against the Browns.  He is only 5'11" although weighs in at 221 lbs.  I'd be skeptical about his chances versus Davis in the open field.  Tyler Sash is back just in time from his four game suspension to lend a helping hand.  He is 6'0" and weighs 215.  That's better.  Will Smith is 6'1", but falls over forty pounds shy of Vernon Davis.


Unless Antrel Rolle has a superlative day of solo tackling, rest assured, Vernon Davis will shake and bake Rolle out of the slot Sunday.  Someone will need to bring him down.  Otherwise, Alex Smith will look for him all day long.


At wide out, The Giants defensive backfield will have to contend with usual nemesis Michael Crabtree.  But they also now have to deal with ex-mate, Mario Manningham.  The problem is Corey Webster is not Corey Webster this season, with or without a cast.  And without Terrell Thomas, the Giants are still having trouble filling the void left behind by the departure of Aaron Ross.  Prince Amukamara at least has ceased being a liability, as was the case in his first two starts.  Jayron Hosley sat out last week.  And Michael Coe is doing what he can on gimpy legs.  This unit is already the Giants weakest link.  One more injury, and this chain snaps.


Unless the Giants defensive front seven can impact this game via stopping the run, and rushing Alex Smith, the 49er quarterback just may pick the Giants apart this week.  While I do not find the 49ers offensive line overly impressive, collectively, they are a very solid bunch.  Opposing them will be the Giants defensive line which has recently fall under great scrutiny.  And for good reason.  Where are the sacks?  Where is the overwhelming pressure?  They couldn't even manage a sack against the Browns.  Something has to give.  But conventional thinking says the Giants won't get their pass rush righted against the 49ers.  San Francisco is too legit to be any team's remedy for lack of pressure on the quarterback.  If the 49ers use three step drops and go no-huddle, it will wind up being an extremely long day on the Left Coast for Big Blue.





Mike.BTB

New York Giants: Philly Showdown - I

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL: Might As Well Play This Game In A School Yard.  Let's Get It On!


Uh.., yeah!  Remember us?  And why would you?  The schedule makers won't let us play at the same time everyone else does.  While we're at it, why even bother playing this game on a football field?  It's Philly - might as well play this game in a school yard.


Despite all the popular talk lately, I for one do not like relying on turnovers to win games.  I don't care how many times Philly has turned over the ball this season.  No - instead of sniffing around for turnovers, Philly/Giants games are usually more a matter of brute force, ignorance, seeing who can  deliver a bigger hit, who can withstand more pain, AND the obligatory freak occurrence.  It doesn't fall short on any Giants fan to know the damnedest things happen when these teams play each other.  So why plan?  But I'll take the turnovers when I can get them.


Last week's win over the Panthers was nice and flashy and all.., but lets get back to basics, shall we?  It is time to play football in the trenches again.  Here's why I think the Giants will win Sunday evening.  Big Blue's defensive line is healthy, and the Eagles offensive line is not.  Michael Vick is one or two big shots away from missing time this season.  Who better to get after him than the Giants?  Four games into the season...it is time they do.


The Giants have had trouble when plays bounce outside.  Otherwise, the Giants have stayed resilient up the middle.  Linval Joseph and Rocky Bernard stabilized Tackle in Chris Canty's absence.  Michael Boley and Jacquian Williams continue to play well together.  If Keith Rivers can ever rejoin Mathias Kiwanuka, Boley, and Williams, what a fine linebacker unit this could be; and depth with Chase Blackburn to spare.  At Safety, Antrell Rolle and Kenny Phillips have been solid.  Rolle's knee should be fine.  And Kenny Phillips is slowly putting together the type of season we've been waiting for.  So if the defense can collectively can keep Michael Vick in the middle of the field, that would create ideal conditions for the pass rushers.  That in turn minimizes the exposure of the Corners.  It's all relative.


The key here is Michael Boley.  As the team's corner backs disintegrate behind him, Boley's responsibility of directing traffic and setting the defense increase exponentially.  At Corner, Corey Webster's hand is in a cast, and Jayron Hosely is out.  Webster will still play, but then again, he's been getting burnt like toast in two of three games.  Prince Amukamara and Michael Coe are still trying to get off the carpet as well.


So it falls back on Michael Boley and his unit to ensure the front seven pose major problems for Michael Vick.  If the G-Men keep Vick contained inside the numbers, and make him wait for something to open up down field, the pass rush will come.  If the Eagles O-Line is as banged up as advertised, the G-Men should be upon Vick quickly.


Why is this game going to come down to a field goal?  The Eagles are going to defend the run a lot better than the Panthers did.  Be sure of that.  So look for a one week down tick in Andre Brown's performance.  Ahmad Bradshaw will play.  He has always bounced back well.  We'll see how he bounces back this game.


As well as the Giants reconfigured Offensive Line has played these last two games, Philly's defensive front line is no joke.  For Sean Locklear, this is like getting thrown into the fire.  He's in, and David Diehl is out.  Some will even argue the O-Line has played better in Diehl's absence.  To that I say show me against the Eagles.  Odds are Eli gets to talk with some of Philly's defensive players up close this Sunday evening.  If recent history repeats itself, Eli might even throw an INT.  He'll be going it without Hakeem Nicks.  But Eli, and the rest of the available receivers should do just enough to squeeze out a close win in Philly.




Mike.BTB