N.Y. Giants: Note To Fans, Remember Where You Came From

From the desk of:  DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

The Man Who Rehabilitated Animal House

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: Before dropping blame for this season at the feet of Tom Coughlin and rushing to hasty judgment regarding his future, the general manager should be taken to task first.

Unless the Giants go 6-2 the rest of the way, they are assured of their worst record under Coach Tom Coughlin.  But this certainly wouldn't be the worst season in recent Giants history.  Or, did everyone forget Coach took over a 4-12 team from Jim Fassel, and had them in the playoffs two seasons later.

I think Jim Fassel continues to be one of the greatest x-files in Giants and NFL history.  Regarding Big Blue, let's face it, Fassel operated a Delta House, and he played Hoover.  My Giants fandom goes back to the late 70's, in the last days just before Ray Perkins took over.  After Bill Parcells left, I wallowed in self-pity, and immediately thought the Giants would never ever be good again.  Then Ray Handley happened and reaffirmed my worst nightmare.  Jim Fassel inherited some talent from the Dan Reeves days, and with GM Ernie Accorsi, turned the Giants into a contender again.  For that, I was very appreciative of Jim Fassel.

At the same time however, I knowingly turned a blind eye at his team's tremendous lack of discipline. His was the team that fought amongst themselves on the field in the playoffs against the Vikings and lost in embarrassing last-second fashion.  His was the team that looked like a deer in the headlights, and couldn't keep their (Sehorn) pants up in SB XXXV.  And his was the team that blew a 500-point lead against the 49ers in the playoffs, and lost on a botched last ditch field goal attempt.  Above all else, the team's propensity to pop-off at the mouth throughout the Fassel years was astonishing.

Coughlin took over and instantly sparked a rebellion.  By year two of Coach's dictatorship, the Big Blue doomsday clock had ticked two minutes closer to midnight.  Michael Strahan flat out hated him Coughlin and his five minute rule, and Tiki Barber infamously accused Coughlin of getting miserably outcoached after suffering a playoff blowout against the Panthers.  At that very moment, it appeared as if Tom Coughlin had just lost his locker room on national TV.  I admit, like Tiki, that game did not sit well with me either.  But at the time, Coughlin didn't care to be liked.  He was content with being feared.  Obviously, that came with consequences.  But for who?

After watching on TV and listening to Tiki Barber lash out at his coach through the media that night, one thing became very clear to me.  Tom Coughlin wasn't the one who needed to go.  Instead, I knew then, the Jim Fassel era finally needed to be purged once and for all.

On their watch, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin cut penalty flag magnet, Luke Petitgout, from the offensive line.  They then handed Tiki Barber's job to Brandon Jacobs.  Jerry Reese in particular told Michael Strahan to take a hike, and Jeremy Shockey was traded as far away from Eli Manning as possible.  Michael Strahan, to his credit, agreed to return to the team on Coach Coughlin's very certain terms, and became an important leader.

Since then, Coach Coughlin has evolved from the days of eliciting fear, to being respected.  Heading into SB XLVI, he was down right cuddly, telling his players he loved them.  Today, he is a little more soft spoken, but just as demanding.  Starting this year 2-6 certainly put the Giants in a very bad spot, but these Giants are not nearly as dysfunctional as the team Coach recovered nine years ago, and returned to NFL prominence.

Under Tom Couhglin, the Giants have been to the playoffs five times, including four years in a row, and of course, won two Super Bowls.  The Giants could have made it three Lombardy trophies, were it not for Plaxico Burress shooting the Giants attempt at a repeat in the thigh.  The Giants posted a 12-4 record in 2008 - their best regular season mark under Coughlin.  That season came at the exact mid-point of his tenure.

 

After long nights searching in basement archives, collecting and sifting through tons of raw data, viewing old footage, and conducting exhaustive interviews, I was painstakingly able to graph and present Tom Coughlin's career with the Giants using the latest state-of-the-art paper and pen technology known to mankind.

 

 

Over a (now) ten year run, Tom Coughlin's victory curve follows a very natural rise and decent.  The Giants went 6-10 in his first season, then went on to achieve double digit victories in four of the next six years.  By 2011, he managed to capture his second Super Bowl with an aging team on the decline. The Giants record tapered off these last two seasons, which brings us to the present.

 

The Giants are clearly in need of another overhaul.  That's not on Coach Coughlin.  Time stands still for no one, and in his tenth season, the top half of Big Blue's hour glass has just about emptied.  But in this immediate gratification society we now live in, I caution more than ever, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.  Before dropping blame for this season at the feet of Tom Coughlin and rushing to hasty judgment regarding his future, the general manager should be taken to task first.

 

 

 

 

Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants: Offensive Line Adds Some Weight

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE

 

David Wilson's Quest For Daylight

Giants Need A Full Season From Hakeem Nicks

NEW YORK FOOTBALL GIANTS: Week One's Offensive Line Is Big and Blue, Weighs Over 1500 Pounds, And I Like It.

Did David Diehl's Injury Actually Improve The Offensive Line?

 

Tiki Barber, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw all ran behind superior offensive lines.  I didn't say that, the record books did.  In the same breath, Eli Manning has been one of the least sacked quarterbacks since entering the league.  But time stands still for no one.  The front five I'm referring to were already on the precipice of decline by the time the Giants won Super Bowl XLII.  Over the last five years since then and another Super Bowl later, some members have slowly been transitioned out.

Last season saw the departure of Kareem McKenzie.  Prior to him, Rich Seubert and Shaun O'Hara were given their walking papers.  Remaining from what was once the most formidable offensive line in football are David Diehl and Chris Snee.  Diehl, as we know will miss the first quarter of the regular season with a thumb injury.  Although he's been very adaptable and helpful in playing multiple positions over the last several seasons, his game has been in steady decline for the last two in particular.  For the moment, that leaves Snee as the lone survivor at right guard.

This year's offensive line has already suffered multiple casualties.  In addition to David Diehl, regular starting center David Baas will miss Sunday night's opener in Dallas with an injured left knee.  I'm still not at peace with the signing of Baas.  He struggled somewhat and suffered a neck injury his first season here.   To be fair however, he played well last season.  I just feel he is undersized for the position.

This year, the Giants will enter Sunday's clash against the Cowboys with over 1500 pounds of offensive linemen.  At 6'3" and 320 pounds, Jim Cordle, 26, will take over at center this week.  That's the kind of size I'm talking about.  Jim will be taking on his biggest assignment to date.  Entering his fourth season, he should at least have the smarts and his technique down.  Kevin Boothe was the original back-up plan for David Baas, but after David Diehl went down, Boothe was forced to slide back to left guard.

Will Beatty is back to man left tackle.  He is a technique reliant guy, which tends to get me down on him from time to time.  But when you crunch the rushing numbers, the Giants ran the ball slightly better running left with Beatty at tackle than with Diehl.  As previously mentioned, Kevin Boothe will play left guard.  I like Boothe - always have, and especially like him at left guard because we can trust him.  He is entering his sixth season, and his prime years as a player.  At twenty-eight years old, he maintains a 6'6", 319 pound wall of protection for Eli Manning's blind side.

Chris Snee is just a good, gutsy lineman.  He's been a great front line grunt for the G-Men.  He is now entering his eleventh season.  When you add his 305 pounds to that of Jim Cordle and Kevin Boothe, that's over 900 pounds of Big Blue man meat between the tackles, which I find somewhat comforting.

Pressed into service at right tackle, will be Jerry Reese's first round (#19) draft pick, Justin Pugh.  Luckily for him, he will be playing along side an excellent mentor in Chris Snee.  He'll need to mature in a hurry, as Pugh could potentially receive a personal welcome to the NFL from the Cowboys DeMarcus Ware.  Pugh brings another 301 pounds to the line.

These five will be charged to open holes for David Wilson and protect Eli Manning.  Through injury, I kind of like this unit better.  Of course, being down to one feature back is a precarious way to start the season.  If David Wilson goes down, we're pretty much consigned to throwing 70% of the time; or just plain screwed if you prefer.  But I'm not so sure going into the season with just David Wilson is such a bad thing though.  Running off right tackle with a rookie there might pose a problem, but  that wouldn't be a new problem. The running game saw a drop off in yardage last season when rushing to the right side, or off-tackle.  In Kareem McKenzie's last season, the Giants averaged nearly five yards per rush running right, and barely three yards per carry to the left.  Last season with McKenzie gone, the Giants had difficulty getting to the outside of both tackles, faring much better inside.  If anything, the Giants will have good size and experience up the middle this season.

I guess the idea is to keep defenses honest.  Coach Gilbride likes balance.  Hopefully, the running game will provide that, and prevent team's from keying in on Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.  Offense is all about making the defensive safeties commit.  If the offensive line and David Wilson can help keep safeties honest by providing a productive running game, then Coach Gilbride, Eli, Cruz and Nicks can dice up any team.

Welcome to the new, modern day NFL.  Oh smash-mouth football, why have you forsaken me?



Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Coughlin and Parcells; Parallel Eras

From the desk of:   DO IT FOR THE DUKE ~ Super Bowl XLVI Edition

ATLANTA FALCONS

GREEN BAY PACKERS

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

NEW YORK GIANTS FOOTBALL:

Tom Coughlin and Bill Parcells are Mirror Images of

BIG Success and BLUE Setbacks.

Previous Posts:

Only Coach Gilbride Can "RIGHT" the Running Game

Super Sizing the Offensive Line

Two Super Bowl victories in five years cemented Bill Parcells' (as well as Bill Belichick's) legend in the Land of Giants forever.  The coach who came from 3-12-1 in his first season, won the Mara Family their first two Lombardi Trophies.  But make no mistake, there were a bunch of bad moments during the Parcells Era too.



Ever since the Giants won Super Bowl XLII, I've often reminded my son we were inside a five year window to make another Super Bowl appearance.  And quite similarly to the way an era evolved a quarter-century ago for me, here we go again.  It's as if history is making it's way around again and giving a younger generation a glimpse into what their parents went through twenty-five, and twenty one years ago.  Including this season, the last five years have in a sense been a modern day parallel of Bill Parcells' Giants march to greatness.



This Super Bowl, aside from the "Brady's Revenge" factor, has very nearly come about the way Carl Banks once described his team's ascent in 1990;

"We're back!"  "They said we couldn't do it."   "They put a fork in us and said we were done." 

Phil Simms; Rodney Hampton; - Done! - Lost for the season.  Even Carl Banks had that broken hand.  But it goes without saying today's Giants have dealt with injuries just the same.  Now they're back in the Super Bowl after so many in the Media wrote them off after the Saints blow-out; then again at 7-7; and at every chance they had since.  Just as The Matriarch; Ann Mara; who so "politely" pointed that out to Terry Bradshaw.  Parcells used to love that too - when the world wasn't just against you; they belittled you. The Media tried it back then with Parcells because the Giants were never pretty.  They were smash-mouth.  That's why he was so nasty and belittling back to them; -  because what he did, worked.  It just wasn't as flashy as San Francisco's west coast bling.  Phil Simms received the brunt of that crap from day one all the way into and after a 1990 Monday Night 7-3 loss against San Francisco.  We know how that season ended though.



Twenty one years after Super Bowl XXV, my son is gunning for his second Super Bowl inside five years like I did at his age.  His team; our team; is Coached by one of Parcells' grasshoppers; Tom Coughlin.  I never wavered once on Parcells.  If I never told you before (I have..), I'll remind you all now.  I did with Coughlin.  After the 2006 season, I wanted him fired.  All I'll say right now about that is Jerry Reese and John Mara made me realize my thinking was highly flawed.  But that subject  deserves a different post.  The point I want to make is that my son was always a staunch supporter of Coughlin's.  He told me flat out I was wrong then, and still reminds me about it from time to time.  Good for him.  As Coughlin has made an impression upon him, then so too in my early twenties, if Parcells would have asked me to eat dirt, I'd have shown up with spoon in hand and a salt shaker for taste.



Like Tom Coughlin, Bill Parcells' Giants were not without their troubles; and vice-versa.  Four years after their initial Super Bowl victories, Tom Coughlin finds himself in position to win his second Lombardi Trophy, just like Bill Parcells was in 1990-01.  It's uncanny how the two eras match up.  Are there differences?  Sure..., many.  That team of the late 80's was all about smash-mouth and ball control offense.  On defense, they rode the backs of great linebackers.  Today's Giants are passing juggernauts with a ferocious defensive line.   They're kind of the same, but different, or, different but the same.  They're the Giants.  In both eras, drafting has made the difference.



There were no playoffs for Bill Parcells in 1983.  There were no playoffs for Tom Coughlin in 2004.  In 1984, the Giants faced the 49ers in the playoffs and got blown out.  Coach Coughlin's 2005 NFC East champs got blown out by the Carolina Panthers as Tiki Barber infamously accused his Coach of getting Out-Coached by another former Giants coach; John Fox.  In 1985, the Giants were embarrassed during a frigid playoff game in Chicago partly due to a wind-blown missed punt attempt.  In 2006, the Giants embarrassed themselves with an 8-8 record and just barely made the playoffs where they lost to the Eagles in the first round.



After two years of making the playoffs and falling short, both coaches led their teams to respective Super Bowls in their fourth year on the job.  But the Giants bid to repeat in 2008 was shot in the leg just as the Player Strike of 1987 effectively killed the Giants' bid to repeat back then.  Both seasons were horrible ways to follow-up their respective Super Bowl seasons.



As far as that 2008 season and how it ended, ask yourself which you'd rather happen - losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs after a dominant 12-4 season, OR, after having a dominant 12-4 regular season in 1989, watching the Rams' Flipper Anderson run right through the end zone and into the old Giants Stadium tunnels after scoring the winning touchdown in overtime of the opening round playoff game?  In either case; in both eras; in both seasons; the Giants went home prematurely.  And just to let you know, that Rams game still haunts me today more than losing Super Bowl XXXV; or losing to the Niners in 2003; or losing to the Vikings in 1997 ever did.



There were no playoffs for Bill Parcells in 1987 and 1988.  Nor were there any playoffs for Tom Coughlin in 2009 and 2010.  In 2010, the Giants missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record.  That's when Coach Coughlin famously told his detractors to kiss his ass; and rightfully so as far as I'm concerned.  In 1988, the Giants went 10-6 as well, and missed the playoffs because they lost the last game of the season to the Jets.




It seems what's old is new again.  And with any luck, this Sunday can be just as glorious for a new generation and my son in particular, just as it was for this forty-something fan who grew up in the wonderful Big Blue Land of Giants an era ago and thankfully never grew-up.






Mike.BTB

N.Y. Giants ~ Brandon Jacobs "Started" This Big Blue Engine

New York Football Giants: 
It's Time To Crank-Up This Big Blue Mack Truck And Let Brandon Jacobs Drive Again!


Brandon Jacobs kept things respecable while the Giants played an embarrassing first half of Football against the Jaguars last Sunday.  He didn't rush all over the place like Jacksonville did to us for 207 yards, but he kept the Jaguars honest until Justin Tuck snapped the team out of their funk and Big Blue caught up to Jacobs' effort.

Fourteen rushes for 87 yards isn't exactly a John Riggins-like type performance that I think Jacobs can give us, but it was exactly what the Giants needed Sunday.  He was chosen to start this game because Ahmad Bradshaw could not hold on to the ball, despite Ahmad rushing ever closer to 1,000 yards on the season.  Brandon was given back the starting job he originally lost to Ahmad Bradshaw.  He returned to the job he earned and won from Tiki Barber back when...   In NFL years, the old vet Brandon Jacobs, then proceeded to give his team the Big Blue effort Sunday his team asked of him.  He didn't chip off any would-be tackler's helmet paint this game, but he did run with power.

Giant fans, I call you out, to recognize.

Except for one bout of frustration early in the season, he has been nothing short of a model citizen and team mate.  No one wants to give him that credit; much; or out loud.  What ever grudges you have for him once holding out and getting a big contract; for supposedly demanding a trade; for the errant helmet toss;.... Let that all go.

If you want to criticize Jacobs on the grounds of diminished talent ~ In 2008 and 2009 there were injuries to contend with.  What role that played in his sudden loss in ability to hit the holes and "run to daylight", we can certainly discuss.  But this year he is healthy and running quite effectively when given a chance.  He's been limited to an average of about 6 to 8 carries a game this season and for the last month running behind a battered Offensive -Line (keep Bradshaw out of this..he's a different animal and more of a self-creator).  I've called, week-in and week-out, for more carries game-planned for Jacobs.  I firmly believe with more touches this year his performance Sunday would have been that much more crisper and gainful.  It's a simple supposition but undeniably true.  If you have issues with Brandon Jacobs this year, Blame Coach Gilbride.

With a little more attention to detail by Coach Gilbride and less unnecessary passing for most of the first 7 games of the season, Brandon Jacobs could have and would have been even better than he was this last Sunday.  I cringed how Gilbride sets up his run game with the pass.  It's been my never ending crusade to get our running game geared up for the December Football run.  That means running with power behind a healthy O-Line.

All the injuries to the Offensive Line aside, maybe Coach Gilbride is doing just that.  There has been a noticeable trend towards the running game these last two games or so.  Is that because Coach Gilbride is transitioning to December Football or are our Receiving Corps are so diminished, and with Eli's alarming interception rate, Coach Gilbride has little choice?  That's debatable also, because Gilbride and Eli are fearless.  Kevin Boss and Manningham will try to make us think not.

The Giants have announced Brandon Jacobs will be the starting back again this Sunday when the Skins come to town.  Can Brandon Jacobs be the Big Blue version of John Riggins?  Are you feeling me on that?  The Giants need to keep Brandon Jacobs as the feature back and for now, revert to an old formula where Jacobs battered defenses and we changed-up with Bradshaw.

Brandon Jacobs made it very easy for Giant fans to "matter-of-fact-ly" sweep Tike Barber under the rug.  If it were not for Jacobs we wouldn't dismiss Tiki as readily as we do.  We'd still do it, we just wouldn't be as derisive about it.  We all heralded his arrival on the scene.  Brandon Jacobs is the one who got this whole Big Blue Mack Truck's engine running with Horse Power.  He had paint chips flying in Green Bay.  He set the tone right from the outset that dark frigid night a few years ago.

Today, Brandon Jacobs is healthy, willing and able.  It's time this team looks to him again to bust through road blocks, and with luck and a healthy offensive line, Big Blue can roll-on through the December Ride. 

I can't think of a better way to get a pounding start than with a game against our old foe, The Washington Redskins at home.

Then, Ahamd can leave 'em in the dust.





Mike.BTB

Tiki Barber Fumbles, Again

Tiki Barber was the little Giants back who went on to do big things.  In hind-sight one of the biggest moments for this Giants franchise came recently when Tiki had a prototypical Football "heroic" afternoon of moments against the Redskins in what many consider the game that saved Tom Coughlin's job as Big Blue's Head Coach as it got the G-Men into the playoffs back in 2006; the year before they won the Super Bowl.


While running to Daylight, and gaining for 200 yards a game on the occasional great afternoon, even then there wasn't a microphone Tiki didn't want to disparage someone with, or a camera he didn't want to be seen pointing a finger with.

OK..., Tiki does not like Coughlin and the feeling is mutual.  We get that.  Tom is backhandedly credited with saving Tiki's career by teaching him how to hold on to the ball correcting Tiki's propensity to fumble. And as I brushed upon, Tiki had a brilliant day against the Redskins in the final game of the 2006 season to get Tom Coughlin and the Giants into the playoffs.  Tiki is likewise credited with saving Coach's job.

Here's the rub.  Tom Coughlin didn't get fired and won a Super Bowl the next year while Tiki hastened his career in media with an abrupt retirement from Football and denying himself his own Super Bowl ring.

Many times Tiki called out the defense after a game.  He called out his coaches after a game.  He called out anyone within earshot, without hesitation or remorse it seemed.  But no one was targeted by Tiki's slings and arrows more than Tom Coughlin.

Tiki hastened his retirement from the Giants and jumped right into his failing media career with both feet.  It's as if he quit Football with the sole purpose of criticizing the Giants.  The joke was on Tiki, obviously, proven to him out in the desert of Arizona.

That's enough of that...You're up to date now.

Antonio Pierce and Michael Strahan have spoken out earlier this week about a perceived lack of leadership on part of the Giant players. They both are working for the media now-a-days also.  What Pierce, Strahan and Tiki Barber all have in common together is they are all former Giants now working on the Opinions side of Football. What they all do not share together is the satisfaction of owning a Super Bowl ring.  However, owning one of those rings is not a Key to the City of sorts.  We get that, right?

So when Pierce or Strahan say something, two who have won a Super Bowl playing under Tom Coughlin; and don't forget it was Michael Strahan the conformist who adapted to Coughlin before Coughlin himself adjusted his manner..., when they say something, it's one thing.

When someone who makes no secret about his disdain for his former coach, who feels like he got squeezed out by said coach with the emergence of Brandon Jacobs, someone who feels like he outplayed his coach's acumen, ~ when someone like that, who retired one year too early to win a Super Bowl, and someone who critiqued the Giants incorrectly his whole season as a media rookie...; when someone like that intimates Tom Coughlin is losing his team, finds himself in a very precarious situation and is in danger of losing his job....,

I have a problem with that.

Tiki? ~ most players lift weights to get stronger.  Tiki Barber threw people under buses to keep in shape. Now he's trying to save his failed second life (literally and ...literally) by resurrecting his anthem about a bad coach.  Nothing has rang less hollow around here since a job guarantee made by George Steinbrenner to a manager in 1984.
It is ironic that Sunday night the Giants will be conducting their Ring of Honor ceremony.  Tiki Barber will be one of those honored.  As truly as he is one of the greatest offensive Giants ever, he will indeed be booed unmercifully Sunday night not because of his most recent roundhouses he threw at Coughlin, but because he burned every bridge while he was here, as he was leaving and ever since he left.

He did a lot of finger pointing around here.  And we just don't like that; not from someone who bailed out one year too early to lift a VINCE with the rest of his team mates. ~ And there-in lies the rub. It was always about Tiki, and then there was everyone else who didn't do their part that day or wasn't as good as him on another day.

So today, we don't really care what you say Tiki and Sunday Night the crowd will let you know very well how much you compromised yourself in the eyes Big Blue Fans.


It's a shame too.


Mike.BTB