We all know that the Giants will go BPA in the first round, and I think we all expect someone with exceptional talent to fall to us in that first round, probably a big receiver or pass rushing DE, since those are already our strengths. Personally, I think it is great to build on your strengths to make them extra special, so I would love to see Chandler Jones or one of the group of exceptional wideouts be our first pick. I am not worried about any of our so called "areas of need", and think that our coaching staff will continue to do a good job of compensating for those areas. With that said, I think that I would like the G-men to address an area of need in the 2nd round, if the right person falls there. I think that area of need is the return game, and I think the right player is LaMichael James. In watching college football for the past few years, I believe James is one of the best open field runners I have seen in a while. I like Da'Rel Scott's speed, and Jernigan may be okay at returning, but I believe James will be special. I don't know if he will fall to us in the 2nd round, and we are not the type of team to trade up, but if he is there and we get him, I really think he will be a huge boost to our return game as well as in our running/screen game. I am not a draftnik, so I was wondering if anybody thinks he could fall that far. I keep hearing several running backs mentioned above him, so I think we have a shot.

With all the talk about a super bowl rematch of teams, qbs, etc., I was wondering how many Super Bowls had a rematch of teams that played in the regular season (like this year, with the Giants beating the Pats), and how that record turned out. I only researched back as far as the first Giants SB, which is 25 SB's ago. In those 25 SB's, 7 of them were a rematch of regular season games from that year and 5 times the eventual SB champion lost in the regular season, but won the rematch. Our G-men were involved in 3 of the 7, having lost to the Patriots and Bills, but having beaten the Broncos. The only SB we played in that wasn't a rematch from the regular season was the year we played the Ravens. The Pats were involved in 1 other, having lost to the Rams the season that they upset "the Greatest Show on Turf". I don't think this means anything as far as this game goes, but it was just something I was curious about

Off to Indy for another Super clash with the Patsies. I have faith that 2 weeks of preparation will allow the more talented team to win. Offensively, we have the better WRs, but their TEs are a nightmare. offensive lines are probably a wash. neither team can run, but pass pro is good for both (todays game notwithstanding). our defense is much better, and that should be the difference. no great returners for either team. dome makes kicking game even.

It has always been my opinion that one of the reasons Eli is a great QB for our Giants is because he is good at reading defenses and getting us into the correct running play. He has never been about stats (other than W's), and his unselfishness made our offensive balance excellent. This year, as he indicated himself, he keeps calling the running plays, even though the defense is loaded to stop the run. By a little more selfish, what I mean is that Eli has to look for the defensive weaknesses, even when it means we will be a pass heavy offense. We are a down the field passing team, which means that turnovers and short series will happen to us in the passing game more often than with some of these West Coast, dink & dunk offenses, but it also means that we have fewer play scoring drives, because we rip off large chunks of yardage at a time. As teams begin to drop off, then we can get into some positive running situations.

I really believe that Eli has not been calling a good game this year, probably because of the number of interceptions last year. He has been going with runs when he should call passes. So it's time for Eli and the passing game to get a little more selfish, call more passes, make more big plays and WIN, WIN WIN!!!!

I would welcome Plax back to the Giants with open arms. There are 2 reasons I feel this way:

         1) Plax was (and hopefully is) a very good football player who, if he is near his previous form, can help any team in the NFL, so why not the Giants. I mean, I wish the Ramses Barden experiment had worked. I wish Domenik Hixon was better. I wish Ham didn't drop balls and mess up routes so often. I wish all those things, but most of all, I wish we had an even better passing game than we do, and I believe Plax can make it better.

That is the most important thing, but the other reason is...

         2) I do not believe that Plax is a criminal, or even a bad person or a bad teammate, by virtue of what he did. Unfortunately, according to the City of New York, Plax WAS a criminal. And the Mayor of New York chose to make this an example case, and ordered his prosecutors to prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law. Shameful on the part of NYC, in my opinion. I would like to know how many handgun cases were plea-bargained in NYC in the last 5 years. I would guess more than 50%. Plaxico does not need rehabbing from his criminal life, because he doesn't have one.

I have an overriding memory of Plax (other than the obvious one that we all have..... wide open in the left corner...TOUCHDOWN), from summer camp at Albany the year after the SB win. I took my daughter for a practice at Albany. Plax was injured, as was Steve Smith, both with hammies, and a few others of course. This being the middle of camp, I really didn't expect to see much effort, but as a high school coach, I was interested to watch some drills. As practice started, I noticed that Plax was stretching with the team, as I thought he should be, but instead of "country clubbing" the rest of practice, I watched him drag SS12 around for a pretty impressive workout. They were on the bikes for 20 minutes at first, but then spent most of their time catching passes. Using the Jugs machine, the coach would set it to throw passes to different spots (high right, high left... etc). They practiced catching one handed with either hand, over both shoulders and passes thrown behind them. Another impressive part to me is that they were never "static", never standing still. Great work ethic is what made him a great receiver. Bring him back and he'll deliver the same way.

I am usually a defender of the Giants (players, coaches and organization). That is not to say that I don't disagree with some things, or that I don't express my opinions, it's just that I usually see why things are done, and can defend their position. However, I felt that the Giants were making a mistake last week, and I expressed it to a few friends of mine prior to the game. I think, unfortunately in this case, that I was right and the Giants coaches were wrong. The situation that I'm talking about is the change in the OL for Sunday's game. We were dominating the LOS against some fairly good defenses with Seubert at center and Boothe at LG. Why make a change to something that was working well? I love Shaun O'Hara, and maybe they'll prove right in the long run, but I wanted to run on the Eagles and we were not able to establish control with the line that was playing. I know we scored 31 pts., and Eli often throws well against the Eagles. I just wish we had stuck with the guys who pounded the ball during our 3 game win streak. What are your thoughts? With that off my chest, let me just finish with....... "LET"S GO GIANTS!"

Losing to the Eagles, in a horribly gut-wrenching fashion (I was physically ill listening to it at work. I can't imagine how I would have reacted watching in the privacy of my own home), putting us essentially out of the division race

OR

Losing Rhett Bomar?

We did both in the same week!

My Christmas fantasy..... Bomar is activated by the Vikes for this weeks game against the Eagles, comes into a tight game and throws a game winning TD to Sidney Rice. Giants beat the Packers and Redskins. Kitna torches the Eagles for 4 TD's in a Cowboys rout, adn THE NY GIANTS WIN THE NFC EAST!!!

As I have stated before, the goal for the last 6 weeks has been to get to 11 and 5, make the tournament, and win the whole darn thing (AGAIN!). Winning the home games would've gotten us the NFC East division, but that was not to be. Last week's game is only a fluke win by the Eagle, and now it makes our road difficult, but not impossible. Simply stated, the goal remains 11 and 5, with victories at Green Bay and Washington. If you want to be a playoff team, you have to win games like these. Both are very winnable (even with Rodgers playing) because I believe we are the superior team. We won't see them back at the meadowlands, but our playoff road (literally) begins now.

As  I said before (prior post), our realistic goal is 11 and 5. In that post, I described the Vikings as inept. Of course, now that the Vikings are next on the schedule, I take back that label, and just say that we are the superior team, and should win, even in their building.

I live in Eagles country (Hershey, PA), and I know that the Cowboys scare the crap out of these Eagles fans. I still have trouble rooting for the Cowboys. We can win this thing without any help. Has anyone figured out the tie breaker scenario if we beat the Eagles, but still end up tied?

11 and 5. Thats the final record I expect at this point in the season. We are better than the Jags, much better than the Redskins (sweep them), can't possibly lose to the inept Vikings, and step up to get the split with the Eagles. I do not expect to beat the Packers in Lambeau during the regular season, but if we have to go there in the playoffs, it will be a different story. We go into the platyoffs winning 5 of our last 6 games, and make a run through with a healthy Giants team on both sides of the ball.

As for the next couple of weeks, the big concern is the offensive line. Our receivers will be fine, because Eli will make them better. He controls an offense better than any other QB not named Manning (or Brady, I grudgingly suppose). I expect to see Beckum lined up in the slot alot more. This is his big chance to shine, and I have confidence that he will. The Giants coaches have obviously seen something in him to keep him around. It's no real slight to a player that he couldn't crack a lineup with Smith, Nicks and Manningham in it. But now he can showe that he is an NFL caliber receiver (not a TE necessarily, just a receiver). Expect 5-8 catches from Beckum. I also expect to see Pascoe become a part of the passing game (screens, checkdowns and flat routes). We couldn't do those things with Hedgecock, and didn't need to with our stable of great receivers. Now that we're down to just Manningham and Boss, the ones who "step up and make plays" will be those TE's that we all liked in the summer. I think our passing game will really play a big part this week, but don't be surprised or upset with MM if he doesn't have a huge week. I expect Jax to try to take him out of the game, since he is our only real gamebreaker. It will be his fault that the other guys keep getting open, so be prepared with praise for him doing a great job of making our offense work this week. The new guy that will have some impact will be Clayton. His impact will be in the running game and the YAC for other receivers. He is a tremendous blocker who will want to shine on film, and that is a recipe for a good aggressive game from him.

Defensively, obviously we need to put our offense in good position. We are not injured on defense, and we are probably the best D in the NFL right now. Neither Jax nor Washington should put significant points on the board. 'nuff said there.

11 and 5. Healthy for the playoffs and significant depth built up over the next few weeks. Things are looking good in the Meadowlands ladies and gentlemen, so lets strap in and enjoy the ride.

I think we here at BBV would all cast our vote for MVC (Most Valuable Coordinator) for Perry Fewell. These last few weeks, the Giants DEFENSE (I feel they deserve to be capitalized) has been well prepared to absolutely dominate the teams they played, with the exception of the Jon Kitna led Cowboys in the 4th quarter. The question I would like to ask all of you is simply this. Do you notice a difference in the defensive philosophy between the exhibition and first couple weeks of the season, and what we are doing now? I was frustrated during the pre-season because I thought we were going to be a passive gap-control defense. Carolina didn't tell us much, and the Colts game was simply a failed game plan..... But then.....

I felt the defensive philosophy changed to a much more penetrating, attacking style which really suits our personnel much better. We now trust our corners to cover, so we can use safeties in the run game, which allows our ends to come upfield off the corners (I didn't see that in the preseason). Canty and Cofield are allowed to penetrate and collapse the pocket. If I remember correctly, during the exhibition games, the talk was all about creating a "wall" at the LOS. Now, we are MOVING the LOS backwards. And I love it!!

So, I guess this post is my way of saying "kudos" to Perry Fewell and his staff for adjusting to and exploiting the talents of his defensive players. To me, that is what makes Perry Fewell the MVC of the first half of the season in the NFL.

I wish to make the case for why Eli is an Elite QB.

Continue reading this post »

Here are some of my observations from Sunday nights thumping of "Da Bears":

1) Obviously, we all loved the way the defense played (unfortunately, we won't get to play Jay Cutler every week). I think there is a slight change in philosophy in the defense and I LOVE IT! I was frustrated through pre season and first couple of games because I felt like we were scheming against penetration. Fewell talked about "creating a wall" with the LB's and DL, so that no seams were created for the backs. Thank God we've gotten away from that, and are allowing our athletic line to penetrate and create some havoc. Obviously, this may create some cutback lanes that will be big plays for the offense, but it also creates negative plays, and that is what our defense should be all about, based on our personnel (BTW, I think Sintim will adjust to that style and be a contributor as the year goes on. He was not a good "disciplined" type linebacker, but can create havoc with his athleticism. Let him run.). Great adjustment, Coach Fewell.

2) Regardless of the dropped punt snap and the missed FG, I saw significant improvement from our special teams. a couple of lengthy returns (opening kickoff, Dodge made a tackle on Hester), and yet at no time did any returns look like they were going to go the distance, and the Bears have one of the best return games in the NFL. Reynaud is scary, but I think a change there is imminent, and we still got some decent return blocking on kicks (both of them... I LOVE THAT!) and punts. Guys losing their jobs (and roster spots?) may have created some much needed intensity there.

3) Does anybody see the need for us to carry a fullback anymore? I was a fullback, and loved Hedgecock a couple of years ago, but right now Bear Pascoe is hungry to get on the field, and performed admirably last night. And even though Hedgecock had a reception last night (WHAT???), I'm guessing that Bear is a better threat to catch the ball out of the backfield. 2 TE sets? How about more Shawn Andrews, or Rich Seubert when Andrews ends up starting at tackle and Diehl moves inside in a couple more weeks. They mentioned last night that Richie started as a tight end. Losing Hedgecock means we can keep Beckum and Pascoe both active ( a Beckum sighting/reception last night, and I saw that Victor Cruz was active last night also).

4) We will need Brandon Jacobs to continue to improve, as he did last night. He needs to figure out how to relax and be angry at the same time. There will come a time this year when he will have to carry the load for a quarter or two, or even a game or two. It wouldn't hurt to begin giving him a little more time (10-12 carries, and a few pass patterns) to make sure he isn't pressing so much when he does get in the game. He is just way too tense... we need him INtense, not too tense (otherwise, he will be past tense). The coaches need to make sure he is a part of the game plan, and our 2 backs should be interchangeable. (Congrats to Derrick Ward for a TD run yesterday. I didn't think he'd get another chance).

I could go on, but those are a few of the thoughts from a fairly optimistic fan.

I can't find Riley Skinner info. Is he with another team in camp? Is he injured? We cut Randolph to keep Skinner before, so why did Randolph get a call and not Skinner? just curious.
Also, since KG has been running our offense for a few years, couldn't we bring back some of our other reserve QB's from the past few years? (Where are you Pillsbury Throwboy?)

I love Bomar as our back-up, I'm just looking for our back-up's back-up, and then some.

Picture this line-up in a 3rd and long situation:

DT- Tuck and Canty- both are good (in Tuck's case GREAT) interior pass rushers

DE- Osi and JPP- speed off both corners, BUT

OLB's- Sintim and Kiwi in a full blitz  (6 rushers) package (You know Spags would've done it). Boley could be in there, too, but I really like Kiwi coming off the edge.

Scary to send 6 men? I would match our 3 top corners (Webster, Thomas and Ross) man up on any 3 receivers in the NFL (even the Eagles, only because Kolb isn't very scary back there.)

All that is left then is Rolle and Phillips (Please, Please , PLEASE be the Kenny Phillips we need) to cover up the garbage receivers (TE or #4 wide out or RB).

I'm guessing the QB will get about 1.7 sec to make a decision.