SB Nation User Blog: cjmulrain

Question (and answers) from a Giants fan

cjmulrain — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 10:41:57 -0000

Hey all,

If you don't know me, I'm one of the head bloggers over at BigBlueView.com. I am a transplanted New Yorker currently living in Silver Spring, and I have tickets for the Giants-Redskins game on Monday night. This will be my first ever visit to Fed Ex Field (in fact, it will be my first ever pro football game outside of Giants Stadium), and I was just wondering if you guys had any suggestions on parking, how early I should get to the stadium, whether I can/should bring food into the stadium (is the stadium food any good? I'm just gonna assume the prices are ridiculous, but I love good stadium food). Also, what's the crowd atmosphere been like so far this year, especially for opposing fans - I can take abuse, but it's my girlfriends first football game so I'm hoping it won't be too bad.

Since I'm here asking you guys questions, if you have any football related Giants questions I can try to answer them for you. The basic breakdown since last time we played is: wide receivers far exceeded expectations while the running backs have been a disappointment, but overall the offense has been mostly very good - statistically one of the best in franchise history even if not as dominant as last year. Unfortunately, it's also been paired with quite possibly the worst Giants defense since pre-Bill Parcells. The Giants are especially awful at safety, but they haven't been helped by a slow linebacking corps and a very dissapointing defensive line. Justin Tuck has been hurt ever since Flozell "dirtiest player in the NFL" Adams tripped him in week 2, and Osi Umenyiora has proven to be an extreme liability in run defense, to the point that he was actually demoted from the starting lineup in favor of Mathias Kiwanuka. Osi still makes some spectacular plays, but he disappears for the rest of the game, and Kiwanuka, while not spectacular, is pretty steady.

I'm sure many of you know that the Giants pretty much need to beat the Redskins if they want to keep any playoff hopes alive, especially with the Cowboys defeat of the Saints last night. I think the Giants are a better team, but with the way the Redskins have been playing since Zorn got stripped of playcalling duties, I'm definitely not as confident as I wish I was. I'm expecting a great game Monday night between two old school rivals who would probably play a competitive game even if one was 13-0 and the other was 0-13. Oh, and congrats on finally being rid of Vinny Cerrato - I know a lot of Skins fans who have celebrated the last few days like you guys just won the Super Bowl (and as a NY Mets fan who understands what it's like to have an awful front office, I sympathize completely.)

Giants Notebook: 12.19.2009

cjmulrain — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 07:31:49 -0000

Good morning, Giants fans. The theme of the week for the Giants is how the defense has been letting the offense down. Here are the links:

First is a story from the AP wire, noting that the offense is trumping the defense
Then there's the LA Times noting that the mighty Giants have fallen (along with the Steelers and Patriots) and it's not the fault of the offense.
Here's Justin Terranova of the New York Post writing that, like Monday Night Football, the Giants must return to their roots of strong defense. I wish it were just that simple.
Steve Serby writes an S.O.S. letter to Eli, asking him to "save our season."
Northjersey.com profiles rookie William Beatty as he prepares to fill in for the injured Kareem McKenzie. I'll admit that I'm far from an expert on offensive line play, but I haven't noticed any real dropoff from McKenzie to Beatty, which is about all you can ask for from a rookie tackle.
Finally, we have transcripts from everyone's two favorite Giants employees: Bill Sheridan and Kevin Gilbride. Sheridan answered a question about Tom Coughlin's statement from the other day:

"Kind just for what it is. We, as a defense, are certainly disappointed in our performance. We certainly don’t expect to be giving up 25, 30 points a game. That is not the M.O around here and never has been. So really we are as disappointed in ourselves as anybody else. Tom is just very matter of fact about bottom line and what is expected of our defense. Just like what is expected of our offense and special teams. In several of the last couple games, we have not met those expectations in the grand scheme of things and that has to improve."

Be sure to check out the transcripts section for more from Tom Coughlin, Bruce Johnson, and the always entertaining Brandon Jacobs.

I won't be in the game threads on Monday night because I'll be freezing my butt off at Fed Ex Field. As always, Go Giants!

New York Giants News & Notes: Playoff odds, offense

cjmulrain — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:48:42 -0000

As bleak as things might look, the Giants still have a pretty good chance of making the playoffs this year, according to NFL-forecast.com. They have a 48.7% chance of finishing 2nd in the East, which would all but guarantee them a spot in the playoffs. Nothing's a gimme in the NFL, but the Giants schedule the next three weeks is a lot easier than the Cowboys. It should also be noted that as bad as the Giants have looked for most of the past 8 weeks, they haven't lost to a team with a record worse than 8-5 all season. The 2009 Giants aren't a great team, but they've taken care of business against the teams they are supposed to take care of business against. Hopefully that won't let up against the Redskins and the Panthers.
Apparently Eli Manning still sees Super Bowl potential in this team. The Giants haven't done much of anything since shellacking the Raiders to suggest that there's a Super Bowl run in them, but then neither had the Cardinals last year, the Giants two years ago, or the Steelers back in 2006. The NFL is a funny league, and a truly dominant regular season team hasn't won the Super Bowl since the 2004 Patriots won their second in a row. I'm not ready to write this team off until the nail is officially in the coffin.
There's been a lot of talk about how bad the defense has been, but the Giants offense has actually been very good lately. Take away the Denver game and they're averaging just about 28 points a game. Even with the Broncos game they're on pace for their third highest scoring season ever. Whoever you choose to blame for this mess, don't put it on Eli Manning - at the end of this season he will have led 3 of the 4 highest scoring offenses in franchise history. With the talented group of young receivers he has around him, this offense should be very good for a long time. Now it's up to Jerry Reese to sort out the defense.
Steve Serby takes the Giants defense to task for the "brainlock" they exhibited on the near interception/fumble that was blown dead. I argued after the game that it was a tough play for Boley to make (a near shoe-string INT on a ball that was knocked out of McNabb's hands), and I stand by that. You can't get on a guy too much for not making what would have been a fantastic play. That said, I agree with Serby that there's no excuse for nobody on the Giants defense (or the Eagles offense, for that matter) to not at least try to jump on the ball.
The NY Times Fifth Down blog remembers happier days, as it continues its countdown of the top 10 Giants moments at Giants Stadium with Jim Burt's crushing blow on Joe Montana and the Giants blowout victory over the 49ers in the 1986 playoffs.
Finally, this isn't Giants related but it is about our upcoming opponent and is hilarious, so I felt I had to share. Apparently Antwaan Randle El hasn't been doing a very good job returning punts, so some Redskins legends have been calling him out, including Joe Theismann with one of the best jabs I've heard in a long time: "He averages 3.9 yards a punt return. I will say this in all humility: I could do that. OK? As a matter of fact, I have done it. And I've done it better. I catch the football." Remember, this is a 60-year-old former quarterback who hasn't played football since LT snapped his knee in half 25 years ago. Gotta love the Redskins.

New York Giants Notes: Aaron Ross at safety, Gap Control, & Corey Webster

cjmulrain — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:21:14 -0000

Aaron Ross talked yesterday about his transition to safety after playing his whole life as a cornerback:

"I am getting there. I still have some things to learn. I know the defense but I still have technical and just small things that safeties that have been playing the game know that I might not. I have Michael Johnson, (Aaron) Rouse and C.C. (Brown) to teach me. It's been going pretty well."

Both Michael Johnson (transcript) and Tom Coughlin (transcript) blamed poor gap control for the defense getting gashed by the Philadelphia running game last time they met. The Giants run defense showed a huge improvement last week against the Cowboys, so hopefully they can maintain that and shut down the Eagles tomorrow.
Corey Webster had his worst game of the season on Sunday, but Bill Sheridan hasn't lost faith in the Giants #1 corner:

"The only thing I say is, as you know, we normally match him up against the best receiver on the other team," Sheridan said. "So inevitably, they are not going to be completely scared from throwing to that guy and he is going to get the ball thrown on him. So I am not surprised or disappointed. I think he would probably be more frustrated than I am, because he thinks he can play better on some of those plays where balls have been caught on him. But he is still as good as anybody we have from a coverage standpoint and I am not concerned about it."

Steve Serby outlines the "big blue-print" for beating the Eagles. I can think of at least one BBV commenter who will agree with step #2: "the big plays."
Amani Toomer's feud with the Giants was pretty short lived, as he will be on hand tomorrow as an honorary captain. His only regret is that he's not still a Giant.
I drew some criticism the other day for denying the existence of Super Bowl XXXV, but look, I'm not alone: the Giants 10 Greatest Games DVD includes the divisional round game against the Eagles and the NFC Championship game against the Vikings, and then skips ahead to the 2006 regular season comeback against the Eagles. For true Giants fans, this DVD should be at the top of your Christmas List (it's already on mine) - in addition to those three games it has all six postseason games from the Giants first two Super Bowl seasons plus Super Bowl XLII (the other three playoff games that year are included on the Road to Super Bowl XLII DVD, which is also worth owning if you don't have it already).

New York Giants News & Notes: Giants Have a Little Swagger Back

cjmulrain — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:10:23 -0000

Fred Robbins posts on his blog about the Giants win over the Cowboys and their upcoming game against the Eagles. He mentions that the Giants have their swagger back after excelling in all 3 phases of the game on Sunday.
Domenik Hixon was a big part of the reason the Giants Special Teams performed well, returning a key punt for a touchdown. For his efforts, he has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Amazingly, that was the Giants first punt return touchdown since Chad Morton returned one against the Cardinals back in 2005.
Another key to the Giants performance against the Cowboys was how well the defense responded to the shuffling starting lineups on the defensive line. Osi Umenyiora should especially be commended for taking his demotion in stride, and coming up with a huge fumble recovery. For that, maybe we should thank LaVar Arrington. He was a bust as a free agent for the Giants a few years ago, but if his pep talk really helped Osi get his head right, I'll be forever grateful.
In perhaps the best news of the week, Chris Snee's knee is "very sore," but not seriously injured. It's still undecided if he will be able to play on Sunday, but it's at least good news that he won't miss significant time. Snee is the best player on the Giants offensive line and they're gonna need him down the stretch.
The Giants will have revenge on their minds Sunday against the Eagles. The Eagles have beaten the Giants in 3 straight meetings and have handed the Giants their last two playoff losses (of course, a Super Bowl Championship was squeezed in between, so we can't complain too much). I heard a lot about the revenge angle when these teams met a few weeks ago, and the Giants got killed. At this point, I don't care about revenge, I just want the Giants to win the damn game and get back into first place in the NFC East.
Steve Serby talks about "Hate Bowl II" and looks at the remaining schedules for the Giants and their playoff spot competition. On paper it looks good for the Giants, as long as they can beat the Eagles. That said, "any given Sunday" - which is why I hate looking ahead on the schedule. As the 2007 (and 2008) Mets proved, you can lose tro anyone down the stretch.
I joked about this in the comments a few days ago, but Plaxico Burress is looking for a work furlough to get him out of prison parttime. I'm extremely happy with our current crop of wide receivers & I know Plax left a bitter taste in a lot of mouths, but I'd be willing to take him back just for this weeks game against the Eagles & let him run a few plays. He always dominated the Eagles, and the Super Bowl run showed that he really doesn't need to practice. I'm only half-joking about this.
Finally, the NY Times 5th Down Blog continues its look at the 10 greatest Giants moments at Giants Stadium with their 41-0 NFC Championship Game beatdown of the Minnesota Vikings. It's really a shame they cancelled the Super Bowl that year, I really think after that performance the Giants would have absolutely destroyed the Ravens. I mean, Trent Dilfer...c'mon!

The Hank White Fan Club

cjmulrain — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:44:51 -0000

The Hank White Fan Club

I did a google search for Henry Blanco and found this website - it stopped updating when Blanco left the Cubs, but there's some funny stuff on there. I think my favorite is the MLB 2k7 Cover at the bottom of the first page.

New York Giants News & Notes: Kenny Phillips Tries to Put a Finger on it

cjmulrain — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:09:31 -0000

Kenny Phillips tries to put a finger on the Giants woes on his official blog, and for the most part he sounds just like any of us:

"I know this is a good team, I know how hard these guys work and how much they want to win, but for some reason it’s not showing and that’s the most frustrating thing. Sometimes I have to change the channel."

I don't like to blame injuries, but the defense hasn't been the same since Kenny went down. He looked like he was about to become a star this season, and his replacements have been nothing short of awful. Check out his blog post for an update on his rehab status.

Chris Canty talked about preparing for his first game against his former team this weekend (Canty missed the Giants first game against the Cowboys due to injury), and whether his knowledge of the Cowboys will give the Giants any advantages

"There is something special about this game. It’s an opportunity for us to compete as a football team. It’s a division game. This means a lot for us and we have taken notice of that. We are prepared as such and we are going to give ourselves the best opportunity to be successful on Sunday... I think both of teams know each other very well. I don’t think it has a lot to do with me at all. These teams play each other twice a year, a couple of years back where the Giants and Cowboys played each other three times a year, including the playoff game. These football teams know each other very well. There are not going to be a lot of surprises. Like I said, it is what it is."

Tom Coughlin sort of addressed the speculation that Osi Umenyiora has been demoted and won't be starting this weekend:

Q: There has been talk of Osi coming out on running downs - playing only passing downs. What can you tell us about that?

A: He will play run downs, too.

Q: Will he start?

A: We'll have to see on that. We will play everybody.

New York Giants News & Notes: Are the Giants a Playoff Team?

cjmulrain — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:25:36 -0000

Eli Manning certainly seems to think so:

"I think we are a playoff team. We have the talent and the guys that can definitely get there. We’re not in the exact position that you want to be in right now, but if we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to get hot, and if we go into the playoffs, we’re going to be a team that’s been playing real well and coming off a hot streak and playing our best football."

Gary Myers, on the other hand, is pretty sure they aren't:

"There's no indication they have it in them to reach down deep, show some of the old Giants pride and put this season back together. That means by the time they absorb the one-two punch from the Cowboys and Eagles in back-to-back home games, they will be knocked out of the NFC East race and hanging on the ropes in the wild-card fight."

Mike Vaccaro thinks that Eli Manning needs to carry the Giant s if they intend on making a playoff run, a sentiment that is echoed by Josh Alper of NBC Sports. Alper thinks the Giants need to come out like they have nothing to lose, "like a boxer behind on points in the 11th." Alper also says that "Manning's the best player on the team, so let him loose." Can't say I disagree with that.
Speaking of Manning, he discussed his injury and dismissed it as a cause of his less than stellar play on Thanksgiving:

"I am a guy who doesn’t really like to be in the training room and try to avoid it as much as possible. I only go there when I truly need it, so that has probably been the biggest annoyance. Trying to deal with it, I am not thinking about it when I’m playing the games. I am not thinking about it and worried about it."

Justin Tuck talked about the loss of Antonio Pierce, going up against Flozell Adams, and why he's optimistic this week.
Forget about Charlie Weis as a potential replacement for Kevin Gilbride should he get a head coaching job elsewhere or get fired by the Giants (is there anyone who has a wider perception gap between his supporters and his detractors than Gilbride?) I actually have to say I'm a little disappointed in this news - Weis may not have been a great college coach, but offense was never his problem at Notre Dame. I think he's one of the best offensive minds in the game, and while I don't think Gilbride is terrible, I think Weis would definitely be an improvement.
Finally, the NY Times 5th Down Blog continues its countdown of the Top 10 Giants moments at Giants Stadium with George Martin's slow motion interception return. I am too young to remember that play, but I've seen the video many times and always get a kick out of it. It's a good thing John Elway was one of the greatest QB's of all-time, because he definitely wasn't going to make it as a defensive player with tackling skills like that.

New York Giants News & Notes: Ugly Loss Hangover

cjmulrain — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:31:53 -0000

I've remained pretty optimistic about the Giants all season, thinking there was no way that the team which looked so good in going 5-0 could really be as bad as they looked against the Saints and the Eagles. Tough losses to the Cardinals and Chargers didn't even bother me as much as they otherwise would, because the Giants easily could have won those games. But the loss to the Broncos is the worst yet, and has me doubting whether the Giants are even a playoff team, let alone a Super Bowl team. The Giants have 10 days until a make or break game against the Cowboys with their season quite literally on the line.

Tom Coughlin was not happy with the loss. He seems most disappointed in the Giants inability to control the running game on both sides of the ball:

"As I said last night, football to me is that you have to run the ball and stop the run. Those are the first things you do have to do to put yourself in a position to be able to take advantage of the various aspects of your plans and your talent. When you don’t do that you’re really putting a magnifying glass on some of these other aspects of the game. It’s not surprising sometimes that it doesn’t come out well. As I said last night, we did not stop the run. We didn’t give ourselves opportunities to run the ball because there really wasn’t much continuity. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities. We didn’t make a lot of first downs, we didn’t do a lot of the things that we knew were the reasons that people had defeated Denver in the last four games were because of, we didn’t do those things."

Shaun O'Hara thinks the problem is that the Giants aren't running the ball enough:

"The only way, in my eyes, to get back on track is to keep doing it and do it more. I think, as offensive linemen, we are always going to complain that we aren’t running the football enough. That is kind of our M.O. We want to run the ball more. Quarterbacks and receivers, we are going to have discussions with them every single day, they want to throw it, we want to run it. That is a constant battle. I am not going to be happy until we have 35-40 carries in a game."

On the defensive side of the ball, Barry Cofield thinks the problem is individual responsibility, not the coaching scheme:

"I’m a guy who always leans towards individual accountability. Guys just have to make plays. Guys have to be in their gaps. There were instances last night where guys weren’t where they were supposed to be. Guys weren’t necessarily making the plays on the ball that they should have. Guys weren’t beating their guys upfront."

Tim Smith of the Daily News says that the Giants are becoming a disgrace. Hey, it could be worse - they could be one of the NY/NJ area basketball teams.
Danny Ware's fumble cost the Giants big time on Thursday.
Antonio Pierce saw a neck specialist who confirmed that he has a bulging disk, meaning his season still hangs in the balance.
On the coaching front, Gary Myers says that the Tom Coughlin must be held accountable for the Giants collapse, and Jay Greenberg thinks the Giants should fire Bill Sheridan immediately. I have to say that I can't totally disagree with either of them.
Giants (and apparently De La Salle) great Amani Toomer has seemingly called it quits. I liked his quote about his short stint with the Chiefs:

"I played 13 years in a great organization like the Giants. I was in a preseason game with Kansas City and it felt like it wasn't pro football to me"

New York Giants News & Notes: Hoping for a Happy Thanksgiving

cjmulrain — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:17:52 -0000

Some short week notes from the transcripts page:

Tom Coughlin answers some injury questions and basically says he has no idea what's wrong with the defense:

"People keep asking me for an answer. I wish I had an answer. If I had an answer, it would be the end of it. We have not been able to stop those consistent pass drives late in the game. Someone asked me, I think yesterday, about whether there was fatigue involved. I don’t see that at all. You are talking about 50 degrees at this time of year. I just don’t see that. We have given up some pass plays, obviously. We have given up some opportunities. When we could have gotten off the field, we didn’t. We had some third and longs that they converted, too. Keep working."

Justin Tuck talked about some of the Giants 4th quarter woes. He also had possibly the line of the year, when asked about Thanksgiving dinner plans:

"I eat everyday. I am not worried about necessarily eating on Thanksgiving Day. Hopefully I get to eat some quarterbacks."

Other Stuff

Recently signed defensive back D.J. Johnson, who spent much of the year on the Broncos practice squad, has apparently been trying to help the Giants get ready for Thursdays game. Remember when some Giants fans were complaining after Andre Woodson got signed to the 'Skins practice squad? The shoe's on the other foot, now. (And oh, by the way: Andre Woodson was recently cut)
The Philadelphia man who was accused of sending threatening letters to Tom Coughlin has plead guilty. I will use up all of my willpower for the day and not make a disparaging remark about the city of Philadelphia, and just say that this is certainly a strange story.
The NY Times 5th Down Blog continues its countdown of the Top 10 Moments in Giants Stadium History with the Giants week 17 loss to the Patriots in 2007. I was at that game, and while it almost certainly wouldn't have made the top 10 if it weren't for what the Giants accomplished over the ensuing month, it was really an incredible game and a playoff atmosphere. Way better than the actual playoff game I went to (2005 vs. the Panthers). My two best experiences at Giants Stadium both came during that 2007 season, and I'll be curious to see if the other one makes the top 5.
Finally - Happy (almost) Thanksgiving everyone! Ed giving me a chance to help out on the front page and the reception from the awesome BBV community is definitely one of the things I'm thankful for this year.