Giants Big Blue Blog

Gameday; Giants vs Cowboys!!!

It is gameday and possibly judgement day as the hated Dallas Cowboys invade the swamps of the Meadowlands this afternoon. Lose today and the NY Giants will feel about as uncomfortable around the City as Tiger Woods locked in a room with his wife and mistresses---and that would not be pretty!

The Giants lost on Thanksgiving in large part due to lack of interest (anyone watching that game knows they did not show up), that won't happen against the Division rival Cowboys, but this team has simply fallen too far, too fast and I have to worry about the injuries. No Antonio Pierce means second year man Jonathon Goff gets the start at middlelinebacker and goes against Jason Witten---good luck.

Also, the Giants are paper thin at runningback and further will have to start C.C. (can't cover) Brown due to injury.

Folks, I am hopeful, but not optimistic. I would love nothing more then to be writing a post tonight about how I misjudged this Giants team. However, I think more likely tonight's post will be lamenting the fact that for all intents and purposes this rollercoaster season is over....  

NFL week 13 picks; Giants vs Cowboys...

I wish I could find some reason for optimism, I really do. Fact is, I cannot. I hate to say it but the Giants are done. They are badly injured and the last time we saw them play they just mailed it in. I am the eternal optimist, but I am also a realist.

I can spot a dead team when I see one and the Giants are a dead team.

Painful as it is to say (and trust me, I hate losing to the Cowboys more then I hate being forced to listen to REO Speedwagons greatest hits----that is painful), I have to pick Dallas to win big, Cowboys 31-10, ouch...

Giants limping home...

The Ny Giants are in free fall; they have lost five of their last six, most in humiliating fashion, and they are badly banged up heading into the Cowboys game Sunday. They are paper thin at running back as Danny Ware is out with a concussion and Ahmed Bradshaw is questionable.

To make matters potentially worse, second year pro Jonathon Goff will make his first start at the all important middle linebacker position. Don't get me wrong, Goff has potential, but is he ready yet?

We will begin to find out Sunday...

So where are the Giants???

Coming into this season, I and most NY Giants fans were full of optimism. Yes, we lost defensive coordinator Steve Spagnolo but we had a great off season! The usual stellar draft by Jerry Reese was coupled with a free agent signing period that added Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard, Michael Boley and C.C. Brown---this was going to be the best defense in the NFL! Not to mention we had the best offensive line in football to go along with the best running game in football and a Super Bowl MVP quarterback!

Miami here we come! Right? Wrong.

The week 13 NFL Power rankings have the Giants located somewhere in the middle of the pack depending on which poll you look at.

They are right! The Giants at the moment are no better then mediocre. Put them up against the Oakland Raiders and we have no problems. Put them up against the better teams of the NFL and we lose! Period!

Yes, we still have a chance at the playoffs, lets face it, miraculously the Giants still have a winning record. I am just not certain they will end the season with one. They simply have too much to overcome (even if they wake from their slumber and actually start putting forth some effort----novel idea).

What must they overcome? How about injuries; Kenny Phillips, Jay Alford and Antonio Pierce are gone for the season, Eli Manning is just one 300 pound lineman stepping on his foot away from also being a casualty, the offensive and defensive lines are banged up.

Worse then this, they must overcome some absolutely lousy coaching, not from just Tom Coughlin (and as the big man, he must be held accountable), but from Kevin Gilbride and Bill Sheridan who are terrible at their jobs, lets face it, (both men MUST go at season's end).

So, I agree with the NFL Power rankings; sadly, our Giants are no better then average... 

Charlie Weis on the way????

As you have all undoubtedly heard by now Notre Dame football has fired headcoach Charlie Weiss. Weiss, a former Giants assistant under Bill Parcells as well as a Super Bowl winning offensive coordinator under Bill Belichek, will likely wind up once again as a coordinator next season in the NFL.

The rather pleasantly plump Mr. Weis may not cut it as a headcoach, but he is a heck of a coordinator (see Rex Ryan, Buddy Ryan, etc). Given that current Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride is likely to be run out of town (lets hope and pray...) and that the Giants would likely opt fot a high profile coach as a replacement (again, assuming Gilbride is a goner but if the Giants miss the playoffs I cannot see him surviving given his alarming ineptitude of late), Weis would make sense.

We will keep an eye on the situation...

Eli Manning injury is worse then thought...

First off, I have been a bit light on the posting this weekend----Family stuff during a Holiday weekend (hooray beer!!!!). Anyhow, as you have undoubtedly heard it was announced this weekend that Giants quarterback Eli Manning may have a stress fracture on his left foot that is related to the Planter Fascia injury on his right foot.

Having suffered from Planter Fasciitis myself I can tell you that it is easy to injure the "good" foot while favoring the "bad" foot---I did it too (in my case it came from running a half Marathon then, instead of stretching going to an Irish Pub for beers and shots; made sense at the time...).

Big picture; there is a chance that Manning, if he suffers a stress fracture, could miss the remainder of the 2009 season. My question is does it really matter?

For this season, which I think is a lost season in more ways then one, it probably does not matter. This team, including Eli Manning, was a disgrace  Thursday night and has been for the last five weeks.

You could put a combination of the best traits of Joe Montana, John Elway, Dan Moreno, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and others at quarterback and mix it with a gutless team (like our beloved NY Giants ) and it would not matter. 

It kills me to say it but I went back (quite painful) and looked again at the Denver game and realized I was not too harsh on the Giants and their lack of effort-----they just quit on us!

Stick a fork in em!!!!

That is right, the season is unofficially over for the gutless wonders once known as the NY Giants. They were disgraced and humiliated on National television last night by a mediocre team in the Denver Broncos. 26-6 was the final score but it really should have been 38-6 but for the red zone ineptitude on the part of the Broncos.

Tom Coughlin's merry little group of over- paid underacheivers are now in freefall.

Yes, mathematically they are still in the hunt but lets get real. Going back to last season they are now 7-10 in their last 17 games and have beaten exactly zero quality opponents during that stretch. Folks, that spells a bad football team.

The problems, in no particular order: 

• The defensive line which was supposed to be the second coming of the purple people eaters puts less pressure on the quarterback then the typical guy puts on a first date for sex (actually, far less). 
• They do not get near the quarterback which is a huge problem since the defense lacks anybody with any cover skillls! Seriously, I saw receivers running wide open all night---hell, lets be honest, all friggin season! 
• They also got pushed around like an 80 pound weakling doing his first stint in prison I have NEVER seen a Giants defense manhandled in such a fashion!

Special teams are a joke! The kicker is unreliable and has a short leg, Jeff Feagles is starting to show his age and Domenik Hixon cannot get the ball past the twenty yard line to save his life so they always start with lousy field position!

No worries you say, we have a top notch offense led by Eli Manning!

Think again, 26 total yards in the first half! Friggin pathetic! They could not establish the run, couldn't block in the passing game, and Eli looked dazed and confused. He had that Forrest Gump look on his face all night long. The $100M QB was not worth 100 bucks last night!

The offensive line is shot. They look less then average, whether due to age or injury I don't know but they are bad right now.

The coordinators are clueless and the head coach looks senile!

Seriously, it is a MESS! This team also showed zero heart, zero fire, zero passion! As a friend of mine said last night as he left the TV room to find something else to do; "if the players don't give a shit neither do I". He is dead on right!

So, when the Giants miss the playoffs this season ( and unless they find a way to go 4-1, which will not happen with this group of clowns), who is held accountable?

Tom Coughlin? Kevin Gilbride? Bill Sheridan? Jerry Reese who has absolutely bombed this season? Think about the players he has bought in this year, Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard, Michael Boley and CC Brown have all been major league busts and the only rookie to contribute has been Hakeem Nicks!

It is goint to be another long, dark winter for Giants fans; the Super Bowl victory seems like a distant memory right now....

NFL gameday; (and Turkey Day) Giants vs Broncos!!!

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all our dedicated myteamrivals readers! The Giants will not be spending Thanksgiving at home with their Families stuffing their faces with food and swilling beer while watching NFL Football like the rest of us; they are in action tonight in a crucial game at the Denver Broncos.

The Giants (6-4) are struggling after a lightning fast start just like the Broncos (also 6-4, but on  a four game skid).

The Broncos defense was among the best in football during their winning streak but of late they have been ineffective (much like the Giants). They also have serious problems on offense especially if Kyle Orton is bothered as much by his ankle injury as I have been hearing.

With Orton immobile and having trouble planting on the injured ankle look for a serious dose of blitzing from the Giants.

On offense, even without Ahmed Bradshaw look for Brandon Jacobs and Danny Ware to establish the running game and Eli Manning to continue his excellent play of late.

Giants, 24-10....

This defense is offensive....

I cannot remember ever feeling so down after a Giants victory. Yes, they got it done yesterday, albeit in ugly fashion by topping the Falcons 34-31 in overtime. Yes, I am thrilled with the win. Yes it puts them back in the mix for a Wild Card berth if not for the NFC East Crown.

But this team does not look good, particularly on defense.

Rookie defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan looks like, well, a rookie. The big blue wrecking crew (tongue in cheek; it isn't that these days) has surrendered just under 33 points a game on average the past five games. Unacceptable!

I knew that when we lost Steve Spagnolo to the St. Louis Rams there would be some dropoff. It was inevitable, Spags was a heck of a coordinator. But I was comforted by the constant assurances by Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese that Sheridan was basically "Spags lite".

We were told that he looked over Spagnolo's shoulder the past two seasons and knew the defense as well as if not better then his mentor. Evidently, he was not paying attention.

Is it all Bill Sheridan's fault? Of course not. But let's be honest; when the Giants went out and allegedly improved upon one of the NFL's best defenses by adding Osi Umenyiora (back from injury), Chris Canty, Rocky Bernard and Michael Boley, you had to figure they would be dominant.

I have not forgotten about injuries. Losing Kenny Phillips and Jay Alford for the season hurt a lot. Not to mention the myriad injuries they have suffered since.

But yesterday, after a bye week, with time to rest, relax and heal, time to "self scout" and tighten things up, I expected a dominant performance against a slightly better then mediocre offense. Didn't happen.

The Giants, despite the loss of Antonio Pierce, were as healthy as they have been all season. Yet, they played a lousy game!

Giving up 31 points at home to a team without it's best player (Michael Turner, yes, I know they still have Tony Gonzalez, but Turner is the man in Atlanta this year) is pathetic! Consider they have a struggling quarterback in Matt Ryan---though this season it appears the cure to a struggling quarterback seems to be a game against the Giants once vaunted defense.

For the second straight game the Giants defense in crunch time went down like a cheap whore at a Shriners convention! They blew a game against the Chargers and did their level best to blow it yesterday against the Falcons.

Really, a 31-17 lead in the fourth quarter is not safe against a mediocre offense at home? Evidently not.

I don't want to sound negative---I am actually being realistic. This team is not going anywhere unless Bill Sheridan and his players on defense step it up.

You can get by against the likes of Matt Ryan and the Falcons with this pathetic defensive performance, but try it against the likes of the Saints or Vikings and it will get ugly early.

So, Giants fans, be happy with the victory, as I am. But do not feel overly confident because I don't know that we can rely on 384 yards and 3 touchdowns from Eli Manning every week... 

The good, the bad and the ugly!!!

Yes, there was good, bad and ugly in todays Giants victory (sorry Clint Eastwood).

The good; first, their new self appointed (by me) good luck charm: (see below)

 Any excuse to put up a bikini shot of Kathy Ireland is certainly a good thing. Seriously though, the fact that they won is obviously huge. The Giants were a desperate team (the fact that they didn't play like one is another issue) and are now 6-4 and in pretty good shape in terms of the playoff picture.

Eli Manning, despite getting off to a rocky start was good; 382 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The bad; how about this pourous defense showing a troubling inability to make  a key stop? They surrendered 31 points to a mediocre Falcons offense (without Michael Turner, they are in fact mediocre). More troublesome, they failed to stop Atlanta once in the second half and blew a 14 point lead late in the game.

The ugly; penalties and yet another missed field goal by Lawrence Tynes (yes, I know he kicked the game winner) who is VERY unreliable and will cost them games with his inconsistency, I promise.

Big picture; I am obviously happy with the win, but this Giants team is not going far in my opinion---sorry to be a downer but they are just missing something.

Anyhow, I will enjoy the victory....