Is now consoling the 13th Man, who was egregiously assaulted by a bunch of 12th-Fan jersey wearing Seahawks fans, who I would love to stick around and comment on the blog all season. Alas, i'm sure they will turn their venom elsewhere -- like a Bears blog next week.
Let me say a few words about y'all before we move on to the Big Blue Disaster:
1. Congrats. Your team played a great game, you cheered your lungs out and your city and stadium are a lot of fun to be in.
2. Zip it. The term, I believe, is "grave dancing," and you folks are engaged in a healthy dose of it right now. And lookie here -- all it took was one day for that to come back and bite you, with the news that Shaun Alexander is out with a broken foot. Hope it was worth it to come on here and show there's a few of you out there who can't win with dignity.
OK, on to the Giants!
Where to begin? Jeremy Shockey apologized today for his "outplayed and outcoached" outburst after the game. Eli Manning scolded his tight end and Tom Coughlin expressed disappointment that two of his marquee players have called him out publicly over the last four games; I bet Coughlin is more disappointed that his offensive and defensive schemes seem to be so transparent that now two teams have quickly sized up the Giants and run them over.
We'll be talking to the assistant coaches tomorrow, and there should be quite a crowd around Tim Lewis. Got any questions for him? Send 'em along.
Comments (16)
Please Arthur ask Tim Lewis what the problem is with the secondary? Ask him where the pressur is? Ask him why there is no defender anywhere near the recievers!
Why does it seem that the defense has no clue as to what the opposing offense is doing? Are the scouting reports bad, are the schemes bad, are the players bad, do the coaches have enough imagination to adapt quickly? Considering the way this defense was billed in terms of aggression, should you consider your job a failure?
Tim Lewis, I been a Giants Fan for many years, and what I've been seeing in the last couple of weeks the Giants Defense Stinks, and The Offense is no better, I want to know why we don't play Brandon Jacobs more, because it seems Tiki Barber is being through around like a paper bag. If the Giants keep playing like this were looking at a 2-14 season
Arthur - Its our defense - and only our defense. Sure - the offense had many
mistakes - but they always put up a solid amount of points.
This is the worst looking Giants Defense I have ever seen. I find myself longing for the days of Curtis DeLoach, Dave Thomas, or Philippi Sparks. It seems like our defense plays with 8 or 9 guys on the field. No pass rush AND guys are wide open - How is this possible?
* Where is Lavar Arrington? Does he play for us?
* Sam Maddison - HORRIBLE - Frank Walker has to be better than him.
* Will Demps? He shows-up to each play 3 seconds to late.
We are 1-2, but it feels like we are 0-10. The Eagles game - okay -
thrilled we won it - but we did not play well. SO far - the best effort for the
Giants' D has been the Colts game. If nothing else - I want to see some hitting out there.
PS - Glad you get to speal to Tim Lewis. Please grill him
for answers.
PPS - This keeps up and Tim Lewis really will never get a head coaching job in this league.
PPPS - Curtis DeLoach just scored the first TD in the Super Dome in 2 years. I miss him more now.
Can you please ask Tim Lewis If he realizes that as Defensive coordinator he should try and prepare our defense to NOT let the OTHER team score points. They shouldn't just be standing around. What the hell is he doing?!?!?!?! That man better pray I don't find him...but hey...he probably wouldn't be able to defend himself. Peace
Are we in for a repeat for the crap he pulled in Pittsburgh....ask him that
RE: Tim Lewis
Would it be wrong to say you're running a more conservative defense? You seem hesitant to blitz, preferring to hope your front 4 gets pressure (which it is not), while putting the back 7 in a cover 2 which looks an awful lot like a prevent. Sure, you arent giving up many "big" pass plays, but opposing offenses are racking up 15+ play drives with a 70% 3rd down conversion rate. Do you plan on being more aggressive, or are you trying to repeat your final season in Pittsburg, because that is exactly what this looks like through 3 games.
Please read this article, and then ask your own questions based on your own conclusions.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/103-01072004-222516.html
Seahawks fan here. Sorry for the "Grave dancing", but you should have seen the crud Giants fans were posting on blogs in Seattle both last season and this one. Talk about an obnoxious group, but hey, at least they are devout fans!
We can take it, but we're gonna dish it out then too!
Bummer about Shaun, but we won't miss him TOO badly, since we really haven't had him much yet this season. Best for him to get healthy. That foot has been injured for all 3 games, and he has not been in the games as much as usual, and not particularly effective when in the games, because of the injury. The bruise turns out to be a fractured bone, so best if he rests up for a few weeks.
Mo Morris, Mack Strong, and the guys have been doing more ball carrying so far anyway, because of Alexander's injury, and will just get more carries now that Alexander will be out.
Seattle sets up the run with the pass, not the other way around. The run is always situational. So while losing Alexander for a few weeks sucks, it's not as bad as losing Hasselbeck, not even close.
Best of luck in upcoming games. The Giants are a quality team, but the Defense has to put more pressure on opposing QB's to give the DB's some help.
Look what happened in the 4th quarter when Seattle stopped blitzing and just did a straight 4 man front. Eli got time and made some plays.
Why didn't that happen earlier? Because Seattle plays a much more aggressive defense than they used to, that is, until they have a big lead, then they usually give up a couple of late scores because they play more zone and prevent when they have a big lead, just trying to slow the game and get the clock chewed up.
The Giants D looks a lot like the Seahawks D from past years, always playing zone, only doing a base 4 man rush package, and giving QB's too much time. It's easily fixable, but will the coaches do it?
We were frustrated for years here in Seattle until our D coordinator change last year, then our D got a lot better as we started giving QB's less time in the pocket. Same personnel, just packaged differently and being more agressive.
That zone and prevent stuff is junk unless you have a huge lead and can afford to give up lots of medium yardage plays and a few TD's. Because most NFL QB's WILL pick you apart if you don't get pressure on them, simple as that.
This defense does concern me. I have not seen any "exotic" packages that confuse or confound the opposition. I think personnel wise we seem to match up ok with the Steelers. They have a VERY dominant defense and attitude. Look at a game they play and watch them. Watch how intense they are at their job. They attack and seem to dictate to the offense. We don't appear to be like that. To me, we seem passive and soft. We continually give up third and long at an alarming rate. Wide Receivers/Tight Ends are WIDE OPEN consistently on us (is this due to blown coverage ALL the time?).
Quarterbacks, for the most part, have time to bake cookies and do their taxes back in the pocket when they face us. I watch the opposing QB's face/body language and I don't see any frustration/concern from them that our defense should be giving them. So far, it seems that they already know what to expect and have the solution to counter it. This may be a bad example but, in a bizzaro way, it almost seems like the Tampa Bay situation where they knew all the plays and the correct defense to call to counter-act what the Raiders were running in the 2002 Super Bowl . The Raiders were too stubborn to try/invent/adapt to a "new" game plan. The Tampa Bay players said so, after the game was over, that they practiced against the SAME PLAYS that the Raiders ran so that they knew all the options and routes. Has this happened to the Giants defense? Have the offensive coordinators figured out ALL of Tim Lewis's schemes and have planned scenarios as to what to expect because of tendencies? Is Tim egotistical and it's his way and only his way? Do the players have any input in the game plan as to what best fits their abilities?
From the outside looking in, Tim seems to be a really smart DC. His defense once lead the league and stayed in the top 10 with the Steelers. Bill Cowher fired him. For reason known just between those two, has Tim learned anything from the firing? If so, then what is it?
I am really disappointed in the performance of this team so far. I am a military veteran, and still continue to work with the federal government. I absolutely understand the concept of teamwork and that you are only as strong as your weakest link. I also understand the roles of leadership and follow ship. I understand that as a team, you document your lessons learned as to try and avoid the same mistakes that were done before. That is adapting and evolving. That is streamlining to help your team by putting them and you in the best position to succeed. The mission is to confuses, dominate, and stop the opposing offense. To accomplish this you have to have total buy-in from your defensive players. Are Tim's current players buying in his current schemes?
Ask Mr. Lewis why he insists on so much cover 2 which is dependant on LBs who can run vertically and cover the seam? Arrington, Pierce and Emmons are NOT those type of LBs, so why force the C-2 down the defenses throat when the LBs we have are more suited to blitz and attack the LOS? Go back to the multiple fronts, the basic 4-3 is NOT working our LBs cannot cover!!!!
Hi Arthur,
Can you ask Tim Lewis if he was aware that Shaun Alexander was injured during the previous week and why he didn't play more nickel packages, daring the the Seahawks to run? Also, who's wearing number 72 and 92 because it can't be Osi and Strahan?
I want to know why this defense is as passive as it is. Why aren't we putting any kind of pressure on the QB and taking more chances? Peyton Manning, McNabb and Hasselbeck had all the time in the world. If we get beat, then we get beat. At least we'll be agressive.
Also, why aren't we throwing more to the TE's. We have one in Shockey that can catch the ball and make some plays. Why don't we use Jacobs more? Why don't we have more sets with the WRs who are real good and can make plays?
Who gives a rats butt about the Giants. Thats what's wrong with South Florida you got all these New Yorkers rooting for a team thats 5,ooo miles away. Let it go man Go Dolphins! Support your home team or go back to NY. We dont need you. And take your media with you.
The Giants defense is pathetic because the players are not being used properly. Lavar should be free lancing like he did in college and the beginning of his professional career. Lawrence Taylor was like that too, a guy that could make a difference when allowed to do his thing. The secondary is a mess and I don't even know where to start with that. The offense needs to be patterned after the Colts. Eli always does much better in the no huddle. Coughlin is too thick headed to adjust to his players and thats why everyone hates him. If he doesn't make the playoffs this year he should be fired. All that talent and he lets his ego come first. Use the players right or get out of NY.