I won't gloat over my nearly accurate prediction, only to say that I am officially of no influence over the Giants. So there.
Looking back...
-- The Giants could have had five INTs, but Will Demps dropped one that was in his hands, his gut, his numbers, everywhere, except at the last second, when he dropped it. And Kevin Dockery, who should now be the nickel CB from here on, had a good pick chance before he got his actual pick -- which tied a guy no one thought would make the team for the INT lead.
-- 4-for-18 on third downs and 70 second-half yards is nothing to be proud of, but TC pointed out on the conference call today that there was a bigger number at work: 27-13. And he took full responsibility for calling those boring plays that led to 5 straight three-and-outs. He didn't want to give the dead Panthers any life, as he did in Nashville two weeks ago. See? He learns.
-- Jeff Feagles showed why he's necessary. Nine punts, and 11 total return yards for Steve Smith. Smith went on Bob Papa's Sirius radio show this morning and said he's never seen a directional punter like Feagles. Me either -- he wasn't this accurate last season, I don't believe.
-- Speaking of Smith, he was a non-factor. He had a couple drops and was clearly not in sync with Chris Weinke, but I'm sure the Giants would happily take Drew Carter's career day and a two-TD win over Smith lighting them up.
Looking ahead...
-- Jeff Garcia has been error-free since he took over Donovan McNabb, which means the Giants could still shut down the Eagles' running game and still have problems unless they can contain Garcia.
-- The Philly defense that sacked Eli Manning eight times in Week 2 is still intact. The Eagles still have DT Mike Patterson and MLB Jeremiah Trotter, who helped make Tiki Barber's retirement decision an easy one after rag-dolling Barber around the field; they still have DEs Trent Cole and Darren Howard, with 13 sacks between them, and only Cole's brain cramp and groin kick on Kareem McKenzie allowed the Giants to complete their comeback.
-- The Giants may be down two OL starters. Shaun O'Hara's sprained ankle is swollen today and sore; TC gave no update on McKenzie's sprained neck. And Coughlin did not sound optimistic that DE Michael Strahan would practice this week; neither did Strahan himself on his weekly radio appearance. Don't expect him back this Sunday.
Comments (7)
Arthur,
I almost had a cow when TV showed a quick shot of Lorenzen warming after Eli took a shot on Sunday. You have to investigate- has he put on like 40 pounds since camp? We may need him to back up the O-line this Sunday against the Iggles.
Arthur -
I'm still not feeling good after that win... Eli looked hot & cold and we might be down 2 more offensive lineman?
"With the 16th pick in the 2007, Charlie Weis and the Giants select Adrian Peterson- RB, Oklahoma."
Totally aggree with Eric. Lorenzen looked huge. It scares me to think of him under center if Manning takes a fall. Maybe the Giants could be like the Steelers of last year. Get through the turmoil and win the super bowl. Still, on Sunday the pass rush really lacked and the line is banged up. I'd hear about Kris Jenkins, but that guy is a dominating force. Jacobs couldn't run that big guy over.
Arthur: I think it's time we except the reality of the Situation with Mike Strahan: he's not playing anymore this year. If he wants to try and come back next year, Great. I'm sure if he can stay healthy he's got a year or two left in the tank(maybe a bit more, but i said that at the beginning of this year). If he can't come back by the Saints game....if he's going to play in post season he'd need two games to get ready, so this would be his last week to rest the foot.
Heard the Sean O'Hara Show today on the Giants Site(from monday) and he said his ankle isn't that bad, but today we heard he had more inflamation. please let us know if he'll play Sunday.
BTW,..I have not gotten a chance to tell you your doing a Fine job with this(from one Blogger/Podcaster to another) and if you can find the time to be on my show i'd love to have ya!
Coach Bill
Yeah the O-line is pretty banged up but some optimistic thoughts:
They've been rotating all year and have been pretty solid other than that last Eagles game.
The Panthers front four is at least as good as the Eagles, if not better and they did an amazing job against them.
The Giants haven't had since Jeff Hostetler (Kurt Warner was the starter grooming Eli, and thus don't count). You'd think there should be some kind of conditionning program or diet consultant to monitor that kid. Doesn't it reflect badly again on Coughlin the disciplinarian ?
Dear Arthur,
I’m soooo tired of hearing Tom Coughlin taking “full responsibility” for the poor play calling. We know all about the play calling, so why doesn’t he do something about it? Once again, the coaches failed to come up with four quarters of quality play calling.
Those “boring plays that led to 5 straight three-and-outs” were simply disgusting. We don’t win against good teams with that kind of coaching. Beating Carolina, while essential to our playoff hopes, was no yardstick for performance. I shudder to think about the spanking we are to receive when we play the Saints.
I stand by the players, who are playing well enough to beat anyone. I especially liked the way BOTH offensive and defensive lines held up – we are fortunate to have the depth at those positions needed to sustain highly competitive play. (The linemen deserve a few articles lauding their play.)
What continues to plague me is the play calling – case in point: the Saints at Dallas last Sunday night. Sean Payton has mastered the art of deception. He has gone a long way since Fassel lifted his play calling duties here in New York.
He not only beat Dallas in Dallas, he humiliated them. The Cowbags had no clue as to what the Saints were doing – especially on offense. Were they passing or running? No one could tell.
The only time we fool another team’s defense is on play action – which works some of the time. But you need more than that. When was the last time Jim Finn scored a touchdown? If you saw the Dallas debacle you know what I’m getting at.
I can only hope that Kevin Gilbride gets the job at BC. Is anyone scouting Hufnagel?
Go Big Blue!
-Big BB