Guess I'll be making predictions from now on... Anyway, here's the next-day perspective on the first 'W'...
THE GOOD
Goal-line stands: Welcome to the Giants, Kawika Mitchell. He made the key plays on second and third downs, then Justin Tuck and Aaron Ross got in there on fourth down. Did anyone think the 'Skins weren't scoring there? Hands? Anyone? Thought so.
The kid DEs: Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka played superbly. Tuck has done that since the day he showed up for training camp; Kiwanuka finally shut his brain off and just rolled, and the results were eight tackles, 1 1/2 sacks and a lot more enthusiasm than he's shown in weeks. These guys need to be on the field, and if it means less time for Fred Robbins (a shame, because he's the most consistent D-lineman they have) or Barry Cofield, then so be it.
Sam Madison: Wow. Just, wow. Showing the kids in the secondary how it's done, from coverage to tackling to positioning. And he had a dark-green corduroy jacket on after the game... Again, wow. Just, wow. But not in a good way.
Everyone in the second half: Plax, Osi, Strahan, Aaron Ross, Eli (except for that heave to Sean Taylor), Reuben Droughns, Derrick Ward, the equipment guys and Jackie, the waitress at the Denny's in Perryville, Md. who served me and MG around midnight on the drive home.
THE BAD
Corey Webster: Guessing he'll get at least a week to clear his head... After that, it's up to him whether he can figure things out.
Plax (first half): Three drops and a generally distracted look... And back to the good for a second: How huge was his tackle of Taylor on Eli's second INT? Kept the Redskins back deep and gave the Giants good field position on the next possession. No shades of last season there.
Punt and kick coverage: Seams all over the place. Rock Cartwright found room on either sideline -- Ahmad Bradshaw and James Butler both failed to seal off the sideline on one run -- and Antwaan Randle-El's punt return to start the final Redskins drive was nearly a killer.
Among the other tidbits from a few media sessions today...
-- Giants adjusted in-game very, very well to both the Skins' offense and defense. Not just for the Giants' D putting the four DEs up front, but with their having both safeties play down on the LOS and leaving one CB back as a sort of free safety when the Skins went to two-TE, one-WR sets. Santana Moss burned the Giants in the second quarter on one of those, but that was Webster's bad.
-- Eli audibled well, so well that one of his better calls, opting out of a pass play on third-and-5 from the Redskins 11 and calling a draw to Derrick Ward that picked up 6, drew some funny reactions from his O-line. Eli saw two LBs ready to blitz, but saw the safeties were still back, telling him there was no blitz. "We just wanted to make sure he hadn't been sniffing glue or anything like that," Shaun O'Hara said.
Back tomorrow with another Q of the week.
Comments (21)
First of all, you all know that I am a die-hard Giants fan but its got to be said - the Giants were playing themselves in the 2nd. quarter - thats how bad the Skins were - they basically beat themselves. Many of our passing routes were short; Eli regressed (and the drops did not help him any) and do we really believe that our D improved that much in one week? Did we really think that the Skins were an 2-0 team? Lets see how the G-Men do on Sunday... Sorry guys, just being honest...
Actually I think the D just looked worse playing two offenses which were much more potent than we though in the Cowboys and Packers.
I'm not making an excuse for them.. they still were horrible in Weeks 1 and 2 and the first half of Week 3. But if the Cowboys can put up 34 on the BEARS and Green Bay can beat a much stronger defense in the Chargers, then I think that is why the Giants D looked a little worse against those two teams.
Point well taken Sid...
How was the defense terrible in the first half of the game? The defense allowed 17 points, and should've been 10 had Eli not fumbled the ball and give them excellent position to score a TD.
The defense gets a lot of credit from me. They stopped the Redskins' offense at the end of the half and forced them to kick a FG instead. This game would have been over if the Skins went into the half 21-3.
Hey guys; we actually had 3 and outs during this game as a defense. I agree with John; had David Deihl not been standing still and let Andre Carter meet Eli for the ball the Defense really would have given up one legitimate TD. The skins had been playing well. I like Ross starting. He is a player. Tackles. Covers. Competitive. I'm not convinced Webster is fully healthy. Hasn't been since the day he arrived. Does anyone else think that the most underated player on the entire defense is Gibril Wilson? Guy hits like a LB and is all over the field. Big INT last week. I was livid at Plaxico in the first half. Eli easily has 50 more yards without thos 3 drops. It will be interesting to see how it goes with Philly...
Yes, I am a pessimistic Giants fan. How can you not be considering the Giants have lost their last five home games? Then consider the fact that they SUCK in primetime games. Or the fact that Brian Westbrook is a major mismatch for all of their LBs. All of this points to a reversion to form for the Big Blue 'D' against Philly.
So I was at the Giant game at FedEx, and on every single Giant offensive play, just as Eli went to the line to snap the ball, a loud, screeching sound started blaring from the stadium speakers. It sounded like a cross between a jet engine and teenage girls who just saw Paul McCartney walk by. It was obvious to everyone seated on our section of the upper deck and it was much louder than the very loud fans were. I was wondering if this is just typical Redskins “bush league” tactics or a violation of league rules? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks, Len in Maryland
Arthur,
Excellent re-cap.
Justin Tuck is emerging as one of my favorite Giants.
I think Coughlin and Spags should WELCOME the challenge of how to best deploy the wealth of defensive ends AND Robbins AND Cofield.
-Big BB
i think Spags loves Ross and i say this because hes using him like Jim Johnson uses Lito Sheppard by moving him around in the slot, outside, and blitzing him.
Ross looks like an excellent blitzer. Spags said he loves his speed and athleticism and Ross seems to always talk out there communicating with the rest of the D as the play is about to happen. Hes a great talent and he looks like the real deal.
It looks like we FINALLY have a cornerstone at CB that we can build around on. I mean the chemistry and performance was alot better when Webster was demoted. coincidence?
I also heard reports on some radio shows about suspicious crowd noise being pumped in at FedEx Field. A friend who was at the game said it started emptying out in his section in the 4th quarter but the crowd noise got louder and seemed artificial. Bush league.
ARTHUR!!,
Can you pleassssseee ask Tom about our Special Teams!! ITS TERRIBLE!! RW is a WASTE!! hes already out of the CB rotation. hes 30+ years old. Hes slow as hell as a PR.
ARTHUR! you dont know how SICK i am at watching all these rookies and explosive players from other teams getting the spot at PR or KR and we have RW and Droughns.
ARTHUR please ask Tom that he said part of drafting Ross was his PR which he was EXCELLENT. why is he so scared to put Moss or RW in there>?
Moss is a WR so he can catch the ball and hes faster and better then RW. Moss hasnt done much so far so why not him a PR or KR and get SOME value from him? i mean hes not playing much so use him for SOMETHING!! JEEZ!
im tired of these SLOW players getting these roles. WE NEED SOME EXPLOSIVENESS!! we need some big plays. Tomm every week talks about Special Teams but he never makes changes. He always goes to these vets thats SUCK!
Now i understand why Ross may not be a PR because we are thin a CB and he and Madison are the only 2 good ones we have but he was drafted 20th utilize his skills every team does that and we dont. ill be happy with Moss at PR AND Moss at KR!! use MOSS's talent for SOMETHING!!
my ideal way Ross PR Moss KR.
why is he so scared to put Moss or RW in there>?
i meant to say Ross not RW.
i mean with bradshaw its different because he didnt have experience at KR Ross was a PR in Texas a big school in big games and was ridiculous. if you check his NFL DRAFT Scouting Report his PR is compared to Hester believe it or not. i doubt hes that good but hes compared to him and you dont use him??
we need to give our "O" great field position.
RW right now is a waste roster space. cut him and bring up Underwood and put him in the nickel package. It looks like Spags will switch Ross to the slot in the nickel package and move dockery outside. thats how the Cowboys use Terrence Newman. but i rather have Underwood with his great size out there than dockery who i think stinks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nVjwzOCxQU&mode=related&search=
did you see that? TOM MAKE THE MOVE!!
The noise you heard in the 2nd half was piped in by the Skins to distract the Eli offense. The noise you heard in the 1st half was a million Giant fans yelling 'Oh crap! Here we go again!!!'
F me! I didn't think the first one took!
Johnathan pretty sure that Underwood injured. Wasn't he the one that broke his jaw against the jets?
Arthur,
Is Kiwanuka back at DE now? I still saw him at linebacker. Whats his position NOW? And if he is back at Dend, who's playing SAM?
Anyways, this defense is just doing what it was meant to do from the get-go. Look at the Eagles and listen to Spags. Everything revolves around the pass rush. Week 1 and 2 it was non-existent. A little pressure and boom. The defense is not meant to leave corners out on an island in 1v1 forever. Short quick plays, force the ball out, force quick throws and let the corners make a play. Besides look how much time Romo and Favre had against a Chargers D and Bears D that are much more formidable. Give those guys time and they'll make plays. We'll see the cowgirls again (hopefully with a healthy d-line and Jacobs)and we'll see what he does. If anybody can recall before Osi got hurt, Romo looke BADDDD. Passes all over the place. Although that Cowboys line is a little better and Robbins might be a better fit than Kiwi inside, especially with Barber who I swear would run thru a brick wall if you drew a jersey on it. Head's up McNott you're next. We may not be able to stop Westbrook 1v1 with a LB but Pierce and Wilson can do the job. While Butler and Madison can stop Curtis. McNott threw for 300 some odd yards and all but like 50 were to Curtis and Westbrook. We'll make him look like the McNabb of week 1 and 2. As far as Eli and the boys, I can help but get aggrivated at the play calling. And I hope they get it right this week. Say what you will about the G-Men in primetime one person who doesn't disappoint is Plax, and this is a favorable matchup. A gimped Dawkins and miniature corners should add up to a big night for Plax. Maybe if Sheldon Brown stands on Lito's shoulders they can stop him. And ARTHUR!!! I don't care if you talk to Tom, but if you can pass a message on to Brandon Jacobs for me D-Ward can't carry Jacob's jock (that's Ruebens job) when that knee is ready make sure you he lets the world know. I get sick watching these games thinking about how much easier Eli's life would be if the strong safety had to stay in the box because it takes 6 to bring him down. Jacobs return means big things for the deep play and i think we are very capable of that. Leave Toomer, The Gift and Shockey to fight for the short stuff and let Moss and Plax do what they were meant to do. Make the highlight reels with the deep ball. Abuse Plax let someone prove they can stop it. The guys been one of the best in the league so far.
Jonathan -
Do you really think anything that Arthur says to TC will have a real impact?
Who is gonna cover Westbrook out of the backfield? The LBs are just too slow. I say put Wilson up in the box and let him spy westbrook all game long. Let McNabb win throwing to Curtis again this week.
Brian Westbrook will find a way to be and impact Sun. He's one of the many Giant killers the past couple of years, they always find a way. But WR Curtis and the rest of the offense can be contained with a simple on and off pass rush. It has to be effective but can't be used every other play. At least this time it won't be punk-ass Garcia throwing the ball, but rest asure McNabb will be ready, I hope the D will be ready to put his ass in the turf once and for all!
Hey, its an inactive blog