Game Previews and Recaps!
New York Giants vs. Miami Dolphins
Last Week
Cheerio! Go Big Blue! Any
team that thinks it has a chance to get into the playoffs has to beat the weaker teams on its schedule. That’s what the giants have done in the last three weeks, beat the weaker teams without letting down. Last week’s 33-15 win over the 49ers was a case study in how a dominating defense
controls a game and helps the offense put points on the board. Three of the Giants
scores, (two touchdowns and a field goal), were set up by turnovers forced by the defense.
One other turnover, Osi Umenyiora’s sack and fumble recovery was returned for a touchdown.
The defense was the key. They
limited the 49ers to 103 yards rushing, and 164 yards passing. 49ers quarterback
Trent Dilfer suffered 6 sacks at the hands of the NFL leading sackmeisters.
Eli got things off to a good start with a 13 play, 83 yard drive
that culminated with Amani Toomer’s franchise record setting 49th career touchdown catch. Lawrence Tynes showed us why he won’t be around next year after missing the extra point attempt. After that, the offense didn’t have to work very hard. On the first play from scrimmage after a Giant’s punt, Umenyiora recovered the first of Dilfer’s
two fumbles on the San Francisco 27 yard line. Four plays later Brandon Jacobs rumbled 5 yards into the end zone for a 13-7 lead. This time Tynes made the extra point. On the first play from
scrimmage after the Giant’s kickoff, Sam Madison intercepted a Dilfer pass and set up the offense on the San Francisco 30 yard line, which resulted in a 29 yard field goal and a 16-7 lead for Big
Blue.
Perhaps the most impressive drive by the offense was the last one
of the first half. With just 1:35 remaining in the half the Giants got the ball
on their own 11 yard line. Eli was able to march them 68 yards in 9 plays for
another Tynes field goal.
The offense didn’t even have to step onto the field for the
next score. On San Francisco’s
first possession of the second half, Osi Umenyiora hit for the cycle. He sacked
Dilfer, forced a fumble, recovered it, and brought it home 75 yards for a touchdown, and a comfortable 26-7 lead.
Special teams reminded us why we break out into a cold sweat every
time they are on the field when Jeff Feagles’ punt was blocked into the end zone for a safety.
Antonio Pierce’s interception in the 4th quarter
set up the Giants last score. Pierce returned his interception to the SF 5 yard
line, and Manning hit Shockey four plays later for the score.
The Giants’ offense scored three touchdowns, the first of
which was the result of an 83 yard drive. For the other two of those TDs they
needed a total of just 32 yards because of the field position the defense gave them.
Manning finished with 146 yards passing on 18/31 attempts, 2 TDs and 1 interception.
He was sacked once. His stats aren’t too exciting because he just
didn’t have to move the team very far. Brandon
Jacobs’ 107 yards rushing in18 attempts is all the more impressive.
The Giants can run. The
offensive line looks great. The defense is finally playing like we all dreamed
they could play. The first 7 games have been quite a journey for Big Blue, and
we seem to have found the right path. Let’s hope there aren’t too
many trolls under the bridges as we pass through the forest of the NFL.
Giants vs. Dolphins
Miami is just having a dreadful season. Nothing
is going right. The Dolphins are 0-7, for the first time in team history. They’ve come close to winning a few times, losing by just a field goal, but
so far, they haven’t been able to grab the brass ring. And just when it
seems things can’t get any worse, they get really worse. Starting QB Trent
Green was lost for the season a couple of weeks ago with a concussion, running back Ronnie Brown and safety Renaldo Hill were
lost for the season last week against the Patriots with knee injuries. Brown
was the Dolphins offense. He led the NFL with 991 yards from scrimmage, 604 rushing
and 387 receiving. Cleo Lemon starts at QB for Green, the running duties will
be taken over by Jesse Chatman, with Patrick Cobbs, and Lorenzo Booker also seeing some action. OK, are you just like me? Did you just say “Huh? Who the hell are they?” The chances
are that Miami’s offense isn’t going to generate a lot of points, no matter whose defense they face. Unless the Giants suffer some major jet lag, Osi Umenyiora and the Sackmeisters should have little trouble
containing the Dolphins.
What about the Dolphin’s defense, how are the descendants
of the killer Bs? Well, not much of a sting, I’m afraid. Miami has given up more points than every NFL team, 231 to be exact.
The next worse team is the woeful St. Louis Rams who have given up 192 points.
And to make matters even worse, starting linebacker Zach Thomas will miss the game in London because of a mild car
accident last week. Miami’s strongest suit is a 14th ranked
pass defense that yields 209 yards per game. Remember this: Miami’s run
defense is really poor, 31st in the NFL at 156.4 yards per game.
All the Giants have to do to win is do what they do well; play solid
run defense and keep pressure on the quarterback in passing situations. The offense
should be simple; exploit Miami’s weakness by running, running, running. Just
hope that playing in London isn’t too much of a distraction for Big Blue.
There are a couple of familiar names suiting up in Dolphin teal
and orange this week. Place kicker Jay Feely has been perfect for Miami this
year, hitting all 12 field goal attempts, and all 16 PATs. And starting at corner
back on the league’s almost worst run defense is former Giant Will Allen.
You know what should be fun to watch? When Brandon Jacobs breaks into the secondary, and Will Allen tries to tackle him.
Giants
vs. Atlanta Falcons
Monday October 15, 8:30 PM ESPN
Last Week
After the first two games this season, did anyone think that the Giants would win three
in a row? OK, now raise your hand if you think the Giants can win the next three
in a row; (at Atlanta this Monday, home vs. San Francisco, then away far, far away, in London, England, against Miami). The combined record of the next three opponents is 3-12. OK, how many think the Giants could be 6-2 at the bye week? But
we’re getting ahead of ourselves; after last week’s win over the Jets, the Giants are just 3-2, so let’s
put off dreaming about 6-2 for a few weeks.
Big Blue didn’t look too good in 1st half. Jacobs’ fumble and Manning’s interception led to 10 points for the Jets, and Pennington led
the cross-field rivals on a 93 yard drive near the end of the half in which Gang Green had a comfortable 7-17 lead. Manning was just 3-10 in the first half, Burress and Toomer had no catches, and things looked grim, indeed.
Starting the second half, the Giants looked like they were coming out ready to play. Manning led the offense on a six play, 80 yard scoring drive, capped by Jacobs’
19 yard run for a his first TD of the season. But faster than you can say “special
teams”, Big Blue gave it right back. Leon Washington scooted 98 yards up
the middle with Lawrence Tynes kick off. If it was touch football, he still would
have scored.
Nevertheless, the defense held up, and didn’t allow another score. The offense and special teams didn’t allow another score either.
Manning found Shockey in the third quarter for Shockey’s first touchdown since last year, to close to 21-24. Just when the Jets were knocking on the door, rookie Aaron Ross stepped up and intercepted
Chad Pennington’s pass at the goal line. Big Blue got robbed of 18 yards
by the official’s ruling that Ross’s interception wasn’t in the end zone, so instead of getting the ball
on the 20, Manning and company started out on their own 2 yard line. It made
no difference. Burress’s 53 yard touchdown was a thing of beauty in which he juked, jabbed and jogged his way into the
end zone. The G-men had the lead for the first time, 28-24.
Jacobs and Ward continued to run well. Jacobs ended up with 100 yards rushing on 20
carries, and Ward added another 56 yards on 13 carries. Ross got the best revenge. He returned his second interception for a touchdown.
In the end, Big Blue survived with a very nice 35-24 win.
Giants vs. Falcons
The Falcons have not responded well to adversity. In fact, if it wasn’t for the New Orleans Saints (0-4) the Falcons (1-4) would be in last place in
the NFC South. Atlanta started their season 0-3 with losses to Minnesota (3-24), Jacksonville (7-13), and Carolina (20-27). Their only win came in week 4 with a 26-16 victory over Houston. Last week they succumbed to the Tennessee Titans, 13-20.
The offence, led by Joey Harrington and recently signed Byron Leftwich, just hasn’t
gotten on track. TE Alge Crumpler has been under utilized this year, and blames
the coaches for favoring younger players, like WR Roddy White. White leads Atlanta
with 21 receptions, 356 yards, and 1 TD. RB Warrick Dunn hasn’t been very
productive either, with only 249 yards in 74 carries (that’s just 3.4 yards per carry).
And things aren’t going to get any better for the Falcons. Atlanta
is forced to use two backup offensive tackles this Monday because veterans Wayne Gandy and Todd Weiner are both out for this
week’s game. Instead, the Falcons will start second-year player Tyson Clabo
at left tackle, and undrafted rookie Renardo Foster at right tackle. Michael
Strahn will line up opposite Clabo, and Umenyiora will challenge the rookie Foster.
Does this sound familiar? Do you remember what happened the last time
Umenyiora lined up against a rookie? Osi will make Renardo Foster look like Retardo
Foster. Atlanta’s offensive line has already been operating with one rookie
starter, second round pick Justin Blalock, at left guard this year. Umenyiora,
Tuck, Kiwanuka, and Strahn may have another big sack day (do ya think?). Big
Blue’s defense, so maligned the first two games of the season, should put up great numbers again this week.
The
other side of the ball may be a different story. Last week Atlanta’s defense
held the Titans to just 92 yards rushing and 157 yards passing, but Tennessee wasn’t exactly hitting on all cylinders
last week. Atlanta has not been consistently strong on defense, and ranks 21st
in rush defense, and 11th in pass defense. That means that the Giants
must establish a running game, or else they’ll have to rely on the arm of Eli Manning, and that spells trouble for Big
Blue. Falcon’s d-backs SS Lawyer Milloy and CB DeAngelo Hall are still
among the best in the NFL.
The Giants don’t have to do anything special to beat Atlanta. The reality of Atlanta’s patched up offensive line may open the sack gates for the Giants again. The defense should not have trouble stopping Joey Harrington (or Byron Leftwich),
Warrick Dunn, Alge Crumpler, and Roddy White. Jacobs and Ward should run well
enough to open a few passing lanes for Eli Manning. But there’s the trap. If Manning tries to force the ball to Burress, Toomer, and Shockey the Giants could
get into trouble. Last week the Jets scored 24 points, but the defense gave up
only 7. Atlanta’s defense and special teams could easily out score their
offense, just as the Jets did, and Atlanta could end up with 21 to 28 points on the board.
If the Giants have to play come-from-behind again the outcome could be different this week with Lawyer Milloy and DeAngelo
Hall guarding the end zone. The Giants can get away with some mistakes; last
week Vince Young threw three interceptions, but Atlanta couldn’t convert them into points. The Pybus Report thinks the Giants will stumble, but not fall, and beat the Falcons, 24-13.
|
