Sunday, November 27, 2005
The New York Football Giants
I'm writing this before today's Giants game against the Seahawks. I don't know if I like their chances today against the Seahawks, but if the run defense can keep Shaun Alexander honest, then they may have a chance. In the end, this game is a barometer for them, but not really a must win. On the other hand, if they do win today it would go a long way towards restoring legitemacy to the franchise. It would also really help their playoff chances.
Next week's game against the Cowboys is absolutely a must win if the Giants want to win the division and secoure their playoff hopes. Assuming that the Seahawks are a better team and win this week's game, the Giants would be tied with the Cowboys heading into next weeks game and, in essence, a game behind them in the standings since they've already lost to them this year. A loss to the Cowboys would just about end their hopes of winning the division since they'd have to win it outright by a game and would then have to make up two games on Dallas with only two division games remaining. They should have the capacity to win those two games, but so does Dallas.
I like the way the Giants are coming together and look to be much better beyond this season. Eli is clearly going to be an above average quarterback, possibly an elite QB. He's had some growing pains this season, but he's also looked spectacular at times. He's lead three 4th quarter comebacks against the Cowboys, Broncos, and Vikings in impressive fashion. Ironically, they lost two of those three games, but Eli looked really good in those late game situations.
Plaxico Burress is re-energized and is clearly thriving at being the #1 receiver for the G-men. He seems to catch 10 passes every week, which is probably not true, but he's clearly stepped up to his role. Jeremy Shockey is back to his pre-injury form and has wreaked havoc at times against pass coverages. Tiki is solid as always, and Brandon Jacobs has thus far filled his role as a short yardage back, despite the one fumble on the 1-yard line against Dallas, I believe.
The Giants defense went something like 14 quarters without giving up a touchdown within the last month. They held Washington, Minnesota, San Francisco, and Philadelphia in check in impressive fashion. They will continue to stifle offenses as long as their secondary remains healthy, it seems.
This is a poor argument to make for any football team, but it should at least be mentioned that the Giants could easily be 9-1 this season instead of 7-3. The Cowboys game went into overtime and came down to the coin toss. If the Giants had won it, they would have scored just as easily as Dallas did. A friend of mine from Dallas agreed with me on that point. The Vikings game was the worst played football game I've ever seen, especially from a special teams standpoint. If the special teams had just made a tackle, they would ahve won that game. The Giants defense completely and absolutely shut down the Vikings offense that game. All they needed was to stop the kickoff return and punt return TDs.
The Giants remaining schedule is Seahawks, Cowboys, Eagles, Chiefs, Redskins, Raiders. They need to win at least three of those games to make the playoffs, and if they win the Dallas game in particular, then they put themselves in great position. This team is capable of finishing 12-4 in my opinion, but that seems unlikely, especially after that Minnesota loss. I don't know if they quite have the gumption yet to win every game they are supposed to win. That being said, if they make the playoffs, I can see them getting on a run and making some noise.
Next week's game against the Cowboys is absolutely a must win if the Giants want to win the division and secoure their playoff hopes. Assuming that the Seahawks are a better team and win this week's game, the Giants would be tied with the Cowboys heading into next weeks game and, in essence, a game behind them in the standings since they've already lost to them this year. A loss to the Cowboys would just about end their hopes of winning the division since they'd have to win it outright by a game and would then have to make up two games on Dallas with only two division games remaining. They should have the capacity to win those two games, but so does Dallas.
I like the way the Giants are coming together and look to be much better beyond this season. Eli is clearly going to be an above average quarterback, possibly an elite QB. He's had some growing pains this season, but he's also looked spectacular at times. He's lead three 4th quarter comebacks against the Cowboys, Broncos, and Vikings in impressive fashion. Ironically, they lost two of those three games, but Eli looked really good in those late game situations.
Plaxico Burress is re-energized and is clearly thriving at being the #1 receiver for the G-men. He seems to catch 10 passes every week, which is probably not true, but he's clearly stepped up to his role. Jeremy Shockey is back to his pre-injury form and has wreaked havoc at times against pass coverages. Tiki is solid as always, and Brandon Jacobs has thus far filled his role as a short yardage back, despite the one fumble on the 1-yard line against Dallas, I believe.
The Giants defense went something like 14 quarters without giving up a touchdown within the last month. They held Washington, Minnesota, San Francisco, and Philadelphia in check in impressive fashion. They will continue to stifle offenses as long as their secondary remains healthy, it seems.
This is a poor argument to make for any football team, but it should at least be mentioned that the Giants could easily be 9-1 this season instead of 7-3. The Cowboys game went into overtime and came down to the coin toss. If the Giants had won it, they would have scored just as easily as Dallas did. A friend of mine from Dallas agreed with me on that point. The Vikings game was the worst played football game I've ever seen, especially from a special teams standpoint. If the special teams had just made a tackle, they would ahve won that game. The Giants defense completely and absolutely shut down the Vikings offense that game. All they needed was to stop the kickoff return and punt return TDs.
The Giants remaining schedule is Seahawks, Cowboys, Eagles, Chiefs, Redskins, Raiders. They need to win at least three of those games to make the playoffs, and if they win the Dallas game in particular, then they put themselves in great position. This team is capable of finishing 12-4 in my opinion, but that seems unlikely, especially after that Minnesota loss. I don't know if they quite have the gumption yet to win every game they are supposed to win. That being said, if they make the playoffs, I can see them getting on a run and making some noise.
# posted by ChuckJerry : 11/27/2005 11:12:00 AM
