Some Giant Ramblings

So work is wrapping up and I am looking to kill some time, and I started to think about this weekend. On Sunday I will be trekking out to Giants Stadium to watch the Giants take on the Denver Broncos. This is a very big game for the Giants. For the second week in a row the Giants will be playing against a solid team as opposed to the relatively weak teams they had played in their first four games.

Last week the Giants played the Cowboys in Dallas. It is always a battle playing in Dallas and the Giants were not able to pull it out. Although I was depressed about it there was some things to be happy about it. The Giants hung around all game, forcing four turnovers early and only scoring six points off of them. But the offense did come through when it needed to. They got down to the 2 yard line and if it wasn't for the Brandon Jacobs fumble the game would have been tied earlier and the drive that ended up tieing the game, could have possibly won the game had Jacobs held onto the ball. I am sure Jacobs will be holding that ball real tight next time he gets in the game.

The defense did alot of bending but held a fairly potent offense to only 16 points. The coverage was still terrible but the rush defense was solid. I really can't be too happy with the defense though since just about everybody who was watching knew once the Cowboys won the overtime coin flip they would run right down the field and score to win.

The thing that really made me happy about the game though, was how the Giants did hang around. Even though they should have put the game away early and didn't, they should have easily lost this game. They were just hanging around and hanging around until Eli drove them down the field to tie up the game (in essence, he did it twice). And he did it when the pressure was on. In the past the Giants never made these drives and if they didn't put a team away early, they ended up getting blown out. This might just be a new Giants team. Something to feel good about.

Now, a quick aside before I give some quick thoughts about this Sunday's game.
As the Giants were driving down the field for the game-tying touchdown the second time, I started to think, "Should they go for 2 if they score?" Now, I know the statistics. There is a 98% chance of making the extra point to tie it. The NFL average of successfull 2-point conversions is around 40%. So, from a purely statistical standpoint you kick the extra point. However, the Giants offense had been performing at the highest level all day and had some serious mismatches over the Cowboys D in the red zone. Burress, Toomer, and Shockey all had mismatches to exploit. The Giants had been running the end zone fade with great success. I believe they are 4 for 6 when trying it from the 3 yard line in. Now, that is a small sample size. But considering that the Giants D couldn't stop the Cowboys D at all, I think given the situation going for the win should have at least been a consideration. Of course, it might have been. I can't presume to know what Tom Coughlin was thinking. But it was something I was thinking about and of course hindsight is 20/10. Coughlin might have been thinking that if they won the coin toss in overtime they would have just driven down the field and won, which is a distinct possibility. Other factors to consider include the fact that Jose Cortez, the Cowboys's kicker had missed 2 FG's so far in the game. And of course there is the blame factor. A coach never wants to make a decision that can cost his team the game, for if it fails he will get the blame. If he makes the safe decision and the team loses, the players are to blame not him. But that is a story for another day.

So onto this Sunday. The Broncos definitely are going to give the Giants some trouble. Their defense matches up well with the Giants offense. They have a very active and big front four, athletic linebackers to match up with Shockey and Barber and a shutdown corner in Champ Bailey to clamp down on Burress. And we all know that the Giants defense doesn't match up well with anyone. The key to the game will be how well the Giants can contain Tatum Bell who has posted two monster games in a row. Jake Plummer is going to throw for 300 yards no matter what the Giants try to do so the key should be holding Tatum Bell to no big plays. If the Giants can control the running game and force 2 or 3 turnovers that will give the offense a chance.
I think the key for the Giants offense is running alot of misdirection. Tiki Barber has to be the key this week for the Giants. He need to run some screens and delays to get the front four off balance. He needs to catch some balls out of the backfield to utilize his quickness in the open field. If Eli can keep from turning the ball over and get Tiki the ball consistently I think the Giants have a chance this week.

So, there is my game analysis, feel free to respond and I will get back on Monday with some post game analysis as well as the game experience in the stadium.