The facts are the facts. The Giants stunk it up for the second week in a row, and the Jets went into a game and played a team that had nothing to play for and who basically laid down for them in order to help them get into the playoffs. The one thing that both these teams have in common is this: in a few days, we will know more about both these teams than we did before.
Let’s consider the Giants for a second. The Giants have without a doubt many problems on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball that they must address in the offseason. Two factors playing heavily into next season are: The Giants are going into a new stadium next year and next season will be played without a salary cap. Consider for a second that the Giants were 5-0 and on top of the world playing pushovers and the Cowboys who are playing like a whole new team recently. Over the last 11 games, the flaws of their secondary and their offensive scheme have been put into question. The major question coming into the season was their receiving core who have done a much better job than anyone could have imagined. Steve Smith emerged this season to be a deadly 3rd down threat and Hakeem Nicks showed big play potential.
Their secondary was terrible and the supposed strength coming into the season, their defensive line and offensive line, were no where to be found. Teams routinely muscled and pushed around both lines and we were relegated to seeing a very average bunch. Much of that blame can be assigned to their new defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan who in one of his most infamous moves limited Osi Umeniyora’s playing time to 3 rd downs. That scheme, while it worked well with John Abraham in Atlanta, did not play well with Osi who’s pride was clearly hurt. The Giants played Chris Canty and he was underwhelming making him the worst of Jerry Reese’s FA signings. The offensive line finally showed its age after playing as one of the best units in the last 3 seasons and now questions arise as to whether this group should see replacements. Yesterday, Jared Allen abused David Diehl routinely on his way to the QB. Last few seasons, the Giants haven’t really concentrated on getting their OL fixed but maybe the Giants might want to make it a priority.
We haven’t even gotten to the part where we talk about the LB’s and secondary. The linebackers were a mess of a situation with Michael Boley as the only bright spot. Meanwhile, Antonio Pierce, while a great leader, showed his age and his lack of speed on the field as he was asked to cover great tight ends and routinely got beat. The secondary was a mess after Kenny Phillips was placed on IR after just the second game with an unusual arthritic condition in his knee which is going to be a recurring problem. His speed was sorely missed especially when the Giants played the Eagles and their corners didn’t have the speed to match up with DeSean Jackson. The Giants were not pleased with the slow recovery time of Aaron Ross and it will be interesting to see how they handle his contract going forward.
The one thing that we can all but guarantee you is that Bill Sheridan will be gone. While it was his first year, the last 11 games showed that no one bought into his system and his way of doing things and his stoic attitude on the sideline (where Tom Coughlin had to push him to come to from his usual position up in the boxes) were not well received no matter what defensive players said. The last 4 weeks, 3 of which the Giants had allowed 20+ points in the first half to opponents was proof of that. Its also very evident to Giants fans that there was a different attitude with this team when Steve Spagnuolo was coaching this bunch. They walked with a different attitude and with a heavier stick to swing at opponents. They need someone with that same fire. I trust that Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese will bring an aggressive minded coach who can bring that fire back to the Meadowlands in time to bring another exciting product in NYC. Let’s not forget that Spags did an excellent job without Osi Umeniyora all of last season and Michael Strahan after he retired and with the same secondary and with worse LB’s and managed to get more out of that group than this supposedly enhanced group from Bill Sheridan.
On the flip side, the Jets played another team heading to the playoffs and with little to nothing but pride to play for and beat them, this time soundly in front of a raucous yet sober crowd in the Meadowlands. What does this mean? Hard to say but if yesterday was any indication, the Bengals had better hope the conditions will be a bit better next Saturday because the Bengal players didn’t react well the freezing temperatures and brisk wind swirling in the Meadowlands and we all know that Cincy can get pretty nippy this time of year. While, alot of starters were not playing for the Bengals especially Cedric Benson and Larry Johnson (both were just rested for this game) and Domata Peko, the Jets can expect a much better game from these Bengals when they face off.
The Jets have a lot to look forward to coming up in the offseason. They have an owner who’s willing to spend especially in order to make his new stadium appealing to Jet fans who just have not ponied up for PSL’s like they had hoped. Clearly the one weak link in their team is the QB where Mark Sanchez will be given the ball and asked to make several plays for the Jets. The question will be can he make them and if he can’t, can he keep from throwing into triple coverage. The Jets have the number one rushing defense but there were several goal line stands that the Bengals had that make them a very tough team to run the football against especially when Peko is back in. Also remember that the Bengals have a very important thing working for them: the destiny factor. Chris Henry passing away, and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife passing away as well have given this team plenty to rally around. Also let’s not forget all the hate that they had come their way after being featured in the HBO docu-series Hard Knocks.
The playoffs should be interesting
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The Lazy Eye of Sports 