So after a month vacation, apologies if I go on a posting rampage.  Its therapeutic, what can I say.

I start off with an evaluation of the Giants game.  I’m going to attempt to be an analyst and try to get all fancy with you but not over do it with the terminology so you’re sleeping through it.  I’ll break down a play that hurt the team and a play that helped the team and explain the philosophy behind both.  I’ll go through however many points I need to make and I’ll hand out the game ball to a specific player at the end of each post.  This is to the MVP of the game and the player or coach who played the most important role in helping the team win and for losses, I will hand out an additional award for LMVP for the player that played the biggest role in losing the game.

STORYLINES

1. ELI EFFING MANNING- Feel fortunate.  After years of being an understudy to his brother and being laughed at because of his “poor body language”, Eli Manning has in the span of the last 13 months done everything to change the discussion and all it took was a member of the media to ask him whether he thought he was an elite quarterback.  In Sunday’s game we saw a microcosm of Eli Manning’s entire career.  A horrific first half filled with mental mistakes and poor throws.  Then the second half came and you saw hero Manning, as I so FOB-ishly call him.  I can’t explain it for those who haven’t seen it.  He makes better reads.  He makes better throws.  He makes better decisions.  He just becomes better and at this point, its become a habit that when the game enters the fourth quarter and if the game is late, and the Giants have the ball, Eli Manning will drive the Giants deep into enemy territory.

Could I have envisioned this 9 years ago when the Giants first threw him out on the field?  No.  But his lineage was one that made you hope.  And 9 years later and two Super Bowl rings later nobody can dispute this fact: Eli Manning is one of the best QB’s in the National Football League.  Its no longer up for discussion just like it isn’t worth debating whether he’s elite or not.  I thought it was stupid last year because elite is a fluid term.  When you say elite do you mean solely based on statistics?  Is his eliteness based on his ability in the clutch?  How do you define clutch?  Whether he brings his team back? Whether he makes a game clinching throw?  Is his 4th quarter QBR enough to prove his ability?  There are so many questions and nobody can give me one reason why.  The fact remains that Sunday’s performance is yet another reminder that Eli is in a planet all his own.

2. Dirty or not dirty? That’s what everyone is wondering after the final play of the Bucs/Giants game caused Eli Manning to give a look of contempt at the Rutgers…umm, Buccaneer sideline and Tom Coughlin to get Tom Coughlin on head coach Greg Schiano.  Schiano after the game, stuck to his guns that he didn’t feel it was dirty because he preaches to his team about playing till the final whistle.  Which is sound logic….except to those who abide by those “unwritten rules” that exist in sports.

Coughlin after the game felt it was a cheap shot and said there was no place in the game for plays like that.  I have a tough time reconciling between legitimizing unwritten rules by continuing to follow them and opposing sound logic.  It makes sense what Schiano said in light of what actually landed him the job.  Raheem Morris was fired because the team quit on him.  He allowed a very loose culture that festered and eventually ruined what was a surprise team in 2010.  That kind of culture needed to be uprooted by a coach who was willing to rebuild the team the old fashioned way and Greg Schiano has experience in that particular field.  He took a program in Rutgers and turned it into a program of semi-national prominence.  They have graduated several prominent NFL players like SF tackle, Anthony Davis, and Baltimore Ravens RB, Ray Rice.   So excuse Schiano if he’s going to have his players play soft on even ONE play, in what was a one score game.

That’s the logic that Schiano is bringing.  I’m not saying I agree with it, I’m just saying its what Schiano believes in his heart and nothing Coughlin will say or other coaches will say will convince him otherwise because THAT’s the message he needs to preach to his squad.

In my opinion, there are just some things you don’t do.  As a team, with 5 seconds left, you have to realize that the game is over.  While Schiano has some merit in what he says, the fact is, when there are moments where you can protect fellow players you must do so and while Roger Goodell or the NFL may not fine Schiano, don’t be surprised if he gets a call advising him NOT to run that play again.

3. The Giants secondary is bad…..because the defensive line is getting ZERO pressure.  Everyone wants to beat up on the secondary accusing them of poor play but the fact remains that when the defensive line gets pressure, the secondary takes more chances and turnovers go up.  That’s the scheme Perry Fewell runs and its dependent on the vaunted Giants defensive line getting pressure on the quarterback which they have done far too little over the first two games of the season.  In the first game, the Giants got 2 sacks, which Demarcus Ware totaled by himself.  JPP, Tuck and Osi had none of them.  In this game they totaled another 2 sacks.  This was the first game a defensive end tallied a sack which should be embarrassing for a defensive line that gets so much publicity.  Justin Tuck talked about how embarrassed he was by the overall play of the defense after game 1.  The defense did a decent job in the second half allowing a grand total of 10 points after scoring 24 in the first half (21 as a result of 3 turnovers).  The defense showed up last week to play, but the offense gave them too many short fields to start off with and they weren’t a deterrent to the Buccaneer offense which found the end zone every time Eli threw a pick.

The fact is, if the secondary is going to look good I would pay attention to how the defensive line is doing and how it is pressuring the QB into hurrying throws and going to their check downs.  The Giants did a much better job of tackling, not counting that one play where Eric Wright looked like he ran by every single Giant before reaching the end zone.

4. The Giants may have found another RB.  What can Brown do for the Super Bowl Champs?  Prior to Sunday’s game, Andre Brown had -1 yards in his career.  71 yards on 13 carries, an Ahmad Bradshaw neck injury, a short week thanks to a Thursday game, and David Wilson’s overall ineffectiveness later, Brown may get his first career start as an NFL player.  Brown ran with purpose and followed his blocks all the way and showed burst and an ability to cut very quickly.  Brown will be critically important in this offense because without the viable threat of a running game teams can drop back into coverage.  Which brings me back to the disappointment that Wilson has been.  Once again, he dropped a perfectly thrown pass and can’t seem to do much right beyond fielding kick offs.  But even that responsibility will be in jeopardy on the first fumble.

Brown is taking advantage of the situation he’s in.  You can make the argument that if Brown doesn’t present himself as a threat during the game when he enters, Eli may not have the open windows on the outside to throw and rack up the yardage he did.  He will most certainly be the prominent back in Thursday’s game and has a chance at cementing himself in that number two spot once Bradshaw returns from injury, whenever that is.  Thursday is a HUGE game.

5. Injuries, Injuries, and Injuries- Ahmad Bradshaw, David Diehl and Domenik Hixon all suffered injuries.  The latter two may have suffered the worst.  Bradshaw’s injury seemed more like a neck stinger and he was removed from the game for protective reasons, while Diehl may have done something to his MCL which, at best, would not require surgery and would have him out for at least a month and at worse, well, you know.  Diehl’s injury is important because that offensive line seems to suffer one key injury after another and Diehl is usually the one that replaces that person on the line.  He has played every single position on that line except center.  The Giants had better hope that it isn’t serious enough to jeopardize his availability for the rest of the season.  His kind of flexibility isn’t easily replaced.

You have to especially feel bad for Hixon.  He suffered a concussion and while he’s most likely out for Thursday’s game, he always seems to have his season cut short by some freak injury.  The last two years of his career were robbed due to knee injuries and this year’s started off with a concussion.  Some players earn the injury prone label and its safe to say that at this point Hixon needs a big yellow sticker plastered over his jersey saying “fragile”.  The silver lining in Hixon’s injury is that last year when Hixon went down a struggling WR, who had lost what seemed like his one shot at stardom, got another shot and he became Victor Cruuuuuuuuuzzz.  Perhaps Ramses Barden breaks out this year?  Maybe David Wilson follows script and realizes his potential after a dreadful set of games.

PLAYS THAT MATTER-

:23 left in the first half- The Giants are driving.  Eli has a 4 WR set, with three bunched to his left.  Eli visibly audibles to Cruz to recognize the blitz that’s coming from CB Eric Wright.  Wright recognized the blitz pick up and stopped after taking just a few steps realizing he wouldn’t be able to make it to Manning in time to make a play.  Eli threw it in Cruz’ direction and Wright picked it off by leaping.  What followed was some of the worst tackling EVER by the Giants who thought, at one point, that Wright would give up and just slide, but he didn’t and wisely kept going.  The play resulted in a pick six and a complete drive buster and sent the Giants into the locker room down 11 and to a chorus of boos.

Now, to take a look at a play that resulted in positive play for the Giants:

6:59 left in the 4th- trailing 27-19, the Bucs called timeout prior to the play so they could put Eric Wright back in the game.  They sent Wright on a blitz and Ronde Barber was set to pick up Cruz who was running a Go pattern (straight up the field).  Barber guessed that Cruz, who was lined up in the slot would cut inside to pick up the first down.  He tried to undercut the route but Cruz kept going upfield.  By then Manning had picked up on it, Cruz had separation, he sidestepped a rusher and threw it up and hit Cruz perfectly in stride before the safety could come from the opposite side.  Cruz was off to the races and scored and a 2 point conversion later, the game was tied.

Notes-

– I had to find a place to talk about the job the receivers did on Sunday.  Both receivers had their own special games.  Hakeem Nicks was just a flat out monster and I’m sure that game tape will be burned by Aqib Talib who prides himself a very good cover corner.  Nicks was held on virtually every single play, nursing a broken foot and he still managed to go off for 10 catches and 199 yards.

Cruz on the other hand had to endure a week and a half of torture.  After 3 drops, the weight of a very visible offseason in which his autobiography was released and became a NY Times best seller, and he did a whole bunch of commercials, many questioned his dedication to his craft.  Cruz responded in a major way by catching everything thrown his way and looking every bit the superstar receiver he was last year.  His 11 catches were impressive and the kind of performance the Giants can only DREAM.  Not to simplify things, but if Nicks and Cruz play like this every week I find it hard for the Giants to NOT, at the very least, make it to the playoffs.

– The Nicks on Talib match up was a coaching lesson that I’m sure Schiano will remember.  In game adjustments are critical and Schiano refused to adjust their defense and left Talib on an island with Nicks who constantly took him to school on virtually every play.  Sure, the defense was geared up for Cruz and had to put guys on Martellus Bennet, Schiano didn’t put a safety over the top.

In contrast, the Giants were getting burned constantly with the Vincent Jackson match up and they decided to put a safety over the top on every play and always had two guys everywhere.  That was an in game adjustment that won them the game.  After his big first half, Vincent Jackson was silent for the rest of the game.

– Troy Aikman said it best: Martellus Bennet will be given the opportunity to succeed.  Give Eli credit, he throws it to the open man regardless of stature or name.  Bennet is a large man and very difficult to miss.  The Giants took a flier on him because of his physical stature, despite an ability to be immature at times and not be focused.  The Giants know what they have in him, and would love to see him fulfill some of that promise that the Cowboys saw in him when they originally drafted him.  Dropping two sure fire touchdowns won’t endear yourself to your new QB, but the Giants continually went to the well because they have really no other option at TE and its clear that in this offense, a pass catching TE is vital to open up the outsides for the other receivers.  Something tells me that his ability to check out mentally on plays will come back to haunt the Giants.  One thing is for clear, there are plenty more big plays on the horizon for him as well thanks to his raw natural ability.

– The Monday Night game was probably officiating at its worst but this game had its fair share of shady calls that, like Matthias Kiwanuka said, endanger the integrity of the game.  Vincent Jackson took a very hard hit by Kenny Phillips which SHOULD have drawn a flag for hit on a defenseless receiver.  It was such a blatantly easy call to make that it makes you wonder what the refs were thinking.  On the very first offensive play for the Giants, the Bucs Mark Barron, their number one  draft pick, slammed Andre Brown about five yards out of bounds. Another blatant call that they didn’t make.  It may have been a make up call by the refs for the one they didn’t call on Kenny Phillips but it goes without saying that for a league that cares so much about player safety, Roger Goodell had to be shaking his head on two non-calls that very well could have resulted in injuries to players.

I don’t know when the real refs (seems odd to call them real as if the replacements are figments of our imagination or worse yet, holograms) will get back on the field but it seems like the NFL is not willing to listen to them.  Steve Young made a very interesting and correct point, until it affects the fan interest in the game the NFL won’t feel a sense of obligation to get this resolved for the sake of its players.  The replacement refs get zero respect from the players on the field and worse yet, have done nothing to earn a good reputation.  Games often times are going 3 and a half to four hours in length because refs take extra time sorting out plays and hoping they are making the right calls.  While the regular refs make mistakes of their own the scope is being drawn into these replacement refs in hopes it pressures Roger Goodell to go back to the bargaining table.

The league wants you to believe that they want to keep players safe but in this very small way they are continuing a trend that made me write almost a year ago that player safety was not a goal of theirs out of a sense of obligation or because of some study that came about that linked early death to brain trauma suffered while playing professional football.  No.  That need to drive home the point of player safety was to give them an out in the court cases that the NFL will have to go through over the next few years from former players who have all come out blaming the NFL for never caring for their health and worse acting negligent.  And what does it matter?  Fans love the violence of the game and the more physicality and rough stuff the better.  The fans love the carnal stuff of seeing players fight and bodies being beaten up.  It will go from game to side show and who knows what.  That will truly effect the integrity of the game but NOT its general fan interest.  Fans will still come and fans will still pay but the fact is, for the most part they won’t care.  And if the paying customer doesn’t care, the NFL asks you the concerned party, why should they?

– By the way, any time you beat a Barber twin, its always nice.  Suck it Ronde!

GAME BALL

When you score 41 points and give up 34, the offense probably deserves this but I can’t give the ball to the entire offense.  I can’t ignore the first half Eli had when he threw 3 interceptions despite winding up with 510 yards and leading a furious 4th quarter comeback.  Andre Brown had a breakout game but nothing to write home about.  I had a hard time picking just one player because I felt both receivers deserved it.  But in the end, despite playing with a heavy heart with the passing of his abuela, and having a lot to prove after a week and a half of hearing how he was too distracted during the offseason, I’m not giving the game ball to Victor Cruz. Number one receivers are so hard to find and despite everyone talking about Victor Cruz its clear that Hakeem Nicks is that guy.  I still remember draft day hoping the Giants would pick Kenny Britt over him but time has bore that decision out to be the right one.  Nicks abused Aqib Talib constantly and when he didn’t catch it, replays showed that he was being held/molested throughout his route.  This game crystallized in my mind what the Giants saw in Nicks when they drafted him.  He fights for the ball.  He runs precise routes.  Physically, he’s gifted with those ginormous hands of his and he catches everything thrown his way.  Seeing that performance makes you realize why he’s such an important part of this team.  The Game ball goes to Hakeem Nicks on his 10 catch 199 yard day.