Rewatching the Giants Game

[jspchief]

The miracle of Tivo has allowed me to rewatch tonight's game, complete with slo-mo and frame by frame viewing.

So far I've watched the first few series by both teams and here are my thoughts:

Defense:
1. Eric Hicks is clueless. Not only does he not have the speed or strength, he doesn't have the brains. His reaction at the snap seems to have no bearing on the ball or the play that develops. He just starts running to a spot on the field regardless of whether it factors in the play. LDE play immediately improved when Wilkerson came in.

2. Our scheme is fucked. Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress had numerous occasions when they were lined up against LBs. It was an easy read for the QB and a wide open reception for the WR. Kendrell Bell is especially bad in coverage. Teams will be able to exploit this scheme the same way all year unless changes are made. Our safeties are taken out of the equation because they play so deep.

3. Our DTs played OK. Not great, but not bad either. The apparent lack of pass rush had more to do with Manning have quick options to get rid of the ball (LB on WR).

Offense:
1. Turley was out of his league. Over the course of a full game, he would get abused by someone (Yumenyora?) with that much speed and strength. He's going to need to put on weight or he will be abused by powerful ends all year.

2. Chris Bober sucks. He was getting beat or missing his assignment on a regular basis. I expect a glaring improvement with the return of Waters.

3. Sampson is not Welbourne. Whether it's his feet or just a strength issue, he gets knocked off balance a lot. He'll be the weak point on our line most likely.

4. LJ's pass blocking is very solid. He picked up pretty much everything, the only miss being a result of Bober missing his man leaving LJ to face two guys.

5. The play-calling kind of sucked. For whatever reason, this offense doesn't seem to have pass packages that exploit the blitz. If we ran the same patterns New York ran, Green could have got rid of the ball a lot quicker, taking the pressure of his line in the face of the blitz. Gonzo needs to start shortening his routes, or a WR is going to have to cross more often.

When I watch more, I'll post more thoughts, but this includes pretty much all of the play from the starters.

[BIG K]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Yeah, Jordan black sucks at OT, but he's a better guard than Bober. Has Bober beat him out for the backup spot?

That is a great question! I have read that Black would be better suited at Guard.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Now you have to remember we are grading Turley on a serious curve here because Umenyiora is really good, hell the Giants backup DE's would complete for starting jobs on our team. They're loaded at that spot.

I agree with that sentiment. Umenyiora is good. He's very fast, and he's strong too. And Turley did ok in regards to keeping him off Green, but Green had to know those guys were in his lap a lot.

Even so, I think Turley is going to struggle against power guys this year. You take his play tonight and spread it over 4 qtrs, and Green is going to take soem hits.

[keg in kc]

My guess watching the game was that we were working on specific things, both offensively and defensively, and not working from a game-plan specifically designed to beat New York. That's not giving any kind of excuse for our piss-poor performance, just pointing out that it gave them things they could exploit.

It's not anything we haven't seen before. I remember several games under Vermeil where the offense struggled in the preseason because they were working on specific blocking schemes or short passing paterns. Just something we do, although I didn't know whether to expect it from Herm.

[BIG K]

Originally Posted by Mecca

I haven't been all that impressed with them to be honest but they are rookies. Of course I guess we could read into the fact that they're playing in the 4th quarter against scrubs who will probably be cut and they aren't standing out.....that could be a bad sign.

Well, poop. From what I read it sounded like they were really gonna make a difference this year. Now, I am not so sure...

thanks for the info!

[Fish]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Now you have to remember we are grading Turley on a serious curve here because Umenyiora is really good, hell the Giants backup DE's would complete for starting jobs on our team. They're loaded at that spot.

But if we want to seriously compete, he's gotta stop the best. Every QB was pressured at some point from Turley just barely not holding his man off... What bothered me was there were several times that he had great form, and his footwork was good, but he just didn't have the mass to hold his ground.

[noa]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

But if we want to seriously compete, he's gotta stop the best. Every QB was pressured at some point from Turley just barely not holding his man off... What bothered me was there were several times that he had great form, and his footwork was good, but he just didn't have the mass to hold his ground.

I'd take that over a fat guy who didn't have the proper form or footwork.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by jspchief

I agree with that sentiment. Umenyiora is good. He's very fast, and he's strong too. And Turley did ok in regards to keeping him off Green, but Green had to know those guys were in his lap a lot.

Even so, I think Turley is going to struggle against power guys this year. You take his play tonight and spread it over 4 qtrs, and Green is going to take soem hits.

Basically I look at it this way, we'll be ok against teams with average-poor pass rushes and ok ends. But if we face any elite pass rushes with elite ends, like the Giants have we're gonna struggle like hell. We could probably run through the schedule and pick out what games we'll struggle in just based on that, hopefully we don't face to many elite pass rushers this year.

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by BIG K

Did the safety play improve when the rookies stepped in? Been hearing alot about the rookies, but have yet to see them play.....

I haven't rewatched that part of the game yet, but from what I remember, they didn't get tested much. It was a lot of short passes and runs.

Pollard had one nice play where he took on the blocker on a running play (he was blitzing) and then got back in the play to strip the ball from the RB (RB was determined to have a knee down after review).

My overall impression of Page and Pollard so far is they haven't been tested much, but have peformed well in regards to cleaning up plays. They both seem to always be there when the whistle blows.

[BIG K]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

But if we want to seriously compete, he's gotta stop the best. Every QB was pressured at some point from Turley just barely not holding his man off... What bothered me was there were several times that he had great form, and his footwork was good, but he just didn't have the mass to hold his ground.

Do you think if he adds weight/muscle things will improve? Or is this a serious concern heading into the season? Again, people. I did not see the game and am asking for input from those who saw it....

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by KC Fish

But if we want to seriously compete, he's gotta stop the best. Every QB was pressured at some point from Turley just barely not holding his man off... What bothered me was there were several times that he had great form, and his footwork was good, but he just didn't have the mass to hold his ground.

If we made the playoffs and played the Colts with this line.....Freeney would abuse Trent for an entire game, atleast 4 sacks.

[dollar1]

Just watching the 1st qtr so far...

Giants were blitzing the LBs all the time, delayed. Sampson had his hands full, as did Bober. Turley got beat some too.

Question, other the blitzing LBs, how did the line do against a standard front 4? (Trick question b/c don't think it happened in the 1 qtr) Turley solid beat once. Bober too much. Sampson, also too much. Even saw Shields lose one as well.

If they bring the heat, Green has to have the short slants ready.

What is the solution?

~OK, I'm done, back under the rock~

[BIG K]

Originally Posted by jspchief

They both seem to always be there when the whistle blows.

Well, that might be a positive to build upon at this point.

[Fish]

Originally Posted by BIG K

Do you think if he adds weight/muscle things will improve? Or is this a serious concern heading into the season? Again, people. I did not see the game and am asking for input from those who saw it....

Of course if he added weight he would improve..... but he took off all that weight cause his back couldn't handle it. If he puts the weight back on we risk losing him to back injury.......

Damned if ya do.....

[jspchief]

Originally Posted by BIG K

Do you think if he adds weight/muscle things will improve? Or is this a serious concern heading into the season? Again, people. I did not see the game and am asking for input from those who saw it....

Short answer, he needs to add weight.

Long answer, he can't just fatten up and gain anything from it. He needs to add good weight, which is not something that happens over the course of a month or two.

For this year at least, I think we're stuck with a light, underpowered LT who's going to have to rely heavily on technique and footwork.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by jspchief

I think Boomer's problem is short arms. maybe I'm crazy, but I think his arms are short and it hurts his ability to wrap up and hold his tackles.

Another thing I noticed is that while Key Fox is around the ball to make plays, he's a weak tackler. Guys are slipping him off a lot. Hopefully it's rust from last year's injury, but at this point he reminds me of a guy like Fujita, who has to rely on slowing the guy down enough for others to finish the tackle.

Yep. I noticed that from Key as well. Needs some more fundamentals work or something. Hopefully it IS just rust from the injury