Loading ...The New York Giants come into their final preseason game with a little more uncertainty than they are used to. The first unit has had struggles on both sides of the football throughout the preseason, and there is still some concern about depth at certain positions. There have been rumblings that New York could be looking around the league after final cuts for some help at quarterback and in the secondary, and tonight’s game will certainly have a considerable impact on what this roster looks like going into the week one showdown with Carolina.
Today, we look at what Tom Coughlin and the Giants need to find out, and accomplish in their preseason finale.
Play the Starters Limited Snaps, Get in Rhythm
Eli Manning and the first unit offense had a lot of trouble getting going against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, and the group really didn’t find much more success against the Steelers or Jets in their previous preseason games. Now those are three very good defenses, but the fact of the matter is this – with the injuries and inconsistency across the offensive line, this group has really been unable to get in sync, and that’s an issue going into the regular season. Two strong series’ for the starters could go a long way in building confidence for this team going into week one.
Decide on Keith Bulluck
Bulluck is expected to be the starter in the middle for the New York Giants this season, but Tom Coughlin will have to decide whether or not Bulluck is physically ready to be the starter and play a full four quarters of football in week one. If Bulluck can show Coughlin aggressiveness and a consistent motor, he should be the guy in the middle against the Carolina Panthers on September 12th.
Sort Out the Return Game
The Giants return game is clearly not the strongest unit of their football team. Punt and kick returns have been mediocre for the majority of preseason, and no one has emerged as the clear number one returner with the loss of Domenik Hixon.
Is Rhett Bomar Enough?
Bomar will once again play extensively tonight, and he will have to come out and make the Giants decision a little bit easier as to whether or not they should pursue help at backup quarterback. With Jim Sorgi being placed on IR this week, the Giants are down to just Bomar behind Eli Manning – and the second year signal-caller has had an up and down preseason performance to this point. He’s struggled with accuracy and completing the intermediate pass, but Bomar has also showed flashes of ability in getting the team points with his mobility and the big play.
Decide on the #5 Cornerback
Let’s just put this on the table because there really is no other way to put it – Courtney Brown has been absolutely undressed in every game he’s played for this team this August. The depth at cornerback looks very shaky, and while the Giants would like to have five or six corners going into the season, the argument can be made that they only have four legitimate NFL cornerbacks on their roster, with a struggling Bruce Johnson as the #4 guy. This could be a crucial issue for the Giants – as Corey Webster and Aaron Ross have both had significant injury issues in previous years.
Tags: Aaron Ross, Bruce Johnson, Courtney Brown, Domenik Hixon, Eli Manning, Jim Sorgi, Keith Bulluck, New York Giants, Rhett Bomar, Tom CoughlinRelated Videos
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I hate to repost, but I think this deserves it:
I would like to predict that Dallas goes 7-9:
-Their top safety is Gerald Sensabaugh, who was cut from Jacksonville. He is out with a seperated shoulder.
-Their starting O-Line is: Doug Free (was destroyed by Jared Allen last year in the playoffs, now protecting the blindside?), Kyle Koiser (31 years old and hurt), Andre Gurrode (32 years old), Leonard Davis (31 years old), Marc Columbo (31 years old and hurt).
-They were the healthiest team in the NFL last season, NO WAY that happens two years in a row.
-@ Washington (tough game on SNF against a hated rival)
-BEARS (should be a win)
-@ Houston (tough game, home state rivalary with a team that can put up points)
-BYE (early by week is never good for old teams, no time to get healthy later on)
-Titans (always tough defensively, Chris Johnson could dominate them)
-@ Minnesota (Favre/Peterson and that defense in the dome)
-GIANTS (Giants swept Dallas last year, division rivalry)
-JAGUARS (should be a win here, unless they struggle early and MJD goes ape)
-@ Green Bay (probably the class of the NFC, always tough to win on the tundra)
-@ New York (Giants swept Dallas last year, division rivalry)
-LIONS (Should be a win at home)
-SAINTS (defending champs, shootout, tough game)
-@ Indianapolis (Peyton Manning at home, always tough)
-EAGLES (Division rivals always play them tough)
-REDSKINS (Division rivals always play them tough)
-@ Arizona (probably a win depending on AZ’s QB play)
@ Philadelphia (Eagles always play them tough)
ROC- have been saying the same thing for months..Dallas is Way overrated..I also pointed out that this will be the year that they take a step backwards to due horrible drafting for 4 straight seasons..What I mean is that Parcels built a Monster when he was there and he left them the most talented young roster when he quit in January 07..Since then Jerruh has made all the personnel decisions and has really run down the depth and quality of young talent..With Romo, Barber, Ware, Whitten, Newman, Spencer etc improving as they have matured the last 3 years that has covered up the horrible (Roy Williams / Mike Jenkins) personnel decisions Jerruh has made. Well those guys have hit their ceiling and this is the year we will see them regress with no huge talent on the way up..I know they lucked into Dez Bryant when he feel to 24 in the draft, but he aint gonna help them on a thin OLine or in a burn unit secondary.
That schedule is a beast though – The NFC East will beat up on each other like always. They then play a bunch of the other contenders (Colts, Vikings, Packers, Saints) and two other playoff bubble squads (Titans, Texans).
Right there are 12 tough games.
The easy games I see are – Lions, Jags, Cards, Bears. That is it.
yep..If they win 10 games it will shock me…
Rick I’m reposting yours with 1 comment:
I would like to predict that Dallas goes 7-9:
-Their top safety is Gerald Sensabaugh, who was cut from Jacksonville. He is out with a seperated shoulder.
-Their starting O-Line is: Doug Free (was destroyed by Jared Allen last year in the playoffs, now protecting the blindside?), Kyle Koiser (31 years old and hurt), Andre Gurrode (32 years old), Leonard Davis (31 years old), Marc Columbo (31 years old and hurt).
-They were the healthiest team in the NFL last season, NO WAY that happens two years in a row.
-@ Washington (tough game on SNF against a hated rival)
-BEARS (should be a win)
-@ Houston (tough game, home state rivalary with a team that can put up points)
-BYE (early by week is never good for old teams, no time to get healthy later on)
-Titans (always tough defensively, Chris Johnson could dominate them)
-@ Minnesota (Favre/Peterson and that defense in the dome)
-GIANTS (Giants swept Dallas last year, division rivalry)
-JAGUARS (should be a win here, unless they struggle early and MJD goes ape)
-@ Green Bay (probably the class of the NFC, always tough to win on the tundra)
-@ New York (Giants swept Dallas last year, division rivalry)
-LIONS (Should be a win at home) ERRONEOUS!!
-SAINTS (defending champs, shootout, tough game)
-@ Indianapolis (Peyton Manning at home, always tough)
-EAGLES (Division rivals always play them tough)
-REDSKINS (Division rivals always play them tough)
-@ Arizona (probably a win depending on AZ’s QB play)
@ Philadelphia (Eagles always play them tough)
Rich, i’d love to see the cowboys go 7-9. But you’re starting to sound like Jim talking about the Lions.
7-9? I can see 9-7.
Careful. Come December you may find yourself saying “Jim, u are a God!”
The Cowboys still have a good team. If we are saying we can get over preseason struggles, an aging but not old OL and some injuries then we have to be fair to the cowboys in that regard. I think the OL problems are more skill than age, especially at the OTs. I don’t believe in either Washington or Philly so I think they are still at least the 2nd best team in the division. Other than OL and Safety all of their roster is very talented. Not every team will be able to expose their flaws. So I still think they are a 10-6 (btwn 9-7 and 11-5) team.
The Cowboys will rise or fall based on what kind of a year Tony Romo has. If he can disciplne himself then they’ll be serious contenders. But if he’s jumping around in the pocket trying to make ad lib plays then they’ll fall short again.
Repost: GOAT56 says:
September 2, 2010 at 11:41 AM
I’m not saying he was as good as Santana but to act like he didn’t or doesn’t have ability is far from the truth. He played in a different era when the QB play was far below what his brother had. I’m saying we were expecting him to be what Eli is to Peyton.
Reply
I just can’t agree with what you’re saying about Sinorice. He’s not even close to an Eli to Peyton Comparison. Santana’s ability is light years ahead of his little brothers. As far as QB play, yeah, I’ll give you that. Brock Berlin was not Ken Dorsey ( college Dorsey was a stud). HOWEVER, Don’t forget that Moss lined up next to Reggie Wayne and Andre Johnson.
Comparing The moss brother’s ability is like comparing Cal Ripkin Jr to his brother Billy.
I meant that was our view going into the draft. Which I think was reasonable at the time. Of course it hasn’t turned out that way.
which is mind blowing. And either Ernie or the scouts must not have watched the kid play in college. Because he was average at best.
anyway.. GO CANES! Season starts tonight vs. Florida A&M.
I could not touch that one, Canes are -38 right? I need to see them on the field first.
yeah. I tend not to bet on the 1st game of the season anyway. Too many unknown. And -38, might be accurate, it’s a shitload of points.
A few years back, i think it was 2001 or 2002, Canes vs. Rutgers. Miami was favored by like -24 or something. So I bet them, and of course Rutgers gave them a run for their money and I lost some dough on that one.
I took Pitt +3 @ Utah tonight, tough game but should be a good one and Ohio State -28.
Utah is a tough out at home. Pitt should win though. I personally wouldn’t have touched it.
Some REAL good games opening week. I’m looking foward to that Boise State vs. Va Tech, Oregon St vs. TCU AND the Monday night UNC vs. LSU.
I hate to jump ahead a week but I can’t wait for next saturdays game between Miami and the F*ckeyes.
I love Boise in that one. They return 20 starters.
Nice Piece Haz- I agree on all points..I would add though
#1 OBJECTIVE- Come out of Tonights game Healthy!
agreed.
Here’s my conference champion picks. I only bet on teams that are +1000 or cheaper. Not worth spreading around $200 to win $90 on the Saints.
AFC:
Cin
Den
Hou
Mia
Ten
NFC:
Chi
Atl
NYG
S.F.
Sea
KD where are the LIONs?
I like USC -23 and Boise -2 1/2
I wouldn’t touch LSU/UNC. It opened at LSU +3 then moved to LSU -3 and now it is LSU -6…
That means nobody knows what’s going on in that game.
I don’t bet first week of college, unless it’s a great pick.
I was just saying about the games I mentioned and that they’ll be fun to watch.
That game is terrible. UNC has Austin suspended. LSU is not great this year. UNC should have a great D. I might take the UNDER if anything, but I am not touching the spread.
forgot about the Austin suspension.
Should still be an interesting game.
Haz, good work. I don’t agree, though, that Bulluck “should be the guy in the middle against the Panthers”. I think they are still very undecided about whether it should be Goff or Bulluck, with them leaning toward Goff and having Bulluck play at SAM with Sintim used in special situations and having to make more progress before he can be getting the majority of the snaps at SAM.
It’s a good problem to have, given that the nearly unanimous opinion here and elsewhere was that Goff was terrible (many at Giants 101 predicted he wouldn’t make the roster). Now we suddenly have two pretty capable MLBers rather than none.
Of course, Sintim’s failure to seize the position is a disappointment but I think it doesn’t mean he never will. The kid got WAY too little playing time last season to really be ready for this one, and he may develop in a hurry once he gets some. If that happens then Bulluck can always be moved around. A lot will depend upon how Goff and Boley play coming out of the blocks.
My personal opinion is that Giants’ fans should be pretty delighted when contemplating what they have at linebacker as opposed to what they had last season. They thought they had trash in Goff, but they were wrong. Reese added Bulluck, a real professional who probably has more than something left. They have a fully healthy Boley going into the season. They have Sintim slated to play a good deal in situational defense. They have Wilkinson having proved he can play rather than the punching bag they treated him like up until a few weeks ago. And IMO they got addition-by-subtraction with Clark, and especially with Pierce (who was depended upon way too much by players and coaches and just couldn’t deliver any longer).
There’s cause for disappointment with Tracy’s injury and Dillard having proven he was no instant stud as some insisted. And I am disappointed that so far Kehl seems not to have “emerged” as well as I expected, but I still think he will if given a chance. I’m certainly going to be watching him tonight.
Anyway, tonight is going to be very much about special teams. They have to do a lot better. But everyone should watch the blocking more than the returners, and the tackling more than the length of punts. Those are the fundamentals that they have to improve if they’re to have any chance of being better than the horror show they’ve been at times.
FF. I think we have to see this LB group actually perform on the field before we decide we should be delighted. Giving a complete pass to preseason, we have yet to see anything tangible to suggest anything other than a mediocre group. Bullock coming off a severe ACL 9 months ago at age 33 is apparently still a better option than Sintim at SAM. On its face that is not overly reassuring. And, has Goff proved he is better in the middle then that same injury recovering Bullock, or just not as bad relative to Sintim? Finally, for all of Boley’s speed, he played all of last year hurt and we’ve yet to see what he can do healthy. We know he had 1 or 2 very good years in Atlanta, but that was 3 seasons ago, they benched him, and then couldn’t wait to show him the door. And the most promising young talent of all this summer, Adrian Tracey, is already on IR.
So, they might turn out very good; but let’s see it before proclaiming it.
FF. What has Goff showed in pre season or last year to make us think that he is a good MLB. I think Lim is right lets not get carried away with this bunch until they prove themselves.