Loading ...Thanks in large part to WordPress not having a recovery process, Simon’s game review was lost amongst the millions of accidentally deleted website posts across the world. So rather than reading his recap, which took approximately two hours, you will be stuck with my positives and negatives, which took about two minutes.
Positives:
Ahmad Bradshaw – Most fans would agree that Bradshaw is extremely talented, but I think many fail to realize that he’s elite. His unique combination of foot work, speed and power makes him one of the most complete backs in the NFL. I’ve been saying it for two years, but in my mind he’s the next Barry Sanders.
Eli Manning – He got very little playing time, but took Big Blue right down the field for what appeared to be an easy touchdown on the Giants opening drive. After looking shaky in week three of the preseason against the Ravens, he looked much more like the Super Bowl XLII MVP last night.
Duke Callhoun – I don’t think this kid makes the Giants, but I feel comfortable saying he earned himself a spot on another team with his 76 yard, one touchdown performance.
D.J. Ware/Gartrell Johnson – Both running backs made the most of their opportunities last night and showcased their value for Big Blue. And although D.J. Ware is a favorite here at Giants 101 (thanks in large part to his interaction with the writers), I’d have to say Johnson looks to be the more valuable of the two.
Bryan Kehl – Holy moly, where did that effort suddenly come from? We’ve been waiting for this guy to step up and he certainly did last night. Not only did he lead the team in tackles, he really buckled down and made some amazing plays along the goal-line that prevented New England from scoring.
Jonathan Goff - It might have been against some second, third and never-stringers, but Goff looked quite impressive at times and undoubtedly eased a little stress amongst Giants fans.
Other Notables – Hakeem Nicks, Shawn Andrews, Antrel Rolle, Kenny Phillips (kid was hitting hard), Mathias Kiwanuka, Michael Boley and Seth Williams.
Negatives:
Tim Brown – The kid looked amazing in camp, but he just didn’t blow anyone away in the preseason. After an extremely poor performance last night, and with Sinorice Moss on IR, it’s safe to assume Victor Cruz is assured of a job.
Courtney Brown – C.C., is that you? Awww you almost got us! Be gone!
Derek Hagan – Dropsies! See you on Special Teams.
Will Beatty – I am extremely disappointed in his regression this season. I truly expected so much more, but it just doesn’t seem to be translating.
Kickoff Coverage – Yuck. That’s all I have to say about that.
Mixed:
Rhett Bomar – This kid is a bit of an enigma. One second he can look amazingly talented, the next second he’s holding onto the ball too long, overthrowing it, dropping down sidearmed, getting it batted down…it’s baffling really. He’s clearly a project, but one worth taking on. Unfortunately, he’s not yet valuable en0ugh to be the Giants’ number two man.
Matt Dodge – The guy has progressed each and every week, but he’s still a tad inconsistent. His punting was great on Thursday night, but botching a snap on an extra point is no good.
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Reposting Jim’s “lost” post.
So no sooner do I purchase the Big Blue Bus, invite KD, KUJO, Hanshi and Stu aboard, and don my Mr. Positive hat, then the Giants show up looking kind of like a competitive football team. My observations:
1. Someone already said it but: shame on Kevin Gilbride for teasing us. The next time we see Nicks on an end around will be against the Patriots in the 2011 pre-season.
2. I’m back out on a limb: Duke Calhoun makes this team and the Giants carry 7 WRs. The guy is faster, bigger and runs better routes than Hagan, and they are both good gunners.
3. Can the Giants keep 5 RBs? Will they really cut Andre Brown? Will they IR him? With turf toe? This will be tough. Both Ware and Johnson looked pretty good. Ware showed good speed, especially on that 20 yd off-tackle right. Johnson showed really good short yardage power and determination. With all the 3d and 1 problems this team has had in the post-Tiki era, Johnson might find himself a role for that reason alone.
4. Can the Giants just cut both FBs? Please! The Pats don’t have a fullback on their roster and they haven’t even done cuts yet. And Belicheck is suppose to be one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL (at least if you live in Boston). The game has changed. Fullbacks are an ever increasing anachronism. Cut them both. Jacobs can block really well. Johnson can block. And guess what? They can both run and almost catch. Please, please, please, Tommy, cut the FBs and keep The Duke!
5. LB is an ever-growing PROBLEM! Yes, Goff (who played virtually every snap last night) looked much much better. And yes, Kehl actually made that goal line play (was it a horse collar though?) and did show great speed (but FF, he didn’t actually catch the WR, it was the RB with the dreds who made the tackle – but I think in 1 or 2 more steps he would have — very LT-esque circa 1981 – Lions (that’s the 9-7 Lions by the way) and Billy Simms). But here’s the rub. Wilkinson has a groin. Dillard has a hamstring. Blackburn a knee. Sintim looks like nothing. Bullock looks slow. And Bolely has done nothing(other than that one blitz which is what the guy is made to do). In other words, right now Jon Goff is our best LB. I’m telling you, this could really get ugly.
6. Next to the LBs, the secondary is looking really problematic as well. Webster out with a groin; Ross with the planet fascist injury; TT back from a leg, but looks to be < 100%; Rolle looking like he needs Kenny @ 100% next to him, and Kenny looking far less than 100%. On paper, this unit looks so good; but nagging injuries, recoveries, and lack of playing together are not helping.
And then of course there’s the depth. Depth? Did someone say depth? D-depth? (read with Jim Mora’s “playoffs” voice).
7. So, the defense is going to really struggle early until they get these guys healed, start playing together, and hopefully see Bullock get back some speed. But Canty’s approaching his second week out with a groin; Alford’s health is enigmatic at best, and I’ve yet to see any indication of how Fewel intends to effectively use Kiwi in rotation with Osi and Tuck. Bernard does look a lot better though, and I think early signs are that Tuck and Osi will start strong. Although this will get me assaulted by at least FF, I’ve still yet to see a thing out of Canty and don’t know how this groin will affect his explosiveness. DT does not look all that stable right now.
8. All that being said, Eli looked like the Eli we love; the O-Line looked so much better it made me think, maybe you can just throw the switch; the WRs are going to be electric (although did Smith play?), and Bradshaw just looks like he is ready to go nuts. What I find really interesting is the almost complete non-use of Jacobs during the preseason. That should mean that Bradshaw is the featured back. But how will they use Jacobs? Hopefully the one time they put them both on the field together will become the approach. I like Jacobs as a pass protector, and I wonder if he can be a lead blocker, not to mention a credible alternative that will freeze LBs and safeties. (See The Duke Calhoun Campaign above).
9. I said it last week and I’ll say it again this week: I’ll tale one order of Shawn Andrews Humble Pie, plus a side of Shawn Andrews crow. Very tastey.
So in conclusion: We will start the season looking better than average offensively; below average defensively; scarey as always on special teams.
By the way, being in Boston, the game was on local TV with local Patriot-centric announcers. all of you thinking the Giants offense looked good last night – fuggeddaboudit –and I quote: “The Pats are running a plain vanilla 3-4. Not scheeming at all. Not the defense you will see in the regular season.” I kid you not.
Dan
thanks.
Adam Koaets Needs to be on the list of positives. He has really improved this preseason and capped it off with an excellent showing last night
Yeah, looks like we found our backup center…
+1
Everyone had this guy dead and buried a few weeks ago. And then he goes out last night and reportedly (since I didn’t actually see it) holds his own against one of the best DTs in the league in Wilfork.
With him in there, it was hard to tell that it wasn’t our complete “starting”offensive line…. in my opinion.
And yea Bryan Kehl did an incredible job on that whole series
BJ Not Happy:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/17705/brandon-jacobs-is-not-pleased-at-all
FF, remember my question after watching his interview last week?
I don’t. What was it?
I said after watching that Jacobbs looked klike an unhappy guy who knew his role had changed
Yeah, he seems pissed. Sounds like he’s calling Bradshaw a back stabber.
He’ll get his chances, I’m sure. He should keep it “shsuh” and try to play his way back………. Time to think about hitting those holes hard again Jacobs.
Jim, It looks like BJ is OFF the bus.
Not if TC and Gilbride do the smart thing. Cut Hedgecock and Johnson. Go pro set with Jacobs and Bradshaw/Ware and Bradshaw/Johnson and Bradshaw. Everyone learns how to lead block; everyone is a credible alternative to get the ball.
and Duke Calhoun makes the team.
ESPN is being dramatic. All I see in his quotes is the desire to play, play hard and be successful at his job. I see no fault in this whatsoever.
If he sat back and didn’t care, collected his money and didn’t want to put the effort in, then we’d have a story.
This sounds like it’s directed at Bradshaw:
“No one’s your friend in this business,” said Jacobs. “This is a cutthroat, backstabbing business. That’s just the way it goes. It’s been like that before me. If you expect anything else out of a business like this, you’re crazy.”
If you say those two in camp…
I think his comment was taken out of context or he was baited. I’m telling you, Bradhsaw and Jacobs are two peas in a pod. They don’t separate…ever.
Bomar just needs time to deveop. I recall Manning was often shaky during his first year.
Dan
Your take on Duke Calhoun — ERRONEOUS. ERRONEOUS OB BOTH COUNTS!!
Duke makes this team!!!!
And the Lions go 9-7.
Listen to me people.
I’m on The Big Blue Bus, not the Silver and Blue Bus. They go 6-10.
I think The Duke is on the practice squad. Either that or the Rams.
say it aint so Joe, say it aint so
If he gets placed on the PS, someone else is going to snatch him up. He’s def. going to be on a team somewhere, but it’s not going to be here.
Smith, Nicks, Manningham, Barden, Cruz, Hagan (ST).
I am more than a little excited for when the Giants cut people tomorrow and Steve Spagnuolo is waiting behind the facility with one of those military style troop carriers screaming –
“Follow Me! Follow Me To Freedom!”
7 7 7
Also, Nicks was fantastic on the first few series. On the first ball to him, he ran a lazy route, which was jumped by McCourty and broken up – Nicks’ fault. After that, he was a beast, crisp routes, reverses, a sick catch where he stuck both feet in bounds for a first down along the sideline. It was great.
Kevin Boss is back too, looked healthy finally and had two nice catches, including the first touchdown.
FF said it on the last thread; most of us were saying it last year (especially when Gilbride refused to play him over Hixon) — the kid is obviously special. He’s got a quality QB throwing him the ball; he is complemented by one of the leagues best possession receivers (did he play last night); and augmented by a guy who might have the quickest feet in the league. All of that enhances what is otherwise tremendous athletic ability and great football instincts.
He’s an easy 1000 yard candidate this year; 15+ TDs.
They mentioned last night that the Giants were saving #27 for the regular season. They did not want him to take an early helmet to the knee (again) and have him struggle. So realize this and shut up Jacobs, it benefits everyone if you are healthy.
Packers unanimously picked to reach Super Bowl XLV
http://www.nfl.com/kickoff/story/09000d5d81a35e90/article/packers-unanimously-picked-to-reach-super-bowl-xlv?module=HP_cp2
I think they win the NFC North, I think they are a threat in the playoffs, but the defense is not good enough to win the whole thing.
They are a passrusher a cornerback and a safety short.
At some point you are going to have to stop the opponent and win a close one.
disagree. they are good
offensively so good that they’ll mask a bunch of problems on the D
Rodgers is really developing
Give the Pack credit for knowing what they had and having the balls to show Favre the door
really makes the Vikes look like ****
I totally give the Packers credit for that! I am pulling for them to do well, knock the Vikings out of the playoff hunt and end Favre’s season. I just think they’ll eventually get into a situation like the Cardinals playoff game last season, you can’t outscore everyone and eventually will need to stop somebody.
I agree with Rich on this one. Teams that are championed like GB that haven’t been close to winning before almost never win. I also think they have potentional issues at OT. Their offense is great a passing but they can certainly be beat in a cold weather playoff game. Actually, if they were a dome team they would be a lot better off.
Anybody else notices Shawn Andrews last night.
Its only a matter of time until he is starting.
He is a damn monster. He has the size, the look of a pro bowler, the technique, the power.
I need to shut up and save my thoughts for the PM post. I’ll stop now.