Loading ...After missing a week three game against the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said it was merely because of a quick turnaround and that he would play in week four against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, when Big Blue revealed their final injury report on Friday afternoon, Nicks was listed as doubtful with both a foot injury and a swollen knee.
With Nicks likely out, that means increased reps for Ramses Barden … who's anxious to see more playing time.
“I just wanted to express my appreciation and gratitude for Eli’s trust and faith in me throughout the game, to keep coming my way,” said Barden. “I like to think that if he’s going to give me a chance, I want to do my best to help him with what he’s trying to achieve. If he trusts me enough to throw my way, I need to do my job and come down with it.”
He will again have to compete with Domenik Hixon for playing time, who will be returning after missing a game due to a concussion suffered in week two.
Meanwhile, tackle David Diehl, cornerback Jayron Hosley and linebacker Keith Rivers have been ruled out. Cornerback Michael Coe and safety Antrel Rolle are questionable, while running back Ahmad Bradshaw and Hixon are listed as probable.
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F0XLIN says:
September 28, 2012 at 1:12 PM
I want to **** this will also be a huge test for the resurgence of our offensive line. Since David Diehl has gone down they have looked the best we have seen in the last 2 seasons, but this is a very good front 4 they will be facing who gets after the passer and stops the run.
If they preform to the level they did in the second half of the Bucs game and the Panthers game, we have answered one of the biggest questions and concerns going into this season.
WTF! This completely changes this game. With the type of coverage Philly plays Nicks being out hurts even more than it normally would. SMH.
However, we all know it these situations we usually play better. It’s still unfortuate. Eli has to play even better. They will stack the line vs our run and force Eli to beat them without Nicks.
And I’ll add we won’t need Nicks if the O line plays like they did vs the Panthers
I not so sure about that. Barden beat Norman who is a 5th round rookie for Carolina. This week he has to consistenly beat NA or DRC against press coverage. I think Hixon will play a lot and probably even starts over Barden. This might be a game where Randle is needed at WR.
if they waste either drc or na on barden it is a win for us because i like hixon’s chances against their 3rd corner with no safety help
The point wasn’t Barden, the point is if the O line continues to open up holes in the run game, set up play action, and give Eli time to throw, he will find the open receiver all day. Barden, Hixon, Jernigan, Jennings, Dixon, Moss, Carter, Coughlin, I don’ care who it is
I think the running game has worked because of the passing game not vice versa. We are a passing team now and most of the running success is due to the passing game IMO.
YES! I really want to see what Barden can do against a top tier corner! *note sarcasm*
I was thinking the other day when people were bringing up our few years against the eagles and at least Eli’s kryptonite Asante Samuel is no longer an eagle.
With this injury news the game is going to come down to one man (well Eli doesn’t count) and that man is Martellus Bennet he needs to play an awesome game both as a blocker and receiver. If he has a big showing we have a good chance of winning this game. This is going to be a knock down drag out game. Will be really exciting
Wasn’t Nicks doubtful at one point for Week 1?
Still think he plays, but if he doesn’t, it will be a pretty significant loss. Philly’s D isn’t the dumpster fire that Carolina’s was, and they’re secondary is pretty solid. Still, we are a better team, or at least a team which is at least as good as the Eagles, with the edge going to us because of the presence of Eli.
Nevertheless, I still say we win 23-17. That margin will open with Nicks on the field
I don’t beleive so. I think he was always listed as questionable. I think without Nicks, Hosley and Rivers for this game is bigger than others.
Their defense has played well this year and worry that our offense could have some trouble. The key is the OL. If Eli ia gettting time like he has the last 2 games we still should produce enough points. But if not it could be a lot like week 1.
Minus Nicks Philly is a much harder opponet. Their strength is at CB and DL. With Cruz and Nicks we could attack and defeat that strength. Now it’s much harder.
I wonder if we play 3 WRs with Cruz in the slot do they use the rookie to cover him in the slot or do they move NA or DRC inside. Either way Cruz should be in the slot because neither CB is as good inside and their slot CB is a rookie.
Victor Cruz back to Roddy White: “I got a ring back at home. I don’t care abt what Roddy White has to say.”
Well, This is not good news at all. Coming into the game I was rather confident our offense would be able to point up yardage and points against this improved eagles defense but now it just got a little bit tougher.
I figured we would have Nicks and Barden on the outside, Bennett inside and Cruz in the slot, add the B brothers at RB and you got to ask yourself how do you stop this offense.
Now it will be Cruz and Barden on the outside with hixon in the slot. The eagles gameplan will be to double victor cruz and they will be press barden and hixon.
The key to our offensive success will have to be a heavy dosage of running with bradshaw and brown. If we find success with 5,6 yard carries that will give us short third downs to convert and we will hit big plays off of play action.
I saw the whole eagles game and the Linebackers and safeties are EXTREMELY aggresive versus the run thus susceptible to play action.
Oline has to give ELi tme to throw the ball and open up holes for bradshaw and brown to hit if we are going to win this ball game.
Hixon and Barden would play outside with Cruz in the slot, other than that you’re spot on. Very big test for the O line this week
one thing i have to say about the recent Oline success is that Eli presnap is freaking awesome to watch. He is rarely fooled just once in a while but when he calls out the right blitzer and changes the protection they keep him clean. I’ve been watching Eli since his first snap in preseason until now and I feel like this year something just clicked in his presnap reads. This is the first year watching Eli that you can tell by just watching the game that Eli is the leader of this offense and this team. Really noticed it agaisnt Tampa bay, he called every blitz right and he wasnt sacked once. Then the Panther game, he knew what the panthers defense was going to do before the panthers knew what they were going to do. U havent see Eli have a clean pocket like that in years for a whole game.
Its a combination of Eli reading the defense and calling the protection. If Eli calls the right protection, the Oline does its job.
If Eli reads the eagles defense right this week and calls the right protection they will give Eli more than enough time to throw the ball and rip the eagles secondary.
To those who take issue with my claim that “Vick sucks”:
Please don’t conflate my denigration of Vick with some misguided belief that Sunday’s game will be a walkover.
Since some have apparently construed my anti-Vick comments to mean just that, I guess I need to spell out the usual disclaimers.
I know there are no easy games in today’s parity-engineered NFL… especially not when you are the defending champion.
I know that is doubly true when the game is against a divisional foe and you have to deal with the added obstacles of the extra bitterness and familiarity that your opponent brings to the party.
Inherent in those two statements is the acknowledgment that inferior rosters, inferior players are certainly capable of stepping up and outplaying those who are better in a given contest. Heck, it wasn’t all that long ago that Derek Anderson looked like Bart Starr against a very good Giants defense.
So those who point out that Michael Vick is capable of having a big game against the Giants are saying absolutely nothing of note. It’s clearly true, of course, but it in no way invalidates the claim that Vick (with the exception of one magical year) has NEVER been a good NFL QB.
Now that I have conceded the obvious point that Vick (as well as any other NFL QB) is capable of stepping up in a given week and vastly outperforming his overall body of work, I’ll reiterate my belief that I don’t think he’s anything close to the fearsome, unstoppable weapon that he’s often made out to be.
At this stage of his career – 32 years old, body breaking down, and increasingly fearful of physical punishment – he’s not much better than a younger, healthier Cam Newton. Of course, Vick has far more experience in the NFL than Newton – but how much has he really learned in that time? He came into the NFL as a crappy diagnostician with a poor grasp of the mental aspects of the QB position. More than decade later, he seems to have scarcely improved in that regard.
Looking ahead, Sunday’s game will be the usual dogfight and a loss is a very real possibility. Should that occur, I just don’t foresee it being on account of a big game by Vick. I’m far more worried about the damage down by checkdowns to McCoy or Celek than I am by the big play downfield (particularly if Chase starts at MLB)
I am also far more concerned about the improvements made to the Philly D. Last year, the Giants (and the rest of the NFL) made hay against the soft middle of the Eagles defense. Today, they have a stud DT (Cox, who has played very well so far) and have made huge upgrades at linebacker in Ryans and Kendricks. This is going to be the first real test faced by the made-over Giants’ O-line and the revitalized running game. Sadly, I think the Eagles will have no problem shutting down the ginger-footed Bradshaw. As for Brown? Who knows?
No predictions – apart from my earlier one that if it comes down to a shootout between Eli and Vick, the Giants win for fun. But I don’t see that as a likely scenario, even taking the absences of Hosley and Nicks into account. My hunch is that we’ll see a closely fought, grind-it-out, NFC East slugfest with not a whole lotta scoring. Something like 24-20, the winner TBD by one or two referee calls and/or funny bounces of the ball.
I think Vick has received more attentioned that his play has warranted at times. Vick is also not a player that has consistently proven he can beat you with his arm. But he has proven he can be effective with his legs and be a winning QB. His record as a starter is 55-38-1. That doesn’t mean everything but given the talent he has been surrounded by until the last 2 years I think shows he’s been good as a starting QB.
So I’m worried about everything you mentioned and Vick. Especially, with our starting LBs our LBs besides Boley aren’t fast and could have trouble on a Vick run.
I think this game is decided on the lines. Our DL needs to control their OL. And our OL needs to give Eli some time and provide a respectable running game.
Vick’s problem is the same faced by any aging QB who has been more reliant on freakish athleticism rather than savvy throughout his career.
Once that athleticism starts to fade, the deficiencies in his game become that much more glaring and easier for the opposition to exploit.
Of course, he still has enough left in the proverbial tank to reach down and find some of that athleticism from time to time. But the instances of it happening at this point – now that his body has obviously begun to break down – become less and less frequent in number.
Simply put, he was never a very good QB – and he’s only going to get worse. Bold prediction: He winds up getting benched by a frustrated Reid sometime before the end of this season.
I think your point as he ages is fair. Though i don’t he gets benched because they are playing a rookie behind him. If they had a Kolb, VY or Garcia type option then I think it would be a lot more likely. They basically put all their eggs into Vick this season.
Give Nicks the week off. Out trick is to get going at the end of the season. Not 3 games in. Get him healthy.
Jernigan time !!! Booyay !!!