Same Old Giants Fall Apart in Green Bay

Walking onto the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field (TM) yesterday afternoon, the Giants had the late-season luxury of controlling their own playoff fate.  Win and they'd be in.  The Packers, meanwhile, really had to sweat.  They had to beat the Giants, beat the Bears next weekend, and still their playoff ticket wouldn't be officially stamped.  So to say this was a must-win game for both teams would be an understatement.  And I couldn't have been more excited.  This is how late December football is supposed to be: two playoff-caliber teams playing a do-or-die game in the freezing cold with the season on the line.

Photo Credit: NY Daily News

Except only one team played like the entire season was at stake.  The Giants apparently never recovered from the hangover they sustained after collapsing at home against the Eagles last week.  Ever since they had that fateful 31-10 lead against Philly with 8:10 to go in the 4th quarter, the Giants have been outscored 73-17.  As painful as that statistic is to read, the actual gameplay has been even harder to watch.  Put simply, the Giants have played some awful football.


Note to Tom Coughlin and the Giants: no more lollygagging!!!


So, where to start?  Let's begin with the Giants' pass defense.  Due to a recent concussion, Aaron Rodgers was something of a question mark heading into the game, but he surgically dissected the Giants' secondary like it was a practice squad.  One thing I could not figure out through the entire game -- and apparently the New York Times also picked up on it -- was why Perry Fewell had the Giants in a Cover 2 scheme against a Packers team that's packed (heh heh) with talented deep-threat wide receivers in Greg Jennings, Jordan Nelson, and Donald Driver.  Play after play, there was Rodgers throwing to a receiver at least 5 yards in front of the closest DB.  You could see that Green Bay made an early (and obvious) adjustment to the Giants' defensive scheme.  In fact, on the first play of the Packers' second possession, Jordy Nelson took a slant 80 yards right up the seam for a TD.  This defensive approach may work next week against Rex Grossman, Chris Cooley & Co., but it was a weakness that the Packers exposed in a big way.  The result was Rodgers passing for 404 yards and 4 TDs.  Ouch.

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A Look at the Giants: Giants Tested By Injuries Headed Into Eagles Matchup

The Giants had Steve Smith back for one catch. That catch ended his season. Before the most important game of the season, the Giants learned they were going to have to go without Steve Smith, their top 3rd down possession receiver for not only the upcoming game against the Eagles, but for the entire year. So the Giants, who have also lost wide receivers Ramses Barden, Victor Cruz, and Domenik Hixon to injured reserve and have Mario Manningham questionable for Sunday with a hip flexor will once again have to dip into the well to find replacements.

Manning will be without Steve Smith the rest of the season (ESPN)

It seems that's when the Giants perform best.

In 2007 the Giants lost Mathias Kiwanuka and Jeremy Shockey during the season and had Justin Tuck and Kevin Boss step up for them. This season they lost fullback Madison Hedgecock and had former tight end Bear Pascoe step into the role and perform brilliantly. They lost Kiwanuka again and Jason Pierre-Paul has emerged. When Smith and Manningham went down for a few weeks Derek Hagan came off his couch to play a huge role. Now they will have to find a way to adjust to the loss of Smith (and Clint Sintim who they also placed on injured reserve).

In 2008 the Giants lost Plaxico Burress and played the Eagles at home right after--but lost and never seemed to recover. The hope is that in 2010 they've learned from that and can find a way to win. The Giants still have two deep-play threats in Hakeem Nicks and Manningham and while winning that battle is what wins games, they will miss Smith as a third-down target. Hagan and Boss will certainly be looked at to help fill that role. You love to see a guy like Manningham playing through the pain and promising his teammates he'll be out there. That's what drives a team.

One huge positive for the Giants is that their patch-work offensive line is starting get healthy with Shaun O'Hara expected back soon. Although the backups played admirably, I think a rested veteran line down the stretch will be huge for the Giants--especially as they've just gotten then run game really going. On Monday night both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw topped 100 yards for the first time since...2007 (sense the theme?).

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A Look at the Giants: Black and (Big) Blue

8-4. That's a pretty good place for this Giants team to be considering they started 1-2, have suffered through a ridiculous amount of injuries on the offensive end, and looked to be dead at halftime of the Jaguars game two weeks ago. Now, with a game coming up against the Vikings this week followed by a home game against the Eagles next week, the Giants have to be eying a division win. But while it's fun to look ahead, let's take a look back at this big Giants drubbing of the Redskins.

Brandon Jacobs had the Giants off to the races Sunday (NYT)

It's a bad idea to judge a team right after playing the Washington Redskins, but with all the Giants injuries, it was impressive to see how they methodically worked their gameplan on offense. Brandon Jacobs got 8 touches for 103 yards and two TDs (I don't have a problem resting him at the end of the game...Jacobs' biggest issue is he gets run down from so much physical running) and Bradshaw carried 25 times for 97 yards and a pair of TDs (getting him to 1,000 yards on the season). The most important part for me about the early run success is it allowed the Giants to start fast for the first time all season.

Derek Hagan has filled in fantastically at wide receiver catching eight tough passes on Sunday for 65 yards. Rich Seubert has adjusted to playing center so well that not only is he not a liability, but if you look at most of those Giants runs, Kevin Gilbride was running his backs right up the middle with Seubert--and the guards Chris Snee and Kevin Boothe--leading the way. Bear Pascoe has been awesome as well, having to fill in at fullback and not only throwing "some hellacious blocks", but proving to be a viable passing option as well coming out of the backfield (and with Kevin Boss and Travis Beckham gives the Giants three legit passing TEs). And on special teams Danny/D.J. Ware gave them a legit kickoff return man (can we just cut Darius Reynaud at this point?) while former Redskin Devin Thomas had a superb game on special teams with the triumvirate of a big tackle, punt downed inside the 5 and a blocked punt.

But while the offense was impressive, let's not forget what the defense did: 6 turnovers--and it could have been two more if Deon Grant had held on to an easy interception or pounced on a fumble he had his hands on. When Mathias Kiwanuka went down with a season-ending neck injury, the Giants looked to be in trouble but Jason Pierre-Paul (like Justin Tuck when Kiwi went down in 2007) has stepped up big time. Two more sacks for Pierre-Paul after two last week to go along with a forced fumble, a defended pass and a fumble recovery. He seems to be motivated by teammates and coaches challenging him. And the man plays special teams with speed that is usually reserved for guys half his size.

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