A Giant Reality Check

As most of you know, the Giants have gotten off to a 2-0 start, defeating division rivals Washington and Dallas to open the 2009 season. While this is absolutely terrific for Giant nation, we’ve all seen this happen before only to end the year bitterly disappointed (e.g. 2006, 2008). The following is a reminder/disclaimer to Giants fans that there are problems with Big Blue, and that these problems have the potential to cost the team somewhere down the line.

Before I start, I’d like to just say that, despite the negativity you are about to read coming from me, nobody is happier or more excited about this start than I am. Think about it: Big Blue holds an advantage over two division teams to open the season. It was also just great the way the games have been won. Beating the Zorn people in the last home opener at Giants Stadium was a great feeling. However, it was even sweeter to see over 100,000 Cowboys fans watch their team lose at the grand opening of “Jerry World” at the hands of Eli, who, for the eleventh time in his career, performed a fourth quarter comeback to win the game for the G-men. However, despite those feelings of excitement over the start to the season, there are obvious holes in the armor that should be dealt with.

First problem visible with this team is the Red Zone offense. This is nothing new, however, seeing as though Big Blue scored touchdowns 50% of the time in the red zone last year when they had Plaxico and Amani. However, from what we can see in the first two games, the problem has gotten even worse this year, with no touchdowns in eight red zone appearances (seven field goals scored in those appearances with one missed field goal). The reason for these struggles appears to be that the play calling by Kevin Gilbride gets more conservative once they reach the red zone. Outside the red zone, the Giants have absolutely no problem moving the ball down the field. However, in the red zone, teams key on the run, resulting in Eli having to force throws (facing blitzes) on third and long situations. Why don’t they mix up the play calling in the red zone? The run game as a whole is failing (we’ll get into that later), so why is it being used in these key moments of drives? My idea to fix it: use Ramses Barden, the 6’6 rookie receiver out of Cal Poly, as a safety net in the red zone (ala Plaxico), or even as a decoy to take attention off of other receivers. Hey, at least it’s an idea, right?

Second problem with Big Blue: time management. On at least four occasions in the first two games the Giants have wasted timeouts in order to avoid delay of game penalties. This is another problem the Giants have had for a few years. Its just plain sloppy and sickens me. That they’ve yet to fix it makes it even worse. While this may seem like a small problem, it can become a potentially big one very quickly. Over the last few years, the Giants have been in a love affair with close games. In close games, timeouts are very valuable. By wasting timeouts to avoid penalties, you waste important assets during close games. This could potentially cause big problems for the G-Men.

Lastly, the third problem with the Giants is the running game. What was the best running game in the NFL last season has turned dismal (which, oddly enough, means that Eli is the main source of offensive productivity). Sure, a little trouble was expected when Ward left, but to be honest we all kind of expected Bradshaw to fill the void. He’s yet to do that, however, this is not really his fault because he’s primarily been used on third and long, which is a down where Eli passes the ball 95% of the time. The bigger question is Jacobs, who goes down on contact. Normally, he would carry defenders on his back and tire out defenses. Regardless, if the run game can get going, there might be nothing that can stop this team (except injuries, trap games, and the occasional loss due to lack of focus).

Before I go, congratulations to Eli Manning on throwing his 100th career touchdown pass, as well as for obtaining his 11th fourth quarter comeback with Sunday night’s game-winning drive against Dallas. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget the following: a Super Bowl isn’t won with a 2-0 record, so keep supporting Big Blue until the job is done.

Greg Visone
NYchalktalk.com