Die Hard Giants Fan

After today’s cuts, Michael Eisen provided a list of his predictions, and here it is:

Offense: 26

Quarterback (3): Eli Manning, Jared Lorenzen, Anthony Wright.

Running Back (4): Brandon Jacobs, Reuben Droughns, Derrick Ward, Ahmad Bradshaw.

Fullback (1): Robert Douglas.

Tight End (3): Jeremy Shockey, Kevin Boss, Michael Matthews.

Wide Receivers (6): Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith, David Tyree, Anthony Mix.

Linemen (9): David Diehl, Rich Seubert, Shaun O’Hara, Chris Snee, Kareem McKenzie, Zach Piller, Grey Ruegamer, Guy Whimper, Adam Koets.

Defense: 24

Ends (3): Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Adrian Awasom.

Tackles (5): Fred Robbins, Barry Cofield, William Joseph, Manny Wright, Jay Alford.

Linebackers (7): Antonio Pierce, Kawika Mitchell, Mathias Kiwanuka, Chase Blackburn, Reggie Torbor, Zak DeOssie, Gerris Wilkinson.

Cornerbacks (5): Sam Madison, R.W. McQuarters, Corey Webster, Kevin Dockery, Aaron Ross.

Safeties (4): Gibril Wilson, James Butler, Michael Johnson, Craig Dahl.

Specialists: 2

Punter (1): Jeff Feagles.

Kicker (1): Lawrence Tynes.

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Defense 

The Giants defense played pretty damn good last night, and they were able to stop the Ravens on their first possession.  Big Blue’s ‘D’ needed to show up last night after a pitiful first game.  On Baltimore’s second possession, Sam Madison had a huge interception off of a bomb thrown by Steve McNair.  Also in the 1st Quarter, the Giants were able to stop the Ravens on a 4th and Inches.  Early in the 2nd Quarter, Barry Cofield had a nice tackle in the backfield, and the Giants were able to stop the Ravens’ offense on this drive as well.  As the 2nd Quarter was nearing the 2:00 warning, the G-MEN swarmed Boller and Fred Robbins got the sack.  This was the first sign of the Eagles blitz package that Steve Spagnuolo has been implementing.  With about 8:00 remaining in the 3rd Quarter, the Giants had really good pass coverage and were able to force the Ravens to punt again.  In the 4th Quarter, the Giants swarmed Troy Smith and sacking him on his first time on an NFL field, and two plays later Manny Wright clotheslined the Ravens Running Back for a loss of 2-yards…And to end the game Troy Smith gets sacked again, this time by Marquise Gunn.

So the defense obviously looked good, especially over another run heavy team.  It’s so strange how the Giants faced two predominantly run offenses in two weeks, and played so different each time.  I’m glad to see the improvements though.  However, even though the defense showed up against Baltimore, the penalties continued to add up.  I don’t have the breakdown between offense, but it totals up to 12 penalties for 111 yards.  Nearing the 2:00 warning, the Giants had a Personal Foul for 15 yards, which ultimately led to the Ravens losing 7-6 rather than 7-3 at the half.  In the 3rd Quarter, the Giants committed a Personal Foul and a Holding Penalty on the same play, but Big Blue was able to stop the Ravens on this drive.  On the Raven’s next drive, Cory Webster was called for Pass Interference.  As you can see, these are all 10 yards or more which is just like last week.  There are no 5 yard penalties here.  It’s a good thing that they are disciplined on the line of scrimmage, but I’d rather give up 5 yards than 10 or 15 with automatic 1st Downs.  So the defense can definitely work on that.

Offense

Eli’s first pass looked good.  Jacobs had a powerful 6 yard run on 2nd down, but the Giants had to punt on their first and 2nd possessions.  On the 3rd possession, Eli Manning lost the ball on the snap, and the Ravens picked it up.  Then Eli got into a really good rhythm.  On a 3rd and 16, Eli had a really nice pass to Amani Toomer for 15 yards.  They came up a yard short but it was definitely a nice throw.  Eli had a pass to Michael Jennings, and a pass to Jeremy Shockey which was an outstanding catch as Shockey’s jersey was being grabbed.  But Shockey’s the man so we expect him to make the tougher plays.  In the 2nd Quarter, the Giants offense played like Giants and dwarfed the the Raven’s defense.  Eli was extremely accurate.  The offensive line manhandled Baltimore’s defensive line.  The Giants scored their only TD on an Eli pass to Steve Smith.  Jacobs ran like the MONSTER that he is.  In the 3rd and 4th Quarters, Lorenzen and Hasselbeck were able to move the ball faily well, but they weren’t able to get any TDs.  Ahmad Bradshaw had a sweet return and a pretty good night on the ground with 7 carries for 70 yards.  His longest run was 43 yards.  It was key for him to make up for last weeks fumble in the 4th Quarter if he want to get any playing time.

Special Teams

Special Teams were solid.  The Punters were able to push the Ravens back most of the time by quality kicks.  Matt Stover had a 47 YD FG.  The Giants were able to tackle the Ravens return men immediately after the catch a few times.

Overall

The biggest problem of the night was not being able to score TDs, but what do you expect when you play the Ravens even if it’s Preseason.

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