Die Hard Giants Fan

After the Giants huge win yesterday clinched the playoff spot, the Redskins victory over the Minnesota Vikings clinched the Giants the #5 seed overall. The best the Vikings or Redskins can finish is 9-7. With Tampa Bay’s loss they can do no better or worse then the 4th seed, the best record they can finish with is 10-6, but Seattle holds the Tie-Breaker.
So there it is, after many weeks of speculation and concern, the final week does not matter towards the Giants season, and man is that one helluva big relief.
The Giants will take on the Patriots in the regular season finale next Saturday night. As much as I would love to see the Giants thwart the Pats undefeated season on the last game of the season, the G-Men must treat next week like a bye. The Giants have too many banged up players and have lost too many players to injury this season, they can’t afford to lose anyone else.
If I was a betting man I would gamble on Burress and Jacobs not playing a snap. The scintillating rookie Bradshaw getting the majority of carries with Droughns spelling him. Eli, I bet, will play a series or two to continue his games started streak and Toomer will see a handful of plays. For the most part though we are going to see an offense led by Wright or Lorenzen, with Bradshaw in the backfield, Moss and Smith split wide and Boss anchoring the TE spot. Not the lineup you’d expect to knock off the Patriots….
It is also worth noting that if the Giants for some reason did play their starters all game and got waxed by the Patriots that would be an unneccesarry stomach punch leading into the playoffs. The team will be riding high after the win yesterday and will need to carry that momentum into the playoffs, which will be possible if the majority of starters sit next week.

Congrats Giants, the real season begins in two weeks down in Tampa Bay, perhaps the weakest team in the playoffs. What a great Christmas gift this was….Happy Holidays all!

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The Purple People Eaters will be in New York tomorrow, and they will be handing the ball off to whichever running back is on the field.  Also, former TE of the Giants, Visanthe Shiancoe, will be donning purple while he faces his former team.  All Big Blue needs to do is stop the outstanding running game of the Vikings.

Newsday:

Ready, willing - Arthur Staple describes how Torbor is happy to step up and fill the void of fallen Giant Kiwanuka.

New York Daily News:

Vikings upgrade Adrian Peterson, now 50-50 to play against Giants - Ralph Vicchiano states that Peterson has been upgraded from Doubtful to Questionable.

Catching up with former Giant tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, now with Vikings - Ralph Vicchiano tells a story about Shiancoe’s recent trip to New York and how he met up with some old teamates on the Giants.

New York Post:

Awesome Adrian May Play - Paul Schwartz also states that Peterson has been upgraded from Doubtful to Questionable.

Trench Warfare - Paul Schwartz explains how the Giants will be tested when they face the number one rushing team in the league.

The Star-Ledger:

Moss showing growth as third WR option - Jenny Vrentas points out how Moss is finally coming into his own. 

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Another excellent performance turned in by the Giants against the 49ers Sunday. It is a nice thing to see the Giants rolling over opponents that they should beat. The past couple of seasons the Giants would always succumb to the teams they were playing by playing down to their level. This year? So far so good.
The Defense was relentless and made for a long day for the hapless Trent Dilfer. Six more sacks this week, its a real joy to watch this pass rush. They were in the backfield all day dictating the tempo of the game. Justin Tuck hasa been the unsung hero so far this year, he is having a monster year. He now has 7.0 sacks on the year, one behind Umenyiora’s league leading 8.0 sacks. Imagine if Tuck played every down? Time to give this guy his well deserved praise.
On the offense side of the ball, the rushing game is looking formidable. Jacobs rushed for 107 yds on the day without playing in the 4th qtr, sources are saying he tweaked the same ankle that kept him out earlier in the year, lets hope that it’s nothing serious. Eli was solid but unimpressive.
The one frustrating thing about this offense this year is they have yet to put together 4 solid quarters, always appears they take a half or a quarter off. Against the 49ers the Giants managed 49 yds of offense in the 2nd half. That needs to get better if they want to hang with the big boys.
The Special Teams is still mediocre at best. Tynes missed his 2nd extra point of the year and Droughns scares no one as a kick returner, I’d rather see Sinorice Moss returning Kickoffs with his speed.
Next up for the G-Men are the desperate 0-7 Miami Dolphins. The Giants must not overlook this game. After the Fins game they have a bye and then the Cowboys for an NFC East showdown. The Giants need to concentrate on the Dolphins this week, gameplan just as they did for Atlanta and San Francisco and they should be on their way to 6-2.
Last year the Giants were 6-2 and went into a big game against the Bears (Hester’s missed field goal return anybody?). They suffered many injuries and in-house scuffling derailed the team and sent them to 2-6 the rest of the way.
Something feels different this year though, maybe its been the opponents we have played recently, banged up and inept, but I’ve been watching the Giants for years and they usually find a way to make those games interesting, not this year though, so perhaps they are finding a way to make the season interesting or should I say special?

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Barber vs. Barber is over now that Tiki retired.  We have a new set of brothers going head-to-head.  They both went to the University of Miami, they both play Wide Receiver, and they both play in the NFC East.  They are Sinorice and Santana Moss.  Unfortunately, only one of them is a really good talent and he plays for the Redskins.  So it will not be like Tiki vs. Rhonde, where both were Pro Bowlers at their respective positions.  I hope Sinorice comes out this week and has an outstanding game.

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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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Ok, so the New England Patriots get the win, so what. The season begins now and even though we have many of our players injured we still have a squad.

Quarterback: Eli Manning looks terrific. He has been very accurate and seems to be placing himself among some elite QBs with the way he’s playing.

Running backs: Jacobs is our main guy but it looks like the position will be shared with the runner ups since they all have potential for starting. To have Droughns at fullback could be our best offensive weapon due to his ability to run and big body to block for cover.

Receivers: Also many contestants in this field. Many talented young players, all ready to step up. The way Manning has been distributing the ball to Smith, Moss, Mix, Tyree, and London, the third spot is overbooked. Personally, I think Mix will be the best addition to the roster but playing during the real season is a big difference.

Tight End: What can I say about Shockey you don’t already know. Still think he’s an over rated tight end? Don’t think so!

Kickers: stepped up…or should I say kicked up big time. Still a big question until the real season begins.

Defense and Special Teams: Many injured but back ups are ready to play. If Strahan decides to come back we will more than likely lead in sacks. We have the players to get it done and the defensive line to put fear on the opponent. Plenty of speed from our returners but I’m yet to see an exciting runback to fully believe in this category.

Overall: Big Blue will have a strong season if the plague doesn’t hit us hard. We are already experiencing a bit of it and hope to have a healthy squad until the end of the season. Nothing is guaranteed as far as injuries but that doesn’t mean we won’t win with our backups.

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We thought we had finally found Eli Manning’s third option in the open field. Unfortunately, Michael Jennings is out for the season. He was looking like another Amani Toomer with the way he was catching the balls off balance. He was also becoming a very good returner according to Giants.com and a solid weapon for the offense.
It is a very sad thing indeed but this now opens up a major decision for Tom Coughlin. Who will take over the 3rd wide position? Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith or possibly Anthony Mix. All three looked very good in preseason. I have seen tough catches from all three and they look like starter status to me. I don’t know, we’ll see further into the pre-season for updates on who’s next up.

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At 8:00 p.m., the Baltimore Ravens will host the New York Giants at M&T Bank Stadium.  The game will be televised on NBC.

Coming off of last weeks horrible loss to Carolina, we should have higher expectations tonight.  We really couldn’t have played much worse so it’s pretty safe to assume that things should be better.  However, Baltimore’s defense is just NASTY!!!  And that’s what we’re up against.  They’re coming off of a really good year in 2006, and a landslide victory against the Eagles winning 29-3 in their first Preseason Game.

Back to the positives…Let’s raise our expectations.  Amani Toomer will suit up for this one, and he hasn’t played since November 2006.  Rookie CB Aaron Ross will also be suiting up for tonight’s match-up, for his first game.  Big Blue’s defense, led by Steve Spagnuolo, has to improve upon last week’s performance.  They had another week to do so plus they had an opportunity to play in a game and look at some tape.  I expect improvements from them tonight.  I’m not saying that they will turn it around, but we should see at least a few improvements.  They also must reduce the penalties because they piled up last week at the worst possible moments.  Coach Coughlin has to pull out the whip and give these guys some lashings.  That will get them mentally focused.  Or maybe Coughlin can use the dye that was placed into Shockey’s glove and put it into each person’s glove that misses a tackle.  These paid professional athletes need to execute, however it happens.

The Negatives, I’m not certain about how well the offensive line will hold up since they ran out of steam in the second half of last week’s game.  Sinorice Moss hasn’t practiced and may not play, Plaxico Burress is still injured, and Zak DeOssie is probable.

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At 8:00 p.m., the New York Giants will host the Carolina Panthers at Giants Stadium.  The game will be televised on NBC.  Are you ready for this Die Hard Giants Fans?  This is my favorite time of the year.

Tonight, all of our draft picks and our young players will continue to battle for their respective position as Phessional and I have mentioned before.  The 2006 Giants ranked 21st in the NFL in pass offense, and that’s with Eli Manning, Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, Plaxico Burress, and Amani Toomer (1/2 of the year).  This is the best offensive unit (as far as individual talent is concerned) that I’ve ever seen the Giants put on the field, and they ranked 21st in pass offense…That’s just pathetic.  The 2006 Giants ranked 7th in rush offense, which is much better considering we had Tiki as our Running Back. 

The 2006 Giants ranked 28th in pass defense, and I wrote a post the other day how this has been the weakest part of the entire team the past few years.  The 2006 Giants ranked 14th in rush defense which is mostly a result of our defensive ends and linebackers getting hurt like Michael Strahan and Lavar Arrington.  This year, we need to stay healthy because we have lost too many impact players during the last 2 years.  As soon as we got into the playoffs, we got bumped right out. 

As soon as Big Blue drafted Steve Smith from USC, Carolina drafted Dwayne Jarrett from USC and they get to face each other head-to-head tonight.  We need to see how much of an impact these players make tonight: Brandon Jacobs (RB), David Diehl (at Left Tackle), Guy Whimper (T), Mathias Kiwanuka (at Line-backer), Jared Lorenzen (QB), Kevin Boss (TE), and Sinorice Moss (WR).  The following players will not be able to play tonight due to injury: Aaron Ross, Amani Toomer, Plaxico Burress, and Justin Tuck.  It’s all good though because we’ll be able to see Sinorice Moss and Steve Smith play more than normal.

On top of paying attention to those individuals battling for their positions, we need to see how far along the Giants’ implementation of the Eagles defensive scheme is.  Our 2006 defense ranking is indicative of how weak our ‘D’ is and has been the past few years.  Steve Spagnuolo, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, is our new Defensive Coordinator after taking over the reigns from Tim Lewis.  Spagnuolo needs to bring Big Blue’s ‘D’ up to a level where they are feared again.  We weren’t at the level of the Ravens or the Bears, but we were a notch down from that and pretty damn good.

So let me know what you guys are looking forward to in tonight’s match-up and concerned about.  After the game, I will write a game summary so tell me what you thought about it once it’s over.

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Hello Giant fans, 

If you’re a fan like me, than you know we need a ring this year. We have been contenders to top teams but have managed to fall off in the end due to injuries. In the beginning, from knowing football season is around the corner, we all get excited about how the team looks, unfortunately past the mid-season we shout out things like “we do this every year” or “Giants suck so bad”.

Well, time to do it again fans. The only thing I could pray for would be to have fewer injuries. It seems when we have healthy players we can maintain, but then which team doesn’t. To keep our players healthy we need to rotate. I think this could be our key to winning. To rotate players, keep our stars healthy, and change the pace of the game will give our offense the edge it needs.

Let’s give Tyree or Moss more shots at proving themselves in the outfield. Rotate Droughns with Jacobs to change the pace of the game. Give the back-up to Shockey a chance by doubling up on the tight ends since we’ll probably need the help in the offensive line.

Key word for us this season: “ROTATION…ROTATION…..ROTATION”

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