Giants 101 - All Comments

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

Kyle Langan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:00:00 GMT

I just saw on the eagles injury report that G Shawn Andrews was "limited".............

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

Kyle Langan — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:54:44 GMT

In my opinion, the "hot team" is a load of bull. Any team that wins the superbowl will look like the hot team because they won all their playoff games. Perfect example, in 2002 who was "hotter" that the g men? No one, and we all know that happened then. How bout the Patriots? they were 18-0. 2006, the Eagles were hot... Went to NO.... Lost. The issue with us in 2002 and Philly now is that those teams have/had qbs who just couldnt get it done when it mattered most. McNabb has been known to blow it in the big game. Im not scared of this hot team crap.

Look at the facts, the Giants are as healthy as ever, and we were the best team of the 2008 season, and still are. Their coach is andy reid, ours is tom coughlin. We know what it takes. Im not as concerned with xs and os, eveyone is gonna have their best gameplan ready to go on sunday and it is going to come down to execution and time of possession. As for the press coverage, our guys have learned and we are running more trips and so on. So forget what happened on december 7 because this game will look totally different... Infact, the Giants may just flip the dec. 7 strategy on the eagles this week.

Gmen by a td

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

Dan Murphy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:28:37 GMT

Chris Berman, who picks the Eagls and Pats to go the Super Bowl EVERY year is pumped that he still has some life left with one of his two teams.

Next year it will be "I like the Eagles and the Patriots to go to the Super Bowl and I'm Back-Back-Back-Back Back on the NutriSystem and Could...Eat...All...My...Snacks!"

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

Krow — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:19:27 GMT

Anyway.... more draft musings.

If we look at just the numbers... and assume that safety, linebacker, and defensive line are our 3 top needs... then it appears that around 16 players will enter the 2009 draft at those positions with a '1st round grade'.

Of the other non-need positions it appears right now that about 8 players will almost certainly be selected before our turn.

Total them up and we get 23-24 selections where we'd be virtually guaranteed a player in one of our 3 need areas.

This means 6-8 teams have to either reach... or go to a non-need area for their selection.

Good odds.

However... only 2 safeties appear to have consensus 1st round grades... Mays and Moore. There's a good chance that both will be gone before our pick. To make matters worse, only 2 DTs also have 1st round numbers. However as many as 6 LBs and 6 DEs may hit the 1st round mark.

This could narrow our options considerably.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

Krow — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:07:53 GMT

ff55... my point on our WRs was that as a group they evolved into an effective unit because they possess complimentary skills that leverage a #1. This is not a small talent, and I don't mean it as an insult. In fact it's often counter-productive to have two #1s. But they played off Burress. And their respective games were molded to that role.

Once the a$$hole shot himself then that synergy was broken. Now they're trying to find themselves... trying to re-invent, to use a tired phrase.

They've had some time to adjust, and I expect us to see better results. However taken as individual talents they are not all that wonderful... at least not yet.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

ThatsMyQuarterback — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:57:26 GMT

I repeated myself a bit there... but you get the idea

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

ThatsMyQuarterback — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:52:52 GMT

Bryan and 55... I agree with you guys. Maybe I came off the wrong way but I wasnt complaing about an Eagles Bias or an anti-Giants media. I was trying to make the point that the media hasnt learned from last year not to overlook what this Giants team is capable of/over looking them, I guess I needed to do a better job at doing that haha.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

DEMO3356 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:52:10 GMT

FromPFT-

Michael Holley of WEEI.com reports that former Jets coach Eric Mangini will be named the next coach of the Cleveland Browns by the end of the week.

Holley made the report live on Wednesday’s edition of The Dale & Holley Show. The audio is available at the radio station’s web site (it’s in the January 7 opening segment), and the news is reiterated in a blurb on the front page of the site.

Hope this is true. If so it;s 1 down 3 to go!

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

fanfor55years — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:48:45 GMT

And as I think we all know, what all of the pundits, and we, and even the players, say is absolutely irrelevant as of 1:00PM Sunday.

They play the games on the field, not on paper. But I like our chances for exactly that reason. The Giants, with or without Plax, are a better team than any of the remaining NFC squads. If the better team wins we will be playing into February.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

JamesInIreland — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:47:43 GMT

Thats probably an underestimated point brian. The giants received their "love quotient" from the critics earlier on in the season and, like you say theyve moved onto other things. I think the men in bkue come out and remind us all why they were receiving so much love. This is the first do or die game theyve had in a while (the panthers win was nice but not critical) and a re focused team is a dangerous team. Also Id take coughlin over pretty much every single head coach in the league in a situation such as this. His organisational and motivational skills are uncanny.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

DEMO3356 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:45:58 GMT

I actually believe that it is more about the fact that none of the "Experts" caght on to the Giants last season, constantly picking against them and being proven wrong week after week. Now this year all the "experts" want to be the one to catch onto the hot Team first.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

fanfor55years — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:43:33 GMT

When it comes down to it, you HAVE to pick the Eagles if you think that our receivers cannot get open against press, man, coverage; our defense cannot make plays in the underneath area that the Eagles exploited against us back in the beginning of December; and our O-line cannot dominate the line of scrimmage.

It isn't nuts for someone to make those assumptions because we were unable to do anything about two of the above the last time these teams met. We did get receivers open, contrary to what a lot of experts are claiming, but they dropped some passes and because the defense allowed the Eagles to stay on the field most of the game the Giants didn't have much time on offense to really exploit the Eagles' high-risk coverage decisions.

So, really, we are depending upon our O-line, now well-rested, dominating in the trenches; our defensive game plan being far better than the last time around (and our guys who have tackled badly of late and not done a great job in gap discipline either turning both of those around); and our receivers doing a good job of getting open and catching the ball.

As it happens, I think that we will see the Giants succeed at all of the above, and win the game.

But you simply cannot get legitimately mad at pundits who don't think we'll succeed. Based on the previous game between the teams, they have the better argument. What we know that they don't (or choose not to consider) is how dramatically Spags changed our defensive schemes through the last playoff run; how getting this dominating O-line rested for an extra week means everything; how much healthier BJ is than the last time they played; and that the real problem in the last game was time-of-possession and a bad defensive scheme when the Giants had the wind and needed to be more aggressive rather than lay back and allow easy 6-8 yard completions in front of the cornerbacks all of the 3rd quarter.

It will be different this time around. But there's no "stupidity" or anti-Giant bias in most of these guys who think the Eagles will win. They may not have looked deeply enough, but they're not irrational. Others are either inveterate Giant-haters, just plain incapable of good analysis (plenty of incompetents in every line of work, right?), or trying to drum up interest and don't really care whether their predictions are correct as long as they generate more eyeballs looking at them.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

The Real Bryan McCoy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:39:03 GMT

TMQ - no problem. lol. I wasn't criticizing, jsut saying. Plus, everyone knows about the Giants. Really, what is there left to say about them that hasn't already been said 100 times?

But I'm guessing not a ton of people know about the Eagles because they were in last place until, what, 3 weeks ago. That probably explains some of the attention. "Fresher angles."

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

ThatsMyQuarterback — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:32:30 GMT

Bryan, agreed but lets not forget... The Giants are the number 1 seed and with the exception of a few bad games (that I think are because of Plax) they were the most consistent team throughout the season. That being said, The Eagles are getting much more attention then the Giants are and I like it that way.

I also would like to say that I do not put much stock into what the "experts" are saying, I was just kind of making an observation, that is all.

re: Giants vs Eagles: X-Factors and Keys to the Game

The Real Bryan McCoy — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:26:36 GMT

James - Um, I think you'd find all three of your WRs would collide into each other in the "medium" area on the play you describe. Its another downside to trips, but I get the point.

TMQ - the eagles are the "hot" team, both media and win wise over the last 4 or 5 games. Its not like anyone I've seen has them ranked higher than the Gmen, but as FF55 and plenty others have pointed out, they match up well against the Giants and the last 6 games have remarkably close scores.

I think the Giants win, but I can see how and why people/experts are picking the Eagles.