Defensive Line

-George Richford (DE grade sheet) Rich (analysis)

Week 12 DE grade sheet

Week 12 DT grade sheet

...the best effort put forward by the group to date. Rodgers was never able to get comfortable and that was a trend that began at the opening snap. As we all know by now, Green Bay's passing game (and in turn entire offense and entire team) are so reliant on timing throws from Rodgers. When he is on the offense has a discernable rhythm. The Giants disrupted that rhythm for 60:00 in this oen.

...let this game serve as a reminder of something that we all have known-- this team will go as far as the defensive line will take them. No matter what other issues or problems the Giants may have in a given game or season, this is a unit that can take over a game and take the opposing offense out of the matchup. Again, this is something that is not news to any of us, but it helps to have some hard data to support the evidence. 

...to prove this let's look at some U22 data, which in this instance offers a look at the DL's grades on passing plays. In the Week 3 romp over Carolina, the d-line collectively recorded a 10 overall. Fast forward to the Week 4 loss to the Eagles and you will see an overall grade on pass plays of 4. A look at another disappointing effort for the Giants, Week 10 @ Cinci, shows the unit recording a 1 overall. Not awful but also not dynamic. In the Week 6 blowout of the 49ers the group compiled a 13 overall. In this past week's game, the group combined to record a 10 on passing plays. For those not counting---@CAR, @SF and vs GB came in at a grand total of 33. Combined score in those three games--100-20 What does this (small) sample tell us? It tells us that while there may be games the Giants' could win without a solid effort from the DL and ones where the DL plays well but the Giants take the L, there is no doubt that this group makes the Giants' path to succes clear if not simple.  In any game where the unit excels, it is safe to say that it will be damn near impossible to beat this team. May not be the most reliable or consistent route to consistent victory, but it sure is exciting and entertaining. And if this Giants group is nothing else, they sure are exciting and entertaining

Linebacker

-Steve Hardin

Week 12 LB grade sheet

...mostly nickel (the Giants' three safety look) package on the field against Green Bay. I criticized us for this in the Steelers game but am completely fine with it against this offense.  When we did go three LBs, which was only three or four snaps, it was interesting to see Herzlich on the field and not a healthy Keith Rivers. Blackburn and Boley were on the field for nearly every defensive snap and turned in a great effort recording a 4 and a 3 respectively. 

...no question we were able to get to Rodgers all game.  We got great pressure from our guys up front, but a lot of them were a result of great coverage.  More than any other game, guys were covering receivers in our zone looks instead of just zones, and it took away a lot of Rodgers checkdowns when his primary threats weren’t available, making him to scramble, force a throw, or get taken down.

...saw Boley running to "the hole" a little bit in Cover 2 instead of Blackburn. Blackburn, as I have mentioned many times, does a surprisingly good job of this despite his limited athleticism.  Boley, who is more athletic, needs to slow down a little in these situaitons. Yes, he needs to be able to cover any threats down the seam when that is your responsibility, but he still needs to make his initial reads. There were two specific occasisions in this one where we got draw and screen, respectively, and Boley had his head turned running backwards eight yards from the LOS. Needless to say that will get you burned most of the time. 

Running Back

-Matt Poliquin

Week 12 RB grade sheet

...while this one was a top notch performance for the offensive line, there were solid efforts sprinkled in throughout the game by the backs who made some plays. But for the most part -- the run production was a function of the O-line’s ability to create holes and get to the second level.

...on the fourth play of the game, Bradshaw sparked the offense on an incredible 59-yard catch and run in which he hurdled linebacker Eric Walden, setting up touchdown run for Andre Brown. As usual Bradshaw was excellent in pass blocking, something he has become a rock at for the Giants' offense.

...Andre Brown also played very well against the Packers. He was patient, yet very aggressive hitting the hole.  He also had a few great pass protects when he was assigned to do so.  n the fourth quarter, Brown showed amazing patience on a run in which he cut back across the formation for a gain of 16 yards. Unfortunately the broken fibula will end his season and his absence from the lineup will be missed. 

...with the injury to Brown, Coach Coughlin will probably give more touches to Wilson. Wilson has run the ball fairly well this season – nothing eye popping – but solid. However, Wilson will have to improve in pass protection

Wide Receiver/Tight End

-Steve Gesuele

Week 12 WR/TE grade sheet

…yes, the Green Bay defense was depleted but the Giants' receiving corps absolutely abused the Packers' secondary. The receivers and tight ends put together their best all-around effort this season to date grading out to a ridiculous combine total of plus 17. In the 11 weeks of this project that has been unheard of for WR/TE. Nicks put together his best game since his monstrous week two performance and after breaking down the tape I would argue that week 11 was his best game despite what the stats indicate.

...Nicks made the Green Bay secondary look silly all night long. He was beating corners off the line of scrimmage on seemingly every route and was dominate over the middle. See his touchdown catch (play number 47) to see a textbook example of how a receiver is supposed to get off the line of scrimmage. Nicks makes a quick head fake and gets off the LOS with ease. He essentially won the play as soon as the ball was snapped. Not to mention he made a great move to extend the ball over the goal line to complete the play for a TD. Another standout Nicks moment came just a few snaps earlier on play 42. Nicks has a deep in route and powers through an arm tackle of a safety for a 30-yard gain. Reminiscent of his Q1 TD last year at Lambeau. Nicks graded out to a +6.

...Cruz and Randle were both excellent as well grading out to a +2, and +3, respectively. Cruz had an early drop but bounced back nicely and had a few key grabs. He ran an excellent route on his TD catch. Randle's +3 was impressive considering he had significantly fewer snaps than Cruz and Nicks. He ran a great route on his TD catch; he got behind the Green Bay defense and made it an easy read and throw for Eli. 

...it was nice to see Bennett involved in the passing game once again. His 44 receiving yards were the most since week 7 vs Washington. It's pretty clear that when the Giants offense is clicking Bennett becomes involved. Expect for Bennett to find the end zone soon and perhaps even rip off a hot streak like earlier in the year. Pascoe was excellent in run blocking once again. He had a key block on the Giants' first touchdown run (made two key blocks on the play) and several others that led to big gains. Bennett was decent in run blocking as well and it was nice to see Beckum get some time considering all of the Giants tight ends are healthy. 

Offensive Line

-Rich Conforti

Week 12 OL grade sheet

...let's get right into the Diehl vs Locklear right tackle debate.  Funny thing is that both guys played exceptional and graded out at a combined +7 overall from the RT position. Diehl left the game w/ his burner carrying a +3 grade while Locklear came in relief of him and recorded a +4. From watching the tape (and the grades obviously support this) Locklear played slighlty better than 66 and any other Giants OL for that matter. He seemed to be 

extra motivated by a second chance to be inserted into the starting RT spot and played with the fire and passion normally reserved for a much younger player. Each player also recorded an elusive +2 on individual plays with outstanding blocks. Diehl's big block came on the Giants 59-yard screen play on the game's 4th snap. Diehl, trying to get out into space to lead the screen, was forced to stick w/ Raji who had read the screen well. Diehl stayed locked up w/ Raji all the way out into open space and allowed Bradshaw to get the wheels spinning and get upfield for the 59-yard gain. Locklear's big block came on Bradshaw's 2nd quarter 13-yard TD run. Locklear began the play firing off the ball and leading a double team block with Snee up to the 2nd level where Locklear broke free and locked onto A.J. Hawk. Locklear drove a flailing Hawk backwards and eventually straight into the ground as Bradshaw cruised behind Locklear's right side for the TD. 

...Snee appears to be getting closer to full health and that is a great sign for both the unit and the entire team. A look at his grades in the run game since suffering the injury will give you a better idea of his progression. While he is certainly not there yet his leg drive in the run game is starting to show again, something that has made him one of the league's best guards for a while now. In Week 9 (when he suffered the injury) Snee recorded a -6 overall and in Week 10 he recorded a -5. This week he came in at a -1. Not a Snee type grade (check out his grades from the first eight games of the season for a better idea) but those will be on their way soon, just in time for when the games start to count. I'm willing to bet anyone who is interested that we will see 76 back in the + column in Week 13.

...outside of allowing the 2nd quarter sack, Will Beatty continues to be the Giants' best pass protector, recording all four of his +1 grades in pass blocking. The LT continues to prove that he is on par with anyone in the league in this area. Beatty has now recorded a + grade in 6 out of the 10 games he has played in.

Quarterback

-Peter Grudin (grades) Rich Conforti (analysis)

Week 12 QB grade sheet

...a quick look at the -2 grade for Eli this week and one may wonder if we are being a bit too hard on him and that is certainly not the case. The -2 grade could be looked at as a positive considering that the offense played so well and there still may have been some things "left on the table." Eli missed a few passes early on including the easy TD to Hynoski on the Giants' opening drive and a few others. Luckily on most of them Eli and the offense were able to make up for their errors/mistakes. Think of the -2 grade as a reflection of just how great Eli has shown that he can be in a given game. Have a feeling one of those great games is on tap for Monday night. 

...Eli's best pass of the game came on his 16-yard TD connection with Reuben Randle who ran a great route and showed great poise in the back of the end zone to pull the ball in and get the feet in for the TD. All this was made possible by some unbelievable pocket presence from Eli (something that he is great at when he is ON) to slide to his left to not only avoid the GB pressure, but also to allow him to get a better throwing lane to drop the pass in to his rookie WR. Take another look at the play here.

...probably time for the general media (ESPN and friends) to look for a new story on the Giants as the Eli "dead arm" Manning issue seems to be a thing of the past, even if it was never a thing of the present. Eli got all of his throws out with good velocity and was able to drive the ball down the field (see any intermediate/deep throw over the middle to Nicks) with the relative ease that he has shown in the past. 

The schizophrenic Giants were the Giants we know last night night.  The team with too much talent to have any excuses for laying an egg vs the Bengals came out with energy and throttled the Packers 38-10.  They played with energy and urgency, something that was lacking for many quarters over the last 4 games.  Eli played better.  The WRs played better. The OL played better.  The DL played better.  Chase Blackburn was everywhere.  And oh yah, it was the Packers' turn to lay an egg.

We will not take anything away from the Giants.  With that said, the opponent was missing Clay Matthews, Greg Jennings and Charles Woodson.  The Giants are back on track.. that is all that matters.

We did research on the Giants playcalling over the break, and found that the Giants called a grand total of 9 screens to their RB and TE in the first 10 games this season. There were 2 playcalls targeted to the Tight End in the CLE game that we liberally assigned as a (mid) screen.  So that means that in 10 games there has been an average of less than 1 RB screen called per game.  In today's world of passing, and Defensive pressure to disrupt offensive passing, you have to use more of these plays.  We mention it specifically because on the 4th play of the game, Bradshaw busted a screen for 59 yards.  Two plays later the Giants scored a TD.  The Giants attacked on the opening drive and got out to a 7-0 lead because of small ball playcalls like that.  The tenor of the game was established and the beatdown was on.  The only criticism is that more of these plays need to be called during a game.  Only 1 more screen was called, an aborted attempt in H2.  We aren't asking for 10 screens per game.  But we are asking for more than 1 or 2.  They will matter down the stretch and into the playoffs because other teams will use pressure defense more than the Packers did.

The stats will show 5 for 6, but the Giants were 5/5 in the red zone last night (the last one in garbage time does not count).  Let's review what happened:

1) TD1- Andre Brown on a 2 yard plunge.  And remember that a small ball pass to a wide open FB was missed by Eli, but the prior small ball screen and FB pass are symptomatic of what was missing.

2) TD2- 3rd and 5 pass for 16 yds to Randle. Pretty pass and nice rookie grab. The Giants need their 3rd WR to step up.

3) TD3- Andre Brown for 4 yds and Cruz 9 yd TD pass.  Eli's accuracy was perfect.  Stars help teams win Super Bowls and Victor Cruz will be needed for passing TDs.

4) TD4- Bradshaw off Right Guard for 13 yd TD. The Offensive Line created monster holes for much of the game, and this one (off an Osi  turnover) was huge in many ways.

5) TD5- Hakeem Nicks for 13 yards, and breaks the plane after review.  Nicks is hurt and Collinsworth took the time to explain that Nicks is simply not anywhere near 100%.  The bye rest had to have helped Nicks.

All this WITHOUT the TE in the red zone.  Against better defenses, the TE will be needed too, but everything else was there.  The Giants showed up with energy and urgency and delivered a great win.  With a two game cushion, if they continue to play at this level that we know they are capable of, the Giants should make the playoffs. And then, as Giants fans know, anything is possible.

Cornerback/Safety

-Andrew DeLoach

Week 10 CB/S grade sheet 

…play #29 says it all. This play will go unnoticed by almost everyone watching, but Tom Coughlin probably can't sleep over it.  It's just a simple inside zone - Blackburn stands up the running back and Boley cleans it up for a gain of 2.  It seems harmless.  But watch the video again and pause it as Leonard is going down. There's a 

handful of Giants standing around, and none of them are trying to get involved or play through the whistle.  Everyone should want to hit the ball carrier. The Giants need to get an attitude. Obviously they shouldn't play dirty, but there has to be some type of "punish" mentality on the defensive side of the ball that simply does not exist right now. Not singling them out but Rolle, Tuck and Webster were the three guilty parties on this particular play. A small part in a game full of issues, but the play highlights a problem that has been hanging over the Giants defense pretty much all season now.   

…with all of the injuries and positional adjustments, the Giants have to get back to basics: get aligned properly, know your assignment, and tackle the ball carrier.  There were too many mistakes on these fundamental tasks, and it showed in the result of the game.  I expect Coughlin to have the assignment and alignment down, but if guys don't do a better job wrapping up and tackling, the Giants will start looking more and more like the Saints in the secondary.

…despite the defensive line troubles, the goal for any defense - but especially this one - should be to force a third and long.  With the depth of pass-rushers in the lineup, and the uncanny play-making ability of Stevie Brown - we've seen the Giants make game changing plays when the opponent has to throw.  However, the Giants have been asleep on 1st and 2nd down, allowing an average of 5.1 and 4.9 yards respectively.  I believe this is a result of poor post-snap reads.  The one or two extra steps it takes to recognize the play can really add up, especially when you are 12 yards deep or outside the hash as the secondary is most often. 

Rich C: Quick bone to pick---on Green's 56-yard TD we can all agree that Green got over the top as a result of Brown getting sucked in to the LOS. At the same time that doesn't give Corey Webster the green light to half ass it for the remainder of the play. It's almost as if Webster didn't chase down Green to steer clear of blame and saying "this one's not on me."  Doesn't matter who was beat by who, that effort flat out SUCKS. Brown made a mistake, Webster quit. I'll take the first of those two options any day. Similar view from Perry Fewell, who was quoted in Jenny Vrentas' game review on NJ.com.  Here it is: "S Stevie Brown was supposed to be over the top and instead bit on the run fake, but defensive coordinator Perry Fewell also explained that veteran CB Corey Webster should have recognized that Brown was not in position and not have let Green go." I have a feeling that is Fewell's PC answer on the subject. 

The Upside:

…Prince has proven he can be very good in coverage.  His size may hinders him against big bodies, but as his hands get more violent as the ball comes in (he really under-utilizes his hands at the moment), he should have tremendous success in coverage. 

…Brown continues to be a bit of a wild card on defense in that you don't really know what you are going to get.  But the kid simply has a nose for the football.  He almost had another 3rd down turnover this week, and I suspect that more are on the way. 

…Rolle continues to play solid, fundamental football.  His injury last week didn't seem to slow him down.

…bye week - Time to get healthy, rest, and clean up the mistakes before the playoff push.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

-Steve Gesuele

Week 10 WR/TE grade sheet

...outside of Nicks, the wide receivers had a quite day (more on Nicks in a bit). Hixon was hurt on the third play of the game and Cruz was a non-factor. On the one play where Cruz got separation he dropped a sure touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Randle and Barden were decent in the limited snaps they saw but they did nothing much of note.

...Nicks had his best game since he went off against Tampa Bay. He was great in the short passing game,  especially over the middle. On the drives where the Giants did move the ball Nicks was instrumental. He and Eli were on the same page for the first time since Nicks came back from injury and it is no surprise that he recorded a 6, his highest total of the season. One thing we'd like to see, in addition to him and Eli working the post and dig 

routes once again is for the Giants to take advantage of off coverage on Nicks with a quick throw to him at the LOS. We saw it on two occasions in this one and hopefully is something the Giants will begin to take advantage of as his health progresses. A screen grab of the play is on the right. Nicks in space vs a CB---three yards a pop, at least. A healthy Nicks is an essential part of any Giants playoff run this season. An encouraging performance in a game with very few of them.

...the Giants were horrible in the red zone once again and this was a driving factor in the loss. Field goal, field goal, fumble. That is absolutely inexcusable. On two of those drives sacks hurt the Giants (although this could also be on the WRs) but the Giants playmakers need to step up when they have a chance to put points on the board..

...the tight end play was mediocre at best. All three players that saw time at the position were only average in blocking situations and failed to have a big impact on the passing game. They are a crucial part of the running game and their struggles have been highlighted both in this section and in the OL section on several occasions.  When the Giants were playing well earlier this year the tight ends were a part of it. They need to do so again for the G-Men to get back on track

Offensive Line

-Rich Conforti

Week 10 OL grade sheet

…an uninspiring performance for this unit and clearly their worst collective effort of the season, as the unit failed to record a player with an overall + grade. Somehow David Baas recorded a 0 but be sure to not misinterpret this. Here’s why—Baas was (for the most part) spared the task of dealing with Geno Atkins up front. Atkins is a terror and is far and away the best interior lineman (at least when it comes to penetrating) and showed it as he often was lined up in a 3 technique across from Boothe or Snee. The two guards were not as fortunate as Baas as they recorded grades of -2 and -5 respectively. Consider Baas spared from the wrath of Atkins in this one. 

…while Boothe struggled in pass pro against the Bengals he continued to show signs of being a very valuable asset in the run game, particularly blocking on the move and in space. This is something that I have been harping on now for a few weeks now—well here is some video evidence. Boothe needs to be the guy pulling, lead blocking, getting out in front on screens. Snee is the far superior drive blocker (assuming he can get back to full health) but does not stack up to Boothe in this regard. Need to play to their strengths. Sorry to have to use Bradshaw’s fumble as the example but just before he coughed it up, Boothe delivered a crushing, athletic pull block on Malaluga and just cleans his clock. The play had me out of my seat and before I could finish applauding Boothe, the Bengals had possession. Worth a look.

…David Diehl, who somehow has become the hot button issue for Giants fans, regressed a bit from last week (along with everyone else in this unit) and once again was responsible for several sacks. He graded out at a -4. As I mentioned last week (and as some commenters have pointed out) Diehl is and grades out much better in run blocking than Locklear. I have no worries that the passing game will rebound after the bye week. As for the running game... well we are going on nearly two seasons now of these struggles. While priority one is and always is protecting Eli, they need to get the run game fixed. The RT debate will be one of the things we look at as we start to filter, sort and present some of our Ultimate22 data next week so stay tuned. One thing to keep in mind about this game though---the majority of the pressure in this one (sacks not withstanding) from right up the middle.

...Chris Snee once again received the low grade for the offensive line coming in at a -5, which to me is no surprise considering how bad Snee's injury has looked on film for two games. Not to mention that he was matched up with Atkins for a good portion of this one. The back-to-back poor grades are really the only blemishes on what was an all-pro campaign through the first eight games. Snee is a true drive blocker and normally is able to stand in there and battle at the LOS with ANYONE. Clearly the injury has stripped him of that for the time being. The bye week couldn't come at a more opportune moment for Snee (not that he'd ever look for an excuse) and the Giants need his ankle back at full health for the ENTIRE offensive line, and in turn the offense, to suceeed. 

...obviously not responsible for grading the RBs but I wanted to show a screenshot of David Wilson's one carry in this game. Why? To show just how small the difference is between "struggling rookie who has yet to pick up the  

offense" vs "big play threat who can take it to the house on any play." On the play in the photo, a cutback run, Wilson does a great job of pressing the run to the front side and bending it back to the left, where there ideally would be plenty of open field. This should be an easy block for Will Beatty with his only job to wash away the DL deep into the backfield. Instead, both he and Pascoe fail to hold their blocks and a would be exlposive play became a one-yard gain.

...come back for Pt. 2 tomorrow with more Ultimate22 grades and analysis.

...and be sure to be here next week when we use each day to break down all of the Ultimate22 grades through the first 10 games. We will look at all of the hot-button issues for NYG and provide the relevant filtered data for them. If there's anything you'd like us to breakdown, put it in the comments.

31-13.  And this loss wasn't even that close.  The lone Giants TD came in garbage time.  So what happened?  The Giants did not come out with energy, and lacked crispness/focus/execution all game.  Dropped balls, Eli turnovers, Bradshaw turnover, 75 yard special teams swing on a penalty, special teams returners bumping into one another when both tried to catch the ball, more red zone failures (0-2 when it mattered), 0 sacks by the DL, yada yada.

Antrel Rolle: "It doesn't seem like we came ready to play ball today, for whatever reason."

Coughlin to his players: "We certainly got into this mess together and we are going to have find a way out of it together."

Coughlin: "It starts with me.  I am not pleased with the way that I prepared them and certainly with the way that they played.... I am concerned with the way we played.. particularly the last couple of weeks, and that is going to have to change if we're going to have any chance."

Jimmy Johnson and Howie Long called the Giants lethargic.  Terry Bradshaw inferred that there was too much talent for this to happen.

EVERY YEAR WE HAVE THIS DISCUSSION.  Isn't it proof that there is more than enough talent that the Giants can play with the best when it counts?  You don't win 2 Super Bowls without the requisite talent.  So why is it then that the Giants during the last number of regular seasons seem to have these ugly lapses?  And do these lapses matter?  Last year, if not for both the Eagles AND the Cowboys shooting themselves in the foot, the lapses vs teams like the Seahawks and Redskins surely would have mattered.  And the prior year, when a 31-10 lead vs the Eagles was blown, the lapses certainly mattered.

Energy.  People are looking at the Giants being tired, limping into the bye.  Where have we heard this "November tired" thing before? Oh, ya, Tiki Barber, way back in 2006. "Coach Coughlin is very hard-nosed, and I didn't get a lot of time off, couldn't sit down and rest myself, and so it was a constant grind - a physical grind on me that started to take its toll," said Barber.  "There'd be days where I couldn't move on Tuesday or Wednesday at practice, and he'd get mad at me for going half-speed. And I told him, 'Coach, I can't do it. I'm gonna be out here, I'm never gonna miss a practice, but I can't give you what you want all the time.'  Every year the Giants get off to these nice starts, then they hit the midseason wall and start dropping games. 

Everybody knows the numbers.  I am frankly tired of tracking the tired Giants.  When I watch other teams like the Steelers, I never see them flat.  You have to have the pulse of your team and see when they need a break so that they are fresh/ready for Sunday.  The Giants simply were flat and lacked energy.  When you lack energy, you make mistakes and do not execute well.  I tweeted that the only player on Offense who looked good was Andre Brown.  Well, that fits, because Brown has not gotten a lot of carries this year.  So his legs were fresh and he was ready to go.

If Coughlin gets the team to the playoffs, none of this will matter.  Yes, the bye is finally here, and we would all like to think that the Giants will get the bounce in their step to play well in their last 6 games so that they are peaking for the playoffs.  But even Coughlin himself acknowledges that a lot needs to get done to get (back) to that level.  Hasn't Tom learned that players are not machines and that they can use a break in the dog days of November when you are playing your 10th straight?  We know now that the Leadership Council back in 2007 told him that players needed more rest, that Coughlin gave them that rest, and that the players responded by rewarding that trust with "Super" effort.  It is not who you play but when you play them.  The Bengals had lost 4 straight, played a tired team and got an easy win.  This loss is on the head coach of the Giants for not having his team ready to play.  His words, not mine.