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One team's leaving today
The NFL playoffs in
New York, New York

These frustrated boos
Are longing for Stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York

I want to wake up with a team
That doesn't sleep(walk)
And find they're king of the hill
Top of the heap

My little town team
they are melting away
They need a brand new start of it
In old New York

If Fewell can't make it there
He can't make it anywhere
TC shoulda left you in
Buffalo, New York

New York, New York
I want to wake up with a defense
That never sleeps
And find a zone that works
Corners that press
Linebackers who cover
King N-F-LLLL

These are my Giants blues
The defense has melted away
We need a brand new start of it
Right here in old New York 

If the Giants can make it here
They'll make it anywhere
It's up to you
Mara Reese, New York                     

Normally you'd expect that after a week of bashing the Giants, that we'd be looking for the Giants to lose this coming weekend.  But that is not the case.  We are not predicting a Giants win, but we do believe the Giants have the edge.  Here's why: 

1) The Giants are a better team on paper. When they play their 'A' game, they will beat the Jets 'A' game.

2) The Giants have more focus and energy when they play as underdogs than when they are favorites.  Since they are FG underdogs following a loss, we expect them to bounce back.  Week 15 vs the Redskins was abominable.  If they dare to not show up in Week 16, it would be despicable.  Given all the rivalry w the Jets etc, I cannot imagine the Giants being flat again.  

3) Eli Manning and Giants offense is far more potent than Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense.

4) JPP should require a double team.  Wayne Hunter will need help.  When JPP is doubled, that will mean a Jets offense that is already limited becomes even more limited.

5)  Sanchez is not an accurate QB.  Fewell should not give Sanchez a lot of zone.  It is up to Fewell to do one right thing in a row. 

6) Ballard, Pascoe and Beckum are all hurt.  If one of them can be even halfway decent for Saturday, it will be more than enough, as the Jets have trouble with TEs.

7) I am worried about Plaxico Burress.  How many times have we seen it- a player gets amped when he goes up against his former team.  This is a wild card.

8) Load the box and dare Sanchez to beat you.  If you stop the Jets run, they are in trouble.

9) The Jets do not have a pass rush (without blitz).  Eli should be effective.  He torched Rex Ryan's brother when Dallas blitzed too much in H2.  The Jets need to blitz sporadically/infrequently and I do not think they will do that.      

Summary- this is the Giants' game to win or lose. No predictions, but if the Giants show the same effort and focus they had vs Green Bay, they will win easily.  If they have a flawed gameplan, ie Fewell too much zone for Sanchez and Gilbride not enough rhythm for Eli, then the Giants will dig themselves a hole.  The Giants have control.  Win or play golf. 

After Sunday's dismal loss to the Washington Redskins, the Giants under head coach Tom Coughlin look headed for yet another second half collapse.  Although the Giants at a mediocre 7-7 still control their own destiny with two games remaining,  Giants co-owner John Mara cannot be happy with the lackluster play of his team.  With the Dallas Cowboys winning on Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, without question, the Giants knew they had to win in order to keep pace with Dallas.  And unfortunately, to the dismay of Giants' fans, the New York Football Giants did not show energy and fight.  Once the Redskins took control of this game, the Giants performance was so atrocious that fans left early for the exits.  This scene of fans exiting early should be of concern for John Mara.  This could very well be foreshadowing for Giants management.  

There was a time in which Giants fans became livid with Wellington Mara and the inept play of the Giants.  As a result of years of lousy football,  they hung him in effigy.  Seeing this act of extreme frustration,  it had a profound affect on John Mara.  At that time, it spooked him from the spotlight and driven him to build a champion.  In fact John Mara does possess a Lombardi trophy under his watch.  However, since winning Super Bowl XLII, things have gone south. The following year, the Giants were the best team in the league.  After 12 games, they compiled an eleven and one record.  Next came the unfortunate Plax shooting incident.  Even though the Giants were Plaxless, they managed to claim the number one seed.  But they suffered a bitter loss to the arch rival Eagles in the NFC Divisional playoff.  In that season, the Giants had a golden opportunity to repeat as champions.  And they could not seize the moment.  2009 and 2010 were wasted seasons in which the Giants did not qualify for the playoffs.  Both of those seasons ended with second half collapses.  Like the last two seasons, 2011 is teetering.  The Giants still have control of their own destiny.  But if the Giants lose to the Jets and the Cowboys win over the Eagles, another season will end with disappointment.  If this scenario plays out,  John Mara has to be looking at the facts.  Here are some facts for Mr. Mara to consider:  

1. Tom Coughlin's poor record in second halves of seasons.  Here is a breakdown of Coughlin's body of work from game 9 to the final game of a season. 


2004: 1-7 record  home 1-3 and 0-4 road

2005: 5-3 record  home 3-1 and 2-2 road

2006: 2-6 record  home 0-4 and 2-2 road

2007: 4-4 record  home 0-4 and 4-0 road

2008: 5-3 record  home 2-1 and 3-2 road

2009: 3-5 record  home 2-3  and 1-2 road

2010: 4-4 record  home 2-2  and 2-2 road

2011: 1-5 record  home 0-3  and 1-2 road

Thus far, Coughlin has a 25-37 second half record.  He has a woeful 10-21 record at HOME.  And he is 15-16  on the road.  Generally speaking, a team with talent like the Giants should be surging in the second half of a season.  In addition, under Coughlin, the Giants have not won their home games late in a season.  This disturbing trend has become a vicious cycle.  Coughlin's teams get out of the gate swiftly then run out of gas to close a season.  Upon his arrival as head coach until now,  there have been changes.  Assistant coaches have been dispatched and new players have been brought in. Even with these changes, the Giants continue to underachieve with talent.  The only constant has been Coughlin.  

2. Besides Coughlin's pathetic second halves of seasons, Mr. Mara has to be irate at the current Giants" defense.  As of today, the Giants have the FOURTH worst defense in the NFL. 

Since 2006, the Giants have invested a lot on the defensive side of the ball.  They have used many high draft picks on defenders:
Kiwi1, Ross1, Phillips1, Sintim2, Pierre-Paul1, Joseph2, Amukamara1, Austin2.  That is five #1 draft picks in the last six years.  

Despite pouring money, draft picks, and changing defensive coordinators, the Giants STINK on defense.  Pete Furman, an expert here at UltimateNYG, points out that the Giants, having the 4TH worst defense in the N.F.L, speaks to the failure of Reese to draft well, to the horror of the signings for Bernard, Boley and Canty and the Tampa Two employed by Fewell.  

Furthermore, The Giants have allowed an opponent to convert at least 50 percent on third down in five consecutive games. That’s the first time that’s happened in the NFL since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Whether or not the Giants make the playoffs,  John Mara has to make some decisions about the direction of his team.  He gave Coughlin a 1 year extension, which is 'code' for: get results now.  The excuses made over the last few years such as defensive line wearing down, injuries, and not making snap decisions on coaches is wearing thin with Giants fans.  If Mr. Mara sticks with the status quo yet again,  there is going to be an upheaval with the fans.  And for Mara, do not be surprised if he gets the ire from fans.  Like Wellington, Giants fans may decide to hang him in effigy.                             

Enough is enough. It's an issue that's been highlighted on this Giants blog again. And again. And again. And again. And again. 

The Giants Tampa 2 defense seems to get a bit more porous with each passing week. For whatever reason, this team's personnel is not built for zone coverage. Whether it be through constantly biting on play action fakes or just sheer inability to adjust and react, the Giants' back seven continues to look lost in zone. Game after game we see linebackers at the second level allowing receivers to cross right in front of their face for easy completions in the ten yard range.

Even worse are the 15-20 yard dig routes that have become a favorite for opposing offensive coordinators, an enticing play against the soft zone and weak tackling of the back seven. It has become routine to see our T2 coverage allow multiple completions of this route per game. Why? Our linebackers have proven time and time again that they have the inability to read and react quickly enough. Too often they are caught recovering after biting on a play fake or standing flat-footed as a receiver crosses through their zone. Our safeties also seem to have the inability to adjust in zone coverage as it has become commonplace to see them continuing their drops even as passes are completed right in front of them.

It's one thing when a quarterback like Rodgers shreds your zone (why the Giants would spend a good portion of a game against Aaron Rodgers is a different question).

Drew Brees, same thing.

Tony Romo, that's fine.

REX GROSSMAN? Unacceptable.

Time and time again Sunday the Giants defense, a group that once made a living off of their aggression, sat back and let Grossman make easy completions all afternoon long.  Here are a few examples of the Giants zone that allowed the Redskins passing attack to come up with some easy completions throughout the game.

14:15 1st Quarter 1st and 10:  R.Grossman pass short middle to J.Gaffney to WAS 45 for 15 yards (C.Blackburn, K.Phillips).

     -The Redskins opened their second drive of the game with a simple play action fake to Helu that got easy bites out of the Giants LBs. Withboth passing options running short and intermediate routes, the Giants safeties continued to drop deeper and allowed Grossmanto easily find Gaffney, who had cut across a 15-yard gap in the Giants zone. Gaffney was brought down by Phillips, whose break on the ball came too late thanks to how deep KP has allowed himself to get.

11:26 1st Quarter 3rd and 12:  R.Grossman pass deep right to D.Stallworth to NYG 20 for 19 yards (K.Phillips).

    -Needing 12 yards the Redskins were in an obvious passing situation here and Grossman had lined up in the shotgun with Helu to his right. Right off the snap the Giants had created a huge window in their zone, with their LBs sitting at four yards and the safeties at nearly 15 yards (and dropped back another 10 at the snap!). At the snap Webster, who was responsible for the deep quarter, had run off with Gaffney on a fly route. Facing only a four man rush Grossman was able to sit back andfind Stallworth. Stallworth's dig route took him in front of the face of Amukamura and Phillips, who continued to drop deeper despite no deep routes on that side of the field. Easy completion. Huge 3rd and long conversion. Drive continues. 

2:09 3rd Quarter 3rd and 17: R.Grossman pass short left to D.Stallworth pushed ob at NYG 41 for 16 yards (M.Boley).

     -Sure the Giants probably should have been up 7-3 here after Nicks' drop on an easy TD catch. But they weren't. And in a season where Eli and the offense have carried this sorry unit, the defense had a chance to make an easy stop and give the offense the ball back only trailing by one score. The Giants rushed three (a puzzling yet predictable decision) as Grossman hit Donte Stallworth just three yards downfield. With the Giants defense in a prevent of sorts, Stallworth was able to take advantage of poor tackling from Rolle and Boley.  While there is no excuse for missed tackles, the Giants have shown no interest in gang tackling and getting "11 hats to the football" this season.  The play gained 16 yards and put the Redskins in a 4th and1 situation that they would go on to convert.  The drive also ended in seven points. The defense MUST find a way to close the door there.  The best way to do that is to man-up andsend heat at a quarterback like Grossman!

3:29 3rd Quarter 2nd and 6: R.Grossman pass short right to J.Gaffney to NYG 34 for 17 yards (A.Rolle).

     -Another play action called and another example of the Giants LBs completely getting sucked in andtaking themselves out of any opportunity to defend the pass. Kenny Phillips, who was positioned near the line of scrimmage (somewhere we rarely see him), committed to neither the run nor the pass but rather stood near the line of scrimmage. A coach of mine used to tell me that if you're going to make a mistake (as KP did there) you better make it at 110 mph. Kind of how I feel about Phillips' season on the whole. Grossman found Gaffney who easily broke off a dig route 15 yards down the field as Ross and Rolle continued to drop (another head scratcher seeing that the Skins only sent out two wide recivers on the play) and Grossman found his man for the easy completion when the Giants were desperate for a stop.  

2:13 3rd Quarter 2nd and 7: R.Grossman pass deep right to J.Gaffney to NYG 14 for 17 yards (A.Ross).

     -Another great example of the dig route that has killed the Giants all season. Grossman used play action to draw the attention of Williams, who left Boleyas the only defender at the second level. Gaffney, who to his credit is an excellent route runner, was able to easily cut across the 15-20 yard level of the Giants zone and make the easy catch. Grossman once again had a huge window to throw thanks to excessively deep drops from Phillips and Ross when it was clear that Gaffney was the only threat to them. Stallworth had run a deep flag and was covered by Webster while Santana Moss was in the left flat. Just a perfect example of the Giants' inability to be quick in their zone coverage (quick to drop, quick to react, quick to break and make a play on the ball) and the reason why...

THE GIANTS MUST FEATURE A HEAVY DOSE OF MAN DEFENSE FROM HERE ON OUT!

The Jets can be the perfect confidence booster for a Giants defense that will take anything. Fewell needs to come out on Christmas Eve with a game plan that features a heavy dose of pressure (BLITZ!) and man coverage forcing Sanchez into quick and hopefully bad decisions. If he beats you this way, so be it. But the Giants CANNOT sit back as they did against Grossman and let a struggling quarterback beat them. Not with the season on the line. A group that has nothing left to lose should play like just that. Andwhile there is no doubt that changes must be made both on staff and personnel wise in the off-season, any signs of life from this defense may allow the Giants to finish their up and down season with a fight.

Yesterday we made the claim that the NY Giants were the most inconsistent team in the NFL, a hallmark of underachievement.  Inconsistency means showing up with intensity and focus vs teams like the Packers, Niners and Patriots, while somehow not showing up vs the Cardinals, Seahawks, Dolphins, Eagles ... and once again against the Redskins when the playoffs were on the line. 

After the first 10 games, we chronicled this pattern for the 2011 season.  Updating it after the last 4 games, we examine when the Giants were favorites vs the point spread and when they were underdogs.  (Note: the one point spread we had trouble with was the Arizona game.  In that case, we believe the Giants were ~4 point favorites, so on "general principles" we will assume they did not cover the spread, considering they needed a Cardinal collapse in the last 5 minutes anyway to avoid a loss.)  When the Giants are favorites, they are 1-6-1 against the spread.  When the Giants are underdogs, they are 4-2 against the spread.  If you can find another team in the NFL that is that disparate, that uneven in their performances, let us know.

Mike Francesa was on WFAN yesterday, ripping into both the Jets and Giants for delivering terrible performances on Sunday.  One was worse than the other.  Both teams needed to win these games, both teams lost, yet somehow because the NFL s*cks so bad this year, both teams find themselves STILL controlling their own destiny, despite the fact that one is 8-6 and the other is 7-7.  And this fact is not lost on Francesa, who can barely contain his amusement at the next fact:  that with these two pigs playing AGAINST ONE ANOTHER.. the fraud of these two teams continues yet another week BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS TO WIN!  Yes, when two weak teams play each other in the NFL in Week 16, one will prevail (barring a tie, how fitting would THAT be?!) and find themselves in Week 17 knocking on the door of the playoffs.  At this point, Francesa is laughing at how cosmic this scene is, that these two teams are going to anoint someone to at least have a shot at the playoffs.  The message from Francesa is that between a horrible Giants defense and a blowhard coach named Ryan, don't believe in either.

And we agree.  Don't believe in the Giants, because all they had to do was SHOW UP for us.  And they did not.  All we needed as fans was a little respect and professionalism.  But we did not get that on Sunday.  Shame on them.  The absence of leadership in the coaching staff, the players, and the front office is evident.  Frankly, I am really not interested in puckering up for Coughlin's a** yet again.  Not when the coaches fail, the players don't show up, and the front office let's this continue.  Why do we throw in the front office?  Because how many of you are willing to bet that if the Giants win the last two games vs two franchises that are equally as sloppy, that Giants management will not fete its playoff team and look the other way again?  Au contraire!  They'll be hawking the tickets to the NFC East Division winner at 9-7!  Woohoo! .. Warts?  What warts?!

We need Giants management to wake up to the fact that there was not a serenade of boos at the end of the game because everyone had already left the building.  We deserve better than these Decembers.  Even if the Giants somehow win the last two, do not be fooled.  We can do better than a season of Giant inconsistencies.