Teams can win badly and teams can lose well. The Giants lost well last night. I know that to many, if not all of us, that that is small consolation. But you have to trust me on this- LOSING WELL IS IMPORTANT. It means you are fighting.
Just like in the NE game 4 weeks ago, if the Giants fell short that day, it would have been a good effort. And just like the NE game of 4 years ago, falling short (38-35, coincidence?!) with good effort against a great (15-0) team can mean Super opportunities. Similarly, versus the 11-0 Packers, the Giants fell short, but as fans we can recognize great energy and effort. The Giants got measured and they played toe to toe with the Super Bowl champs. Just like in 2007, it means that anything is possible.
The Giants in 2011 are NOT where the 2007 team was. Gilbride in his 1st year + Spags were far more dynamic than Gilbride in his 5th year and Perry Fewell. Also, when you have your umpteenth CB (Blackmon) covering Nelson instead of Terrell Thomas, you have to be fair about the realities of this roster. But at least this Giants team gave the requisite effort that we can be proud of. They need to keep delivering that effort consistently from here on out.
Good
1) Effort and Energy. The entire team fought and battled to the end vs a terrific team. The Packers arguably had an off day and presented an opportunity for the Giants to win. That the Giants missed winning is disheartening, but now the Giants can play the remaining 4 games with the confidence that they can win ALL FOUR remaining games and win the division. Yes, that is quite possible. If the Giants play against Dallas, Washington and the NY Jets with the same effort and energy as they played yesterday, the Giants WILL WIN all 4 and be NFC East champs. (Technically speaking, I believe that if the Giants sweep Dallas, they just need to beat EITHER the Jets or Wash to win the division.)
2) Mitch Petrus. Yes, that's right, the Guard. We tweeted about him in Q3 and need to point out that with Baas out (haedaches) at Center and Petrus moving in at Guard, the Giants running attack improved dramatically.
3) Nicks/Cruz/Eli/Ballard/Barden. These guys all have game. I'l go to war with these guys. Do you realize that Victor Freaking Cruz has 1076 yards in 12 games, on pace for over 1400 yards?!!!!!! He's only STARTED 3 games this season, lol!
4) Beckum IN THE SLOT. The Gilbride strobe flickered on in Q1. We have been asking for this for how long? And all of a sudden it happens and the guy goes house. Earth to Gilbride, Planet Earth to Captain Gilbride.
5) JPP. The guy is an animal. We know he had physical skills. But is there anyone on defense who is able to wreak more havoc than him? Tuck, perhaps, when healthy. Batted balls, sacks, and it is going to get even better. He's still learning the game.
6) Bradshaw and Jacobs. The running game was the best we have seen all season. Energy and effort.
7) Gotta tip my hat to Chase Blackburn. He is part of our loser LBers, but he got his # called from the Sunday sofa and he made an impact.
8) Run defense. Stout.
Bad
1) Still too much zone for my liking.
2) Lack of pocket contain on Rodgers. When this QB squeezes out of the pocket, he is worse than Michael Vick, because he is smart enough to protect his body so that he can keep coming at you. When able to escape the pocket, he is lethal in passing and running the ball. He hurts every NFL team this way, but you have to prioritize making it as difficult for him to do this as possible. (This is one of the many ways that Michael Strahan was a true maestro. Yes, Strahan is going to the Hall of Fame and he was UNDERAPPRECIATED in this capacity.)
3) The Matthews pick of Eli. Eli is playing his greatest season as a NY Giant. But that mistake was a killer. It changed tempo and the Giants never were able to climb out of the hole. It should serve as a reminder that the Giants can play better and have another gear still left. Oh, and a reminder to Reese, that LBers can make an impact in addition to Defensive Linemen.
3a) Ross blown coverage of Driver for wide open TD. Just another reminder that the Giants can make a few less mistakes and play at a higher level.
3b) Boothe and 10 other Giants players need to fall on a loose ball.
4) Challenge by Coughlin with 27:12 left in the game. You cannot be without a challenge for an entire half on a somewhat marginal situation on a marginal challenge.
5) The Giants defense needs to make a stop when it counts at the end of the game.
6) The 3 man rush. In Q1, it happens to be that Garafolo tweets that no one is complaining that the Giants had a 3 man rush on that set where GB has to punt. Ironically, I had just tweeted that I DID have a problem with it, regardless of whether it worked THAT particular play. I tweeted back that I did. And so we fast forward to Q4, when it counts, when the Packers are up 28-27, 3:44 left, 2nd and goal from the 7. Rodgers has all day, LITERALLY SEVEN FULL SECONDS with ZERO HEAT.. after finishing a delicious cup of tea and crumpets, he finds Driver for the TD. All thanks to a THREE MAN RUSH. You simply cannot allow these QBs this kind of passive set. Eventually it will come back to haunt you. And it did. This is why when the chips are down, I do not have confidence in Fewell.
Summary
Yes, it blows to lose a close one like this. But I promise you, if the Giants play with this effort and energy for the 4 remaining weeks, the NY Giants will be NFC East Champions. This has to be a building block for this team to get confidence that they can play good football. Against anyone. I still do not like the coordinators. But effort matters and there is still a big opportunity to do something with this season.
Many beat writers in the NY media yesterday kept harping on Fewell’s recent press interview statement on how they were "going to get after Rodger's a**.”
When UltimateNYG NY Giants blog joined the Bloguin Network 2 years ago, they had ~50 blogs and 9 NFL teams. 2 years later, and now Bloguin has ~150 blogs and 23 NFL teams. Of the 9 teams that are still not on the NFL roster, 1 of them is amazingly the Green Bay Packers. So we went to Wonder for a better look into understanding the Pack, and he articulated some of the things we all saw last Turkey day.
UltimateNYG: How do you beat the Packers this Sunday?
Wonder: Put Aaron Rodgers on his a**. That's it.
UltimateNYG: Well, we'd imagine you'd want to give him as little time as possible to pass the ball.
Wonder: Yes, you need that pass rush. The Giants have 2 sacks in the last three games, so that isn't going to cut it. They had zero vs Brees, and we know how that worked out.
UltimateNYG: Press Coverage too, right?
Wonder: Yes, of course you need to press.
UltimateNYG: And less zone...
Wonder: If you zone Aaron Rodgers, you might as well take a gun, point it right at your own head and pull the trigger. This QB has pinpoint accuracy. Asking him to find holes in a zone is child's play for him.
UltimateNYG: Green Bay's defense has given up plenty of points this year. How should the Giants offense attack them?
Wonder: You must avoid turnovers at all costs. This Green Bay defense is incredibly opportunistic. You must be careful with the ball. You can run on them, but we know the Giants have not been able to run block. You can pass on them too. They gamble. They cheat on routes. So (wink, wink), when you drive down the field, please don't underthrow the ball in the red zone, turn the ball over, and waste that scoring drive. If you are careful and meticulous, you will have success vs that team. The bottomline for pulling off the stunner and beating the Packers- play solid football, pressure the passer and don't turn the ball over.
(...which unfortunately the Giants have shown they have not been able to do in the past few games. Thanks, Wonder.)
What happened to the Giants pass rush? How were the Saints able to move the football at will against the Giants? The answers to these questions is Sean Payton. Yes. Payton's brilliant game plan was executed flawlessly by Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his offensive teammates. Let us take a look at the details.
New Orleans Times Picayune's Jeff Duncan examined Payton's use of formations which took advantage of the Giants weaknesses on defense. And this weakness is the linebacking unit.
The Saints clearly wanted to attack the Giants' injury-depleted, inexperienced linebacker corps with their tight ends and backs. Consequently, they had a heavy reliance on multiple back and tight end sets. Only 20 of the Saints' 69 plays featured more than two receivers, which might be a low in the Payton tenure. By their standards, this is about as vanilla as the Saints get on offense. They used only five personnel groupings and spent almost half of their plays in a base pro set (two receivers, one tight end, one fullback, one running back). The distribution of playing time between the backs and receivers was nearly perfect, with snaps spread evenly amongst the respective position groups.
Here's the breakdown of the reps at each skill position: WR - Henderson 44; Colston 43; Meachem 43; Moore 20. TE - Graham 55; Gilmore 19; McQuistan 5. RB - Sproles 25; Thomas 23; Ingram 23. FB - Collins 34.
Here's a look at the Saints' personnel packages on their 69 offensive snaps:
Pro (2WR/1TE/2RB) - 31 out of 69
Posse (3WR/1TE/1RB) - 20 out of 69 plays
Ace (2WR/2TE/1RB) - 9 out of 69
Pony (2WR/1TE/2RB) - 5 out of 69
Tank (1WR/2TE/2RB) - 3 out of 69
Fake FG - 1 out of 69
Duncan's analysis explains several things here. In the NFL, coaches look for mismatches. Then they develop game plans to take advantage of team's shortcomings. In this case, Payton devised a plan to take advantage of the Giants lack of quality linebackers. Recall in 2009, as a result of Payton's scheme, the Saints were able to rout the Giants, 48-27. In that game, the Saints undressed the Giants defense. After the game, Giants head coach Tom Coughlin remarked, “I don’t know that we ever hit him. At this level, if you’re going to stop the pass, you’ve got to get pressure. You’ve got to force the quarterback not to throw it on his tempo.” So two years later, the Giants still could not knock down Brees. And the Giants could not cover the Saints receivers.
Regardless in the change of Giants defensive coordinators, whether it is Sheridan or Fewell, the Giants have gotten embarrassed twice by Payton's Saints. One thing is clear, in both games, Saints receivers have been wide open in the middle of the field. This has been problematic because the Giants have a dearth of quality linebackers. Here at UltimateNYG, we have been steadfast about GM Jerry Reese's lapse in judgment about the linebacker position. Over the last 5 years under Reese, he has not considered drafting a linebacker a priority. Although he did draft the oft-injured LB Clint Sintim in the second round of the 2009 draft, he appears to be a bust. One second round selection has been drafted in five years. As a franchise, they are in trouble because they just signed former Giant LB Chase Blackburn. Hence, the Giants front office's flawed thinking about how to build a defense has blown up in their face. This flawed thinking, where the team continues to draft defensive linemen and secondary players to the exclusion of linebacker, has hurt this team. It was particularly painful on Monday night, as the Saints amassed 577 yards and 49 points.
