Updated at 11:45 AM w/QB grades

Linebacker

-Steve Hardin

Week 9 LB grades

...a lot of people seemed to want to blame Herzlich seeing that Redman’s big game matched up with Blackburn’s injury. He was actually very good with his reads and fits in the run game.  In fact, he was much quicker reacting than Blackburn and much less reckless against play action, although we did not see a ton of it.  As a result, he put himself in position to make some plays, some of which he did not convert.  When we have the opportunity to make plays, we have to make them, but not a terrible job for a guy who has not seen a ton of snaps.

...Kiwi did not get a ton of plays at linebacker but did a decent job of setting the edge when playing in the 7 technique.

...We were pretty good in coverage.  We did not play a ton of man or Tampa two that would require Herzlich to cover receivers in space or down the seam, which may or may not have been for personnel reasons, or just a response to the dink and dunk offense Haley has brought to Pittsburgh this year.  He did get beat on the Sanders touchdown.  

...the Steelers beat us up primarily with man block schemes (iso, wrap, power, etc).  While, zone plays require offensive linemen to cover up bodies and allow the back to pick a hole teams who line up and run man schemes are relying on their guys to be physical and get push in the run game.  The fact that they came into this game expecting to physically dominate up front and went on to run the ball the way they did was frustrating, especially because I did not really see us getting overpowered. What I did see, however, was us getting beat schematically.  The Steelers rarely if ever ran the ball to the weak side, and because we played with two linebackers for much of the game with only six in the box, they were able to use guard wrap plays and motions in the backfield to create extra gaps we could not fill.  There is an example of this below…

1. We already are at a disadvantage with 7 gaps and a 6 man box, something we saw a lot of Sunday. This means on run to the strong side, Herzlich must fill the C gap and Boley must stack behind the defensive tackle in the weakside A gap and be able to play strongside A or the cutback into backside B.  This is not uncommon and when they block it straight up like this, it is not a huge problem.  The left guard should not be able to get to Boley on run right.

2. What the Steelers did quite a bit is bring an extra blocker to the strong side, primarily a fullback or in the case, a pulling guard to pick up the playside backer.  The play side guard and tackle then double team on the first level and one will come off the block to pick up Boley.  This is a much better angle than trying to block Boley straight up with the left guard.

3. This now creates an extra gap to the strong side.  With the center and left tackle picking up the defensive tackle and end to the weakside, we are left with five gaps and only four defensive players, including Boley scraping over the top.  We now have Herzlich taking on a pulling guard and can either play this with his inside should, forcing the play to the inside, or his outside shoulder, forcing the play to bounce.  I have seen it coached both ways, but with the double team coming for Boley, it doesn’t matter here.  Redman will be patient and break his run off of the guard’s block.

...this is something we got again and again.  I understand we have some injuries at the linebacker position, but we continuously tried to play this either straight up with a 6 man box, or by having a safety screw down into a Cover 3 look to fit into the uncovered gap.  In this case, we saw one of two things, either we gave away the coverage too early, or we tried to disguise the Cover 3 look and had a safety trying to make plays in the run game from 12 yards deep.  Last week with a healthy Rivers was the most I have seen us use our base personnel instead of these two linebacker nickel packages.  Then he got hurt again and it just seems like we don’t have enough guys healthy who we trust on the field to play these looks properly at this point.

Offensive Line

-Rich Conforti

Week 9 OL grade sheet

..we know Snee got hurt in this one. It looks like it happened real early in the game and it got worse as the game went on. I am not making excuses for his poor play but I am making excuses as to why he stood up and didn’t move every play. This is not Chris Snee. I am very surprised the Giants training staff/coaches didn’t get him out of this game. Both for his own health, the prospects of the team in this game and the prospects of the team going forward. If you have the game DVR’ed I strongly encourage you to watch any chunk of the game, especially in the second half and focus in on Snee and how badly he is hurt. He got a -6 in this one and he is certainly not a -6 player.

…Beatty came out of the gate looking like an all-pro, recording “1” worthy play after another. What a start by him and it all points back to his impressive footwork both in the pass and run game. It has always helped him in pass pro but he is showing how good he can be run blocking when he gets his feet moving. Beatty received a 1 on 3 of the first seven snaps. 

...and on that note so did the entire Giants offensive line throughout the whole first half. That includes David Diehl, who we have all been very critical of since this one. He was very solid in the run game, much better than Locklear and that is something that benefits the Giants a bit more right now.  First half grades Beatty: 4, Boothe: 2, Baas: 0, Snee: -2 (injury), Diehl: 2 (+3 in run blocking).

...I am not responsible for grading him but I do get to watch Martellus Bennett on every play and he has become a hindrance in run blocking. As pleasant of a surprise that he has been as a receiver, his blocking has left that much more to be desired. He has shown he has the ability so hopefully he will pull his head out of his ass any day now. 

...many of us felt last season that David Baas performed below expectations, expectations from the high praise of him by the Giants and also the sizable contract that they gave him before last season. Since we started the Ultimate22 this season it has been more of the same. Starting from Week 4, Baas has posted five out of six negative grades including a -5 in Week 7 followed by a -7 in Week 8 against the Cowboys. Over this time he is another guy (much like Bennett) who has been a hinderance on a running game that seems on the verge of "showing signs." Baas improved a bit this week with a -1 but will be tested against Bengals DL Geno Atkins, a player that some who do similar work feel is the best in the league at the position. 

...as we have mentioned several times this season the offensive line does an outstanding job of blocking together in pass protection. This means trusting the communication from the other linemen as they pass along blitzers and stunters. You can say a Dick LeBeau defense is the ultimate test in this regard and the Giants offensive line passed it going away.

...not directly related to the offensive line but, this was an interesting thing to read. Something to keep an eye out for this Sunday.

Wide Receiver/Tight End

-Steve Gesuele

Week 9 WR/TE grade sheet

...as much as the play calling has been coming under criticism over the last few weeks it seems to me that the bigger issue is the execution over that time frame. The Giants are best when they use their “small ball” approach and attack the middle of the field with short, quick routes and then expose the defense for a big play or two down the field. The Giants have been trying to do this but just simply haven’t been successful. Of Eli’s  28 drop backs there where 19 short, underneath routes over the middle. That doesn’t include the short out routes that the Giants love to run as well. The gamelan to attack with the short passing game as an extension of the run game is there, it just is not being executed as well in recent weeks. TOTAL SHORT UNDERNEATH ROUTES: CRUZ-8, BENNETT-7, NICKS-3, RANDLE-1, HIXON-0.

...the Giants wide receivers didn’t have as awful a game as their numbers would suggest. Although Cruz was the only wide out to put together a decent stat line the Giants’ receivers did an OK job getting open. Although “OK” is not what Big Blue strives for each week it was some what of an accomplishment considering how physical Pittsburgh’s secondary was and that the Giants were unable to get into a rhythm offensively for the second consecutive week. A dropped pass here and an overthrown ball there that go the other way and the offense could have had a much better day.

...although Beckum played OK in the limited snaps he saw it was clear that Pascoe was missed, especially around the goal line. The Giants are much more comfortable running to Pascoe’s side in short yardage situations and he was missed, especially when the Giants failed to convert for a TD while inside the five in the second half.

Quarterback

-Rich Conforti

Week 9 QB grades

...Charge Eli with the error on the Q1 interception. He is so great at getting rid of the ball this season (always under the 3 second mark on the stop watch and verified by his league low sack rate) but this one was onto the four-second and the result should be no surprise.

...normally one of the league's best downfield passers, Eli missed on the game's first play on a deep post to Nicks who had gotten over the top on the defense. Later in the game on O-play 23 Eli underthrew Hixon on a great route that got Hixon a few yards over the defense. Eli threw it way short and was bailed out by Hixon coming back for the ball and drawing the interference. 

...Eli graded out at a -1 for the game (which on the surface doesn't seem that bad) but it should be noted that he graded out at a -2 on the near-Ike Taylor interception in the end zone in the first quarter. Eli put it right in the basket for Taylor and that is unacceptable from him on a broken 3rd down play inside the 5. Can't happen. 

Defensive Tackle

Week 9 DT grades

I finally got a chance to watch the game vs Pittsburgh.  The inconsistency of this team is probably the single biggest factor when I think about macro issues.  The Giants simply have not played 4 quarters of football since the SF game.  Did the team put a flag in the ground, declare victory at the Stick, and think they could coast thereafter?  The Redskin game needed a miracle 77 yard bomb to Cruz to get a Win.  The Dallas game needed a lucky Dez Bryant digit (plus many other gifts) to hold on to a victory.  And this Pittsburgh game needed more luck to get the Win.  This time the luck ran out.  This is what happens when you play with fire.  You get burned.

1) Gilbride called a terrible game again.  I saw zero screens.  I saw zero slants.  I saw ONE flare to Hynoski which was very successful and moved the sticks for a first down conversion.  Where was the small ball?  It was almost non-existant.  From my rough calculations, there were as many 11-20 yard pass plays as small ball.  And there were also as many 20+ pass plays as there were small ball.  Not surprisingly, Eli and the offense lacked rhythm.  In Q4, they had 3 3-and-outs.  Here is an example of a SUCCESSFUL play which is evidence of the PROBLEM.  It is 3rd and 1 early in the game and Gilbride goes for a 16 yard completion.  Yes, it worked, but it was a low percentage play and was a perfect example of what was wrong with the playcalling.  Do not misunderstand what was happening.  Yes, you want to stretch the field and keep a defense honest about the deep pass.  And it is FINE to go for a pass for 15 yards every so often on 3rd and 1 to keep defenses off balance.  But in this game, where Eli needed rhythm and more time, more short passes were critical. Eli got sacked in this game, but I will defend the OL to a larger degree overall in saying that Gilbride's playcalling enabled the Steelers pass rush to tee off on him.  There was such a lack of mix that the job of the Steelers DL was to either stop the run or rush vs the long pass. 

2) The Special Teams fiasco was a rollback to 2010.  Aaarggh!  The Gmen deserved to lose just on all of the transgressions from this one unit.

3) Some critical penalties, including Jayron Hosley lined up in the neutral zone to turn a 4th down FG into a 3rd down conversion for a 1st and Goal, leading to a TD.  Ugly.

4) The Giants interior run defense was sickly.  Worse, tackling was terrible all day.

5) To watch the Giants with 1 minute remaining in H1 turn a FG opportunity into 0 pts and then watch Pitt get their own in the same minute, was a complete capitulation of effort.  That 6 point swing was disgusting.  None of us should be surprised that those 6 points would be a significant part of why the team lost.

6) The red zone failures were once again epic.  Where is the TE? Where is the slant? Where is the imagination?  To watch a great Webster INT set up the Giants at the 34 with only a FG to show for it is a lost opportunity amidst a sea of lost opportunities.

The Giants can beat anyone in the NFL if they play 60 minutes.  Gilbride and Quinn need to learn how to make in-game adjustments.

Among the many, many things and people that Sandy has affected, somewhere WAYYYY down the list, well after the far more important issues, is the completion of our weekly Utlimate22 grades and conclusions. 

As our team of Ultimate22 evaluators deals with those things, we will put our content on hold for the week (minus something like a game preview on Saturday) as many of you are probably without power (and in turn, internet access) like many of us are.

We will be back next week with grades from both Week 8 and 9 as well as (what we planned on offering this week) our first look at some trends, both good and bad, at the halfway point of the season.

Hope everyone has a SAFE and SMART recovery as we all are forced to deal with the aftermath of Sandy in one way or another. 

In order to do this recap justice, we have to quote others, who succinctly capture the game's essence:

John Geraci: "We'll take that win, but it feels dirty.  I feel like I cheated on my wife but didn't get caught."

Greg Colodner: "If you don't win a game where you get 5 turnovers and one is a pick six, your offense was not prepared."

Yes, every win matters, and this win counts just as much as the SF win.  Yes, we are not about to give this one back.  But when your defense is getting turnover after turnover and you fail to put away the opponent, you get what you deserve.  The Giants DESERVED TO LOSE.  Thankfully they did not.  The Gmen are 6-2 and are in control as they enter the second half of the season.  And they did it today without the help of Kevin Gilbride.

Small ball.  We will say it till this NY Giants blog is BLUE in the face.  There was no rhythm at all in the offense today, and the reason why is that Gilbride was either throwing deeper routes or running it up the middle.  There was no balance. There was no DRIVE with time of possession.  FACT: THE GIANTS DID NOT HAVE A SINGLE TOUCHDOWN DRIVE.  The only TD they scored was on a turnover gift-wrapped by the defense.  Add a JPP pick six and FIVE Lawrence Tynes FGs, and you get the story,  Five FGs.  Five F'G FGs.  FIVE.

The Giants were 3-15 on 3rd down. Is there any better example of how the lack of small ball hurts the team than that statistic?   

If there was ever a metaphor for this game, it was yet again on the penultimate Giants offensive drive.  The Giants have been given YET ANOTHER turnover for a gift-wrapped scoring oppty.  And the drive stalls for a FG.  The Giants offense, with a 2 pt lead and 7 mins left, can seal the game with a TD.  But that was not Gilbride's way.  Instead of taking responsibility for the game, he put it on the defense,  And if that was not enough, when the defense bent but didn't break, the Giants had the game in hand and all they needed THIS TIME was ONE F'G Gilbride first down.  And the offense couldn't even manage that!  Run Run Run Kick.  I felt like I was time warped back to the wretched 1970s Giants offenses of decades past, when this franchise would snatch defeat on a regular basis with bullbleep like this. Could there ever be a better example of prevent offense than RRRK to kill timeouts/clock just enough to make you think it "had" to be done but NOT ENOUGH to get the JOB done?! 

So Dallas got yet another opportunity, and if not for the fickle "finger" of fate, a Dez Bryant digit, we are in misery at how this team could possibly blow the game.  We know how they almost blew it.  And his name is Kevin Gilbride.  

Let's give some props out in this win,  The defense was at times porous, but I can't hold them completely responsible given how the offense was never really on the field.  All the offense had to do was do its job and the defense would have had to face at least 2-3 less possessions.  And let's not forget the turnovers created.  Is it possible to win ANY game without the impact plays of Jason Pierre-Paul?!!! That leaping INT and TD was tremendous, and further camouflaged the offensive woes.  Lawrence Tynes, Canty, and Keith Rivers all made their presence felt.

Have you ever thought- why is it that Eli Manning is so good at getting SO MANY of these 4th Quarter comebacks? Maybe it is because he is not only very good at delivering, but that the offensive coordinator so often fails to take responsibility in the first three quarters. 

Offensive Line

Week 7 OL grade sheet

OVERALL GRADES: LT Beatty -1, LG Boothe 0, C Baas -5, RG Snee 4, RT Locklear 4, OL Diehl -1

…this was Locklear’s best game as a Giant (the numbers also back this up.) He was OUTSTANDING in pass protection after having been serviceable in the games prior. It is no coincidence that Locklear played his best game when the Giants threw the ball 2/3 of the time. I have been a bit critical of his abilities and effort in the run game so perhaps the play calling played a minor role in the strong grade for Locklear. The RT nearly recorded the OL's first individual game with no negative grades but was docked for this crucial false start on the Giants 4th and 1 in the 1st quarter. Regardless, a timely effort from Locklear when some of the other members of the unit performed a bit below the level they have played over the last few weeks.

...Chris Snee continues to play his way towards another all-pro quality season as he recorded a 4, keeping his streak of + graded games alive in 2012. His play has made us completely forget the hip injury he continues to recover from. For a look at some "Classic Snee" (a screen shot won't do it justice) check out the 1st play of the Giants' 3rd drive in the 3rd quarter.

...I understand that blocking a DB or skill player in open space is one of the toughest blocks an OL has to make, but Snee needs to get better at this. That goes across the board, it’s just that Snee is often the one who is pulling. Not asking for a huge block but need to be effective blocking in space. Maybe (not saying this is why we call so few) this will allow Gilbride to rely on the screen game a bit more heavily like many people have been calling for. Having said this, the Giants did a great job on the screen late in the 4th quarter to extend the drive before the Skins go ahead TD. Brown did a great job staying behind his OL and vice versa.

This trickles down, forcing Bennett to adjust by trying to get a piece of the DL, allowing Carriker and Fletcher to come down and disrupt the play at the line. You will see the collateral damage of Boothe's miniscule mistake in the 2nd screen grab at right. Not to say that this play was the cause, but the next play was Eli’s 1^st interception. It goes to show you that (speaking in Ultimate-22 terms here) a run play may be more successful with five “0’s” on the OL rather than a single "1" effort. Yes there are individual battles within, but the offensive line works, succeeds and fails as a unit.  

earlier, I have yet to notice it) formation wise. The pre-snap formation is shown above. It involves Bennett lined up at TE on the LOS and Pascoe lined up at h-back in the backfield--what makes it unconventional is that Bennett is lined up outside Pascoe.  This allows for better angles in run blocking, with Bennett being able to block "down" easier while Pascoe, lined up inside and off the LOS, is able to pull around the edge and lead easier. That is what happens on the play in the screen grab on the right. Just a look at a new wrinkle in the Giants dangerous, deep and diverse offensive gameplan. 

Safety

-Andrew Deloach

Week 7 S grade sheet

OVERALL GRADES: Rolle -1, Brown -1

...the "Bend... Don't Break" defense worked out well for the G-Men this week. As long as they don't give up big plays and make tackles, eventually teams find themselves in third-and-long. With an arsenal of disruptive pass-rushers, the Giants are able to generate sacks and turnovers in these situations, keeping opponents off the scoreboard. That being said....

...there's a lot of room for improvements to keep the "Bend... Don't Break" philosophy working:

...the Giants can't allow second and third-and-short situations in which you can't simply pin your ears back and rush the passer. This week, they allowed over 7.8 yards on 1st downs (ex-penalties). Clearly scheme changes must be made to reduce this number.

...the post-snap reads must get better. Too many times players were caught on their heals on straight run plays, or peeking into the backfield on play-action, giving opponents an extra step advantage.

...the Giants have to be more aware of their opponent. Brown took bad angles a few times allowing RGIII a bunch of extra yards, and several times guys got spun around, creating open running lanes for a QB we know likes to take off. Fortunately the Giants face only two more run-threat quarterbacks this year.

...tackling continues to be an issue. Granted the tackling was better this week, there are still too many fundamentally poor tackle attempts, leading to extra yards. If you want to keep teams in third-and-long, you have to make good, solid tackles. You also need everyone to get involved to prevent yards after contact. Brown had a few instances where he could have driven the pile back, but failed to get in the mix.  

Defensive Tackle

Week 7 DT grade sheet

OVERALL GRADES: Joseph 2, Canty -1, Kuhn 1, Austin 0