Week Ten 2015: Giants vs Patriots

The Giants suffered a heart breaker of a loss at the hands of Bill Belichick, and his band of Thieves. Big Blue had a real shot of beating the undefeated Patriots, but because of bad clock management, and let’s face it, a controversial ruling, they let it slip through their hands.

"If I told you this was killing me would you stop?"

I’ll briefly discuss the controversial ruling on Beckham’s incomplete touchdown catch now just to get it out of the way. It looked like a touchdown to me, but apparently having two feet in the end zone with possession of the ball isn’t good enough. Now if that’s the rule, then that’s the rule, I guess. My biggest problem is that this hair-brained rule looks to change from instance to instance. It’s the inconsistency that really grinds my gears. But Malcolm Butler made a great play to break up the pass, and Odell said it best when he said, “You can’t leave it up to the officials to make the right call. You just gotta make the play itself.”

And that’s all I have to say about that.



About Last Week

This was certainly a bad loss for the G-Men, but there were a lot of positives to take away from the game. 

What Went Right

Eli had another terrific game, and as for their final possession, it looks like he learned his lesson against Dallas, as he took a dive to keep the clock running.

Dwayne Harris has become a good target for Eli. I don’t think anyone expected him to have as big of a role as he does, but he’s been a nice fill in for the injured Victor Cruz.

The pass rush actually made plays. They got three sacks. THREE! Plus, if you know anything about Tom Brady, you know that he hates getting hit more than he hates non-white pool covers. Seriously, Tommy Touchdown hates human contact more than Howard Hughes, so constant pressure, and hitting him was a big reason why this game was close.

What I wouldn't give to see Brinkley van surfing to his next game.

Jason Pierre-Paul doesn’t show up much on the stat sheet, but he was getting double teamed, which gave good match ups to the rest of the defensive line, or anyone else who wanted to get a piece of Brady. He also managed to get after Tommy, and make him uncomfortable.

Jasper Brinkley had another outstanding game. Right now it's like his inner Teen Wolf is unleashed, and just like the Beavers basketball team, it’s just what the Giants need on defense.

What Went Wrong

There really wasn’t all that much that went wrong for the Giants. They played a good game. Basically, there was that terrible punt coverage on Danny Amendola, the awful running game, and the defense let the Pat’s get into field goal range which lead to the Giants loss.

Really, the Giants lost again because of questionable play calling at the end of the game.
To an extent, I understand why they went pass heavy during that goal line offense. The Pats were stacking the defensive line, and since the Giants can’t even run through a sprinkler, passing the ball was probably their best option. But all that matters is that it didn’t work. It only seems to matter when it doesn’t work. That’s the line you tight rope on in the NFL. It’s only a bad idea if it doesn’t work. You are either gutsy, or a moron, it all depends on the result of the play in question.



On To The Next One Six

The Giants have six games left in the season. The rest of their schedule is as follows: Redskins, Jets, Dolphins, Panthers, Vikings, and Eagles.

Oh I'm sorry, Caped Crusader. Is it still too soon?

The two biggies are within in the division. If they don’t win those two games they'll probably need to win the rest, and hope beyond hope that the Redskins and the Eagles crumble. If they beat those two teams, they can probably get away with one more win of the remaining five, and top the division with eight wins. If you break it down that way, the playoffs seem very obtainable.
But the Giants have to win those two divisional games. It all rides on that. It would be like if Bruce Wayne’s parents never died. Without that happening, odds are that young Bruce would’ve never become the Dark Knight.




Big Blue News

The Giants lost Victor Cruz for the year. I can’t say I’ll miss him. It’s hard to miss a player that hasn’t played all year. However, I would’ve like to have seen him play this year. Looks like we’ll have to wait for the next season.

The addition of Hakeem Nicks makes sense for added receiver depth. He’s familiar with the team, familiar with Eli, and the receiver free agent pool isn’t even ankle deep. This is more of a depth signing, I doubt we’ll see him on the field anytime soon. Basically, to see him in the huddle, something needs to go terribly wrong for the receivers, or he needs to play like he got his huge mitts on the Super-Soldier Serum that did wonders for Steve Rodgers



In Conclusion...

This isn’t the first time the Giants almost soiled a perfect record. See: 2007 Patriots and 2011 Packers. Both of those games gave the Giants the confidence that they can hang with the best team in the league, and we all know how those seasons ended.
Now, I’m not trying to get ahead of myself. I don’t think this years Giants’ squad is as good as the previous teams I talked about, but I’m sure the confidence boost is the same.

Some people don’t believe in moral victories, but I do. Big Blue went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league. For as much as that game felt like a Kano fatality, you have to feel confident knowing that they can play well enough to beat the Patriots. It’s a good thing to keep in mind during a playoff push.

It was far from a flawless victory, but the Patriots certainly ripped out the hearts of Big Blue fans everywhere.

Week Nine 2015: Giants at Buccaneers

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Week Eight 2015: Giants at Saints

The Giants lost a heart breaker in the Big Easy this past Sunday. The game was crazy.  In fact, it was too crazy, like Nicolas Cage in Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans crazy. In B.L.:P.O.C.N.O., for short, Cage plays a corrupt police Lieutenant who loves crack. He even has a lucky crack pipe.
It’s hard to lose games when you put forty-nine points on the board, but it’s nearly impossible to win a game when you give up fifty-two points.

Believe it or not, Cage depriving an elderly woman of oxygen while holding a gun to her caretaker's head isn't the craziest part of the movie.

Against the Cowboys, the Giants’ offense played terribly, and the game was won on the shoulders of special teams and the defense. Against the Saints, the defense was a certified dumpster fire, and the offense had to pick up the slack. Imagine if all three phases played well at the same time.



About Last Night

It’s pretty easy to point out what went right and what went wrong in New Orleans. Let’s just dive right into it. No gimmicks. 

What Went Right

The offense. Well, the pass offense. Eli Manning’s six touchdown performance was the best of his career, especially when you factor in that he threw no interceptions. I’m not gonna say this was the best game of his career, but it definitely belongs on a short list.
Unfortunately, for as great as he played, he didn't get the win. Just like eating at a Guy Fieri restaurant, it was very exciting at the time, but you're left with an awful taste in your mouth and a pain in your stomach.

"Try The Big Easy Po' Boy! It's a shrimp po' boy with kickin' Cajun sauce, bacon, avocado, vanilla frosting, shreds of fuzzy dice, and finally, it's sprayed down with Axe Body Spray for extra flavor! It's Mardi Gras in your mouth hole!"

What Went Wrong

The Saints’ offense could do anything against the Giants’ defense. I’d say it was like taking candy from a baby, but that analogy might not be accurate enough. Like taking candy from a sleeping baby? Is that better? Like beating a goldfish in a spelling contest?

Here’s a short list of things that are/were less of a disaster than the Giants’ defense:

-George Lucas being in control of everything while making the Star Wars prequels

-George Lucas being allowed to make the Special Editions for the original trilogy

-Nicolas Cage’s financial team

-Wesley Snipes’ financial team

-Prime Minister Chamberlain’s appeasement policy for Adolf Hitler

-Mayor Vaughn’s idea to keep the beaches open 4th of July weekend in Amity

Say what you will about Mayor Vaughn's character, but I'll be damned if that isn't the best blazer ever.

-The D-5 PeeWee hockey team before Gordon Bombay took over as coach

-EPA Agent Walter Peck shutting down the Ghostbusters’ containment unit

The Giants failed again at closing a game. The fact that they got the ball back with thirty-six seconds left to get the ball into field goal range, and ended up losing in regulation was a punch to the gut. I’d much rather see them lose the game in overtime.

I put Jerry Reese at the focal point of this loss. It was hard for the defense to play well when Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason were out because of injury, but main problem here is these guys are rarely healthy. Prince only has one full season under his belt, and Beason is pretty much getting paid to sit on the sidelines. 
You would think Jerry Reese would’ve sat back in the off-season and said to himself, “Since Prince and Beason are always hurt, we should get reliable backups so were not in deep trouble when (not 'if') they go down.”
It is because of this lack of preparedness that lead to Trevin Wade being picked on like a mathlete. 
When two defensive players go down, it shouldn’t result in the entire defense collapsing like a house of cards. 



On To The Next One

Coming up this Sunday, the Giants travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers.

This is a winnable game for the Giants, but the Bucs are better than expected. A lot of this game hinges on the Giants winning the turnover battle, but it’s not everything. Hell, they did that last week and still got the loss.

Behold... the power glove!

An aggressive pass rush might cause Captain Crab Legs to make some bad throws. This might be a problem considering the Giants pass rush can’t pressure any quarterback. BUT something might be different. This game might be the return of JPP. He might put on his pads, tighten his chinstrap, fasten that weird penguin glove, and get to work. I never thought Jason Penguin-Paul would be considered the avenger of this defense, but at this point, he’s Captain America.



A win against the Saints would've given the Giants five wins and three losses. At that point you’d be looking at the Giants alone in the NFC East drivers seat, looking forward to a winnable game and JPP coming back. It would’ve been looking good for Big Blue. Instead, they blew it and are still in the muck of this under achieving division. I'll be curious to see what happens when the Eagles and Cowboys face each other this week. Whoever loses that game will be the team that Giants probably won’t have to worry about for the rest of the season.