Week Fourteen 2015: Giants at Dolphins

Sorry about taking so long to post this. I've been in a Star Wars fog as thick as Chewbacca's hair for the past week.

The Giants took care of business against the Dolphins. They did exactly what they needed to do, and Eli was as impressive as ever.

But this week, they have a tough match up against the undefeated Panthers. I don't think the Panthers will go undefeated, but will the Giants be the one to give them their first loss? Maybe.
The Giants have always done well against undefeated teams. Patriots come to mind, Packers, even in 1998, the 5-8 Giants beat the 13-0 Broncos. They play to the level of the team they're playing.

This will be a tough one for Big Blue not just from a "Panthers are undefeated stand point", but from an X's and O's stand point. We all saw what Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to do against the Giants with his legs. Unfortunately for the Giants, Cam Newton makes Fitzmagic look as mobile as Jabba the Hutt. That is my biggest concern for this game.

Can the Giants do it? Can they dethrone the Panthers? It seems very unlikely, like shooting torpedoes in the 2 meter wide exhaust port on the Death Star, but it did happen. And even if they do use the force to blow up that space station, it'll only be the beginning. The Giants are still in playoff mode.

Oh, and see The Force Awakens. It's outstanding.  

Week Thirteen 2015: Giants vs Jets

Here's a terrible song to commemorate another terrible loss.
You don't even deserve a full write up of the game, Giants. You're Nickleback to me.

God help you if you don't win on Monday night. You might start seeing Scott Stapp in your nightmares. Get the picture?

Week Twelve 2015: Letter To Santa

Dear Santa,

It’s me, Grant. I haven’t spoken to you in quite some time. I know you usually don’t get letters, or any type of correspondence from people in their thirties, but I’m desperate. No, I’m not asking for anything fancy. Not a PS4, an expensive watch, or even one of those cool BB-8 toys you can control with your phone.

You know what, I'd be fine with a BB-8, and/or a puppy this Christmas.

This year I just don’t want the Giants to implode.

They certainly didn’t do themselves any favors in that game against the Redskins. They had a chance to take a solid lead in the division with only five games left, but for some reason, they came out flatter than an Eli post game interview.

Merry Christmas, Rueben. You dummy.

Towards the end of the game, the offense started clicking. But by then the reindeer have already left stable. Which is horrible in your case, considering that they can fly.

The offense was dreadful for the most part. Eli had three picks, and one of them was in the endzone. Two of those picks, including that one in the endzone, weren’t really Penguin Boy’s fault. I’m not making excuses for the guy, he’s lucky that he didn’t throw six picks during that game. His first bounced off the hands of Vereen. His second bounced off the hands of Harris, but that was only when he tried to catch a ball that should’ve been intercepted cleanly in the first place. His third was to Rueben Randle. As you know, Santa, when you throw to good ol’ Ruebes, you run the risk of throwing a pick. This was the case where he ran a lazy route, and didn’t fight for the ball. He let the interception happen in the endzone. In fact, while you’re out delivering presents all over the world in a few weeks, maybe give Randle a DVD on how to play the position he gets paid to play.

The main problem the Giants’ offense was the big guys up front. They fared just as well as Frosty would on a Las Vegas summer day. Pugh, and Richburg didn’t play due to injuries, and Schwartz left the game early with a broken leg. So the effective Redskins defensive line ripped through Eli’s protection like wrapping paper. This caused many of the issues that Big Blue’s offense encountered.

The defense gave up a huge touchdown to DeSean Jackson, which I can’t stand, but for the most part played fine. They didn’t have a great second quarter, but they only gave up three points for the rest of the game. At the end of the game, though, the Giants defense let the Skins run all over them to lock up their victory.

You know, I don’t know why I feel the need to tell you this. You see everything. So let’s talk about what I want from you for Christmas.

I hope you got a few Giants' wins, as well as a few Redskins' losses in that sack.

The Giants put themselves in a tough spot, but because the rest of the division is in shambles, they still have a shot of finishing in first with a sub-par team. The Eagles stink more than your suit after your annual worldwide journey, and the Cowboys, well, you know some of them from being on your “naughty” list. The team they need to worry about the most, the Redskins, embarrassed them last week.

Their next game is against the New York Jets. This game has huge playoff implications for both teams. So their “rivalry” will have to take a back seat, even though it really can’t be a rivalry if your games occur as frequently as Presidential elections. This is also a better Jets team then they’ve had in the past. They traded up when they replaced Rex Ryan with Todd Bowles.

This isn’t the same Jets’ team from earlier this year, though. Their quarterback, the bearded Ryan Fitzpatrick goes back and fourth from being Fitzmagic to Fitztragic. Hopefully he’s less Harry Potter, and more Willie Loman this Sunday.

What scares me the most for this game is that the Jets’ defensive line will treat the Giants’ offensive line like Hamsterdam. Santa, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen The Wire, but Hamsterdam was an area in Baltimore where you were free to sell, and use drugs without police interference. So I’m worried the Jets’ defensive front will just have their way with Eli’s protection. Of course, I won’t be as worried if Pugh and Richburg are back this week.

One is Todd Bowles, the coach of the Jets. The other is Howard Colvin, the creator of Hamsterdam.

The Giants did catch a break this week with Darelle Revis missing this game. This will ensure that DRC’s cousin, Antonio Cromartie, will cover Odell which is a better match up for Beckham. It also thins out the Jets’ secondary, which gives room for Harris, Nicks, and (GULP!) Randle to shine.

So Santa, if you want to give me the best present since the Ghostbusters Firehouse playset, please let the Giants be relevant by the time you roll from house to house. I’ll be sure to leave out milk and cookies, but they are out of the playoff hunt, and I have to see Kirk Cousin clinch the division, I’m gonna bake those cookies with the strongest laxative I can find.

You better deliver like you did back in '86. If not, you will be forever known as Crap Kringle. Seriously, though, thanks for that Firehouse. I had a blast with it. 

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.