My takeaways from the Week 9 matched vs the Giants (my best Reiss impersonation)
Spikes and Fletcher are healthy, we probably won't be seeing the likes of Tracy White and Gary Guyton playing. This is an advantage because White was burned twice on the Giants last TD scoring drive, once on the 29 yard catch by Ballard where White had bad coverage on him and the second time he bit on a play action that freed up Ballard for the game winning TD. Gary Guyton has seen his playing time decrease since his poor performance since taking over for Spikes, he did not play at a high level.
Assuming Chung and Ihedigbo remain healthy through the game, I don't expect to see Sergio Brown getting any snaps at safety as he was victimized by a pass interference penalty that put the Giant at the 1 yard line. He hasn't gotten many snap there since. I expect to see McCourty and as the top backup if Chung or Ihedigbo do down.
Ochocinco was targeted 5 times with zero catches in the Week 9 meeting He was in one 18 or 79 snaps. Easily his most extensive playing time as a Patriot. He logged one snap against Denver and was inactive in the match against Baltimore. I don't see any reason why a low snap count shouldn't be expected in this matchup assuming he is activated for the game. (And no, he's not the secret weapon I've heard about)
Patriots are known to take care of the ball. Edelman fumbled after the defense forced a 3 and out but was evened out when Arrington intercepted Eli in the end zone. I don't expect the Patriots to play sloppy for a second straight game. After such a sloppy game, I expect a much cleaner game this time around.
They played sloppy in the first matchup and still almost won.
I don't expect Gostkowski to miss a 27-yard field goal this time around like he did at the end of the first half, but anything is possible in these playoffs (Cundiff anyone?)
This was Brandon Deaderick's first game back. He been a staple there since and has played well.
Albert Haynesworth won't be there this time around to open up lanes for the Giants running backs. We probably won't be seeing any Ron Brace in this matchup either. He has struggled and is sure to be on the bubble with the play of Kyle Love surpassing that of Brace's.
Philip Adams is no longer with the team, he had tight coverage against Barden and failed to make a play as Barden made the catch for a first down. He sucked.
Josh Barrett is now on IR.
Poor coaching and execution:
They scored too quick and left too much time on the clock for Eli to mount a comeback. They should have learned from the previous matchup.
It was first down, 2:39 to play. The handoff was given to Woodhead and it became 2nd and 1 on their 40. In my opinion, this should have taken it down to the two minute warning. Instead, we hurried it up and ran another draw to pick up the first with 2:20 to play. Then we hurried up again to snap the ball at 2:04 for an incomplete pass to Woodhead. At this point the warning still has yet to hit. We got the first on the next play to the 15 but after the warning, Woodhead stepped out of bounds on a run that I'm sure was called for the sole purpose of letting the clock run. It was a wasted play. After than, 3 shots to the end zone, trying to get that TD and daring Eli to comeback.
Spikes and Fletcher are healthy, we probably won't be seeing the likes of Tracy White and Gary Guyton playing. This is an advantage because White was burned twice on the Giants last TD scoring drive, once on the 29 yard catch by Ballard where White had bad coverage on him and the second time he bit on a play action that freed up Ballard for the game winning TD. Gary Guyton has seen his playing time decrease since his poor performance since taking over for Spikes, he did not play at a high level.
Assuming Chung and Ihedigbo remain healthy through the game, I don't expect to see Sergio Brown getting any snaps at safety as he was victimized by a pass interference penalty that put the Giant at the 1 yard line. He hasn't gotten many snap there since. I expect to see McCourty and as the top backup if Chung or Ihedigbo do down.
Ochocinco was targeted 5 times with zero catches in the Week 9 meeting He was in one 18 or 79 snaps. Easily his most extensive playing time as a Patriot. He logged one snap against Denver and was inactive in the match against Baltimore. I don't see any reason why a low snap count shouldn't be expected in this matchup assuming he is activated for the game. (And no, he's not the secret weapon I've heard about)
Patriots are known to take care of the ball. Edelman fumbled after the defense forced a 3 and out but was evened out when Arrington intercepted Eli in the end zone. I don't expect the Patriots to play sloppy for a second straight game. After such a sloppy game, I expect a much cleaner game this time around.
They played sloppy in the first matchup and still almost won.
I don't expect Gostkowski to miss a 27-yard field goal this time around like he did at the end of the first half, but anything is possible in these playoffs (Cundiff anyone?)
This was Brandon Deaderick's first game back. He been a staple there since and has played well.
Albert Haynesworth won't be there this time around to open up lanes for the Giants running backs. We probably won't be seeing any Ron Brace in this matchup either. He has struggled and is sure to be on the bubble with the play of Kyle Love surpassing that of Brace's.
Philip Adams is no longer with the team, he had tight coverage against Barden and failed to make a play as Barden made the catch for a first down. He sucked.
Josh Barrett is now on IR.
Poor coaching and execution:
They scored too quick and left too much time on the clock for Eli to mount a comeback. They should have learned from the previous matchup.
It was first down, 2:39 to play. The handoff was given to Woodhead and it became 2nd and 1 on their 40. In my opinion, this should have taken it down to the two minute warning. Instead, we hurried it up and ran another draw to pick up the first with 2:20 to play. Then we hurried up again to snap the ball at 2:04 for an incomplete pass to Woodhead. At this point the warning still has yet to hit. We got the first on the next play to the 15 but after the warning, Woodhead stepped out of bounds on a run that I'm sure was called for the sole purpose of letting the clock run. It was a wasted play. After than, 3 shots to the end zone, trying to get that TD and daring Eli to comeback.
