My key to the game

[Phil Simms]

I see the Giants doing a very good job limiting the running game of the Patriots, which means the Pats will have to throw the ball to win. Well, obviously they do that extremely well and it will be tough for the Giants to slow it down, never mind stop it.

They do have a chance to do just that though with their front four and some blitzing. The less time Brady has, the worst chance the Pats can stretch the field. Getting to Brady is a tall order, as the Pats have a great offensive line, but the Giants are one team that can get some penetration, as seen against the Cowboys offensive line.

Thinking back to the Week 17 matchup, I remember being very impressed with how the Giants got into the backfield on many occassions, but I was even more impressed with how Brady was able to make small adjustments in the pocket, and move JUST enough to give himself that extra second to deliver the accurate pass.

So that is my key to the game. Can the Giants not only get the penetration through their front four with the occassional blitz package, but can they stop Brady from buying that extra second to deliver the ball? The Giants cannot blitz too often. They will get burned. And penetration is not enough, they have to make Brady get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to.


The secondary key is can the Giants finish drives and not have to settle for field goal attempts or punts from the Patriots 45 yard line. Those are wasted possessions. With the Patriots able to score almost at will sometimes, the Giant's offense must take advantage of every situation where they get into or even approach the end zone. If they kick more than 1 field goal of less than 35 yards, it means they have wasted too many opportunities and their chances of winning are dramatically less.

The Giants are playing even better football than they did in week 17, and I think they are a formidible opponent for the Patriots. The Pats will have to earn their way to the perfect season. they are favored and rightly so. The Giants have to do everything right and the Patriots have to make a mistake or two for the Giants to win, but either way, its gonna be well played, competative game I think.

Your thoughts?

 

[Wildo7]

I see the Giants doing a very good job limiting the running game of the Patriots, which means the Pats will have to throw the ball to win. Well, obviously they do that extremely well and it will be tough for the Giants to slow it down, never mind stop it.

They do have a chance to do just that though with their front four and some blitzing. The less time Brady has, the worst chance the Pats can stretch the field. Getting to Brady is a tall order, as the Pats have a great offensive line, but the Giants are one team that can get some penetration, as seen against the Cowboys offensive line.

Thinking back to the Week 17 matchup, I remember being very impressed with how the Giants got into the backfield on many occassions, but I was even more impressed with how Brady was able to make small adjustments in the pocket, and move JUST enough to give himself that extra second to deliver the accurate pass.

So that is my key to the game. Can the Giants not only get the penetration through their front four with the occassional blitz package, but can they stop Brady from buying that extra second to deliver the ball? The Giants cannot blitz too often. They will get burned. And penetration is not enough, they have to make Brady get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to.


The secondary key is can the Giants finish drives and not have to settle for field goal attempts or punts from the Patriots 45 yard line. Those are wasted possessions. With the Patriots able to score almost at will sometimes, the Giant's offense must take advantage of every situation where they get into or even approach the end zone. If they kick more than 1 field goal of less than 35 yards, it means they have wasted too many opportunities and their chances of winning are dramatically less.

The Giants are playing even better football than they did in week 17, and I think they are a formidible opponent for the Patriots. The Pats will have to earn their way to the perfect season. they are favored and rightly so. The Giants have to do everything right and the Patriots have to make a mistake or two for the Giants to win, but either way, its gonna be well played, competative game I think.

Your thoughts?

No offense, but this has been the "blueprint" mentioned for beating the Pats every week this season and it hasn't happened yet. Even when it has, Brady has rolled. And if your going to say you had some success at it in week 17, I think you should know that half of our Oline wasn't even playing in that game.

 

[Bertil]

And if your going to say you had some success at it in week 17, I think you should know that half of our Oline wasn't even playing in that game.

...and Kyle Brady wasn't there either. Another big loss to the running game.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Thanks for your thoughts. I think you're wrong on what the key to the game for the Giants is. It's not whether the d-line can bring the heat, we know they can, but whether the Giants secondary can hang with the Patriots receivers long enough for whatever pressure the front gets on Brady to matter.

Teams which play a soft zone and just bring pressure from the front are going to die a slow, slow death at the hands of Brady (see: Jaguars).

The reason the Chargers gave him trouble is not because of the pass rush, but because they had physical corners who could hang with the Pats excellent receivers (which is why it's no accident Faulk led the team in both yards and catches). If the Giants' secondary isn't up to this task, then it's game over, and none of the other matchups will matter remotely.

I'll keep saying this all of the next two weeks, since in my mind it is the absolute biggest key to the game.

 

[Grogan's neck roll]

I see the Giants doing a very good job limiting the running game of the Patriots, which means the Pats will have to throw the ball to win. Well, obviously they do that extremely well and it will be tough for the Giants to slow it down, never mind stop it.

They do have a chance to do just that though with their front four and some blitzing. The less time Brady has, the worst chance the Pats can stretch the field. Getting to Brady is a tall order, as the Pats have a great offensive line, but the Giants are one team that can get some penetration, as seen against the Cowboys offensive line.

Thinking back to the Week 17 matchup, I remember being very impressed with how the Giants got into the backfield on many occassions, but I was even more impressed with how Brady was able to make small adjustments in the pocket, and move JUST enough to give himself that extra second to deliver the accurate pass.

So that is my key to the game. Can the Giants not only get the penetration through their front four with the occassional blitz package, but can they stop Brady from buying that extra second to deliver the ball? The Giants cannot blitz too often. They will get burned. And penetration is not enough, they have to make Brady get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to.


The secondary key is can the Giants finish drives and not have to settle for field goal attempts or punts from the Patriots 45 yard line. Those are wasted possessions. With the Patriots able to score almost at will sometimes, the Giant's offense must take advantage of every situation where they get into or even approach the end zone. If they kick more than 1 field goal of less than 35 yards, it means they have wasted too many opportunities and their chances of winning are dramatically less.

The Giants are playing even better football than they did in week 17, and I think they are a formidible opponent for the Patriots. The Pats will have to earn their way to the perfect season. they are favored and rightly so. The Giants have to do everything right and the Patriots have to make a mistake or two for the Giants to win, but either way, its gonna be well played, competative game I think.

Your thoughts?

My initial thought on reading this is that you make a lot of good points, but the Pats passing game does not need to stretch the field, they'll dink and dunk all day with Welker and Faulk and go down the field like they did against Jax.

You're on the right track, but honestly, I don't think Brady can be stopped on a good track in good weather. I think they could switch things up in the SB and come out in that 2 tight end set and then play-action to Vrabel or Faulk or Maroney. They just change things up so much you can't focus on one thing to stop, or they'll go somewhere else with the ball.

You have to hope for an abysmal game from Brady. But after Sunday, I wouldn't count on it happening again.

 

[DonBlackmon55]

I see the Giants doing a very good job limiting the running game of the Patriots, which means the Pats will have to throw the ball to win. Well, obviously they do that extremely well and it will be tough for the Giants to slow it down, never mind stop it.

They do have a chance to do just that though with their front four and some blitzing. The less time Brady has, the worst chance the Pats can stretch the field. Getting to Brady is a tall order, as the Pats have a great offensive line, but the Giants are one team that can get some penetration, as seen against the Cowboys offensive line.

Thinking back to the Week 17 matchup, I remember being very impressed with how the Giants got into the backfield on many occassions, but I was even more impressed with how Brady was able to make small adjustments in the pocket, and move JUST enough to give himself that extra second to deliver the accurate pass.

So that is my key to the game. Can the Giants not only get the penetration through their front four with the occassional blitz package, but can they stop Brady from buying that extra second to deliver the ball? The Giants cannot blitz too often. They will get burned. And penetration is not enough, they have to make Brady get rid of the ball quicker than he wants to.


The secondary key is can the Giants finish drives and not have to settle for field goal attempts or punts from the Patriots 45 yard line. Those are wasted possessions. With the Patriots able to score almost at will sometimes, the Giant's offense must take advantage of every situation where they get into or even approach the end zone. If they kick more than 1 field goal of less than 35 yards, it means they have wasted too many opportunities and their chances of winning are dramatically less.

The Giants are playing even better football than they did in week 17, and I think they are a formidible opponent for the Patriots. The Pats will have to earn their way to the perfect season. they are favored and rightly so. The Giants have to do everything right and the Patriots have to make a mistake or two for the Giants to win, but either way, its gonna be well played, competative game I think.

Your thoughts?

42-17 Pats. No offense, but this juggernaut will not and cannot be stopped. We morph into playing any kind of game....3 TE alignments to ram it down the throat to 5 WR spread

Giants mybe playing well, but many things have gone well for them, including dumb playcalling on part of Cowboys (who kept running rather than attack your DB) and Pack(who completely abandoned the run in nasty cold weather).

Our OL will be completely healthy, our blocking TE is full strength, as will our special teamers(two were out in wk 17), and our primary TE will not be hobbled by ankle injury. Despite all of this we hun a 38 spot on your jacked up team, even w/o a run game which was limited due to OL and TE injuries.

Your suspect LB and secondary better show up because all that pressure from
DL wont mean much. Also your DB showed they cannot play physical, case and point Donald Driver pushing aside your DB for a 90 yarder. If you double Moss and play press, Welker, Faulk, Maroney, Watson, Stallworth, Gaffney will have one on one matchups all day. If you chose not to double moss, well you saw the results in Wk 12.

Finally, I will take TB/McDaniels O and BB/Pees D anytime with 2 weeks to prepare......we're 10-0 when given two weeks to prepare.

All your NY media is talking about Giants will use the SB XV blueprint vs Buffalo. Well guess what, the architect of that Giants D was......ummm yea, you know.


From Pats D side, key is stop your run (which we did in wk 17...79 total yds) and now double up on Plastico. Make Eli goto Toomer "Mr dropsie"

Giants also led the league in most dropped passes this year.

Finito

 

[Phil Simms]

Fair points in response.

Yes, obviously our DBs must play physical in the first 5 yards and keep coverage long enough to let the D-line do their job. The Giants are not going to shut the Patriots down, obviously, but they have no shot if they give up long plays or let the Patriots run the ball at will. It is a pick your poison situation and I think you'll agree the best chance the Giants have is to give up the dink and dunks, try to limit the YAC and stiffen up in the redzone.

The Pats will get their points, but the difference could be whether we limit them to 24 or 34. The Giants could score 20-28 points in this game, so there is your difference. Sure, Eli could revert to bad Eli, ala the Viking game, then it doesnt matter if the defense holds the Pats to 14 points, but I think he has enough in him to give one more great effort this year.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Fair points in response.

Yes, obviously our DBs must play physical in the first 5 yards and keep coverage long enough to let the D-line do their job. The Giants are not going to shut the Patriots down, obviously, but they have no shot if they give up long plays or let the Patriots run the ball at will. It is a pick your poison situation and I think you'll agree the best chance the Giants have is to give up the dink and dunks, try to limit the YAC and stiffen up in the redzone.

Limiting them to dink and dunk is exactly the thinking which lead to the Jaguars game plan, and in turn lead to a historic day for Brady. So no, I don't agree that that is your best shot. The Chargers came out with a far better plan to slow Brady down and executed it well, and had their offense converted, you might be having this discussion with a Chargers fan now.

The question is whether you think the Giants have the personnel to follow that strategy, which I personally don't. Also, counting on stiffening in the Red Zone against the Patriots is a risky proposition at best.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

That safety #37 (Butler?) on the Giants is s-l-o-w. He got torched on the Moss record-breaker and took an awful angle on Driver in the NFCCG. He'll have a bulls-eye on his back, for sure.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Watson's IQ]

That safety #37 (Butler?) on the Giants is s-l-o-w. He got torched on the Moss record-breaker and took an awful angle on Driver in the NFCCG. He'll have a bulls-eye on his back, for sure.

Very true, and I think that's largely true of the entire Giants secondary, which in addition to being mediocre in the first place is also banged up (I believe both Madison and Ross are nursing injuries). I remember Tom throwing deep to Moss for the 50/23 score on back-to-back plays, virtually uncovered, when everyone knew they had to be looking to break the record. That image sticks out in my mind above all others (yes, I know they were different plays)

 

[Phil Simms]

Limiting them to dink and dunk is exactly the thinking which lead to the Jaguars game plan, and in turn lead to a historic day for Brady. So no, I don't agree that that is your best shot. The Chargers came out with a far better plan to slow Brady down and executed it well, and had their offense converted, you might be having this discussion with a Chargers fan now.

The question is whether you think the Giants have the personnel to follow that strategy, which I personally don't. Also, counting on stiffening in the Red Zone against the Patriots is a risky proposition at best.

We don't have the DBs that the Chargers do, so I don't think we can game plan the same way they did. I actually liked the Jags game plan, but they failed to stop the run sufficiently and they gave Brady too much time to pick them apart. That game was tied at the half, and if the Jags didn't have to settle for 2 field goals in the second half, and instead finished the drives, it is a 28-28 tie with less than 10 minutes left. Most of the credit goes to the Pats defense for not letting them finish those drives, but to beat the Pats, you have to find a way, they are not giving anything away for free.

 

[Phil Simms]

42-17 Pats. No offense, but this juggernaut will not and cannot be stopped. We morph into playing any kind of game....3 TE alignments to ram it down the throat to 5 WR spread

I'll pat myself on the back here, but also point this quote out. I am still very surprised the Pats didn't go to max protection formations in the second half. Brady was getting hammered all game long. Was it stubborness? What could possibly be the reason?

 

[Fogbuster]

I'll pat myself on the back here, but also point this quote out. I am still very surprised the Pats didn't go to max protection formations in the second half. Brady was getting hammered all game long. Was it stubborness? What could possibly be the reason?

That's right: max protection when passing, but also run jumbo and hammer their smaller four-defensive-ends front when they are out there. The counter to speed is power. If the Giants want to put their four fast defensive ends in there, fine. We need to come back with a jumbo line that can smack them in the chops and push them back.

Playing pass block is essentially a passive position, where you wait for the rusher to come to you. That allows the defense to dictate the tempo and even the point of attack; in effect, it allows for the defense to take the initiative. And, in this game, with nothing to lose -- remember, almost no one picked the Giants to win -- they could just pin their ears back and launch. Which is exactly what they did.

Poor, poor adjustments by the Pats offensive preparation. Terrible. BB and Josh thought: "Well, we got 38 points on 'em last time, so we can do it again." And they didn't think Coughlin would make adjustments???? Please. We got out-coached, folks. Plain and simple. We were basking in the glory of a perfect season before all the chickens were hatched. Big, big mistake.


//

 

[SirAngst]

Sure, Eli could revert to bad Eli, ala the Viking game, then it doesnt matter if the defense holds the Pats to 14 points, but I think he has enough in him to give one more great effort this year.

I'l give you a pat on the back for that one!