Yeah, 18-1. They're just total dog crap.
I'll just say we got outplayed and outcoached. The O-line particularly was not up to the task. Brady probably couldn't buy the extra 1/2 or 1/4 second that might have made some plays, owing to the ankle. We had some drops. The all-out blitz that allowed the Plax TD baffles me too. But it wouldn't, had it worked. One thing Coughlin said really clicked in place for me: "we didn't really use all the blitz packages in the first game, we were saving some for the playoffs."
Now I don't see our team as simple-minded enough to believe they'd seen it all from the Giants -- but maybe there was some of that. Maybe they thought they'd taken the best shot the Giants had, and that this time it would be a walk. Well, it seems like both teams resolved not to give up points in the 30s. Remember Plax's prediction? If you think back, maybe that was THE point for the Giants, to actually have the temerity to keep the Pats score down (not "outscore them in a shootout.") With our O, it seemed like a fool's errand, before the game. But then again, so does winning the shootout.
Regardless, the underneath stuff, in a vacuum, doesn't do what intermediate-to-long passes do for you, and you need time for those. Drives stalled. When we had to make the stops, we didn't. We kept them to 10 points most of the game, but 17 was too many (thanks, Asante. Thanks, Eli Houdini...)
I don't think you go after guys after this loss. You let it sink in, and you move on. So okay, we have to vent, just like you had to vent about "glass" Maroney. Hell, that's not even fair. You make some good points but they're distorted (for instance, the 3 TE set wasn't there.)
BB made the decisions he thought were right, and for the first time in a long time, he ended up wrong on a lot of them, at least in hindsight (i.e., the 45 yard field goal non-try.) For the first time in a long time, we didn't "find a way to win," we didn't "capitalize on their mistakes."
THat's something worth noting: As David in 2001, we emphasized mistake-free football. Don't try to be great. Don't try to rock the world. You won't win. Beat them a little at a time, hang in there, and when the other guy makes a mistake, POUNCE on it every time.
As Goliath, it was more like: maybe we can put them away. Wait, no. Holy crap they're getting to the QB. Hey, they're doing it again. This isn't supposed to happen. Okay let's try throwing downfield again, maybe we can put them away...
And then, there were opportunities... but by then we weren't getting the best of the POUNCE moment, for whatever reason. Call it a coincidence, or call it being Goliath, thinking there was ALWAYS another chance. Well, there is always another chance, until the clock reads 0:00.
I dunno. It seems to me we can analyze this crap eight ways from Sunday, and what we'll come down to is a lot of what we SHOULD have done... and all that might boil down to is, we SHOULD have been sharp and hungry Sunday, like NY was.
I'm sure somebody will immediately fire back, we WERE sharp and hungry you dunce, but Josh McDaniels is the anti-christ. Huh. Wonder how he set the league record for points scored then.
I just don't have much heart for the post-mortem. Maybe in a week. Right now, it seems like the Giants just plain beat us, and we should bloody well admit it... so we can close the door and LOCK it on the next clowns that get in our way in a post-season. This makes 3 years that trophy's been er misplaced...
PFnV
