Final, Giants 24-17
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- September
- 23
Can’t quibble with this one, especially the high drama at the end. Between Kawika Mitchell and Justin Tuck stopping Ladell Betts on third and fourth down at the 1, and the total defense holding the Skins to just 11 plays before that drive, it appears that much-maligned unit has vindicated itself.
Well, for a week, at least. Who knows what the rest of the season holds. But for this one game, the defense came up HUGE in the second half after faltering yet again in the first half. The best thing that came out of today, besides the win, was that cornerback Corey Webster may finally have lost his job. Kevin Dockery was in at cornerback with Aaron Ross playing the slot in the nickel alignments, and Ross then went over to play some corner.
Sam Madison had a very good game. Physical, aggressive. The kind everybody expected to see out of him the last two years but never happened.
Also, hand it to Plaxico Burress for not getting down on himself after a perfectly disastrous first half. He didn’t catch a single pass in the first half. The one he did appear to have for a first down was overturned when a replay challenge revealed the ball touched the ground as he was trying to gain control of it. Burress came back in the second half to catch what turned into the game-winning touchdown pass, a 33-yarder where he put moves on Carlos Rogers and Sean Taylor, and grabbed five passes for 86 yards total.
Maybe the guy could care less about practicing. But he proved he’s a gamer. Not that we’re forgetting his give-up last year on Pacman Jones’ interception. But he looks like he’s turned an attitudinal corner on that.
So the Giants basically saved their season by going 1-2. Ought to be a happy week for everybody involved.
Ciao for now.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 at 10:59 pm by Ernie Palladino.
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Ernie Palladino
Maybe AP should bring an airhorn into the locker room every week.
2 things stood out:
1. Giving Manning 2 plays at the line.
2. Kiwaunka’s expanded role on the D-line.
Now let’s see Wilkinson over Mitchell at LB and Ross over Webster at CB.
Gotta commend Manning this year,he seems much composed and in charge,does anyone think that the offense’s dependence on Tiki hampered Eli’s development?
Defense wins; especially in East Coast football. Giants need a coach who will emphasize defense and smashmouth offense. The Giants need to reign in Eli a little. Allow him to take his shots every now and then but establishing the run should be top priority. Phil Simms thrived under this type of offense and i think Eli would as well. Great second half effort. Giants controlled line of scrimmage on both ends.
Eli’s got the gunslinger mentality and gets himself into trouble by trying to make something out of nothing, but he also proved that he can be an excellent game manager with that second half performance today. His poise on third downs was a marvel to behold and though the stats will not flatter him, he turned in a very good performance despite the interceptions.
Eli should just keep it up…this is more of what I’ve been expecting from him…let the guy throw that rock…imagine if he didn’t have to suffer from five or six drops every game…yes he still tries to make something out of a poor situation that sometimes results in an int, but he needs to stay aggressive…I think he does much better in an agressive mode. Shockey and Burress need to catch more of those balls they’re dropping, especially the deeper ones that Eli is placing right on their hands.
Eli Manning finished 21 of 36 for 236 yards, 1 TD & 2 INT. But I thought he played much better than that game rating of just 63.7. Heck, the team had 6 drops.
Eli is clearly showing improvement. I think coaching
has helped him, and I also agree that Tiki Barber’s
absence has helped him—- not just in terms of plays called, but also in terms of offensive team leadership.
If Burress and Shockey caught a couple of those big
passes they dropped, Eli’s stats would have been excellent.
Now let’s see if the defense can put two good games
together. Huge game coming up vs. the Eagles. If Philly
wears those ridiculous uniforms again, they may be
re-directed a roller derby contest at the Meadowlands Arena.
The two teams the Giants lost to are 3-0. I had a feeling this team was better than 0-2.
The Giants’ attempt to run down the clock with 2:50 left almost cost them the game. Three straight running plays at that point may have forced the Redskins to use up three timeouts, but it also forced the Giants to punt the ball away from deep in their territory to a team that had been shredding the Giants on returns. It also energized the Redskin offense forcing the Giants to make a heroic goal line stand. The Giant offense was in sync. They should have used it to make first downs. They can’t expect a game saving goal line stand every week.
Interesting fact – 99@ of Campbell’s passes left his hand in 3 seconds or less (I timed them). Whether it was the pressure or by design, Campbell had far less time than Romo or Favre to complete his passes.
That’s supposed to be 99% not 99@
whoops I put this in the wrong topic, so I will put it here.
That TD catch by Cooley gave me a bad feeling, thought oh no here we go again but the D actually showed up yesterday. They showed up but they still have lot’s of work to do. I thought on that last drive by the Redskins they did a awful job, they wasted downs, they had plenty of time honestly. Anyways just happy we won.
Eli had a so so game but he did enough to win. Plaxico, bad first half but showed up big time second half. Glad he did also, cause if we lost this game I would have had to hear the crazies whine about him all week. I thought Shockey had a good game also.
It’s a win and something to build on so I’m going to enjoy it.
That second half was awesome and everything I’d expected of the Giants this season. Great pass rush, especially in the 4th quarter. Getting Kiwanuka involved in the line penetration. Eli going back to Burress time and again. Like I said, he is underused. Did you see that small CB bounce off Burress on that one play? Derrick Ward playing like Tiki. He seems like he has a quicker burst than Tiki! Aaron Ross is gonna be good. Even though he was out of position at times and gave up a coule of big catches, he was aggressive and just missed diving tips due to wrong angle. I chalk that up to inexperience.
Couple things that still bothered me. Shockey still dropping obvious passes. That drop at the 43 yard line would’ve helped the Giants a lot. The Giants need better kickoff return coverage. Too many long returns.
The next game against the Eagles on national TV will go a long way in establishing who is second in the NFC East behind the Cowboys.
just when i decided not to get excited this season and settle for whatever comes about the giants play a great down to the wire barn burner. a lot of things need correcting. kick return coverages were terrible. too many drops. kiwanuka is a lineman, not a linebacker. strahan should play on the west coast. what kind of draft choice or left tackle can we get for him? let him enter the hall of fame as a raider or something. he is so slow and ineffective it is pitiful. how many tackles this season, 2? Justing Tuck is an emerging star. he is a more than adequate replacement.
Your team stole a victory that’s the only reason they won.
I hope they loose 45-0 this week.