A look at Sunday's Giants-Seahawks matchup

by Ed Valentine on Oct 3, 2008 7:00 AM EDT in News Comment 30 comments

OK, gang. We are going to move on today from Thursday's contentious debate with Field Gulls.

There will be no '5 Questions' segment this week. Considering the 'antagonized' climate, Field Gulls blogger John Morgan and I agreed last night that swapping questions would be relatively pointless.

Let me say this. I disagreed, strongly, with Morgan's assessment of the Giants. I do, though, respect the fact that he takes his work seriously and puts a lot of time into what he does. So, let's agree to disagree about the Giants and leave each other alone.

You guys know I usually don't do those 'in-depth analysis of the opposition' type posts. I would rather spend my time discussing whatever is going on around the Giants than pouring over stats and trying to figure out what will happen -- which is pretty much impossible, anyway.

With that said, let's take a stab at some thoughts about Sunday's matchup with the Seahawks.

The 3-0 Giants are touchdown favorites and should win this game. We said pretty much the same thing a couple of weeks ago when the Giants hosted Cincinnati, a game the Giants had to work much harder to win than we all hoped.

The Seahawks come into the game 1-2, including what I would consider a bad loss to the 49ers. They also lost to 4-0 Buffalo, and there is no shame in that. The Bills look like a quality team. Yes, 'Greek,' I noticed!

By just about any statistical measure the Giants look like the better team. Offense, defense, special teams, team efficiency. Go to Football Outsiders, slice the stats pretty much any way you want, and the Giants come out ahead.

That doesn't mean much of anything when it comes to Sunday, though.

There are unquestionably some things that worry me about this week's game.

I do worry about the impact of Plaxico Burress' suspension on the Giants' passing game. I think the Giants will be fine, but it is something to consider.
I do worry about the fact that the Seahawks are getting all of their wide receivers back this week.
I do worry about the Giants adjusting to the way Cincinnati exploited their blitzing schemes with short routes that exposed the Giants' corners.
I do worry about Mathias Kiwanuka's ability to be effective matched up against Walter Jones.
I do worry about the playmakers on Seattle's defense, including linebackers Julian Peterson and Lofa Tatupa and cornerback Marcus Trufant.
I do worry that the Seahawks, perennial champs in the NFC West, are due for a really solid game.
I do worry about the Giants' propensity to play poorly after a bye week.

I am not worrying about what happens if the Seahawks do shut down Brandon Jacobs, as Field Gulls thinks they will. We know that Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw provide different styles, and someone from the 'Earth Wind & Fire' trio will find holes to run through.

I am also not worrying about the lack of turnovers created so far by the Giants defense. Keep pressuring the passer and tipping passes, and turnovers will come.

The Giants should be able to move the ball well enough even without Burress. They simply have too many weapons, and too good an offensive line, not to. Defensively, I don't see that Seattle has the huge play-making threats that would scare me.

I think the Giants will win. In fact, I said in the New York Times recently that I thought it was possible the Giants could head to a mid-season meeting with Dallas at 7-0. Not trying to jinx them, but I believe that. Then again, maybe they put up a stinker this week and the Seahawks pull the upset. Who knows? That's the beauty of the NFL. You just never know.

We will just have to wait until Sunday and see what happens.

0 recs | Comment 30 comments | Share

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Ha ha

I got those people all kinds of annoyed with me yesterday, to the point where I was specifically mentioned NOT to go back to their site.

“Mission Accomplished”

Yes the Seahawks are getting their WR’s back, but we’re not talking Duper and Clayton, we’re talking about two good receivers, one coming off a knee injury.

Giants will be fine. I don’t see a high scoring game, and that plays right into the Giants hands at home. Win it close, win it ugly, but win it.

Giants 20 Seahawks 10

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 3, 2008 7:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Man!

Even our pal Terry wasn’t banned(although I think Etval considered it).

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Oct 3, 2008 8:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Uh, don't feel too proud of yourself --

I was specifically mentioned NOT to go back to their site.

That was merely SSreporters talking, who is banned from fieldgulls.

Anyway, as I am of course a homer, as all true fans should be, I am predicting a 27-24 victory for the ’hawks. I do think, however, that it will be a good game regardless. The Seahawks team you will see on Sunday has nothing in common with those of the last three weeks, as we have our #1-2 receivers back, and more time for our new recievers (McMullen and Colbert) to polish up their rapport with Hasselbeck.

Here’s to a close, competitive game and NO INURIES! I hope the Giants beat out the Cowboys later in the year!

by redwolf75 on Oct 4, 2008 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Plus

The Giants have lost twice in a row to this team. The Jay Feely (wince) game in 2005 and they basically got blown out in 2006 (though the Giants scored 27 points late to make it look respectable). This is never an easy game for GMen.

As a side note, my father went to that 2006 game in Seattle. He said he was never treated worse at any road game by the fans than there, including Philly. I’m just sayin’.

by potroast on Oct 3, 2008 8:47 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Fans

See, although I don’t hold Philly fans in high regard, I’ve been to Ranger, Met, and Giant games in Philly, and yeah the fans were riding me, but nothing too bad.

The worst fans I’ve ever been around hands down are Arizona fans. I was physically attacked after a Mets-Dbacks game in 2000, simply because the Mets won. I’ve had stuff thrown at me, cursed at, and escorted from Bank One Ballpark by Maricopa County Sheriffs “for my own safety”.

Now I know what you are thinking: I probably had it coming. Honest to God’s truth, I didn’t. I leanred very early on while living in Phoenix that New York and Philly fans are targets for the cops and security, so I would usually be on good behavior. AZ fans are just full out a-holes. I can’t wait to go to the Giants game there in November, LOL.

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 3, 2008 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

there's such thing as a D'Backs fan?

they have a freakin’ pool in centerfield.

and they obviously aren’t that die-hard considering that place turns into Wrigley Park West when the Cubs are in town.

by SBakerTheTouchdownMaker on Oct 3, 2008 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I can vouch...

I was there as well.

You can not say you “did nothing”. You didn’t do anything to deserve how you were treated, but you certainly did stuff.

Then I swore I would never attend another baseball game with him again.

by mrs.jrs1940 on Oct 3, 2008 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ouch!

Called out by your own wife, ‘jrs.’ I think maybe you should leave this argument alone. LOL!!

by Ed Valentine on Oct 3, 2008 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It sure is lonely

On this river I just got sold up, LMAO!

Giants fan from the womb to the tomb

by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 3, 2008 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cry me a river... (oh and I stand corrected)

I wasn’t at that particular game. At that point, I had already said I wouldn’t go to baseball games with him. He was injured, he did tell me about a confrontation.

But you still can’t tell me you “did nothing”. You are not known to stand down. In the end, you did not deserve being pushed over 2 rows of seats.

But the game we went to, we were “asked” to leave by Maricopa County as well. Furkey was there as well. It DID suck going to games at Bank One, all we ever heard was “GO BACK TO NEW YORK!” or “PIAZZA IS A HOMO!” (or was that me?).

by mrs.jrs1940 on Oct 3, 2008 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I've had some bad experiences in Philly

though I’m surprised I haven’t gotten an ass-kicking. Normally I’m pretty respectful when I’m at another teams park, but this past April I went to CBP to see the Mets and Phillies with my college roomate (a Phillies/Eagles fan), and we went to Chicky & Pete’s beforehand and downed 2 beer towers, and then kept drinking at the game, so I was pretty hammered. The Mets were winning (Ollie Perez pitched a gem) and I was being a bit obnoxious and these Philly fans started taunting me about the collapse last year, so then I unbuttoned my David Wright jersey to reveal my Giants Super Bowl XLII t-shirt underneath and started yelling back that I know they’re all really just Eagles fans who cheer for the Phillies in the offseason, and I was asking them to remind me when was the last time the Eagles won the Super Bowl. It actually shut most of them up, but in retrospect I was asking to get killed.

by cjmulrain on Oct 3, 2008 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Arizona Fans

are a-holes because most of them come from California…trust me, I know.

Good luck G-Men!!!

April in CA

by peytonsthebest on Oct 3, 2008 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I went to college in Tucson in the 90’s, and I went to every game the Gmen played in Phoenix (when the cards were in the division) my first game I did not even brought my Rodney Hampton jersey to avoid conflicts, only to find with surprise at the parking lot a lot of blue jerseys, but the following years wearing my jersey I got cursed a lot. and at the end I kind understood why, when your franchise sucks that much there’s a lot of frustration, poor bastards!

by Bajaserge on Oct 3, 2008 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The numbers based approach

that the guy over at Field Gulls uses is very interesting, but for a sport like football, I think ultimately pointless. Baseball analysis has increasingly been moving in the direction of the new-age numbers, and while I still think there’s a lot of room for the old-fashioned analysis, in baseball the season is so long that towards the end the numbers approach does seem to work out most of the time. For example, if a team is struggling but the numbers indicate that they should be doing better, well, usually by game 162 that team will have come around and played better. That’s just the nature of a long season.

In football, the season is so short that I really think the numbers based approach is almost pointless. Stats people rail against “small sample size” – well, an ENTIRE SEASON of football is a small sample size. In any sport, anything can happen in any given game. Bob Gibson was beaten 9 times in 1968, Jordan’s bulls never swept an NBA finals, and the 18-0 Patriots lost the Super Bowl. And in football, with only 16 regular season games, and a maximum of 4 postseason games, it’s very possible that some teams will vastly outperform their numbers while another will underperform. It’s very common in baseball for a bad team to have a hot 2 weeks and go 12-8 or 13-7 over a 20 game period, or even better than that. If that happens in the NFL, you’re talking about a potential Super Bowl contender.

by cjmulrain on Oct 3, 2008 8:49 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Numbers

I would agree with that. Football Outsiders does great statistical work, and yet I believe that ultimately many people become too dependent on that stuff. It’s the ‘Sabermetrics’ approach to baseball — the info is helpful, but not the be all and end all. Trust your eyes. Bottom line is, 3-0 is 3-0, 0-4 is 0-4 and a Super Bowl title is a Super Bowl title.

by Ed Valentine on Oct 3, 2008 8:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Small sample size

That’s a great point. Statistically you can see trends that are not there in a small sample size or not see trend come to fruition. cj are you in finance or the sciences? Something tells me you deal with stats on a regular basis.

by potroast on Oct 3, 2008 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

actually no

I’m in law school and was always terrible at math in school, but when it comes to sports stats I turn into Stephen Hawking. When I was a kid I used to struggle with math homework and my dad would help me out by teaching me how to figure out baseball stats like batting average and ERA, so I guess it always stuck.

by cjmulrain on Oct 3, 2008 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Jim, in all due respect...

I have to agree with the MRS regarding the D-backs and Met games, the “fans” you attended the games with did have a nack of pissing people off who were around you. D-backs fans are just like anyone other fan, when they get pushed, they push back.
nothing but love for you buddy….Go Giants……….

"18-1, Write that Book"

by BigBl42 on Oct 3, 2008 10:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

:-)

boo-ya.

by mrs.jrs1940 on Oct 3, 2008 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think you forgot to mention

How poorly Seattle plays after the bye week, and how poorly they play in the Eastern Time Zone at 1 PM. Last year they did win in Philly and in St. Louis but that was it.

Seattle however has never had a playmaking threat, they were absolutely hoping Deion Branch would be but he’s produced maybe 2 or 3 great moments of brilliance.

The 49ers loss wasn’t a bad loss. It’s a combo of being unlucky with the bounce of the ball, and scrambling for receivers like Billy McMullen.

It’s Lofa Tatupu, not Tatupa. ;)

The West Coast Offense has a lot of quick passing schemes which could also exploit the Giants blitz packages. Also, since Julius Jones can apparently catch the ball, any blitz coming can see Jones break one loose in the the secondary.

John is right, Brandon Jacobs has awful cut back ability, and as long as you don’t go 1 vs. 1 with him then you can beat him. However, Bradshaw and Ward are quite different considering they are threats in the passing game (because Jacobs has bricks for hands on screens).

Also worry about Seattle’s running game, which has been revamped, and TJ Duckett is almost like a poor man’s Brandon Jacobs.

Should be a fun game, see you for the game thread on Sunday.

Signature? SIGNATURE?! Don't talk about SIGNATURE! I just hope I can write a sentence!

by SSreporters on Oct 3, 2008 10:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What are Seattle's weaknesses?

I honestly don’t know & I’d like to know where the Giants might exploit them. I know WR on offense, but they’ll be getting a couple back and should be better. Also, if I recall correctly from last year they took some hits on the offensive line. How are they playing? What about holes in the D?

by potroast on Oct 3, 2008 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Brian Russell is the worst player on the team

He is terrible at safety help to the point where Sean Considine looks like Ronnie Lott.

Offensive line had some trouble in week 1 with blitzing but of course every team has had trouble with that with Buffalo. San Fran and St. Louis provided no pressure, and Hasselbeck was sacked just once in each game, and the running game dominated. The left side with Mike Wahle and Walter Jones is great, and the right side now that Sean Locklear is back is getting healthy. Just beat them on the blitz and any runs off-tackle, those are their main weaknesses.

Defensively, there is Brian Russell, then there is our defensive coordinator in John Marshall, who is Mr. Blitz For No Reason. What lost us the 49ers game was a 3rd and short (can’t recall the yardage), and Marshall went on an all out blitz, and Isaac Bruce burned Marcus Trufant for a lot of yards. He is not a great defensive playcaller in crunch situations, and when it’s 13-3 he thinks it is 144-0 and heads straight for the prevent defense, and I tell you, I hate the prevent defense.

Special teams, Bruce DeHaven is terrible. Seattle doesn’t have Nate Burleson, and Michael Bumpus has already muffed 1 punt…he doesn’t know when to just call fair catch, and return yardage hasn’t been strong. Seattle has given up a punt return for a TD, have lost 2 fumbles, etc. Olindo Mare is proving to be a good place kicker, he’s 7-7 and has made most of them with ease.

Also, Jon Ryan is from Canada, he’s our punter, and he must think that punting in the end zone is worth 1 point like in the CFL, because in 2 games he has golden chances to down the ball inside the 20, and instead punts it 5 yards into the end zone without it bouncing once. Maybe things will change, but special teams is by far the weakest part of this team.

Signature? SIGNATURE?! Don't talk about SIGNATURE! I just hope I can write a sentence!

by SSreporters on Oct 3, 2008 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wait

do they really get a point for punting into the end zone in the CFL?

by cjmulrain on Oct 3, 2008 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Works like this

The CFL ball is rounder and er….heavier, so it’s a lot more difficult to punt.

Suppose it’s 24-23, you’re at the opponent’s 25 yard line and attempt a 32 yard FG (goal posts are at the front), should you miss but it goes into the end zone without being advanced, it is a single. Ditto for punting and kickoffs, but since a CFL field is longer, it is a rarity for a kickoff to lead to a single.

The way to prevent a single is to advance the ball, OR, the team on defense will try and kick the ball out of the end zone and back into the field of play, to prevent any chance of it bouncing out of the end zone, which means bringing in your kicker for defense for these instances.

And if you’re at your own 5 and you have to punt (and you punt on 3rd down, they have 3 downs), it’s common in the CFL to concede a safety.

Signature? SIGNATURE?! Don't talk about SIGNATURE! I just hope I can write a sentence!

by SSreporters on Oct 3, 2008 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wow

that’s pretty crazy. I knew about the 3 downs and the longer field, but I thought those were the only real differences between the league. Those crazy Canadians…I would love to see one of those games one time. I went to an Arena League game once and had a blast, I bet the CFL would be a lot of fun too.

by cjmulrain on Oct 3, 2008 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Go to www.channelsurfing.net, scroll down and there is a CFL game played right now.

Signature? SIGNATURE?! Don't talk about SIGNATURE! I just hope I can write a sentence!

by SSreporters on Oct 3, 2008 7:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Really Cuz;

Your old enough to know better;

“I thought it was possible the Giants could head to a mid-season meeting with Dallas at 7-0”

Why don’t you just start yapping about Eli’s ……. nevermind, I KNOW BETTER.

by The Pale Scot on Oct 3, 2008 11:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As a hawks fan, I like this blog's perspective on this week's game

I think what was said in Field Gulls borders on ludicrous. The Giants have one of the best defenses (and schemes) in the NFL, thanks largely to Steve Spagnoulo. Further, the three-headed monster of Jacobs, Ward, and Bradshaw combine to make (in my opinion) the best multi-faceted run-attack in the NFL.

I think the historical combination of the G-men playing poorly after the bye and the ‘hawks propensity to lay an egg on the road, make this a closer game on Sunday than the spread is indicating. If the hawks can get off to a good start and gain a little momentum, I think they have a chance. However, if we come out pathetically flat like we did in Buffalo… I don’t want to go there.

We all know what the Giants bring to the table on both sides of the ball. I think the outcome will be determined by whether or not the Seahawks will be able to move the ball against a formidable defense. I’m hoping for a great game. God knows we need something to cheer about in this city….

by gohawks on Oct 3, 2008 12:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gohawks

Thanks for dropping in, and bringing a level-headed perspective to the whole thing. Seattle is a good team, and the Giants can’t win every week, so you just never know what will happen. Good luck … after this week, that is.

by Ed Valentine on Oct 3, 2008 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs