What do the Giants do now? Ideas for salvaging the season

They seem to start out doing it…but Jacobs just doesn’t run hard anymore. Is it that he’s not getting carries? Or are they not giving him carries cuz he’s running like a puss?

I still disagree about Osi. He seems to be doing exactly what he’s always done. He was a vulture sack type. He gets pressure of his own, but it was only when the other DE or a DT moved the QB out of the pocket, Osi was there to pick up the sack. The other guys are not doing their job.

Not sure on Barden. Sounds like a good idea….but it seemed in the ATL game the Giants found the answer with Boss (the answer was there anyway…). He’s not playing for a reason, I think.

Beckum you might not see for the rest of the season. His bonehead route that got a pass picked off by Asante Samuel, he’ll be in the doghouse for a while.

And Beatty seems to be in there, not enough…, but as a blocking TE. You take that away if you sit McKenzie. I also don’t think he’s the sole reasone. The backs seem to be boneheaded on blocks, Eli holds onto the ball too long sometimes and also…they are just getting beat by a pass rusher who will beat anyone.

Is it time that we started playing a 3WR, 1 TE and 1 RB formation as our staple one?

If we replace Hedgecock with Nicks it will force the defence to adjust to another player out wide – it does mean we lose a blocking FB so the RB has to go with what he sees, but does anyone know what the ration of run/pass plays are with Hedgecock in to see if we are that perdictable with him in the game.

I am all for letting the more talented players play – after all if they do not see playing time this season what makes you think they will be ready to play next season!

CNNSI has the full break down on Eli’s passing stats per formation to the right, left and middle under presuure when blitzed etc

However look at these stats which are in order of

Game Comp Attt Com % Yards

Pass Thrown Behind Line of Scrimmage 11 48 76 63.2 389
Pass Thrown 1-10 yds 11 102 147 69.4 807
Pass Thrown 11-20 yds 11 45 86 52.3 836
Pass Thrown 21-30 yds 10 14 30 46.7 442
Pass Thrown 31-40 yds 7 3 10 30.0 110
Pass Thrown 41+ yds 5 2 5 40.0 100

Eli has thrown 244 passes in a single back formation and 257 passes from the shotgun – it is fair to say that alot of these two overlap, What I would like to see is Eli passing from a 3 WR set single back set whilst under centre because giving Jacobs the ball out of the shotgun is no good as the D can see what is happening and can react faster than Jacobs can hit the hole.

I think this is the link below
 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/players/6760/passing_splits.html#ixzz0YLd7Tmoj

and move Osi to safety to replace CC Clown, he will get about the same number of sacks and probably a better pass defender than good ole CC.

Looking at the stats which overlap a great deal so excuse me why I assume certain things in my logic.

Jacobs has run 76 plays from a single back formation of which 21 were shotgun.

Eli has thrown 257 passes from the shotgun and 244 from a singleback formation.

So in my logic when we go singleback with Eli under centre we mostly run the ball and when we are in the shotgun with a single back we pass the ball.

From a defensive viewpoint it is easy to gamble on if it is a pass or run.

I could be wrong but if I can see a trend here I am sure all the other teams can! However, we won six games because some of the teams we beat were poor or were not able to outscore us!

Just prayers. Stranger things have happened

I’d love for the Giants to suddenly start running the ball more with Jacobs with authority, but they probably won’t for 2 reasons. First, they’ve become a passing team out of necessity. Teams are loading up to stop the run, so the offense is going to what the defense gives them. Second, the O-line is not preforming (which is tied with the 1st). We can harp on them to run more, but if they can’t do it effectively then how are they supposed to do it? I don’t think its as simple as saying let’s run more.

As for BS in the booth … that should have been done a long time ago. I still shake my head at how this coaching staff refuses to make changes.

That Tom Coughlin won’t listen to this because he’s too set in his ways. Anyone have his number or email so he knows this blog exists? Seriously. Maybe he needs to start listening to the fan base.

Play the young guys and rest the injured veterans this team is going nowhere. 6-10 might be bad enough to draft Brandon Spikes. The Giants have not had a really good playmaking LB since Armstead and have not had a Great LB since LT, Banks, Carson, P. Johnson. They need a stud LB I miss having a playmaking maniac thats all over the field screaming and yelling.

I want to see the young guys get in there when the season is lost. That’s one more loss away. At this point the Giants are very much in the playoff race and the NFC East race.

If they win the next 3 they own division tie breakers over everyone, they likely beat Carolina as well, then the Vikings game is huge.

Dallas has a tough schedule ahead that includes Giants, Chargers, Saints & Philly. They could very well lose all 4 and most likely will lose at least 2 of those.

Philly has it a bit easier but has Atlanta, San Fran & Denver. They probably drop one of those (and we’re assuming here that they lose to the Giants).

So assuming we win the next 3 and handle Carolina, I see the standings going into week 16 like this

Giants 10 5
Dallas 10 5
Philly 10 5

with the Giants holding divisional tie breaker over Philly and a Dallas sweep. It’s far from over BUT…winning the next 3 is much easier said than done.

Until we’re mathematically out of the division and the playoffs, or at the very least, after the Eagles game, knowing TC, he’s going to roll with who has been starting.

At 6-5 with a pulse still, TC knows that doing what we are suggesting would, moreless raise the white flag. In TC’s mind, thats probably the furtherest thing he’s thinking about!

We were a good offensively (in the past) because we would wear defenses down. Not going to wear any defense down by running Bjake 11 times a game. It’s time to feed the bull. Bjake needs to run the ball 20 times minimum. I would like to see around 25 carries for him. I don’t believe the stuff about saving him for the playoffs because as it stands now, he is going to be fresh for his couch come the second season. And if we were saving him for the playoffs, then the time to use him is now because as I see it, the Giants are in the playoffs “NOW”. Any lose in the next five weeks and it’s a total wrap.

The best we can hope for is to go 11-5. While that would send us into the playoffs, we would need to get on one hell of a hot streak to do it; but, let’s look at it more realistically: there are going to be a couple of losses along the way. So, we’re looking at 10-6, 9-7, 8-8, or worse. That won’t get us into the playoffs, not this year, not unless we sweep Dallas and Philly and both they and the Redskins have horrible endings to their seasons.

That’s a gamblers mentality, and it’ll only wear out our team for the remainder of the season, and make team unity a difficult task come next season. To hell with that.

The remainder of this year, I think, needs to be spent developing younger talent. We’re not going to make the playoffs this year, and if we do how far do you think we’ll actually get? This isn’t 2007 where we had a shot in every game, this is 2009 where we’ve been blown out in almost every loss.

Where do we start?

Deactivate Manning and Pierce. Manning is obviously too hurt, and Pierce is not only hurt, but he’s slowed down considerably this season. I know Carr and Blackburn don’t exactly inspire the team, but Carr will be starting in Oakland next year and Blackburn has a good head for the game, he just doesn’t get enough playing time. At least Blackburn can get off of tackles and stop the run up the middle.

Bill Sheridan moves up into the booth. The NY media is calling for his head, but the Giants have some wiggle room here, specifically that he was talked into staying on the sidelines. They’ll give him another year to work out the kinks. Maybe half-year, if he keeps dropping Tuck back into coverage.

For the rest of this year, I don’t want to see Osi in on 3rd-and-short, and 4th downs. In fact, I don’t want to see him in on first downs either, unless it’s against a pass-happy team. Osi has played himself into being a one-down lineman, and he deserves it.

You can’t do anything about the two DT’s up the middle right now, so you’ve got to rely on your LB’s to take care of the run that way. Keep the LB’s in a middle zone coverage at all times, and let the CB’s worry about covering the WR’s. If our LB’s are in the middle all the time (instead of pursuing players to the outside), we’ll be able to more effectively stop the short pass, while slowing down the run up the gut. That’ll put us in a edge weakness position, but we’ve been weak on the edges all season long, so it’s not like we’re creating a problem that doesn’t already exist.

Speaking of problems, the CB’s need replacing. We can’t exactly replace them with anyone, though. I think the best option here is to drop the CB blitz, and instead stick with the LB blitz.

None of this will perfectly shore up this defense, but I think it’ll give us a better opportunity to win, if the offense can get things going.

Getting the run game going is the only way the Giants are going to score again this year. Denver was dropping 8 and sometimes 9 people back into coverage! How the heck is Eli (or, in my scenario, Carr) supposed to throw it to someone if you’ve only got three guys going out there?

Unless you’ve got some of the most talented receivers in the league, you can’t. Therefore the only answer the Giants have is to run the ball. They don’t even have to run it effectively – just keep running it. Go 3 and out a couple of times on a short run loss, if you have to. Don’t stop running the ball.

In fact, I’ll take it a step further: you can call pass plays, but make sure Eli audibles to a run play. Every down. If you call a run play, stick with it and fake the audible. If you call a pass play, audible to the run. Every down. The ONLY time you switch it up is when the defense has started to key in on what you’re going to do – and make that Eli’s call as the field general, not Gilbrides.

I know it’s just trickery to try and keep the opposing defense honest, but you need it because the offensive line ain’t doing jack. Denver dropped 8 men back into coverage, leaving 3 men on the line – and Eli still had less than 2.5 seconds to stand in the pocket. That is completely unacceptable. When the opposing defense is only rushing three guys, Eli should have all year to wait around – flat footed – and find an open receiver deep in the end zone.

It’s not just the pass blocking that’s broken, the run blocking has been atrocious. The NY media is bringing heat down on Brandon Jacobs for running side to side and not getting turned around fast enough. Why blame him? Whenever Brandon is on the field, the defense crowds the line and waits – if it’s a run, they’ve effectively stopped the big guy, and if it’s a pass, it’s usually a short one because Brandon is NOT and effective pass blocker. So, the opposing defenses don’t lose anything by not crowding the line.

What do you do? Make the defenses lose something. Don’t use Brandon as a pass blocker – send him over the middle. At the moment, we’re sending him to the outside, and short – that’s not a good place for Brandon to be. He’s taller than most backs, and can take a hit, so sending him on a route down the middle might be his best option. You don’t do this TOO often, but out of the I formation, you want to break up the monotony of “run to the sides” and “short pass to smith” with something else.

Beyond that, the passing game has been stellar – especially when it comes to the NY Giants. You can’t really blame Manningham, Smith, or Nicks for the failures on offense. In fact, they’re the only reason we have any hope to begin with. I say, just keep playing them the way we have been.

There is one more thing I’d change up: go no huddle. You don’t have to go to a permanent two minute offense, but Eli – like his brother Peyton – needs time at the line of scrimmage to see the defense. He needs to be able to scan the field, take time to make his reads, and then snap the ball. The 10 seconds that Gilbride & Co are giving him after the play is called isn’t enough.

That’s what I’d do the rest of the season. But, honestly, the season is over. What I’m focusing on right now is talent development (put the rookies in, let them make their mistakes in a season that doesn’t mean anything), and then draft for defense.

The absolute worst part about this season is that even with 6 wins – even if we lose every game here on out – we’d still get a stuck-in-the-middle BS first round pick. Unless there was an outstanding first-round LB that fell to the Giants position, I’d trade the pick for a few second rounders. We need a lot of padding on both lines, give us a reason to drop CC Brown, and get us a backup/replacement for Kenny Philips (that arthritic knee could be a career ender).

I am on my nobby horse on the passing game.

Of Eli’s 354 passing attempts only 83 have been with a man in motion!

He has only attempted 110 passes from under centre.

Apart from the Washington game Eli’s passer rating for every other game is either over 100 or below 65!

Now how about this stat (which ignores Carr)

Jacobs and Bradshaw have run the ball 289 times of which 45 were from the shot gun. This means that when Eli is under Centre the play balance is 244 running plays to 110 passing plays.

So Eli under Centre expect run – Eli in the shotgun expect pass

No wonder defences are killing us they only have to look where Eli stands to know what the play is.

This is so depressing looking at these stats and it makes it clear that we are giving the OL a bad time when perhaps they have not got a chance if the D knows what is coming one play to the next.

I sorry Ed bur reading this means Gilbride has to go.

We haven’t been able to stop it or execute it. Something has got to give!

and I would be happy to see each come to fruition. BUT, I doubt TC or KG will move forward with any of them. I fear that if we don’t beat the Cowboys this weekend, the alarms need to be sounded and everyone will be yelling “Abandon ship!”

how about we get new coordinators and have someone remind brandon jacobs hes 6’4 and 250 pounds

[note that Ed will disagree here]

Reese simply must leverage Coughlin to make some changes with the coordinators:

Gilbride – whether or not he is the sole reason the team has suddenly resembled the run’n’shoot Oilers of the early 90’s is debatable. What’s NOT debatable is that he is calling the Offensive plays and HE is the one the one that calls play variation A/B/C based on how the D looks. It’s his sole responsibility to keep Eli on a shorter leash in terms of audibiling into a pass. The Denver game was simply an abomination – the Gmen were in the game yet they never established the run. That’s on Gilbride.

Sheriden: this simply isn’t working. It’s time to admit that this was a bad decision and CUT BAIT. This is getting ridiculous now. Spags was clearly in an entirely different league than this guy and now the entire unit is paying the price. I’ll be ABSOLUTELY shocked if he is still the D coordinator in 2010.

His schemes are too passive and too much “read/react” which the players LOATHE.

In reality, this team needs SERIOUS talent upgrades at LB to compete.

I would not mess with the WRs, they are doing fine. Jacobs needs to run straight and hard, and have a decent number of carries to assert himself. If the O-Line can’t clear a hole for him then he needs to go right over the top of the O-Line … that would be something to see. To do that either the negative influence needs to get out of Jacobs head, and I suspect that will be either the D Coord or the RB Coach (whoever that is), or Jacobs needs to get some therapy! Somehow he has to have a simpler more direct approach, IMHO. Of course, I could be talking absolute rubbish so correct me if I have this wrong. With a more productive running game to complement a satisfactory passing game we would have more time on the field going forward, less time on the field for the defense so they could be more rested, which seems to be what they need (apparently) … more rest and relaxation during the game .. please! That offensive production is also likely to help the confidence of the O-Line. So, my answer to Ed’s original question is inside Jacob’s head, I hope.

Unfortunately, there are many thoughts circulating that he is simply not running with the same intensity now that he got his contract. Last year, when angling for the bigger deal, he ran hard EVERY play. Now he seems content to run out of bounds and avoid the same contact he used to seek.

No longer can BJ be viewed as “the heart and soul of the offense”

will be over when we name Charlie Weis OC. Now we just need to find a DC.

if anyone’s watching the Pats-Saints game, that guys a monster.

Too bad we’ll never have any chance at offering him anything

He keeps lamenting the fact that the Saints don’t have a running game. I don’t believe he really thinks that, he just says it to piss me off. I am happy that his team is doing so well, but every week is hard work for me with the Giants playing poorly and the damn Saints still undefeated. However, I still cannot back the Pats to win today. I think the Saints will manage what NE failed to do in ’07.

Its going to be colts-vikings.

The vikings team overall is better than the saints.

but I did want Eli to sit in the Oakland game. I think we could have won with Carr

Even so, the problem this year is on the line(s)

Dominant lines hide a multitude of sins – and the Giants lines are simply not dominant any more

How about win the next 5 games?
Did you read on ProFootballFocus that Kevin Boss was the #1 ranked Tight End?
The fact that the Giants had their best regular season in recent memory with osi on the sidelines should tell you something. The whole unit, however, looks old and unispired. I think we miss Jay Alford more than you might think.