Wednesday Walk Around the NFL: 5.6.09

by Jim Schmiedeberg on May 6, 2009 7:00 AM EDT in News Comment 20 comments

Wednesday is upon us, Giants fans, so it's time to take a look at the stories making headlines around the NFL:

The NFL has slated 16 games to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the American Football League.
The Bleacher Report has the 10 coaches on the hot seat for 2009.
It looks like Number 4 just doesn't know when to say when. Guess he won't be taking the advice I gave him last week.
Clark Judge at CBS Sportsline talks about which teams have made the biggest leaps in the off season. I disagree that it's the Giants chasing the Eagles, I think it's the other way around. I love how the "experts" are in love with a team one minute, and down on them the next. Looks like the Eagles are the "next best thing" this year.
Vinnie Iyer at the Sporting News says these 10 offensive sophomores are on the spot.
Mike Lopresti at USA Today says playing the Super Bowl in London is a bad idea.

There weren't many new headlines today that didn't mention the former Jets QB, so I apologize for the short report this week.

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Eagles?

The Eagles have finally got a playmaking receiver in DeSean Jackson. If Jeremy Maclin lives up to his billing, Donovan McNabb will at least have a chance to do something important. I’m not convinced about the OL. Even if Peters and Andrews are as good as claimed and stay healthy, the line will still take a while to come together. Also, Osi won’t be alone out there. The Eagles OL will define the worst their season can be; their receivers will define the best their season can be. The D will be fine without Dawkins.

While I’m concerned about the receiving corps, I’m more concerned about the Giants OL. That’s where it all starts. The tackles are good but not great. We may need to look at some double TE sets. Rushing will be fine without Ward. The D has better players so it will depend on coaching and injuries.

Clearly team should be able to relax against the Giants. It’ll be a waste of time to prepare a game plan against them and backups will do about as well as the starters.

by TerraByte on May 6, 2009 9:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The Eagles and Giants

will be going at it again for the NFC East Title. I’m actually not that concerned about the receivers any more. I think that issue was solved in the draft and while neither of the picks are considered “double coverage” guys, I think they’ll be just fine. The only concern about the OL is health and depth. I don’t think we need to go double TE because this is still the same line that kept Eli’s back clean and produced two 1000 yard rushers. McKenzie’s back scares me at times but other than that, I think they’ll be fine.

by njgiant on May 6, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"it's the Giants chasing the Eagles"???

I agree with you Jim, we look better on paper but after losing two in a row to the EAGLES, I can’t really blame them for putting us behind PHI. We had the “experts” actually calling us the best team in the NFC, if not the NFL, but then we went on a slide at the end.

NYG always performs better in the underdog role, so let’s hope they have us finishing 4th in the division and not even making the playoffs (again!!)

by NY17NE14 on May 6, 2009 9:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

well look, we all know how and why the Giants season went down the latrine last year, but I’m not ready to hand the Eagles the NFC East just yet. A wise man (my father) once said “With the Giants, its all about the defense”, and I believe the Giants defense is going to be the best in the conference, maybe the whole league. When Donovan has 19 guys in blue (or white and red) chasing him like Godzilla through Tokyo, it won’t matter who his wide receivers are.

Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers

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by Jim Schmiedeberg on May 6, 2009 9:52 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And I agree with you again!!!

Without a doubt, our defense wore down towards the end and the lights on our season got turned off. It wasn’t PHI was a better team, we still should have beaten them.

I am not giving ANYTHING to the EAGLES!!! I’m thinking GIANTS win the NFC East, then NFC championship and then are SuperBowl Champs!!!

I’m not down on our team, We already have all the players we need to win the SB, we just need to be prepared for the injuries that are bound to happen over the length of the season!!

by NY17NE14 on May 6, 2009 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I cant believe the NFL would alienate their fanbase

By moving the Super Bowl to London…..what a slap in the face. Give it up, Goodell, Europeans aint playing American Football

Okay, just so I understand it... in your wildest fantasy, you are in hell. And you are co-running a bed and breakfast with the devil.

by bren on May 6, 2009 9:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We'll see how good the Eagles look when McNabb gets sacked 12 times by our O-Line with Canty, Osi, Bernard, etc.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 6, 2009 10:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Eagles

I’m curious why the experts think Jeremy Maclin is expected to come in and make a big impact and yet when it comes to Hakeem Nicks and other rookie WRs they’re taking a wait and see attitude.

If Maclin can come in and elevate the Eagles offense who’s to say that Nicks can’t do the same for the Giants?

I thinks it’s already been pointed out on this blog that the Giants matched the Eagles every off-season move so far.

I’m wondering how long can McNabb continue to drop back and throw the ball 40-70 times a game before he gets seriously injured.

by John W on May 6, 2009 11:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sacking McNabb

That’s a good point, and that’s why we struggled against the Eagles last year. I think we only sacked McNabb once. Now we’ve upgraded our defensive line, but they’ve added two much younger O-linemen and they’re getting Shawn Andrews back. Whichever team wins that battle, will likely be the team that wins the NFC East and goes deep in the playoffs.

I also agree that Maclin is likely to have relatively minor impact this year. barring injury, Jackson and Curtis are going to be the starting WRs and at best Maclin will be the third receiver and even then he’ll split time with Jason Avant and Hank Baskett. I figure him for about 30 catches, mostly on short routes, unless he plays so well that he replaces Curtis as a starter. Nicks is klikely to have a bigger impact because I suspect he’ll get a lot more playing time.

by Tucker Fredrickson on May 6, 2009 1:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

don't forget they got that guy Cellek (or something like that...)

I get the feeling he’s gonna be a pain in our ass over the middle for a number of years!!!

Or until we find an asnwer to him anyways.

by NY17NE14 on May 6, 2009 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Boley, Michael

There’s your TE over the middle answer….

by FreeBradshaw on May 7, 2009 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eagles Schedule Vs Giants Schedule

Eagles-
AT CAROLINA
NEW ORLEANS
KANSAS CITY
BYE
TAMPA BAY
AT OAKLAND
AT WASHINGTON
NY GIANTS
DALLAS
AT SAN DIEGO
AT CHICAGO
WASHINGTON
AT ATLANTA
AT NY GIANTS
SAN FRANCISCO
DENVER
AT DALLAS

Giants
WASHINGTON
AT DALLAS
AT TAMPA BAY
AT KANSAS CITY
OAKLAND
AT NEW ORLEANS
ARIZONA
AT PHILADELPHIA
SAN DIEGO
BYE
ATLANTA
AT DENVER
DALLAS
PHILADELPHIA
AT WASHINGTON
CAROLINA
AT MINNESOTA

by John W on May 6, 2009 11:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maclin

has terrible hands, just a speed guy.
Nicks is “the most pro-ready WR” according to almost every expert.
Our D is going to be the most dominant in the league…it’s all about pass rush…
Tuck, Canty, Bernard, Osi, Kiwi, Robbins, Cofield, Alford, Tollifson seems unfair.
ha
buuuuurrrrnnnnn

by DLineMonsts on May 6, 2009 12:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

9 on the DL?

That’s a lot of DLs. The first six make it. The last three battle for 1-2 spots.

by TerraByte on May 6, 2009 4:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eagles Giants

I think right now, they could very well be the two best teams in the NFL going into next season. You can’t sleep on the champs, but their offseason hasn’t impressed me, and both the Giants and Eagles beat them last year. And the Cardinals were fluky. One big thing that’s being missed with the Eagles is the loss of Dawkins – his skills had slipped a bit, but he was practically the coach of that defense. I wonder how his loss is going to affect them. Either way, should be a good battle.

Now that I’ve said that, watch the Redskins go 14-2…

"This is the beauty of baseball. In basketball, at the end of the game, you want to put the ball in your best scorer's hands. But in baseball, it's up to a rookie like McGlinchy and a journeyman like Franco with the entire season on the line. Baseball history is dotted with names like Al Weis and Brian Doyle, men who have taken their name out of the agate type and placed it into the headlines, because it was simply their time."

by cjmulrain on May 6, 2009 1:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

REDSKINS... 14and 2... That's FUNNY!!!

by NY17NE14 on May 6, 2009 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nah!!!

I think he meant 14 wins over 2 seasons! haha

by Hootman on May 6, 2009 2:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Eagles have safety concerns

I was checking out some posts at Bleedinggreen nation the other day, and I think you are right CJ. Even though Dawkins had lost a couple of steps, they are really going to miss his big play ability, and they are not very strong at safety. Quinti Mikell is a very solid and underrated player. They expect Quintin Demps who has never started a game to be the starter. He may turn out to be a nice player, and he’s definitely faster than Dawkins, but he’s not going to be delivering those ferocious hits and he’s definitely going to make some rookie mistakes. Beyond that, the only experienced safety they have is Sean Jones. He’s a decent hitter, but not like Dawkins, and he can’t cover anybody. Beyond that they have rookies and journeymen. Dawkins had 6 forced fumbles last year a couple of sacks and a couple of picks. I think the Eagles’ turnovers will go way down this year without him.

by Tucker Fredrickson on May 6, 2009 4:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yea

I know Giants fans hate Dawkins, and with good reason, but my 4 years of college coincided with the Eagles 4 straight NFC Championship appearances, and I watched a ton of Eagles games during that stretch – Dawkins was just an unbelievable presence on that D. I’ve always respected him as much as any player in football, and in many ways he was like their version of Strahan. Our D was good last year, and skills wise Tuck was probably better than Stra would have been, but it was hard to replace that leadership out there, especially late in the season when the guys were getting burnt out and things went downhill for the first time. It helps to have a leader like Strahan or Dawkins who have been through it all before to keep the young guys focused.

by cjmulrain on May 7, 2009 12:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

same here

with Eagles games in college in Philly. It’s the exact same conversation we’re going to have when Pierce leaves. …. But I still hate him for that cheap shot that almost wiped Hilliard from the face of the earth on MNF

by queler on May 7, 2009 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs