Mystery Of The Missing Mathias: Where Has Kiwanuka Been?

We will need him against Frank Gore and the best offensive line we have seen in many weeks. Could be he is dinged up.

i think the Giants were trying to plan against the pass heavy attack of the Packers and having JWill on the field over Kiwi helps in pass coverage. with the 49er rushing game, i’m sure Kiwi will see a lot of action

A lot of it has to do with the teams we are playing.

Considering how both Atlanta and Green Bay, as well as Dallas to an extent, all had a lot of different weapons, ESPECIALLY good tight ends that cause mismatches, we needed guys like Williams in their for their covering ability.

While SF has some weapons to, their biggest weapon is Gore, so I’d expect Kiwi to get some more snaps in order to stop the run.

Even if he doesn’t play more in coverage, if he is getting less snaps at LB, having him play a few extra ones at DE would be nice.

but chalked it up to the Packers.

didn’t know he only logged 25 snaps vs. ATL though. that’s a shocker.

i think though that it’s more of a credit to Boley and JKwon….and Chase. than a knock on Kiwi….plus pretty much all year Fewell gave Kiwi some work on the Dline so i do’;nt think it’s a change of heart

I thought he was being phased out in a sense.

I dont understand it and im not even gonna guess…… they just need to play him, period.

If he’s not rushing, he’s a liability in coverage. If he’s rushing from as a stand up LB its harder to disguise coverages.

Dude has been a beast against the run all year. He’s second on the team (and tied for 14th in the NFL) for tackles for a loss, and it seems like every game he blows up multiple runs in the backfield. I can understand not playing him as much against the Packers, given their propensity for passing and their frequent 3-wide sets. He needs to be in there against the Niners early to set the tone. I can already envision him blowing up Gore for a 2-yard loss on the first play of the game.

But I think we have enough smarts between Kiwi and Boley. I’d LOVE for our starting LB corps to be JWill at WILL, Boley at MIKE, and Kiwi at SAM.

so…much…athleticism…

As long as this defense continues to play at this level.

Correlate with Blackburn’s return to the Giants? It could be that the Giants just like to have more speed on the field when Chase is in, even on running downs, just because JWill’s speed offers more versatility to the defense.

Having a huge lead past couple weeks and thus few obvious running situations helps too.

let him do what he does best, pass rush, and run stuff.

I expect to see him in the backfield alot this sunday

as opposed to linebacker last game?

Kiwi is a 1st and 2nd down, running down LB. When the other team is 3rd and long, or in an obvious passing situation, he’s not going to be out there. He hasn’t played that much the 2 playoff games because they have put the other teams in obvious passing situations a lot, ergo, the more the Giants are winning, the less you will see Kiwi on the field.

First, he played a LOT of snaps while other LB’s were injured, and he may have been overused a bit for his lonevity and strength over a full scheduke.

To my eyes, he was nowhere near as quick late in the season as he was earlier, and I think they needed to dial down his snaps.

With that in mind, as they got healthier and could dial down his snaps, he’s just better rushing at DE and run stopping than in coverage. He’s just not a LB in my mind, he’s a DE. Just because we had weakness in the LB corps did not make him a LB. I think he was a weakness in coverage, and with all the passing teams we’ve been facing, we’ve seen more Boley and Williams out there at the same time to defend the pass, with Blackburn in the middle. Some of that is a testament to Williams continued development.

I hope they return him next year to DE, where his best skills will be best used. But against the 49ers he may see more snaps, assuming he’s healthy enough.

I hope they find a way to get him involved in the pass rush and in run coverage. maybe he can rotate on the line or something. But if the defense is fixed, don’t break it.

I guess it was limited but he was all over the field from what I remember

Also we’ve played passing teams. I think we will see a lot of him against the 49ers and possibly the Ravens if the two teams meet in the SB.