• Well, this is disconcerting. Michael David Smith tears LaVar Arrington to shreds in his Every Play Counts piece on FootballOutsiders, a weekly piece in which he looks at one particular player or match-up and gives it a “close reading,” like my English teachers used to assign of certain passages in books. He’s pretty merciless in his assessment:

Watching Arrington on every play of the Giants victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday showed that he doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing in pass coverage, has lost that blend of speed and power that once made him a terror as a pass rusher, and generally looks washed up at the age of 28.

Yeesh. He then proceeds to spend the whole article detailing LaVar’s every mistake: blown coverages, getting absorbed by blockers, ineffectual pass rushes, and general lackluster play. Is it the knee? Is it his discomfort in Tim Lewis’ read and react system? Either way, Smith has all but written LaVar off after two games with the Giants: “Unless he improves dramatically as this season wears on, he shouldn’t be back with the Giants next year.”

It’s certainly not good that this was the assessment of a guy who watched LaVar on every single play of that game, but let’s not forget, this is LaVar’s second game in an unfamiliar system and he is still getting his bearings after the many knee problems. At this point, I’m gonna give it more time before declaring that his incredible athleticism has just upped and vanished. And as comment #43 points out (yes, you have to scroll down that far to find someone who isn’t eating up the LaVar bashing), because the Giants haven’t blitzed much this year, LaVar hasn’t gotten the chance to showcase his best attribute.

Also, I have since seen one of the plays that Smith describes – when he supposedly “pulls up” and lets Madison do the tackling – and completely disagree with his assessment. He pulled up to cut off the cutback option, not because he wasn’t hustling. So there.

Keep Smith’s points in mind, but I’d like to think that the rumors of LaVar’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Either way, it’s certainly an article worth reading.

• Here’s a “60 Seconds With” interview with LaVar. One can surmise that he probably would disagree with Michael David Smith’s analysis.
• Are the Seahawks fans really that loud, or is Qwest Field generating artificial noise? asks Paul Schwartz. “Both the Giants and Seahawks have been notified that the NFL will be monitoring Sunday’s game, checking to see if any artificial (and thereby illegal) noise is being piped in to create a deafeaning environment.
• Willie Ponder is bringing kicks back for the Seahawks. Uh-oh. And David Akers apologized for slamming into Charles Way, even going so far as to call Way up.
• John Branch on Amani, the greatest wide receiver in Giants history. Man, Amani’s so solid, and when Kerry Collins was here playing well, he was damn good.
• Coming off a game where they gave up eight sacks, and returning to a place where they committed eleven false start penalties, the pressure’s on the offensive line, writes Mike Garafolo.
• A lot of “Jar Feely Returns to Seattle” articles on Thursday – they’re all pretty much the same. Feely really does seem like a good guy, and Arthur Staple wasn’t exaggerating when he talked about Feely going above and beyond the call of courtesy to sign autographs: I went up to Albany this summer and, yes, it’s true, Feely was a mensch.
• Eli was named Offensive Player of the Week for his 31/43, 371 yard, 3 touchdown performance.
• Plax has some tightness in his back, which caused him to miss Thursday’s practice. I’m not too concerned. Also in this article is that that Seahawks will be without TE Jeremy Stevens, and also perhaps their backup tight end Itula Mili. Despite the numerous dropped passes in the Super Bowl, Stevens is a decent threat, and judging by LJ Smith’s performance against us last week, he could have given us trouble.
• Deion Branch is a big X-Factor, writes Tara Sullivan. Nobody knows how he’ll be used, but with Branch, Jackson, and Engram, the Seahawks have some good receivers. Also, Sam Madison left practice on Friday with a foot injury – not good. And James Butler has been downgraded from questionable to out.
• Ralph Vacchiano predicts a Giants victory. His logic: Take away some of the 16(!) penalties and one of Feely’s misses, and the Giants would have won last year. Plus, the Seahawks have been pretty unimpressive offensively in their first two games.
• But yeah, between Shockey’s ankle, Carter’s ankle, Plax’s back, the Giants receivers are more banged up than you would like. Nothing devastating, but going into a tough game, you wish they were healthier.
• Nice piece by Mike Garafolo about Plax’s use of his height advantage. This Sunday, the Seahawk’s corners are all 5-10 and 5-11. I think all Giants fans expect Plax to continue to have a big year. The guy’s potential is ridiculous.
• The Giants Defensive Tackles face a big test against Shaun Alexander, writes Brendan Prunty. But as Michael Waxenberg says on his Big Blue Blog, “I think the concern is misplaced.” Alexander’s left foot has been bothering him, and the ‘Hawks running game hasn’t been the same after the departure of Steve Hutchinson. Pork Chop Womack, Hutchinson’s replacement, is out with an injury this week – that’s a big downgrade from the line Alexander ran behind last year.
• Arthur Staple blogs his predictions for the Seahawks game. He thinks both sides will run the ball effectively. I disagree: the Seahawks are good at stopping the run and so are the Giants. I think the game will be decided by whoever passes better – both teams have vulnerable pass defenses.
• Of course, if the Giants pass rush gets it together, it would certainly help matters. Come on fellas: now’s the time.
• Ah, the placekicker. Good quote by Jeff Feagles about the delicate art of making a field goal: “The anatomy of a field goal, it all breaks down from where it goes from the snap to the hold and then to the kicker’s form. It’s a chain reaction in a matter of 1.3 seconds.”