I.  Gilbride

After last night, the blogosphere is alight with angry Giants fans wondering what has happened to our vaunted offense over the past two weeks.

Andrew Furman, the proprietor of the excellent Giants blog UltimateNYG.com, points the finger squarely at Gilbride, who has long been the target of his wrath.  I think Furman has been a little tough on Gilbride in the past, but in this case, I agree with everything he says.

To appreciate the argument in its full indignant force, definitely check out his post.  In a nutshell, Furman’s argument goes thusly: Gilbride continued to call for deep drops and patterns that took way too long to develop, essentially letting Eli take the beating he did.   Instead, Furman says we should have gone with a diet “quick slants, 3 step drops, slip screens, draws, TE dumpoff checkdowns above the line of scrimmage.  Instead, we got long 7-step drops, and… shocking… 8 sacks.”

In his general takedown of Gilbride, he makes the point that the Giants have been outcoached for two straight weeks.  In the Philly game, both teams had to adjust to the wind.  Philly did, the G-Men didn’t.  In the Cowboys game, both teams had to adjust to their opponent’s ferocious pass rush.  The Cowboys did, the Giants didn’t.

So good job as always, Andy!

II. Lack of Plax

The problems with the game plan notwithstanding, it’s becoming pretty clear how much we will miss Plax – we’re really not the same team without him.  Plax is so talented that he can bail us out of a misbegotten play or gameplan with his long arms, strength, and ability to catch balls in traffic. 

The thing about Plax is that even if he’s covered, he’s still a viable option.  But if, say, Hixon is covered, Eli has to go to his next progression.  This takes time, and this becomes a significant problem if he’s under pressure, as evidenced by last night.

So I posit that beyond the offensive line’s brutal performance and Gilbride’s poor play-calling, the lack of Plax played a big role in the beating Eli took.  Going forward, this is something we have to adjust to. 

But can we?  Is it that easy?  Or was losing Plax a bigger blow than we even realized?  Yes, the Seahawks, Cardinals, and Redskins games went fine without him, but at this point, those games seem less instructive about what will happen going forward than the past two games.

So I’m worried, and I’m also very pissed.  If our offense doesn’t recover from this, we are likely in for a very disappointing ending to what had been our most promising season in ages.  And we’ll have Plaxico Burress and his stupidity to blame.

III.  Lack of Jacobs/Free Ahmad (Again)

The running game struggled yesterday, but I frankly don’t think things would have been any different if Jacobs was getting the carries that went to Ward.  Simply put, there weren’t any holes, and while Jacobs is great at charging through holes with a head of steam and running downhill for big gains, he’s not so good at creating for himself.  With the penetration the Cowboys defenders got last night, Jacobs wouldn’t have done any better.

But you know who might have?  Ahmad Bradshaw, who continues to be stashed on the bench and criminally underutilized.  When we were running for 200 yards and blowing teams out, Coughlin and Gilbride apologists offered the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rationale for why Bradshaw was on the bench.  But after two pathetic offensive showings, it’s safe to say that this shit is broke, and it’s time to deviate from what we’ve been doing.

I’ve made this point before, but if your offense is struggling to score points, you need playmakers.  Ahmad is a game-breaker – maybe he could have broken off a 40-yard play last night that would have jump-started our offense.  But no.  For some reason, we stayed with Ward and continued to bang our heads against the wall while our offense repeatedly failed.

IV.  Hixon Needs to Return Kicks and Punts (Again)

This is related to the point I made above: If you’re struggling to score points, the need for big plays is more acute.  Having Moss (who is a terrible return-man) and ‘Dubs returning kicks and punts, respectively, takes away one of our best opportunities for big plays in Hixon’s returns.

It almost as if Coughlin doesn’t see the return game as a chance to do something positive, but rather as a liability where things can go wrong, whether fumbles or injuries.  Ever since he chose the sure-handed but slow Chad Morton over Willie Ponder in 2005, it seems like we’ve never gotten as much out of the return game as we can.

Hixon is clearly our best returner.  It’s a shame the small chance of his getting hurt has to cost us so much in the return game.  The situation is symptomatic of the philosophy that keeps Ahmad buried on the bench: It seems like there’s this assumption that everything is fine, that all parts of the Giants machine are exactly where they need to be.  But things aren’t fine; it’s time for Tom to start maximizing the roster’s resources.

That said, there’s a chance that Hixon hasn’t been returning kicks/punts because of his foot/ankle injury.  If that’s the case, fine, that’s very reasonable.  But come playoff time, he better be back there.  We can’t afford to have him not be.

V. Eli

I know there have been mitigating circumstances the past two games, and I know he hasn’t played terribly.  But look: After we lost Plax and teams officially started ganging up to stop the run, we knew our fate would hinge on Eli.  At this point, you’d have to say things aren’t going too well in that regard.

Forget the play-calling and the pass rush for a second.  Haven’t Eli’s throws been off?  A little high, maybe?  I think his mechanics are a little out of whack.  He needs to play better.

VI.  Problems on Third Down

Just came across this statistic via Trent Dilfer on ESPN (he is an excellent analyst, in my opinion): Before the last two games, we were converting at a 45 percent clip on third down.  Against the Cowboys and Eagles, we were 6 for 26, or 23 percent.

This is bad, but it’s actually encouraging going forward.  Basically, it means our offense will improve because that low conversion rate has to be considered something of an aberration.  Granted, we’ve been bad on first and second downs the past two games, but I’m pretty sure we haven’t been that bad.  Our poor performance on third down, therefore, is a bit of an outlier and one that will even out in the future.  So while our offense has been very bad over the past two games, it hasn’t been as bad as it’s looked.

VII. Tackling

Two big and inexcusable plays from last night: 1) Michael Johnson letting Witten slip out of his arms on the game-clinching first down; and 2) Antonio Pierce going high on Witten, catching a stiff-arm, and letting Witten rumble down to the 1 on the Cowboys’ second touchdown drive.

A big play in the Eagles game: Kenny Phillips taking a horrific angle and missing LJ Smith on a third-and-long, which eventually led to a touchdown.

We need to tighten things up.

First, I’d like to thank all the people who have been commenting on this blog.  There are around a million-and-a-half things to address after any football game, and I have no illusions about being able to cover everything.  It’s up to you guys to pick up the slack, and you guys are doing a great job – your on-point observations are sincerely appreciated.

For my part, I plan on responding more to your comments.  I also encourage you guys to respond to each other.  That’s the great thing about the democratic nature of blogs: they’re not just about the quality of the posts, but also the quality of discussion between the readers.  Keep up the good work, fellas.

**

This is very encouraging news: It appears that Osi is well ahead of schedule with his rehab and his knee should be “stronger than ever,” in his words, when he returns to practice next spring.

According to this Ralph Vacchiano blog post, Osi thinks he initially tore the knee last year, but he played through it while the Giants called it an “irritation.”  If his knee really was torn it would explain his sub-par (by his standards) year: Yes, the 13 sacks were impressive, but remember that 6 of them came in that one Eagles game against the slow, overmatched Winston Justice.

Osi actually thinks he might have been able to come back for the postseason, but I’m sure most Giants fans aren’t too disappointed that’s not an option because he’s stashed on IR.  He would have been a shell of his real self anyway, and this way, we’ll have something to look forward to next year as we try to three-peat.

**

Kevin Dockery will miss at least two weeks with a back injury, probably more.  This leaves the nickel corner job between Madison, Terrell Thomas, and R-Dubs.  Thomas stepped in for Dockery Sunday and did a good job, but that was because Madison and Dubs didn’t dress.  (Thomas dressed because he has become a valued special-teamer, which speaks well for him.)

I’d love to see Thomas take this job and run with it for the next four years, but you’d have to think it’s more likely that Madison gets the nod because of his experience.  For as many steps as he has lost, Madison still has a knack for making picks, which fits will with our reborn pass-rush. 

If anything, replacing Dockery for Madison is probably a good thing.  Remember, it was Dockery who was largely responsible for Mewelde Moore’s first touchdown run.  He utterly whiffed on the tackle coming off the corner, and Moore had the entire side of the field to outrun Johnson.

**

Brian Kehl has a toe injury, and Fred Robbins is “nicked up,” according to the latest reports.  We don’t know any more about these injuries as of now, but hopefully these guys won’t miss the Cowboys game.  We especially need the encouraging Kehl, because Gerris Wilkinson will miss yet another week.  What a disappointing, injury-marred career for that guy – you get the feeling his Giants career might be over before it has even begun.  And you also get the feeling that he’ll catch on with the team like the Redskins and become a valued contributor down the line.

**

Here’s something I didn’t talk about in my game recap: Matthias Kiwanuka, who was having a mildly disappointing year to this point as he recovered from that week 1 leg injury, responded in a big way by posting three sacks.

This is obviously encouraging, as ‘Nuke has the potential to be a pass-rushing weapon.  I read something interesting in Mike Garafolo’s game recap about a conversation he had with a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer, who said that Max Starks, the Steelers’ right tackle last week, has slow feet.  With his pure speed, ‘Nuke can be a force against slower tackles.

One thing that concerns me about ‘Nuke, however, is that he plays so high.  This really saps his power and, I fear, might make him rather one-dimensional.  I don’t know, just something to look out for…

**

There seems to be a disconnect between what the fans think of James Butler and what people associated with the team think.  To us, he’s slow and always seems to be late getting over to help on deep receivers.  Yet the Giants tendered his contract during the offseason have given him close to 100% of the snaps at one safety spot, while Phillips and Johnson split the snaps at the other spot 50/50.

But for Sunday, give Butler credit where credit is due.  Yes, he got burnt by Nate Washington and then peeled ran away from him like he was trying to let the other guy score in Madden.  But overall, Butler had an awesome game.

His interception showed athleticism I didn’t know he had, and he caused another interception by tipping a pass to Kehl with another heretofore unseen athletic maneuver.  He also made 6 tackles, 3 of them solo.

I’ll say this about Butler: It does seem that he’s good at stepping up, taking angles at ball-carriers, and making tackles.  That’s something that goes unnoticed but is very important just the same, and therefore might help explain the disconnect.  There have been two long touchdown runs broken on us this year: the Chris Perry run and the Moore run.  On the Perry run, Kenny Phillips was playing safety on that side, with Johnson at linebacker in the dime package.  On the Moore run, Johnson was the deep safety on that side.

**

Allow me to address the Plax situation again, as I fear it is threatening to escalate into a threat to team morale.  What if we had lost this game?  Wouldn’t the fact that Plax wasn’t in the game on the unsuccessful goal line series – when we definitely would have thrown a fade to him – been blown up into a huge deal, as it probably should have been regardless?

After the suspension in the Seahawks game, I cautioned against people coming down too hard on him because for all his bullshit, the situation was always manageable.  But he’s pushing this too far.  I don’t know if it has turned into a battle of wills with Coughlin or if there’s something wrong in his personal life, but this has reached a critical point.  I said it Monday and I’ll say it again: Plax, cut the shit.

Fortunately, the good example set by the rest of the veterans allows us to overcome Plax’s bad example.  Check out this quote from Amani, who although he’s not about to take a shot at Plax, clearly takes Tom side.

“It’s just a bad situation all around.  We want him out there, but we do have team rules.  Everything that’s happened was how it had to happen.  It’s not a good situation for the whole team.”

Ralph Vacchiano, in his interview with the New York Times Fifth Down Blog about his book on Eli, puts it very well about Plax.  (He’s far less forgiving of Shockey.  It’s a great interview, you should check it out.)

“Burress is a strange guy.  He doesn’t respect authority and doesn’t seem to care about rules or punishment or anything like that, but he’s a hard worker and he definitely respects his teammates.  Eli seems to like him because he gives a huge effort on the field, is extremely smart, and they seem to have a chemistry.”

From this, it’s clear that the image of Plax the typical selfish diva of a receiver is off the mark.  I think it’s true that Plax respects his teammates, and that’s a big distinction.  But if he wants to show them respect and he’s that smart, he’ll start respecting authority just a little bit more so he can stop getting suspended.  That’s all we ask, Plax – you don’t have to turn into Darryl Strawberry on the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Company Softball Team.  Just don’t be an outright dick.  It shouldn’t be too hard.

First, I apologize for the late post.  I actually went to the game on Sunday and then went out that night, and because I had a ton of stuff to do yesterday for my day job, I didn’t get a chance to watch the tape until last night.

Second, I find it hard to believe that people are complaining about Sunday’s win.  If a 12-point win that would have been a 22-point win if not for the fluke of having a field-goal blocked and returned for a touchdown isn’t enough, then the sense of entitlement in this town is completely out of control.

Sure, the 49ers handed us the game.  But we took it, and didn’t give them a chance to take it back.  Was there really ever a doubt about the outcome?  Of course not.  The G-Men won going away.  As fans, we should be happy our team is capable of this even when they don’t play their best.

**

As long as I’m accentuating the positive, I’ll start with the defense.  Going into the game, the big concern was our pass rush, which had been nonexistent against the Browns.  Also, the fact that we hadn’t forced many turnovers this year was threatening to become a gathering concern.

Both trends reversed against the Niners: We racked up six sacks, “forced” two interceptions (granted, that might be a stretch) and four O’Sullivan fumbles, one of which we recovered and one of which led to the safety that put the game away.  (Nothing more fun than dong the safety dance – the contradictory motion of powerfully bringing your hands above your head like He-Man while gyrating your hips like a teenaged girl.)

For much of the first half, O’Sullivan actually did a good job evading our blitzes and finding guys.  But that changed very abruptly, as he went on to play a brutal game.  But still, credit our defense for completely shutting the Niners down in the second half, during which they gained just 67 yards and managed a mere four first downs.

There are many game balls to go around on D:

Justin Tuck was thoroughly disruptive and made a sweeeeeeet play when he forced that fumble that led to the safety by coming around the edge and deftly separating the ball from O’Sullivan’s hand.

Robbins and Cofield consistently got great penetration into the backfield on a day where we made 12(!) tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Michael Johnson, an overlooked member of the 2007 draft class considering he has probably had the biggest role the past couple years, made the first two picks of his career.  The first one was easy, but the second one was impressive: he did a good job recognizing the post route and turning his hips, and then took a good angle on the coverage of the receiver.  The guy is a pretty good player.

Chase Blackburn started in place of Pierce and frankly looked faster and more physical than him.  Blackburn notched twelve tackles, two of them for losses, and forced a fumble of O’Sullivan.  I know Pierce is the leader of the defense and everything, but I’m sure most Giants fans will join me in telling him to take his time getting back.

And Spags.  Maybe the magic isn’t gone.  As ineffective as the blitz packages were against the Browns, they were that good against the Niners.  Like all sports, football is a game of adjustments and counter-adjustments.  The league adjusted to Spags, and if Sunday’s game is any indication, he countered.

On the downside, much has been made of Aaron Ross’ recent struggles – he even sat on the bench on a couple series’ in the second half while Dockery filled in.  But I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.  On the touchdown he allowed, he actually did a pretty good job in single coverage until the ball was in the air, at which point he suffered a very uncharacteristic breakdown in ball-skills.  Against the Browns, he had a rough game; against the Niners, he had a rough moment.  He’s good, he’ll bounce back, so let’s move on.

**

On offense, not so great, but serviceable enough.

Eli wasn’t at his best, going 16 for 31 for 161 yards.  He averaged 5.2 yards per attempt, well below the standard he has set for himself this season of 7.3, and even his career mark of 6.4. 

And no, he didn’t throw a pick, but there were two balls that probably could have been picks (one on an out to Smith that the defender undercut and could have taken to the house had the ball not been thrown high).  He also had four passes tipped, a distressing reemergence of an early-career trend that we are probably lucky didn’t lead to a pick.

But while it wasn’t a good game, it was an adequate game.  And sometimes, good and even great quarterbacks play merely adequate games.  Will that type of effort cut it against Pittsburgh?  Probably not.  But who among us isn’t confident Eli won’t play better next week?

At receiver, the game ball goes to Steve Smith.  If all Chris Carter did is catch touchdowns, all this guy does is catch first downs.  What a nice player.  Such great field sense and such good body control.  This guy is gonna be good for a long time.

Although we only averaged 3.5 yards per carry, I was actually pleased with the running game.  Not counting Eli’s rushing line (3 carries for -4 yards), we averaged 4 yards per carry, which isn’t bad considering we were sitting a lead for most of the second half.

Jacobs, who I’ve been harsh on in the past, was very good, as he has been all year.  On his first touchdown run, he made a nice little hesitation before squirting through a small hole, a sign of his improved feel for the holes this year.  On his second touchdown run, he kept his legs driving after the initial contact and plowed into the endzone decisively.  He’s been excellent, and it’s time for me to admit I was too harsh on him.  (Although the first-series fumble was worrisome.)

Ward, as usual, was terrific.  Announcers don’t seem to have caught on to how powerful this guy’s lower body is.  On that third down pass play in the first quarter – before Ahmad’s fourth down conversion – Ward pushed the pile a solid three to four yards, getting us close enough to compel Tom to go for it.  It should also be noted that Ward is a really smooth receiver.

And Bradshaw, despite the fumble, was impressive as well.  Sure, he only managed 28 yards on 8 carries, but he was facing 8 and 9-man fronts during clock-killing time.  For as sparingly as that guy is used, he always manages to do at least one thing that shows how good he is.

It seems like Coughlin and Gilbride are loosening up their rigid running back hierarchy, something long called for here at NYGMen.  Using Bradshaw on that fourth down toss-sweep was an inspired stroke.  It also seemed like they worked in the backs at different points of a series, rather than just being like, “Ok Brandon, it’s your series.  You take every carry.”

And Tom deserves credit for going for it on that fourth down play.  When you’re dominating the line of scrimmage like we were early in the game, you have to make hay.

The papers have tried to create a to-do about Plax, who seemed to be in a terrible mood all game.  There was the sequence with the personal foul followed by cursing at Coughlin, though that seems like a much bigger deal to everyone else than to the Giants.  Coughlin actually defended Plax, saying something along the lines of, “He’s a competitor.  Shit happens.”

And let me ask you, was it me, or was Plax’s gesture of firing the ball into the stands after his fourth quarter touchdown a kind of “fuck-you” to the fans, who booed him after the personal foul?  But whatever.  As a fan, I’ve made the same calculation as Coughlin: the guy can tell me to go fuck myself every once in a while when he’s PMSing, and I’m not gonna get bent out of shape.  He’ll get over it and generally be a great receiver for me.  Plax is a moody, mercurial athlete, but he’s worth it: my guess is he has a huge game against the Steelers next week and gets people off his back.

Injuries:

The bye week did wonders for Kiwanuka, who says he’s feeling about as good as he’s going to.

“There’s a little bit [of pain there], but I’ve played with far worse injuries than this.

Manningham, whom the coaching staff seems to have wanted to supplant Moss as the fourth receiver this week (and fifth receiver when Plax gets back), picked up a narsty stomach flu and returned to practice just today.  It remains to be seen who will get those snaps during the game.

Either way, the whole thing doesn’t bode well for Moss.  The guy seems to be on his way out of town, barring some bad injuries at receiver this year.

R.W. (calf) is back to practicing in full.  Jerome McDougle (knee) was limited on Wednesday, but expects to play Sunday.

The Pass Rush:

A very interesting article by Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger the other day. Although the Giants’ total of 13 sacks gives them the league-lead in sacks per game, their quarterback “hurries” are down substantially from last year.  The G-Men have 18 total hurries this year, a far cry from last year, when they averaged 15 per game.

These numbers, taken with the good job the Bengals did picking up the blitz last week, have led to discussion that the league is catching onto Spagnuolo’s schemes.

When asked if this year’s pass rush was on the same level as last year’s, Spanuolo himself said:

“No, probably not.  Some of that credit belongs to the offenses.  And the other thing…is that there’s a lot of film on our defense out there and there are some smart offensive coaches.  There start to pick up a little things and we have to be a little bit of a step ahead of that.”

The G-Men think they might have been tipping their blitzes last Sunday.

Said Barry Cofield, “We definitely felt like we picked up on some things.  Coach Spags presented them to us and we all agreed that that could be the case.  We’re definitely going to try to do a better job of disguising.”

And Tuck said: “When you get to go back and look at film from the view of your opponent, you’re going to see some things where you are kind of tipping your hand.  We got to him early; they made some adjustments.  The things we got home with early, they did a good job of picking them up [later in the game].”

Plax:

The details emerging after Plax’ suspension have been pretty disconcerting.

First, we heard that he had two restraining orders taken out on him this summer by his wife, though we don’t know whether this has anything to do with what happened last Monday.  We have no more information other than that it was a family situation that Plax felt was an emergency at the time.

Then, there was this article by Jay Glazer of FoxSports that Plax has been fined staggering 40-50 times during his Giants career.  So maybe this incident represents more than just a one-time relapse into immaturity.

Ralph Vacchiano, the Daily News beat writer, shed some light on Plax in his live chat with Giants fans on Tuesday:

I don’t think Burress and Coughlin have ever really gotten along.  They’ve peacefully coexisted more than anything else.  I remember talking to Burress a year or so ago and he said that he used to break Coughlin’s rules just for the heck of it, just to see what he could get away with.  That’s not exactly the mark of a good team player.  But Burress insisted he had changed.  Unfortunately, that’s not the case.  When he missed that meeting that led to his suspension, his teammates said that him missing a meeting wasn’t unusual at all.  I’ve also heard that he’s been fined dozens of times over the years.  I don’t think any of that is the result of, or will result in, strong negative feelings towards the Giants.  Hell, the Giants just enabled him with a five-year, $35 million deal.  I just think he’s Plaxico being Plaxico.  He just doesn’t care about fines and rules.  He does what he wants and he shows up on Sunday, gets his money, and that’s all that matters to him.  I’d bet anything that when he comes back from his suspension, he accepts responsibility but says that he’d do it again because whatever his reason was meant more to him than missing a game.  And I think the Giants knew this was the way Burress was.  If you want to get his remarkable talent (and I think he’s one of the top three receivers in the NFL) then you have to accept the rest.

Ok…  I have to say this was pretty disappointing to read.  I was under the impression that Plax had transformed and grown out his pain-in-the-ass-ness.  I guess that’s not the case.

But if I understand Vacchiano correctly here, it’s really not that big of a problem.  Plax and Coughlin “peacefully coexist,” and the new contract Plax just signed would seem to indicate that theirs is a tenable, if not ideal, relationship.  But will this suspension imperil it?  Hopefully not.

Punt Returns:

This kind of got lost in the shuffle, but now that R.W. is healthy, he has been seen returning some punts in practice, along with Bradshaw.

When Colonel Tom was asked whether Hixon may not return punts this week because he’s starting at split end, he replied, “We will see about that.”

This is stupid.  Hixon is by far our best punt returner (and kick returner); there’s no reason he shouldn’t handle both those responsibilities.

The Kicker Situation:

Conflicting takes from the beat reporters here: Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger says his knee has been swelling up and likely won’t play, while Vacchiano of the Daily News’ says he’s probably play.

Are there any Giants fans who want Tynes back at all, let alone if he rushes back?  There seemed to be a disconnect between the media coverage of Tynes after the Green Bay game and Giants’ fans opinion of him.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but he’s not really a hero in our minds, right?  I guess we’re grateful for the 47-yarder, but overall, I think most of us still want to strangle him for the two previous kicks.  And we  still don’t trust him.  Lawrence Tynes, you are no Matt Bahr.

Danny Ware Arrested:

Danny Ware, who earned a roster spot by running pretty during the preseason, was arrested in Athens, GA last Saturday after the UGA-Alabama game.  According to police, he was standing in the street with a girl oblivious to oncoming traffic, and blew a .152 on his BAC.

But according to some eyewitnesses who commented on the Athens-Banner Herald’s website, Ware was merely the victim of a power-tripping asshole cop.  According to these witnesses, Ware was standing not far from the curb trying to hail a cab when a cop abruptly rolled up and arrested four people for no good reason.

With our Big Three at running back, Ware probably won’t play a role on this year’s team.  But Jacobs is a free agent after this year, so it’s not out of the question that we will hear from this guy someday.

Madison:

This is a nice article by Paul Schwartz in the Post about how Sam Madison has evolved into a kind of player-coach in the secondary.  Madison took a $500,000 pay cut to stay with the G-Men, and though his skills are clearly diminished, he provides a valuable veteran presence for A-Ross, Webster, and Dockery.  And, of course, he made a great play on 3^rd down in overtime against the Bengals, enabling us to get the ball back and drive for the winning field goal.

The story would be even more heartwarming, however, if Madison hadn’t committed that egregious 15-yard personal foul penalty in the NFC Championship game that led to Donald Lee’s go-ahead touchdown.  Fox replays didn’t capture him throwing down Brandon Jackson last year, so I have never seen that clip.  Has anyone?  Is their any hand-held YouTube footage of this one?

I’ve been pouring over the game film, so here are some general thoughts on the D.  Observations on individual players will follow in the next post.

Obviously, it wasn’t our best effort.  23 points on 347 consequential yards, with an untimely choke at the end of regulation.

And we were lucky to give up only 23 points.  The Bengals horrific clock management at the end of regulation kept 4 points off the board.  Earlier in the game, on the second series, an obvious endzone pass interference by Butler on Houshmenzadeh was not called, leading to the Bengals settling for a field goal.  And in the third quarter, and endzone drop by tight end Daniel Coates – who was double-covered by Dockery and Butler, neither of whom managed to get a hand on the ball – led to field goal instead of a touchdown again.

A key factor in the D’s struggles was the ineffectiveness of the blitz.  Yes, we had those 6 sacks, but Palmer – who did an outstanding job hitting his hot routes – burnt us on many a blitz.  As Justin Tuck himself said, “Sometimes, the stats are misleading.  We had six sacks today, but I don’t think we rattled [Palmer.]”

With a game like this, it’s hard to separate out where blaming the defense ends and crediting the offense begins: Was it Spags’ fault those blitzes didn’t work out, or was it because the Bengals’ line did a good job picking them up while Palmer got the ball out quickly and accurately?  Surely some credit must go to the Bengals’ game-plan, which was predicated on quick passes – to the elusive Chatman and the Housh, a big target – designed to neutralize our blitz.

On a somewhat related note, sometimes the offensive play call just happens to work out given what the defensive call is.  There’s not a “moral of the story” to every play, where you can neatly ascribe blame to a given defender for any big gain.  Sometimes the defensive play-calls, coupled with the offensive play-calls, give the defenders little chance to do their jobs well (and vice versa).  There’s not much to say after something like this, other than to hope we’re a little more lucky next time.

This seemed to happen to the Giants D on Sunday, including three big plays that totaled 76 yards and were instrumental in 10 Bengals points:

The most prominent of these was the Perry touchdown in the second quarter, when the Bengals went up 10-7 and we all knew we were in for a game.  It was 2^nd and 10 and Spags guessed pass, which meant our dime defense was in. 

Normally, the dime defense is the “safest” defense, designed to minimize chance of a big play, but in this case it backfired.  Because of the personnel grouping, Michael Johnson had linebacker duties.  After slo-moing the tape a few times, I realized that it was his responsibility to fill the gap through which Perry galloped on the way to the endzone.

But because Johnson was in unfamiliar environs, he was hesitant to fill the gap, which allowed a blocker to engage him and clear a huge, gaping hole.  That, right there, sprung Perry, who sprinted through the hole “unmolested” – I can’t write that with a straight face – and away from Corey Webster, who was occupying the safety position.  (I don’t mean to overstate the point on this one: a hold on Johnson at the end of that initial block, a slow reaction to step up by Webster, and Big Fred’s and Tollefson’s getting more washed down than they should have didn’t help either.)

Why were we in the dime defense on that 2^nd and 10?  A 25-yard gain two plays earlier might help explain why.

On 2^nd and 10, we blitzed a safety off the quarterback’s blind side, which left Dockery singled up against Chatman with no deep help on that side of the field.  The  Bengals picked the blitz up, and Palmer hit a little hitch to Chatman, who had been given a huge cushion by Dockery.  Because he caught the ball with so much space in between him and Dockery, he had room to maneuver, and maneuver he did, scampering for 25 yards on the play.

This was an instance of Palmer doing an excellent job hitting his hot read and a blitz backfiring.  It also underscored how things aren’t as cut and dried – Dockery sucks! – as they often appear.  (Dockery does suck, and we’ll get to that in the next post, but he’s not as bad as he looked on that play.)

Also, this play to Chatman explains why Spags called the dime defense on 2^nd and 10 on the Perry play.  When an offense is designed to get the ball to the receiver on the edges, it’s good to have as much speed as possible.  On the Perry play, we went speed while they went power, and we paid the price.

The third play I noticed in which we got caught in a bad defense for their play-call was on the Bengals’ last series of the first half, when we sent a zone blitz with Tollefson dropping back into pass coverage.  Unfortunately, Tollefson wound up being responsible for picking up Housh, who was dragging across the middle.  Not surprisingly, he didn’t get there nearly quickly enough, and Housh caught the ball with nobody around him, free to pick up 26 yards.

Again, it kinda just so happened that a wide receiver was running a shallow crossing pattern in Tollefson’s territory here.  It could have been a tight end, who would have been easier for Tollefson to spot and react to.