Here’s the video of Eli on Dave from Wednesday night. Enjoy!!

And part 2:

The Mets signed Johan Santana to a deal in the range of 157 million, so there’s more news than just football.

Oh and the Rangers are beating the Devils 2-1 with four minutes left in the second.

But if you can’t take your mind off the big game, that’s ok, justc check back later.

If you are like me, you have been watching your Giant collection over the past 20 years. Now, some of these are not available anymore and some you have to fire up the old VCR to watch them. Yet if you can get your hands on them, by all means watch them.

1. Giants Among Men - The 1986 hightlight film is the grandaddy of them all. The hour long tape takes you back to the ‘86 season with highlights of all the games and a look back at the ’30s and ’50s. Plus the classic NFL Films music makes this a must watch
2. True Blue - The 1990 highlight film gives you an insight into that magical season - also my favorite Giants team.
3. The History of the NY Giants - This two disk DVD is readily available and should be watched if you want to know about the days of Steve Owen, Mel Hein, Frank Gifford and Charlie Connerly. Also it gives you a look into the past few decades, something that hasn’t really been documented. The film ends right before Tom Coughlin took power.
4. America’s Greatest Games: Super Bowl XXI: This is a must watch, just because Bill Parcells, Phil Simms and LT are extremely funny. It only costs 2 bucks to download on Amazon and iTunes, so you can start your Giant collection right now. To me it’s a must just to hear Simms talk about how Parcells cursed at him on the sidelines and LT talking about the “ass-whoopings” he gave some teams.
5. America’s Greatest Games: Super Bowl XXV: Also good, but not as funny as O.J. Anderson, Carl Banks, Jeff Hostetler are interviewed. But interesting to hear Banks say that the plan in the Super Bowl was to allow the Bills to run the ball and take away the pass. It’s also available on Amazon and iTunes.  

So there you have them. Maybe a win on Sunday will give us more films on the Giants.

 

After look for Greg for months, and maybe it’s a good thing he took some time off, since the Giants did well, I am going to eminent domain this blog to talk about the Super Bowl over the next few days.

For those who don’t know me, I’m Joe McDonald, the owner of Sportsday Publishing, LLC and baseball and hockey writer. I am also a lifelong Giant fan and one team I don’t cover as a reporter, so I can keep my fan status.

That said stop by over the next few days before the Super Bowl and we can chat about Big Blue.

Also I will have Joe Pietaro down in Phoenix giving me updates, so we will have some first hand info.

Go Giants!!!

I. Props to Dave Diehl

All the talk surrounding the Giants this week has centered around injuries, the horrendous defense, and how good Eli looked. But here’s something important that got lost in the shuffle: Dave Diehl did very well in pass protection in his first regular season appearance at left tackle.

This is no small matter: coming into the year, this was one of the most important questions. And while Sunday night’s game certainly doesn’t give us a definitive answer, it’s at least a pretty good sign.

I went back over the DVR and watched Diehl on each of the game’s 44 pass plays. As far as I could tell (which isn’t that far, considering I don’t know the blocking schemes and couldn’t get such a good handle on the spacing from the standard sideline camera), Diehl did a pretty flawless job on all but five plays. That’s pretty good, especially considering he was going up against DeMarcus Ware on a lot of those plays, one of the league’s quickest pass-rushers.

Here are the blemishes to an otherwise excellent night:

–On two plays, Ware raced around him on a speed-rush and got a piece of Eli, but didn’t knock him down. His throw was affected on one of these two plays;

–At another point, Diehl allowed Ware to make a nice inside move and get close to Eli. This, along with some other mild fuck-ups along the line, forced Eli to slide right in the pocket and not see a wide open Amani on the left side. With his options limited to the right side, Eli tried to squeeze a throw in to Plax, but Plax fell down, and the pass was intercepted by Jacques Reeves;

–On another play, he seemed to get crossed up on an assignment, helping Seubert with a double-team while a blitzing safety ran unblocked from the corner and forced Eli to dump a short pass to Toomer for no-gain;

–And he honored the legacy of his predecessor at left tackle by flinching for a false start.

But the good far outweighed the bad. Against many of Ware’s speed-rushes, Diehl intelligently rode him outside past the pocket. On others, he showed some good awareness of space and angles to compensate for his less-than-ideal quickness. Not once did he get overpowered.

So it was a good first audition for Diehl, who is hopefully on his way toward confirming Jerry Reese’s belief in him. He’ll face a pretty stern test this week against the Packers, who will rotate Cullen Jenkins – who at over 300 pounds, is a run-stuffing stud who can rush the passer as well, notching 6.5 sacks last year – and KGB, who isn’t nearly as quick off the edge as he used to be but can still get after the quarterback and represents a change-of-pace from Jenkins.

 

II. Ward Gets the Nod

Len Pasquarelli reports that Derrick Ward will start at tailback this week. This is obviously no surprise; we all would have been pretty disappointed if Droughns had been named.

Pasquarelli’s a great reporter and an incredibly prolific writer – you can tell by the sheer length of his articles how much he loves what he does. But since nobody else is gonna call him out for this mistake, I’m going to:

“A hard charger with a low-to-the-ground build, Ward lacks Jacobs’ long run ability, but is a physical runner between the tackles.”

Wrong on the last two points. If he’s anything, Ward is a home-run threat – witness his 44 yard-burst last week, twenty yards longer than any play Rueben Droughns had from scrimmage last year. And if he’s not anything, it’s a between-the-tackles runner. He’s quick and fast, but, hard and low to the ground as he may run, lacks tackle-breaking and pile-moving power.

I will continue my plea for the G-Men to realize what a talent they have in Ahmad Bradshaw, and hope they will work him into the rotation as soon as possible. It looks like they’re coming around a bit, as he took some snaps with the first team yesterday.

Bradshaw’s best trait as a runner is his instinctiveness: he’s not, he’s not big, he’s just good. At least he was at Marshall, and I think he will be in the pros.

While re-watching the game, I noticed on one of his kick-returns – the one he took down the right sideline to the 41 – that he deliberately changed his speed to lull a defender asleep before exploding past him. It was really a pretty slick little move and to me, speaks of a quality that is a lot more meaningful than whatever his 40-time is.

Think of running the football like pitching: it’s not how fast you run, but where you run, as well as your ability to prevent defenders from getting good reads on tackles (pitching analogy still applies). If you need an example of this, look no further than Tiki Barber, who told Ben McGrath of The New Yorker that he hardly ever ran full speed while enjoying the best seasons any Giants running back ever has.

 

III. Madison will Replace R.W. in the Starting Lineup

I know people are pretty down on R.W., but let me point out that both egregious touchdowns he allowed were probably not entirely his fault. I’ll refer back to my recap post on this one:

 

–T.O.’s first Touchdown early in the Third Quarter:

To give some context, it’s not as if Dallas wasn’t gonna score on this possession anyway: On their previous three plays, they had put together gains of 14, 21, and 18 yards.

Still, their touchdown was particularly bewildering.

It looked as if R.W. was in press coverage against T.O. on the right side. He bumped him and then ran with him, understandably a couple of strides behind. Only there was no over-the-top help, and T.O. was wide open to catch the touchdown pass.

Press coverage against T.O. with no safety help in sight? It had to be a blown coverage. Either way, the ‘Boys extended their lead to 24-16.

–Sam Hurd’s Touchdown late in the Fourth Quarter:

The coup de grace.

Romo drops back and hits Sam Hurd on an inside dig. Hurd doesn’t break stride as he streaks to the endzone unmolested (strange word, yes).

Who’s fault was this? I don’t know, but it certainly didn’t look like it was R.W.’s fault for getting beaten by a half step on an inside move.

Maybe it was Pierce’s fault – he didn’t get enough depth in his drop zone.

Maybe it was James Butler’s fault – he was nowhere to be found after Hurd caught the ball, and was easily eluded as Hurd took it the distance to bury the G-Men. 45-35, Cowboys.

 

Besides, it’s not as if Madison is so great, or even the least bit competent. On the bright side, at least Webster seemed to be absent from a lot of the ugliness Sunday night.

 

IV. The Short Giants Career of Robert Douglas is Over

He’s been replaced on the roster by some guy named Madison Hedgecock, who was waived by the Rams a couple of days ago. Isn’t Madison a really trendy girls name these days? It’s hard to have much of an opinion on this one.

 

IV. Injury Updates:

Eli: He threw at practice yesterday. It’s gonna be a game-time decision – it’s all about the swelling, along with his strength and range of motion.

Osi: I guess the same goes for him, but it’s looking pretty unlikely that he’ll play. He had some quote about not feeling good about playing if he hasn’t practiced. Time to get on your shit, Mike.

Jacobs: Out 3-5 weeks

Gibril: Apparently something happened with his quad, but he practiced on a limited basis Thursday.

An injury to our only experienced safety is the last thing we need. The only other safeties on the roster are Michael Johnson and Craig Dahl, a rookie 7th rounder and a rookie free agent, respectively. Are we sure cutting Demps, who was having a good camp after a good last few games last year, was the right thing to do?

Tynes: He didn’t kick in practice on Thursday, but he’ll be good to go. By the way, 3-for-3 with a 44-yarder last week? Not bad.

Wilkinson: He’s gonna get some snaps after coming back from a subluxed kneecap (which, in case you didn’t know, is a slight dislocation. I’ve had around seven of these, no exaggeration). Gerris has kind of become a forgotten man, but he’s closer than people think to being counted on as a contributor.

Dockery: He left the Dallas game with an ankle injury that literally hasn’t been reported on since. According to the official injury report, he hasn’t practiced this week.

I. Eli:

Even though there’s still no consensus on what, exactly, Eli’s injury is – did he separate his shoulder or just bruise his A/C joint? And what is an A/C joint anyway? – the practical upshot is beginning to clear up a little.

Basically, Eli has some swelling and some pain, but suffered no structural damage. For this reason, it seems as if he won’t risk any further injury if he plays.

So the questions now are: how bad is the swelling? Will the swelling preclude him from playing this week (or next week, or even in three or four weeks)? And how much pain can he endure?

I don’t think anyone knows the answer to these questions right now. It basically all depends on how Eli’s body reacts.

My best guess is that as of now, the swelling is pretty bad, but the Giants can at least hope that it can be brought down in time for Sunday’s game. But that’s a best-case scenario. There also exists the possibility that the swelling won’t go down for a really long time, and, high pain-threshold or not, Eli won’t have the range of motion needed to make the necessary throws.

Let me take the time right now to second Mike Garafolo and commend Eli for his toughness. There’s been a lot to criticize Eli about these past couple of years, but he is nothing if not tough.

The reason the severity of his injury came as such of a shock is because Eli totally downplayed it at the time and after the game. Think about this: he’s never missed a game, he never writhes in pain on the ground only to be perfectly fine a few plays later, and he never blames poor performance on injuries.

It’s been a rough beginning, but I’m hoping for a happy middle and end to the Eli in Big Blue story. Maybe not a Peyton-esque happy ending, but a good career nonetheless.

And maybe this toughness, along with other overlooked qualities that have either not emerged yet or that people have chosen to disregard, will endure Eli to G-Men nation as the years go by.

At this point, it’s obvious that he’s not Peyton or anything close. Maybe only after everyone realizes this once and for all can we stop harping on who he isn’t and start appreciating him for who he is.

**

Back to reality. We’re 0-1, and there’s a chance that the Hefty Lefty will start at quarterback Sunday against a not-bad Packers team and possibly beyond. All the warm and fuzzy talk coming out of camp – “happy horseshit,” as my high school football coach would say – was great, but we’re facing a pretty dire situation in Week 2.

Which brings us back to Lorenzen, and the obvious question: why the fuck don’t we have a better backup quarterback?

I don’t want to bury the guy too much, but after watching a lot of him this preseason and of course on Sunday (though that’s not a fair basis for judgment), it appears his only NFL-caliber skill is his strong throwing arm. In every other area that I can get any sense of – throwing accuracy, throwing touch (!), and pocket presence – he seems pretty terrible.

Is it possible that the Giants brass deliberately chose a backup quarterback who is a complete non-threat to the beleaguered Eli? It sounds a little crazy, and I’m usually the last person to propose this type of shit, but what if, say, A.J. Feeley was our backup Q? Or even Brian Griese. Or Jeff Garcia?

Eli is already not Peyton, and that’s bad enough in the eyes of a lot of people. But if there was a credible backup behind him? That would be the last thing he needs.

 

II. Osi:

All the attention on Eli has overshadowed the coverage of Osi’s injury, which is now being labeled “irritation” in the lateral meniscus of his left knee.

First, we were told he was out for the year. Then we were told it would be at least two months. Then we were told it was a day-to-day.

Basically, we know even less about Osi’s injury than Eli’s.

But make no mistake: while obviously less significant than Eli’s, his injury is a huge deal and would be dominating the headlines any other week.

Our secondary is pretty bad – that’s a given. So our only hope of having a not-awful pass defense lies in our pass rush, which can potentially be very good if we have the trio of Osi, Strahan, and Tuck healthy.

But if we lose Osi for an extended period of time, the chances of us having a good pass rush decrease significantly. Yes, we still have Strahan and Tuck, but what are the odds that the two of them will both stay healthy and be good? Realistically.

I’m really fucking tired of having our best defensive players on the sidelines. We’re in trouble if he’s out.

**

On a related note, Arthur Staple reported on his blog that Coughlin did not rule out the possibility that Kiwanuka could return to defensive end if Osi were to miss an extended period of time.

Personally, I’d be disappointed if they aborted the Kiwanuka at linebacker experiment so quickly. Yes, I too was discouraged by his performance the other night, but please, people: it was only one game. A little perspective, please.

The guy is still a phenomenal athlete who is terrific in space. He can become a good linebacker yet, but it will take more than one game.

 

III. Jacobs:

This one is definite. He’s out 3-5 weeks with a sprained MCL. As I wrote in my post-game post (unintentionally using the same word with different meanings), the question of Jacobs’ next injury might be more a matter of “when” than “if.”

“It’s an oft-made point, but Jacobs’ body-type and running style leave him extremely vulnerable to hits like the one that sidelined him tonight. I’ve always compared him to Jeremy Shockey, who has the same long-limbed build and high-contact style. Think of how nick-up prone Shockey is right now, and imagine how much worse things would be if he were carrying the ball every play like a running back?”

So now we get to see Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw. Ward has a nice little quick burst, but doesn’t seem to have any power. Bradshaw has always excited me as a runner, but his two fumbles (none of which were lost) against the Cowboys last week are cause for a lot of concern.

And maybe we’ll see a little Rueben Droughns as well. He’s pretty bad, but he won’t kill us as part of a running back trio.

 

IV. Other Injuries:

–Barry Cofield hyperextended his knee but will be fine this coming week. I’m not sure how that makes sense, but whatever.

–It’s pretty unbelievable that William Joseph is still on the Giants. The disappointments continue for him: he was placed on IR with a back injury and is out for the year.

I’ll get to some thoughts on last night’s “game” in a bit, but in the meantime, here are some entertaining YouTube clips.

* An Auburn-era Brandon Jacobs scores a touchdown against Western Kentucky. Look at him deliver a gratuitous blow to the dude six yards deep in the endzone.

*The G-Men are Coming. A preview of the 2007 season to the tune of the “The Few. The Proud. The Marines.” song.

*A Steve Smith at USC montage - highlights and hip-hop. The dude’s pretty smooth.

*NFL Network’s pre-draft scouting report on Aaron Ross. This has nothing to do with Ross’s unimpressive performance last night, but don’t these things always paint such a misleading, over-positive portrait?

This is kind of old news now, but it was really nice to see Jessie Armstead sign a one-day contract and retire as a Giant.

After he came to us out of Miami in 1993 as a seventh round pick, Armstead spent three years busting heads on special teams before wresting himself the starting weakside linebacker job in 1996.

Beginning in ’97 - Fassel’s first year that saw us overachieve during the regular season and through the first fifty-eight and a half minutes of our opening round playoff game before before severely underachieving during a devastating, stunning ninety second sequence that still pains me to this day - Armstead began a run of five consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.

Strahan may have been the best player for the longest period of time, but anyone who watched the G-Men during those years knows that Armstead was the heart and soul of those late 90s/early 2000s Giants defenses, whose excellence is somewhat forgotten amidst the mediocrity that enveloped the franchise during those years (2000 Super Bowl appearance notwithstanding).

During his six years as a Big Blue starter, the Giants defense, in terms of points allowed, ranked 10th, 4th, 9th, 23rd, 5th, and 16th in the league. Basically, they were excellent for two of those years (’97 and ’00, not coincidentally), pretty good for two (’96 and ’98), average for one (’01), and very bad for one (’99).

All told, they averaged a ranking of roughly 11th in the league during that span. What that means is that throughout the Jesse Armstead years, the mediocre Giants still boasted a top-third defense.

In his write-up of the retirement ceremony, Michael Eisen has a nice little description of Armstead, who will go down in history as one of the best in the proud lineage of Big Blue ‘backers:

“Armstead played sideline-to-sideline with speed and what can best be described as controlled recklessness. At 6-1, 240 pounds, he delivered punishing hits to unfortunate ballcarriers. He was also a highly-respected and well-liked locker room leader who privately scolded teammates when they didn’t perform to his standards, inspired them to greater deeds when they did and was a stand-up guy with the media.”

Here’s a quote from Michael Strahan, (who earlier his remarks introduced to me the amazing phrase of “tasting the pineapple,” which means going to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii):

“He had the best football instinct I’ve ever been around.”

And a little later, re Armstead’s 43-yard interception return for a touchdown in Super Bowl XXV being nullified by a penalty…

“And if we wouldn’t have gotten screwed at the Super Bowl, he would have had a touchdown and we would have won that game…. I think about it all the time. All I remember was hitting Dilfer and I saw he dumped it and I just heard the crowd and I look up and there’s Jessie running like he stole something. That [it was called back] really put a damper on the Super Bowl.”

(Sorry Mike, but I’m not buying that. Yes, Armstead’s touchdown would have tied the game at 7 early in the second quarter and may have breathed some life into the corpses that were the New York Football Giants that night, and yes, it maybe would have changed the “complexion of the game,” but please. We lose 35-7 in one of the all-time most lopsided Super Bowls and we’re still complaining about getting screwed by one call?

We were utterly spanked in that game, period. More to the point, our offense was rendered something worse than impotent: actively counterproductive, as the Ravens defense scored more points than our offense, which gained a mere 152 yards while committing 5 turnovers. Whether Armstead’s touchdown counted or not, there was absolutely no our offense was putting up anywhere near enough points to even get close in that game.

By the way, while reliving that painful game, I came across the highlight package from this website. Do you notice how many guys seem to be close to Jermaine Lewis on his cruel rebuttal to Ron Dixon’s return? I counted four. How the hell did he get past those guys? Alas, it was that kind of night, and Armstead’s nullified touchdown was just a small piece of it.)

Ok, back to Armstead. One of the things I always liked about was his awesome celebration after big tackles: he would make the tackle, spring to his feet, then sprint twenty-five yards before launching into a full-fledged crow hop to throw a lunging horizontal punch, landing on a bent left knee and firing up the Meadowlands crowd, which appreciates nothing more in the world than good defense.

Indeed, Armstead brought passion to the Meadowlands during some pretty insipid years of Giants football. At the very least, let’s be grateful for the highlights of ’97 and ’00, which brought a tremendous career into focus.

One final note about Armstead: If you’ve ever read the book Friday Night Lights, the final play of the Permian Panthers season - a desperate fourth down pass over the middle in the Texas state championship game - was broken up by an athletic Carter Cowboys linebacker named Jessie Armstead.