Carl Banks

1) Carl Banks on WFAN yesterday. I am beginning to think that Banks reads this blog for his material. You can argue that I listen to him on radio for mine (!), but I’ve got the big screen hdtv with the Madden comments on how dead the Giants are on 3rd and 10, so I am not that good!

2) In 1984, the first week of training camp, George Young calls Bill Parcells, tells him ‘win or you are fired.’ Parcells then called up players and told them he was cutting players and he specifically asked each of them individually if they were going to play for him or not.. the loyalty to his core group of players began.

3) Jacobs makes everyone better. Resilient bunch. Mentally strong, consistent. Force Delhomme to drive the team down the field. Gmen sacrificed pass rush for bend-dont break. Shut Steve Smith down for 2nd half. Giants wanted slugfest, which won out over the Carolina shootout. Giants needed to settle down, Ross near INT.

4) Banks talked a lot about the lack of the short pass leading up to the game.

“I give the offensive coordinator a lot of credit” (for making the necessary changes).

5) “Did you see Kevin Boss become a factor? The intermediate passing. He stayed in there, he blocked, he leaped out in the middle of the field and they hit him on some big plays and he kept the offense in rhythm. They did not do a lot of things in terms of playcalling that kept the team out of rhythm… They went with intermediate rhythm-type plays.”

6) Hixon made some big plays. We are without Plaxico. We don’t need you to make a spectacular (Plax) play, we just need you to make the Hixon plays.

7) Crazed Giant Fan was all over the poor playcall when Gilbride went to Hedgecock on 3rd and 1. Banks agreed.

8) The Giants will have to beat themselves in order for them to lose in the playoffs. If they continue to function as a team, they will be hard to beat. They are back on track. The teams that can bring pressure will give the Giants the most problems.

9) Jacobs, use him for 5 plays on Sunday and take him out. Tollefson and Bradshaw, get out there and play. GET HEALTHY. What is best for the Giants 2008 team is to get them rest and practice them well to keep them sharp.

10) It was painful, I had to sit through them talking Jets for like 40 minutes crying about the coaching staff. Tell me something we don’t already know. We said it here many weeks ago, that the coaching staff of the Jets was the weakest link.

New York Giants 34 Carolina Panthers 28

Ward and Boss, the TWO keys to the Ultimatenygame

This was as gutty a performance as I have seen from this team since the Redskins W3 2007. The similarities were many- 2 consecutive losses, lots of doubters, a double digit deficit. When the Giants defense was getting manhandled early, giving up 3 TDs on the first 3 drives, down 21-10, there was no realistic way we were going to win this game. That this team came back from that proved so many things to us. But most importantly, the victory proved so much to themselves. It reminded them of what they have done this year in winning 11 games prior. It reminded them of what they have done last year, when they could come from behind and win despite so much adversity.

Victory tonight was icing on the cake. That the Giants somehow managed to tie the game was a mini-miracle. There were so many positives that were going to come from this game, and the recap was going to take that angle, the Patriots Week 17 Angle, where that loss was a BIG POSITIVE. If Kasay hits the FG, there is still a lot to be positive about. That the kick misses and the Giants go on to win in OT may very well be the luck needed to make this team go all the way. Wins like this galvanize a team. The Giants may have to play this team again, but they will not be afraid. They took this team’s best punch, got knocked down, got back up and were the last team standing. The Giants got the confidence back that they lost when Burress was removed from the roster, and they are learning to how to win with who is left. Barber, Strahan, Umenyiora, Shockey, Burress? How many daggers do you put in this team? It keeps coming. The Giants have faced NINE consecutive teams with winning records, a combined 82-51-2. Every team took their best shot. The Giants are 12-3, they have the all-important bye to heal up, they have homefield through the playoffs. And they have the resolve and the resiliency of a team that is capable of anything they believe in.

THE POSITIVES WERE MANY:
1) The offense is back. Wonder talked about the Giants offense getting into a new rhythm now that Burress is no longer there. They did exactly that. They stayed with the run. But they were able to do so because, unlike in Dallas, down and distance was manageable enough. Manning held the ball less, threw into shorter routes, and this way there were not the countless debilitating sacks that caused horrendous 2nd and 3rd downs.

2) Eli Manning found his wind legs. He managed the wind, threw shorter passes, stepped into the passes, and threw the ball a little lower on shorter routes to keep the ball from sailing. This was important, dare we say vital, for Manning’s confidence. And once again he led his team down the field to score near the end of Q4, got the 2 pt conversion pass to Hixon (what a play fake, we were sold on the ball being handed off to Jacobs along with all of the Panthers!) to tie the game, and then led them again in OT. Everyone knows that Manning is capable of anything at the end of a game. His confidence after the game was obvious: “You never know what the weather is going to be like here. We’re used to playing in those cold and windy games and I would like to think we would have the advantage in some of those. I think it will be fun playing the games at home.”

3) Derrick Ward, Brandon Jacobs and the offensive line were excellent in the running game. Gilbride gets credit for not giving up on the run. How do we begin to discuss the superlatives of Derrick Ward, who gashed this team time and time again, amassing 215 yards from scrimmage as the backup?!!

4) Gilbride found his Tight End! Kevin Boss lives. In my humble opinion, this was the real key to the game. In order for Ward to run his highlight film in Q4 and OT, there HAS TO BE BOSS first, moving the chains. It is the middle of Q3, 21-13 Panthers. The Giants have the ball at their own 16 yard line. When the Giants get into a 3rd and 10 after a 5 yard penalty, and Madden is sentencing the Giants offense to death (now that Burress is gone), we are yelling for Bossssss! And to Boss it went! And on the exact type of play that Witten and Garrett killed us on last week that we needed so desperately! One game late, but good enough to save us! Boss makes his chip block, then after the delay on the right side of the line, runs out across the middle to the left, catches a 5 yarder and runs for daylight, 11 yards, and the first down. Small ball, but an important first down. You need those types of plays to keep the rhythm, because how else can you keep going to the run? The Giants controled the ball for 8:36. 5 first downs. Ward with a big 22 yarder. And when it was 3rd and Goal from the 3, who was there to clean up and convert? Kevin Boss in the end zone. So many key plays.

Boss must become the 1986 Mark Bavaro of this offense. In 1986, the Giants WRs were nothing spectacular. Indeed, guys like Lionel Manuel, Bobby Johnson and Stacy Robinson couldn’t shine shoes for most teams. How on earth did the ’86 team keep the pressure off the loaded box? How did they move the chains? The answer was Bavaro, who LED THE SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS IN RECEIVING YARDS THAT SEASON. That is your blueprint for success, that is the rhythm they found. Everytime the Giants were in a big spot, Boss was the answer. Your TE can get you big plays all over the field, but especially in the red zone, and especially on third down. Let’s remember, who was the player that awoke the Giants offense at the beginning of Q4 vs the Patriots in the Super Bowl? Kevin Boss for 45 yards. USE THAT TIGHT END to get you a fresh set of downs so that you can have that patience in the running game.

5) I admit to being wrong about Jacobs. The Giants need the moose more than I thought. He has that attitude necessary to impose your will on an opposing team. While I still want #44 to get lots of touches, 3rd down and red zone, it is apparent more than ever how the battering of Jacobs sets up Ward on the change of speed.

6) Gilbride made the adjustments. Even when the Giants tried a RB flare which did not work, it was fine, it was stretching the LBers. The gmen used the quick slants, the draws out of the shotgun, the TE delayed pass, mixing it up enough to allow the running game to keep going, pounding away at them.

7) Webster was once again excellent. He covered Smith most of the game, but Smith only had 3 catches for 47 yards, and on 35 of them it was a zone coverage (and more accurately, a failed blitz pass rush) that got beat, not Webster.

The Negatives:
1) Still no pass rush. We’ll be generous and put some of that on Tuck’s leg, vomit and the flu. Without Tuck (who was valiant in effort) making an impact, you have to figure the DL becomes very average very quickly. Tuck and Robbins need two weeks off now to rest for Jan 10-11. Kiwi needs to watch tape of how Strahan does not try to overpower linemen on run defense, he sheds them.

2) To say our linebackers are mediocre is a compliment. Without Tuck and the DL at full strength, these sack of potatoes were victimized constantly. Spags gave them more help in the second half and it stemmed some of the bleeding. My kingdom for a LBer #1 in the draft. And #2 also.

3) Diehl has regressed. Is he playing hurt, or tired? If it is either, get him some rest, because he is not playing the edge nearly as well as he was playing earlier in the season.

4) Pierce is ineffective in coverage beyond a few yards past the line of scrimmage. He simply lacks the speed. On one key 3rd down conversion, a Panther player comes into the middle of the field PRECISELY where Pierce’s zone of coverage is, and he still does not make the play. Unacceptable.

Misc:
1) I thought when the Giants won the toss in OT, I would have taken the wind. Manning’s reaction to the decision to take the ball almost looked like he agreed. But the team did not blink, and ran it down their throats.

2) To be filed under the category of why you do not bet: Let’s say you took Carolina, taking +3 points. There is almost no chance in hell of you losing your bet at any point until the very end of OT. You’re up 21-10, still up 21-20, then 28-20 in Q4. The only way you will lose is if by some miracle the Giants get a TD, get the 2 pt conversion, and then somehow win with a 6 pt TD in OT.

NYG CAR intragame comments

GIANTS inactive
K Tynes
CB Madison
LB Wilkinson
T Koets
DT Douzable
WR Hagan
WR Moss
DE McDougle

Soup to Nuts: Tons of NFL, Phil Simms W16

1) Football is won and lost at the line of scrimmage. No excuses, about Robbins being hurt.

Yesterday we found out that Keydrick Vincent, a starter for the Panthers at Right Guard the entire season, has been placed on season-ending IR. Vincent is not a tremendous G, but as we know, communication is everything, so do you think Spags is going to mix it up and line up Tuck over that slot? Of course he will, of course the Panthers will be coached for that, but Tuck will be able to do some good things.

Also, DT Ma’ake Kemoeatu is either going to be out or playing on an ankle injury. So this is helping the Giants too. (Simms/Francesa imply he won’t play, but I cannot confirm this.)

2) The WIND (20-30 mph tonight) is going to be another big factor this evening. Manning’s lack of a tight spiral will be a liability once again.

3) Some of these games were wind, some were not, but in December/January the Giants have lost 7 consecutive games:

CAR 23-0, DAL 23-20, PHL 36-22, NO 30-7, WAS 22-10, NE 38-35, PHL 23-0.

4) Point #6 from Tuesday’s post: “Dallas was playing hurt too, so we did not exactly lose to a great team … Dallas is improved, but they are not great.” Obviously we are not shocked by the Dallas loss to the Ravens last night. It just means even more validation for the critique of meathead’s playcalling. To borrow an expression from Denny Green, THEY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE, AND WE LET THEM OFF THE HOOK.

5) Click on the link in #4 above and watch the fake FG by the Ravens with 3 mins left in Q3. Great call- not because it worked- but because you have to do the unpredictable. The last time the Giants did an intentional fake punt or fake FG was BEFORE 1997, because I know Fassel NEVER did one and I know Coughlin NEVER did one. Parcells faked the FG in Q3 of the Super Bowl, and Rutledge converted it, which led to 7. In SF on Jan 20, 1991, Reasons took the snap on the punt, leading to a FG, enabling the Giants to beat them later on Bahr, 15-13. It sends a message to your team that you are here to win the game, you can only lose once. This Ravens special team success gave them the tempo to close out the game, forcing the Cowboys into gambling defenses.

6) Playoff picture. Dallas needs help now. IF Dallas can (1) win against Eagles W17 and (2) have any loss from TB or ATL the last 2 weeks, they are still in. Realistically, Dallas needs to have Minnesota win over Atlanta today. Otherwise, TB is not losing at home to OAK or SD, and ATL is not losing its last game at home vs STL.

New England is on a respirator. They can easily finish 11-5 and they are out of the playoffs. BAL will win next weekend vs CLE at home to lock up the wild card. IND has the other wild card. So NE needs to win the division to get in. NE needs the Jets or Miami to lose today AND that team to win next week vs the other.

7) Repeat after me, the Flex schedule is disrespectful of YOU the fan. It moves 77,000 fans’ schedules. It makes people watch a game in temperatures that will be 10 degrees colder and 20 degrees colder wind chill. It makes people get to sleep by 1-2AM for work the next morning. And these are the people paying the “premium” of watching the game at the stadium. TV is not more important than the people at the stadium, and this is what drives the Giants to beg its fans to be loud. It is a quiet way of pleading for them TO JUST COME to the game. Very sad.

8) Mark my words, that crybaby Kraft is going to be all over the airwaves asking for more teams in the playoffs if his team finishes 11-5 and out of the playoffs. Tough browning brown. This is what makes the NFL so good, that you are taking only the best teams, it is tiered, each game is critical all season. Kraft cried in 2002 when his team was 9-7 and did not make it to the postseason, tough brown. Win 10 games. Hey, my first STRONG memory of the NFL was the Giants, 9-4, playing the LA Rams (blacked out) on the final day of the regular season, losing, finishing 9-5 and out of the playoffs. In retrospect, it made me love the NFL more.

SIMMS

9) TENN can play the same game with PIT. Two all pro DL are out for TEN.

10) When you play 11 men in the box, you can get a result for 80 yard TD run (which happened twice vs DAL). Dallas lost the game because they could not adjust to the Ravens defense.

11) CAR are a big play team. NYG this year is not a big play team. Field position bad for the NYG, 30th in dropped balls in the league. One of the most penalized. Giants will find a way to win, Simms points out the two losses on the line for the Carolina Panthers. Smith will make a big play. He will get open, will Delholmme make the connection?

Ultimatenyg comments of Simms:

12) You know Webster will be drawing this guy, Smith will make his opptys, how much can Webster limit the big play and stay with him? When Delhomme has the wind, look for the safety to give Webster a lot of help.

13) Giants are 6th in penalty yardage and 8th in the league in penalties. They averaged 4.8 penalties per game in 2007, they average 6.7 penalties per game in 2008. 2 penalties PER GAME. That is huge, folks, and entirely on the coaches. Some of the officiating has been HORRIBLE this season, and there are about a dozen horrendous calls that were not legit, but what does it say when your offensive leader, Pro Bowler O’Hara takes two stupid (after the play, away from the play) personal fouls? Selfish, and gives a green light to the rest of the team to take penalties the same way Petitgout’s false starts were a cancer that REESE got rid of.

LT

Mitch gave us the heads up on LT being on WFAN. Long, great. LT.

Parcells is about confidence, a vision of how to do things, you buy into it.

Parcells had the flexibility to roll with LT

’86 Giants beat the ’90 Giants in a matchup.

We physically beat people up on the ’86 team. From the point of 4th and 17, no team was able to play with us after that point in the season, men vs boys. (xtian, I think LT just vindicated me)

1st SB win you are excited. 2nd Super Bowl run was like the Giants last year, not the best team in personnel, played better as a team. Sweet year. Loves Phil, but with Hostetler that might have been why we won, he came into the mix late in the season, QB hurts teams when he scrambles, brought a new dimension, picks up that crucial first down at that time of the season, people are tired. (ultimatenyg note: you have to encourage Manning to run at least once per game.. if a severely restricted Romo and an older McNabb can do it to burn you, Eli must burn defenses this way too)

Super Bowl XXV: LT joked about how Parcells didn’t scout out the hotel well, because there was a strip club across the street in Tampa.

On big games, we (the defense) never had to worry about being outcoached… Belichick was going to come up with something. He drew it up, concocted stuff, still amazes LT.

When Howard forces the fumble in SF to go to Super Bowl XXV, LT was in the right place at the right time to recover the fumble. He jokes, “I was in the wrong place my share of times too!” (For more of these stories, the bars, the drugs, the women.. a quick, fast and entertaining read- “LT: Over The Edge”)

Learned in his junior year of college that he could be great. Learned that football is not about making every play. There are 5-6-7X a game, you are in a position to make the play, that is what you do, to change the outcome of the game.

On getting drafted second, passed over by the Saints..living in New Orleans?!.. I would have been in rahab 10 years earlier! Lucky for me I didn’t get picked (by Bum Phillips)!!!

Parcells rode LT’s butt every day in first training camp. “Trade me, cut me, whatever you want to do, but get off my back.” That was the end, best of friends from that moment on. At the end of camp, Parcells called 6 veterans and LT into the (defensive coordinator’s) office for a meeting, LT was wondering what he was doing in there. Parcells says to the entire group- everyone here in this room is in awe of (the things) you (can do). He hasn’t played a single down in an NFL game yet! But Parcells was letting LT (and everyone else who was important) know that LT was going to be let loose on other teams. (My editorial remark here is this is one of the reasons why Shockey was wasted.. Shockey desperately needed a coach like Parcells who could LEAD HIM, put parameters around what was acceptable (touchdowns) and what not acceptable (demanding the ball, celebrating first downs, showing up your QB), someone who Shockey’s pea brain could respect and understand that this guy understands my skill, return the play with focus on getting done what needed to get done. I could hear the conversation right now… Parcells: don’t you give orders to MY quarterback, shut your mouth, stop worrying about him, I’ll make sure we get u the ball, you catch the ball, let me worry about him. We see the nightmare that was Ray Handley.. when LT was on that team he had Steve DeOssie change the Rod Rust bullbrown read and react in the huddle to allow for LT to make the plays. Point is that I will go to my grave knowing in my heart that a coach like Parcells would have done tremendous things for Shockey. It is hard to see that now, with him being the idiot crybaby, but LT without a disciplined system, playing in a loser organization, would have quite possibly been a Chuck Muncie crackhead who made some Pro Bowls but then wasted his talent from lack of direction.)

Gholsten: Great body, what is wrong? Can’t pick it up yet. When a guy is given a responsibility to do some type of coverage, he needs to know why he is doing that, how his role is going to help the defense on that play. Natural talent. Needs to recognize the (offensive) strengths. Once LT learned where the other defensive players were, when he knew where the other players were going to be, he could extend his range. Gholsten has ability. Get in film room, see what he sees, work on his concept of understanding what is going on. Everyone was learning the 3-4 at the same time when LT came in, Gholsten is going to be a helluva player. Compared this situation to DeMarcus Ware, how terrible Ware was (his rookie year).

LT wanted to know why he wasn’t getting the concession for all the 56 jerseys being sold and worn in the stadium.

Only one LT. LaDanian Tomlinson, LT calls him “BLT,” Baby LT.

3rd year, so hot, in Washington, needed an IV, his best single game performance probably.

Munoz, span of 3 years the linemen of Dallas.. so big, was trouble for him. James Wilder was one of the best RBs he played against, like Brandon Jacobs, not very fast, but by the time he got to the line, he was solid, by the time you get to the 4th quarter, you don’t want to hit that guy.

His rookie year, offenses played him straight up. Defensive player of the year. Didn’t play him straight up after that! SF and Washington had the ‘G block’ where the Guard would pull and pick him up. Slide of the TE. Chip block before going into route. Playing GB, trying to break Gastineau’s record, and they beat him up so bad, 9 sacks for the team, but nothing for LT because they were throwing everyone at him. Parcells pulled him out to save him from getting hurt! (Funny what the brain remembers, because yes, LT had 20.5 sacks on the verge of gtg the record, but the team only had TWO sacks in the game!)

LT was (warning, editorial remark) surprisingly smart about not wanting to give Detroit the bailout money. Understood that banktruptcy was not a death sentence, that things needed to get straightened out there as opposed to throwing more money at it.

Earl Campbell can’t walk, the NFL won’t help him. NFL player pension is a joke.

LT made 2.5M in his best year. By the time he was retiring, free agency started, Mike Fox (who wasn’t a starter) was getting 2.5M for Carolina!

LT plays a minimum of 18 holes of golf every day! (In the Simms interview (another good, long one, we’ll have some remarks tomorrow), Francesa says that LT plays 36 holes EVERY day, a scratch golfer, and now getting good enough to scratch in pro-am tournaments.) LT hustles the current NFL players in golf, LOL! Brian Kelly, Al Del Greco, John Elway, Phil Simms all good golfers. Charles Barkley is bad, so bad that even Charles laughs at himself.

Team that he hated the most, disliked SF, they tried to finesse it. PHL, DAL, WASH, those were the good games. 11 on 11, best team won. Francesa inferred that Shawn Merriman reminds LT of himself.

That ’89 lost season was the worst, the Flipper Anderson game. Everett s’d but against the Giants he lit us up. Second SB, no one saw it coming, that was what made it enjoyable… this was similar to Carl Banks saying how 2007 was just like 1990. The Giants players did not realize they could win the SF NFC Championship until Q4. DL did not start making its impact until Q3, and that was when the team started thinking that they has them on the run, they could do something here.

Giants OL of 2008.. this team reminds him of the ’86 team. This team’s doing a lot of good things, this is something (coming back from the prev year’s success) that not even WE could do in those days. Tuck, Kiwanuka- these guys are athletes. Not a LB team, Osi and Strahan gone, very impressed with depth, wonders aloud how he could have done if he had that line in front of him.

Hitting Walter Payton was like hitting a wall of bricks, solid. Great person. Sanders Top 5. LT’s Top 5 Running Backs of All Time: Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, OJ Simpson, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton. Yes, there are six here, but at different points in the conversation he would throw out Campbell, then he would have a hard time of picking 2 out of the last three on the list.

Neil Lomax was a tough SOB, he stood in there, took the punishment, stayed in until he delivered the ball. The NFC East had all the good QBs, White, Jaworski, Theisman, Lomax. Montana changed the whole game.

LT tells Strahan re the Giants sack record: (a) my first year they didn’t count the sacks (b) I had not one but TWO strike years in ’82 and ’87 not to collect those sacks AND (c) they didn’t rule stripped fumbles as sacks for the first ~ 3 years.

Ultimatenyg here: For those of you out there who are not old enough to have been able to see LT play, get some video. He was the single best NFL player I have ever seen, period. Not Giants best, not defensive best, THE best player I have seen ever. I have heard that Jim Brown was considered the best player of all time, and that may be true. But from 1969 to present, in my lifetime in the NFL, there was no one better. How many players CHANGED THE GAME? I’d argue one, LT. After coming back to the sideline after a successful defensive stand where LT changed his assignment in mid play with the typical great result, Parcells would ask in a confounded mixture of awe and dismay, “What did you do there? That wasn’t in the playbook.” .. LT would simply reply- “Well, then it should be!” LT rewrote the playbook. The best I have seen.

Fred Robbins

Fred Robbins was in practice yesterday. Boy do we need him. Of all the players out there who are hurt (yes, even Ahmad), Robbins is the single most important one to get back healthy. The comments on his blog are actually quite informative, taken at face value. (Also, referenced on the right side is a new listing of players’ blogs that were added last week.)

November 5, 2008: “Playing with two broken hands is a piece of work, man. I broke them a couple weeks ago against the 49ers, both times making tackles.”

December 2, 2008: “I hurt the AC joint in my shoulder in the Arizona game… I’m not complaining. My hands are healed up and my shoulder is coming along.”

December 9, 2008: “My hands are better and my shoulder feels OK, the last few games every season you have to gut it out with some soreness. It’s nothing I can’t play with and it’s getting better day by day. That’s why we want to get that bye week and have time to heal.”

December 16, 2008: “I definitely want to play. That’s the thing, the players always want to be out there on the field, but I don’t want to go out there too early and have a chance to reinjure my shoulder. I want to make sure I’m around for the playoffs, take some time as far as the healing process. I started having problems with it after playing last week. What happens when you have an injury is that you talk to the team doctor, they ask for your opinion, the doc says his opinion and the coach makes the final decision. Coach Coughlin said he wanted to make sure I was around for the playoffs. Health is a big issue and you want to make sure you don’t reinjure yourself. I’m definitely starting to feel better but it’s too early to say for sure whether I’ll play against Carolina. The strength in my shoulder just isn’t there yet, I can’t protect myself on the field and that’s not a good thing. I’ll probably know by the end of the week. Friday I’ll go out there and do some work on the practice field and see how it feels.”

Bradshawlic’s Anonymous Meeting #3

For those of you who do not get the reference, on my blog profile I have a quote from Casablanca where the Nazis are trying to close up Rick’s (Humphrey Bogart) Night Club.

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here,” exclaims Captain Renault (Claude Raines), when coming up with charges to appease the Nazis so that the club can be closed. Renault is the local corrupt police officer who regularly takes payoff money from Rick, and the hypocrisy is laid on thick when the crupier coincidentally gives Renault his “winnings” (payoffs delivered thru a rigged roulette wheel).

Well, I’m shocked, shocked, to find that another outside voice of sanity asks aloud why on earth (or fire) #44 does not get more touches. Motown gives us a second nugget in the same day..

Matt Mosley: “For some reason, Tom Coughlin doesn’t trust Bradshaw enough to give him meaningful carries. That’s the guy who needs to touch the ball more. He’s a game-changing player who touches the ball about three or four times a game. Makes no sense to me.”

Would others find it shocking that we had a list of quotes from Super Bowl XLII eve on #44? No, I didn’t think so.

Did anyone else NOT see the 16 yard slip screen they ran to this guy? Like maybe they should be using this guy as the scatback Dave Meggett-type to spread the defense and make the opposing defense account for him? Wait a second, hold the phone, Tom Coughlin was ON the coaching staff of the 1990 team with Meggett. I’m shocked!

If Bradshaw is playing hurt, limiting his touches, then at least be smarter about it and use him on MANY of those 3rd downs to stretch the defense and leverage those touches you CAN give him.

You’re probably not shocked to know that the day that Osi Umenyiora was put on IR, we asked for TWO things: Kiwi back on the DL, and #44 starting in order to have a shot at winning another title without #72. Well, adversity is here (a little later than I thought, obviously) with #17 gone, and now we need some more help. WAKE THE BROWN UP. The championship is still within reach. Of course it is not too late.. it is 4 wins away. You lose one game-changer, use the one wasting on the bench, and while you are at it, (like everyone has suggested numerous times here already) put the other game-changer Hixon back on kickoffs to maximize the utility of this team. You can only lose once, so if you are going to go down, you might as well go down swinging.

Motown finds a Michigan guy

Motown woke us up to a Michigan guy. His name is Carl Banks, and he called out Kevin Gilbrown on everything, even at two points by name. He speaks to the issue of rhythm that Wonder stresses. He speaks out to ALL the things we ALL said on Sunday night. He speaks out to all the things we said in the recap.

“From an offensive standpoint they need a defibrillator, because there is no rhythm to it. Not making use of their short and intermediate passes with their backs as well as they should. They are getting beat with the same thing they should be beating other people with.”

Get a back in the flat. Move the chains. It is about moving forward. Stay in manageable yardage situations.

“Now comes the time to make the adjustments. When Eli had time to throw the ball, they were coverage sacks. Everyone is downfield and no one down short to dump the ball off to.”

paraphrased.. “They put Bradshaw in as a WR, they did a slip screen… Not that huge of a challenge because of the talent they have. They’ve got more than enough. They’ve got guys with skill sets that they just have to find ways to utilize.”

“It wasn’t like they didn’t know (that they would be without Plaxico and Brandon Jacobs).”

(quoted and paraphrased..) “How do you offset pressure? You have backs that can catch the ball. They have the same types of players as the ones beating them the past two weeks. Ward and Bradshaw are not as good as Westbrook but they are better than Choice and Barber and can do ALL of these things.”

“I don’t make a big issue of critizing Offensive Coordinators. WHAT IS MISSING IS THE UTILIZATION OF THE SHORT PASSING GAME TO TAKE SOME PRESSURE OFF THIS QB. YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO COUNTER THAT (PASS RUSH) AND THEY HAVE TO LOOK AT HOW TEAMS ARE ATTACKING THEIR DEFENSE. IT IS THE SAME METHODOLOGY AND THEY HAVE THE PEOPLE THAT CAN DO IT.” Garrett 20 Gilbrown 6. Wake the brown up.

Beauty Contest

Before the fans started voting in the Pro Bowl, it was actually a better assessment of talent.. your peers knew who was better than the outsiders. The fans now count for 33%, so the Pro Bowl is a little bit of a Beauty Contest. So last year when guys like Snee got snubbed, we noted it and moved on. This year, the Giants making the Pro Bowl are

Shaun O’Hara
Eli Manning
Chris Snee
John Carney
Jeff Feagles
Justin Tuck

I do not mind the offense outweighing the defense, but where the brown is Corey Webster? On the offensive side of the ball, the only person as deserving or more so is Manning and Snee. And at some points thru the season, only Snee. So that is life in the popularity contest section of the world. Heck, even the Giants media barely gave any attention to Webster until he got his new contract. The GMs know, money talks and Reese’s money talked. I would not have given Carney the nod. Very reliable at modest range but he simply does not have the length on kickoffs to get my vote. Some are going to cry about Jacobs, but (lol, at the risk of encouraging Nature!) he did not play at a Pro Bowl level. When you get first downs on short yardage, when you make people miss and extend plays, that is what gets my attention. I know that in the Q4 when the defense is beat up, that is when you benefit from the big man, but a lot of RBs hit hard AND make people miss. Jacobs hits harder but doesn’t.

Sidenote: Spags still has the “All Joes,” Gilbrown still has more responsibility despite the loss of Burress.

Summary: I am sorry for wasting everyone’s time with this comic book post. You could give us 25 Pro Bowl nods and it doesn’t mean jack BROWN unless you win championships. Last year? 1 Pro Bowl nod and 1 Super Bowl, that is my kind of score tally. This year? 6 Pro Bowl nods and ??? Super Bowls? Those 6 do not mean ANYTHING. The only thing that we count on the Ultimatenyg NY Giants Blog is Super Bowl titles.

On other more important matters, Jacobs said he was ready last Sunday but was not allowed to play, and McKenzie’s status for the Panthers is in question.

Webster’s Dictionary

1) Negligent– failing to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances
Incompetent– lacking qualities for effective action
Of the two, negligence is far more serious. It implies known neglect. Yesterday’s post dealt with Gilbrown’s incompetence. But the more I thought about it, Gilbrown allowing his QB to get sacked 8 times in one game is NEGLIGENT. How dare he not protect his QB if his OL cannot?! He put the entire franchise at risk, given that Eli Manning is the franchise.

2) Speaking of Webster, I have zero problem with allocating a lot of resources towards a good CB. Once again, Webster was very good Sunday. He was part of the answer, not a question.

3) Speaking of protecing Manning, where was the ref with the nonsense browning flag when Brady James body slammed Manning to the turf?? And they give Tuck a flag for something half as bad in the first Dallas game? Ridiculous.

4) Everyone who doesn’t trust David Carr in there, just let Manning get sacked 8x per game and Eli will morph into David Carr. I saw Eli Carr out there Sunday night, come to think of it.

5) Perhaps I was not completely clear in my rant yesterday about Gilbrown. He is not the ENTIRE reason why the Giants dropped from 29 points to 3 points per game. This may be semantics, but to quantify in broad strokes, lack of Burress chops down some points, poor OL play chops down some points, not having that bully Jacobs chops down a couple of points. Gilbride cost the team double digit points. If they were able to have an identity, a game plan, an ability to adapt, the team could still manage to score 17, 20 points per game. The way the Giants defense was playing, that would have been enough to win.

6) Dallas was playing hurt too, so we did not exactly lose to a great team last night. Dallas is improved, but they are not great.

7) Mr. Platitude (Eli Manning) spelled it out after the game, wondering aloud : “Just because you miss one or two guys, we’ve got playmakers, we just didn’t get it done.” This is Mr. Manning being polite and saying that 11 men here still have plenty of talent to score more than 3 points per game.

8) Did everyone on the OL have the flu? David Diehl looked like he was sleepwalking on a couple of those sacks.

9) This team is banged up. It needs that bye in the worst way. Maybe this is part of the reason why the OL is not playing as well.. showing some wear.

10) I do not really subscribe to the theory that the Giants ‘miss’ Jacobs as much as others. As long as #44 is playing hurt, I admit Jacobs will be good to have back this weekend. Ward is not a big dropoff. The only point here to concede is that Ward is not the emotional leader that Jacobs is. If Bradshaw was 100% and being used properly by Gilbrown, no one would be missing Jacobs at all. In fact, Bradshaw would have delivered another Buffalo W16-type performance, in my incredibly biased opinion.

11) Reese did the right thing in not re-signing Jacobs. Yes, if he wants his services again he will have to pay more, but the only thing we learned from this year about him is that it is more true than ever that a 6’4″ RB will get injured during the year.

12) To my long-suffering Chiefs fans out there… There are a few of you who visit Ultimatenyg New York Giants Blog. For these Chiefs folks, it is 40 years since Len Dawson. Alas, there is HOPE! Peterson was fired! (Anyone who would PAY to have Herm back must need a lobotomy.)