The Ups and The Downs
The ups
Mathias Kiwanuka had a solid game with a sack and a couple of pressures. It should be noted that Kiwi played inside at tackle several times, something Justin Tuck did a lot in 07 and continues to do today.
Terrel Thomas isn’t afraid to gamble in coverage and he was rewarded for his instincts with a pick in the first quarter and a couple of passes defended including a big 3rd down late in the 4th quarter (unfortunately his gambling goes both ways…see the down section)
Brandon Jacobs had 13 carries for 76 yards including a 25 yard scamper. Many analysts are now questioning whether or not his alleged “soft” running is based on his new contract. What shocked me is that ESPN’s Chris Carter questioned Jacobs after this particular game. Um Chris he just averaged 5.8 a carry and bowled over LB Clark Haggans to get his TD, and now you question him?
Hakeem Nicks continues to make big plays. Yes it was a flukey TD, but that’s now 4 straight games with a TD.
Bill Sheridan promised blitzes and for the most part he delivered. Yes they gave up 24 points but they were in bad field position most of the game and the offense had 4 turnovers. Warner was held to a 72.8 quarterback rating and they gave up less then 300 yards of total offense.
The Downs
CC Brown, or as Chris Collinsworth refers to him, “Can’t Cover,” had another awful game. Yes he led the team in tackles, but he continues to find himself out of position, most notably on the wildcat formation where he let Larry Fitzgerald run right by him. He also had Beanie Wells carry him into the end zone and while he occasionally lays a decent hit not one has forced a receiver to drop a ball. He also came up to support on a Beanie Wells 10 yard run in the first half, it looked as though Brown was going to lay some wood, but ended up gettting knocked backwards by the powerful Wells. Sidebar : If the Cardinals ever do decide to run Beanie Wells is a huge talent if he can stop from fumbling.
As noted earlier Terrell Thomas is a gambler. Thomas came up with a big interception in the first quarter but also found himself out of position on several balls thrown to Larry Fitzgerald in the second half. A corner who free lances is going to help and hurt you throughout the year, it’ll be interesting to see what happens if Aaron Ross ever does come back.
Mario Manningham now has 7 drops on the year and, as it was pointed out by Collinsworth, ran several poor routes in the game.
The Cardinals had a plan for Domenik Hixon’s return ability, simply kick it away from him. Not sure why the Giants didn’t go to a 2 returner set to counter the strategy. Hixon never had any blocking as Rackers was able to mess up the timing on every kick.
Eli Manning never looked right in this game. Even on the final 2 drives nothing ever seemed fluid. Eli threw 3 picks but easily could have thrown 5. Not sure why, but Eli has always had issues with delay of games and the Cardinals 8 man fronts and constant chess matches seemed to confuse him all the more.
On Calais Campbell’s sack in the first halg he was double teamed by Chris Snee and Shaun O’Hara….again double teamed by the Giants 2 pro bowl lineman…not good.
Jeff Feagles had a rough day, after 22 years of NFL experience it’s safe to say this was an aberration.
The referees missed a blatant helmet to helmet hit on Kevin Boss, while the ref’s missed it the league will not. Antrel Rolle is bound to be fined for the hit later in the week.
Ahmad Bradshaw had a fumble fighting for extra yards, but what got him pulled from the game was a personal foul for striking the defender in the face with his fist.
If there were a “Middle” section to this post that’s where William Beatty would show up. He had some good plays, and some bad. It is clear that Beatty’s athleticism and strength have him ahead of the “project” title, but it’s also clear he still needs another offseason before he is ready to go. If he has to play this week, and the Eagles get to game plan for it, things may not go as well for him.
Thats the Ups and Downs…onto Philly.
