Two plays-mind lost
After watching these two plays on Thurdsay night I completely lost my mind and all faith in Bill “the terminator” Sheridan. He is officially the terminator because he is programmed not to show any emotion. EVER!
PLAY 1
On third and long in the first half Sheridan had DT Chris Canty in coverage on Tony Scheffler. Scheffler wound up with a 22 yard gain and an easy first down.
Sheridan promised the fans and media that his defense would be different then Spags’s in one way; he would drop less lineman into coverage. What he actually meant was this “My defense will differ from Spags’s in this way; we will not only drop ends into coverage but tackles who moonlight as ends as well, oh and of course we do not plan on using our safeties, or getting to the QB, or stopping the run or doing anything that made Spags’s D successful, are you Sarah Conna?”
As the media questioned whether or not his swiss cheese secondary is confused he replied he “sees no confusion.” Really? On Brandon Stokley’s second half Touchdown not one Giant was within 10 yards of him. Where did the Broncos hide him you ask? In the slot. THE SLOT, can’t really blame Sheridan for that one, I mean the slot is almost an invisible spot on the field. The fact is this is almost the same defense, personnel wise, that it was last year, but the results are two totally different defenses.
Play 2 - Here is where I actually lost my mind.
In the 4th quarter, as the defense tried to get off the field, the Broncos faced a third and long. Corey Webster was matched up on Jabar Gaffney, he crept to the line as if he was coming on a blitz. As the ball was snapped, Webster did not blitz, but he did not get back in coverage either, he played what appeared to be a “no man’s land” defense, while the Safety over the top stayed 15/20 yards off the ball. Orton simply turned and through a pitch and catch 8 yard gain to Gaffney for the first down. Here is how I imagine Sheridan installing this defense:
Sheridan: Ok Corey we don’t want to give away the coverage so you show blitz.
Webster – Ok I’ll show it, then back up into position before the snap.
Sheridan – Nah, that won’t sell it. Just show blitz, don’t blitz, but stay near the line of scrimmage, sort of a no man’s land thing.
Webster – Ok, so we will roll the safety down into a one on one?
Sheridan – Nah, if he comes down the line they’ll know your coming.
Webster – But I’m not coming.
Sheridan – Right (raises his eyebrows, nods his head as if he just explained the theory of relativity) pretty great huh?
And then Thursday, no mans land defense was unveiled, shockingly it failed to work and I lost all faith in Bill Sheridan, and I punched my 80 year old grandmother in the face for “eyeballin” me. Last part didn’t happen, but I did stand up at the bar and yelled out “Serenity Now”…and just like Lloyd Braun I only found insanity later.
I still believe in Coach Coughlin and there is almost no chance he is let go after the year, but I can’t say the same for both his coordinators. To me Sheridan is far more of a problem then Gilbride, but it’s also clear that 2 out of 3 of the FA’s brought into help this Defense have been a failure. Boley, when healthy, has been great, but Bernard and Canty have had little impact on the defensive front. The linebackers are due for an overhaul and the Giants desperately need a safety. At 6-5 all is not over, but right now there are very few signs that the Giants will turn things around, but like Andy Dufrain and Red….I HOPE.
