The Giants bye week couldn’t have worked out better, but in more ways then you may think. Yes the Eagles and Cowboys losses were huge gains for the Giants but not the only ways the Gmen won this past Sunday (technically they didn’t actually win at all but allow me to speak in the figurative please).

1) As previously mentioned the Cowboys and Eagles lost which keeps the Giants in the race for the NFC East.

2) Maybe even more importantly the next 2 Giants opponents may have suffered 2 devastating injuries. The Falcons (another wild card threat) not only lost, but may be without their star running back Michael Turner (ankle) this Sunday at the Meadowlands. You can’t sleep on the home run threat Jerious Norwood, but he too may not be healthy (hip injury). Meanwhile the Broncos lost starting Quarterback Kyle Orton, also with an ankle injury. While Orton may not win many games for the Broncos he certainly doesn’t lose many. Something that cannot be said for backup Chris Simms. Orton will have 11 days to get back for the GMEN on Thanksgiving.

3) The Eagles lost there best offensive weapon Brian Westbrook to another concussion, he has now suffered 2 in the last 3 weeks. The Eagles will certainly not push Westbrook back into action any time soon. The good news for the Eagles is that they  have learnt how to play without  their stud back and have dominated teams, including the Giants,  with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, LeSean Mccoy and Brent Celek who have formed a dynamic offense for Donovan McNabb to play with. Still losing Westbrook is a blow.

While all this is good news for big blue it only matters if the Giants can start winning. This Sunday at the meadowlands may be there last chance to get things rolling in the right direction.

The Giants are taking Sunday’s loss like champions. They know they came in unprepared and they know the world has seen them naked.

The collective cry has been “It’s only one game.”

“We don’t have to self-scout no more,” said CB Corey Webster. “Because after the Saints, what they did, you can take all the mistakes and correct those things. They exposed a lot of weaknesses.”

“It’s a wakeup call.” said LB Danny Clark. “It’s like pressing the refresh button on the internet. It’s not a good one, it’s definitely a shot over the chin, but we understand that we have to get better. If this happens, I would rather lose now than later in the year when it’s even more important. Guys are humbled, we understand where we went wrong.”

Looking ahead…………

If the Giants are going to make some noise in January, they are going to have to start getting noisy very soon.

There are no more layups on the schedule: NFC champ Arizona; the Eagles twice, Washington away and Dallas home; San Diego and Philip Rivers; the still undefeated Broncos and Vikings; 4-1 Atlanta and the always tough Panthers.

Those teams have a combined record through Week 6 of 34-18 and many of them have not yet hit their collective strides.

Cardinals Not Traveling Well

Since Ken Whisenunt took over as head coach in Glendale in 2007, the Cardinals are a modest 20-17.  If it weren’t for their Super Bowl run last season, Whisenhunt’s tenure would begin to draw some questions about the team’s direction.

The Cardinals are 8-10 on the road and 12-7 at home, which seems fairly normal until you drill down to the next level.  Of the 18 regular season road games they have played since 2007, 11 of them were in the Eastern time zone.

In those games, the Cardinals are 2-9.

They are coming into Giants Stadium this week with the film of the Saints’ game in their baggage, but it may not help them.  It will be hard for them to trap the Giants after last week. History is with the Giants.

Last year, after getting embarrassed in Week 5 in Cleveland, the Giants went on a seven-game winning streak which included wins over all four Super Bowl semi-finalists: Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Arizona.

On this beautiful Friday afternoon, here is what I’ve been reading on my laptop….on my deck….

First, this great article bt Andrew Ilnicki of GiantsGab on how he believes the Giants can use yoga as a form of injury prevention…….READ

Second, former Buccaneers’ beat writer Tom Edrington breaks down the Giants-Bucs match up from the Tampa point of view……READ

ESPN Experts Size Up Giants-Bucs Match Up

Leftwich, Ward Lead Rejuvenated Unit

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have always been about defense.  That is no longer.

The past few seasons the organization has been more offensive minded.  This off-season they replaced Jeff Garcia and Brian Griese at quarterback with Byron Leftwich and rookie Josh Freeman.  The ground game was upgraded with the signing of the Giants’ Derrick Ward.  They traded draft picks to Cleveland to get TE Kellen Winslow II.

Coach Raheem Morris hired Jeff Jagodzinski to run the offense.  He has since been fired and replaced by Gregg Olsen.  The Bucs have shown that they can move the football fairly well vs two decent defenses (Dallas and Buffalo). 

They have to hope the Giants don’t come out blasting and put them down by 14 or 17 points in the first quarter.

What to expect from Tampa on Sunday…..

Leftwich has played well and is gaining confidence in the offense.  He has been forced to pass more than the team would like due to the fact the defense has been horrible and the Bucs have been playing from behind.

The running game is back, thanks to ex-Giant Ward, who vows to “run all over” his former mates this week.  I hope he’s just joshing.  His partner, Carnell “Cadillac” Williams is a dangerous player when he is healthy. This week, Cadillac is a bit nicked up with a sore knee from playing on the unforgiving turf in Buffalo last week.  If the Giants jump out to an early lead, this group will be negated.

C Jeff Faine, the anchor of the offensive line could miss Sunday’s game. His replacement, Sean Mahan was manhandled in Buffalo which shortened the pocket for Leftwich.  The Giants will send DTs Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins at him…watch out.

Even without Justin Tuck the Giants can cause havoc in opponents’ backfields. DEs Osi Umenyiora and Mathias Kiwanuka will be going against Tampa tackles Donald Penn and 6″8″ Jeremy Trueblood.  Neither player could be up to the task.  Leftwich is a stationary target, too, so this may not bode well for Tampa.

Winslow is a fine TE, but he’s no Jason Witten.  The Giants are used to dealing with the likes of Witten, Chris Cooley and Brent Celek….they should be able to handle Winslow.

At WR, the Bucs will be without Antonio Bryant, who is by far their best option. His replacement may end up being little-used reserve Brian Clark.   That will give the Giants the luxury of rolling up on the other WR, Michael Clayton.  This will be the Giants’ first game without S Kenny Phillips.  C.C. Brown will start in his place.   The secondary is thin, but the Tampa receiving corps may be even thinner.

Overall, the Giants have the advantage in almost every area.  They may be undermanned, but they have the talent to overcome their injuries….for this week, anyway…..but keep in mind it will be hot on the field and that depleted DL may wear down….

If Tampa Bay’s rookie head coach, Raheem Morris is concerned about his team’s confidence after two games he isn’t showing it.

“We’ve just got to play better”, he said.  No kidding. The defense has been atrocious.

Jim Bates, the team’s new defensive coordinator, has scrapped longtime DC Monte Kiffin’s Tampa 2 scheme for a more effrontery style, which apparently has not completely sunk in just yet.

In Week One, Dallas hit on several big plays as a result of missed assignments and last week Buffalo ran all over the Bucs, who seemed clueless and disorganized in missing an estimated 24 tackles.

LB Barrett Ruud, the former Nebraska star who is at the center of the Bucs’ defense and has recorded 251 tackles over the past two seasons, put it as bluntly as possible.

“Every defensive formula revolves around stopping the run and not giving up big plays.  If we’re not going to do either, we’re not going to win many games.”

This week the New York Giants come to town.  Their legendary running game has been stuck in neutral thus far in 2009.  This Bucs’ defense may help them get untracked.  If by some divine intervention, Tampa is able to stonewall the Giants on the ground, they will find themselves up against a matured Eli Manning and his new cadre of playmakers.

Meet the Bucs’ Defense

This is not your father’s Buc defense.  Their are few recognizable names, with six new starters.  Ronde Barber is still at CB.  The rest of the squad, outside of Ruud and veterans S Will Allen and DT Chris Hovan are unproven and hardly stoke memories of Warren Sapp, Anthony McFarland, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch.

The secondary outside of Barber sports the talented first round pick from last season, Aqib Talib at corner, Allen at free safety and Sabby Piscitelli filling in for the injured Jermaine Phillips at SS.

They have been just awful to put it nicely. They have been beaten on five long pass plays thus far and are not making the required plays against the run, either.

Ruud is surrounded by two guys named Gino Hayes and Quincy Black. Neither weighs over 230 lbs.  Last season, Ruud had Cato June on his left and Derrick Brooks on his right. Enough said.

The defensive line is anchored by NTs Hovan and former Chiefs’ disappointment Ryan Sims.  The ends are Jimmy Wilkinson, also a former Chief and Gaines Adams, who was taken by the Bucs with the 4th overall selection of the 2007 draft.

If you want to know how well Adams is progressing, you don’t need a wandering imagination to figure it out. Morris said he “doesn’t see the fire in Gaines this year”.

A DE without fire?  Whoa, that’s not good when in order to beat New York, you need to force Eli into mistakes…..Gaines had no sacks and only four tackles in the first two games…there are cadavers that could do better than that….

tomorrow…the Tampa offense…

thanks to YaHoo! Sports for the quotes…..

why am I so upbeat today…..I guess it’s true – ignorance IS bliss…..

Tuck Shoulder Has Been Problematic In The Past

According to The News’ Ralph Vacchiano, DE Justin Tuck has a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder and will probably sit out Sunday’s game in Tampa.  Vacchiano also reported that in 2003, while at Notre Dame, Tuck injured that same shoulder and played through the pain, not missing a game.

….the Giants are not going to allow him to do that this time. They have some depth (Mathias Kiwanuka, Dave Tollefson) at DE and can get by logistically the next few weeks without him….perhaps Clint Sintim will be ready to play this week….

Tynes Benefiting From Red Zone Failures

By now you all must know of the Giants’ continuing ineptitude in the red zone (they have not scored a TD from inside the 20 yard-line in eight tries this season).  As they say in the adage business “opportunities lost are usually found by others” .  In this case, its kicker Lawrence Tynes who is the benficiary.  After two weeks he leads the NFL in points with 26.

….this is no biggie…if you recall, John Carney – last year’s kicker – was third overall in points scored and led the NFL in PPG with 9.5……

Giants-Cowboys II: Will They Switch to Prime Time?

Sunday night’s game was the most watched NFL regular season game in a dozen years.  The two teams meet again on Dec 6th at Giants Stadium. The game is a scheduled 4:15 start on FOX.  You would think the NFL is considering moving this game to prime time, especially if it has heightened importance.

This is a “flex” week, and anything is possible, but the Giants will be living in prime time from Thanksgiving until Christmas.  They play Thanksgiving night in Denver (which will be broadcast on the NFL Network) the week before. Then they play the following two weeks in prime time – Sunday night Dec 13th vs Philly on NBC and Monday night Dec 21st on ESPN at Washington.

.…FOX will get sufficient spillover into prime time from this game, as they always do so the league will probably not move it…..that cannot be said for Week 17’s match up with Minnesota…that game may have the biggest lure that week and is a candidate to be switched…..

Comparing the Teams

The two teams look very similar on offense. At quarterback, each team has a much-criticized young player. Dallas’ Tony Romo rose to stardom perhaps too quickly and the Giants’ Eli Manning is still trying to grow into his. They both show signs of greatness but are still prone to making fundamental mistakes.

Manning has a Super Bowl ring and a SB MVP trophy on his mantle. Romo has never won a playoff game, but sports the highest career QB Passer Rating (95.7) of any active player. In fact, only Steve Young is ahead of him on the all-time list.

In the Backfield, the Cowboys have a banger – Marion Barber III – just as the Giants do in Brandon Jacobs. Those players are backed up by breakaway threats (Felix Jones and Ahmad Bradshaw). In addition, their third-down backs are very similar as well: Dallas has Taschard Choice and the Giants have Danny Ware (who is injured).

The fullbacks on either team aren’t given a lot lot to do other than to block. The Giants’ Madison Hedgecock is a ferocious blocker. Dallas‘ third-year fullback, Deon Anderson only has two rushing attempts and eight receptions in his career.

At tight end, the Cowboys‘ Jason Witten has become the Pro Bowl standard. The Giants’ Kevin Boss has shown that he could challenge for a spot in Hawaii (providing they throw the ball to him).

The offensive lines are both excellent, although the Giants’ is considered better at this point in time. They have Pro-Bowlers in G Chris Snee and C Shaun O’Hara. The Cowboys have Pro Bowlers, too: T Flozell Adams, G Leonard Davis and C Andre Gurode.

The wide receiver groups for both teams have been the bone of contention for just about every pundit in the land. The questions about the voids left behind by Terrell Owens, Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer have been endless.

The Cowboys believe they have the answer in Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton and Miles Austin. The Giants are relying on the workmanlike talents of Domenik Hixon and Steve Smith and hoping Mario Manningham and rookie Hakeem Nicks can expand their vertical passing game.

On defense, each team can get after your quarterback. The Cowboys employ a 3-4, the Giants a 4-3. Each team has sack specialists. In Dallas, OLB DeMarcus Ware led the NFL with 20 sacks in 2008.DT Jay Ratliff joined Ware in Hawaii with a 7.5 sack season.

The Giants have All-Pro Justin Tuck and former All-Pro Osi Umenyiora at defensive end. Umneyiora missed all of 2008 with a knee injury. These two together could spell trouble for opposing QBs. Last week, Osi stripped Washington QB Jason Campbell of the ball and ran it in for a TD. Tuck was also all over the field and was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Each team has productive linebackers, most notably in the middle where the Giants have their leader, Antonio Pierce and the Cowboys have their captain, Bradie James, who had 8 sacks last season.

The secondaries are nearly equvilant as well. The Cowboys have veteran Terence Newman and second-year man Mike Jenkins at CB. The Giants have veteran Corey Webster and second-year man Terrell Thomas at the corners. The third CB is where New York may have an advantage. The Giants’ Kevin Dockery is more of a playmaker than Dallas’ Orlando Scandrick.

At safety the Cowboys have veteran Ken Hamlin and free-agent pickup Gerard Sensabaugh. The Giants counter with their youthful tandem of Kenny Phillips and Michael Johnson.

Analysis

The Giants on Defense

The Giants will put up a better fight than the Buccaneers did last week, that’s for sure. The Cowboys benefited from some sloppy defensive play by their opponent, which led to at least 14 points. The Giants will rush Romo primarily with their front four. They may blitz occasionally, but that is where Romo usually hurts them. They will handle the run better than Tampa did, too.

The Giants on Offense

The Cowboys ain’t the Redskins, they don’t have that kind of push against the run. The Blue should be able to move the football on the ground much easier this week. The passing game might be reeled in a bit to save Eli from taking some hits. This can’t be a good thing…..

Special Teams

P Jeff Feagles won’t be affected by the scoreboard hanging in his face. He no longer booms kicks…he’s a directional guy and the Giants will rely on him to help maintain field position.  K Lawrence Tynes is perfect for 2009, let’s hope he keeps it that way.  His kickoffs need work, though.

Prediction: Cowboys 24, Giants 20

Don Corleone always said..“keep you’re friends close, but your enemies closer…”

That being said,  I asked my colleague and friend, Rich Tandler, a top Redskins blogger to introduce us to the 2009 Washington Redskins – the Giants‘ opening day opponent.

from RealRedskins.com……….

This Year’s Top 20 Washington Redskins Players

20. Phillip Daniels, DE—Many figured he was done after missing all of 2008 with a knee injury. They figured wrong. If the blueprint for the defense works out he’ll be on the field on first  down and then yielding to pass rush specialists because it will be second and long for the other team.

19. Ethan Albright, LS—He puts the ball where it needs to be. I have him downgraded somewhat because it seems to me that he’s replaceable. Really, how many bad snaps on kicks do you see in the course of the year? A lot of players can get it done and some of them can even serve as reserve linemen or at least play on other special teams. Albright is a one-trick pony.

18. Casey Rabach, C—Rabach is good when he doesn’t have a man over him but struggles with big nose guards. Still, he’s a workhorse who hates to come out of the lineup.

17. Cornelius Griffin, DT—Griffin’s job got a whole lot easier with the addition of Albert Haynesworth to play next to him. He’ll be 33 by the time the season ended so this could be his last hurrah as a starter.

16. Rocky McIntosh, WLB—He’ll always be something of a liability in coverage but other than that he’s everything you want in a linebacker—always around the ball and a solid fundamental tackler. It will be interesting to see what he can accomplish after recovering from the 2007 knee injury.

15. Chris Horton, SS—Horton made a spectacular debut, getting two interceptions and forcing a fumble in his first game as a starter. They couldn’t get him out of the lineup after that even though he appeared to hit a rookie wall and, like the rest of the team, wasn’t quite as effective as the year wore on.

14. Derrick Dockery, G—He seems to be fitting right in as though he never left. Dockery never was the most fundamentally sound lineman out there, relying on his sheer size to get it done. While you have to wonder about Buffalo letting him go despite not having much behind him, the position is far from one of concern.

13. Mike Sellers, FB—As long as they just have him do what he does best—apply crushing blocks and catch a couple of passes a game out in space—he’ll be fine. He’s not a short-yardage runner and the coaches over the past several years have given him a chance to demonstrate that at the worst possible times.

12. Andre Carter, DE—I’m probably a bigger believer in Carter than most. He will have his chance to have a big year with Haynesworth drawing a lot of attention in the middle of the line. Look for a double-digit sack total and a number of sack and strip plays out of Carter.

11. Hunter Smith, P—I considered putting him up higher but I want to see him in more situations. For example, I want to see if he can keep himself from thumping the ball into the end zone on the fly when punting from midfield, at least giving the team a chance to down it deep. No question about it, Hunter the punter can boom the ball.

10. London Fletcher, MLB—He’s Greg Blache’s extension on the field, the unquestioned leader of the defense. Fletcher has lost a step or two but he makes up for it with smarts.

9. Chris Samuels, LT—There is a lot of nervousness surrounding Samuels. It’s not so much for his ability on the field but for his ability to stay on the field. Jim Zorn has acknowledged that Samuels has a knee injury that will have to be “managed” all year. Still, when he’s in there, he is rock solid.

8. Santana Moss, WR—Moss is right up there with any NFL receiver when it comes to having sticky hands and for his ability to make a jaw-dropping move after he catches the ball. The hope is that an improved receiving corps will take some attention off of him and allow him to be a bit more consistent.

7. DeAngelo Hall, CB—Both Hall and Blache have said that MeAngelo is dead and that Hall is determined to show that he has matured. For now, I’m going to buy that because there have been no indications to the contrary since he came to the Redskins at midseason last year. If Hall can get seven interceptions that will be the most of any Redskin since Martin Mayhew got that many in 1990.

6. Carlos Rogers, CB—Rogers reminds me of the old maxim that says that if most defensive backs had good hands they’d be wide receivers. Yes, the guy needs to hold on to the ball but at least he’s consistently in position to get his hands on passes. He takes a lot of flak here but I can name a bunch of other NFL teams that would love to have him dropping passes in their secondaries.

5. Brian Orakpo, SLB—This is very high to rank a rookie but the expectations here are sky high. Orakpo could well be the defensive difference maker that the Redskins have been missing for, oh, about two decades.

4. LaRon Landry, FS—If the rest of the defense works the way it should work, this will be Landry’s breakout season. A fierce pass rush can push a free safety from good to great.

3. Chris Cooley, TE—Like Moss, Cooley will benefit if the trio of 2008 second-round receivers can start to live up to expectations. If he can get some space in the middle of the field he can turn a medium-length pass into a huge play with his ability to run right through tackle attempts. There are some saying that the additions of Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow to the NFC will keep Cooley from making another Pro Bowl appearance. It says here that Cooley makes it easily.

2. Albert Haynesworth, DT—As with Hall, I’m going to buy his words about not being satisfied with the huge payday because his actions have indicated that he wants to play hard. If so, he’ll be a nightmare for opposing offensive coordinators.

1. Clinton Portis, RB—Clinton Portis is the bell cow of the Washington Redskins. When he’s going well the Redskisn are controlling the game. When he’s not, they’re struggling.

Good and Bad, But No Ugly

The Giants’ 2009 schedule bears much similarity to their 2008 schedule. There are a few differences, some welcome, some not.

The Good

The BYE week was in Week 5 last year. This year it is during Week 10, giving the team a much needed strategic break later in the season.

No jet lag this season: The Giants furthest road opponent is Denver (on Thanksgiving Night).

Between October 25th and November 22nd, the Giants have only one road game, and that is in Philadelphia (November 1st).

The Bad

Even though the Giants are scheduled to play in the Eastern time zone 11 times, only 7 of those games are slated as 1PM Sunday starts. The flex schedule kicks in in Week 13 and two of those games (vs Carolina; at Minnesota) may be changed to later times if needed.

The Giants are on the road 3 consecutive weeks between Week 2-4 (at Dallas, at Tampa, at KC), come home to host Oakland in Week 5 before heading back on the road to New Orleans.

Notes

The last five games of 2008 were: @Was, Phi, @Dal, Car and @Min. This year’s final five games are almost identical: Dal, Phi, @Was, Car, @Min.

In the spotlight…..

The Giants are currently scheduled to play in prime time 5 times:
9/20 at Dallas
10/25 vs Arizona
11/26 at Denver (Thanksgiving night)
12/13 vs Philadelphia
12/21 @ Washington (Mon)

Other possible national games (the 4:15 starts):
9/13 vs Washington
11/1 @Philadelphia
11/8 vs San Diego
12/6 vs Dallas

*The Giants appeared in prime time 5 times last year and played three 4:15 national games.

For those interested….

The Giants will see Jeremy Shockey for the first time since they traded him in 2008 when they visit the Saints on Sunday, Oct. 10th.

Philip Rivers will make his first appearance in the Meadowlands to face the team that drafted (and traded) him in the 2004 NFL Draft when the San Diego Chargers come in on November 8th.

Six 2008 opponents ended up in the playoffs. Six 2008 playoff teams are on this year’s schedule as well (Phi, Ari, Atl, Car, Min, SD).

Here is your 2009 New York Giants schedule:

• Sun, Sept 13 @ 4:15pm – Home vs. Washington
• Sun, Sept 20 @ 8:20pm – Away at Dallas
• Sun, Sept 27 @ 1:00pm – Away at Tampa Bay
• Sun, Oct 4 @ 1:00pm – Away at Kansas City
• Sun, Oct 11 @ 1:00pm – Home vs. Oakland
• Sun, Oct 18 @ 1:00pm – Away at New Orleans
• Sun, Oct 25 @ 8:20pm – Home vs. Arizona
• Sun, Nov 1 @ 4:15pm – Away at Philadelphia
• Sun, Nov 8 @ 4:15pm – Home vs. San Diego
• Sun, Nov 15 BYE WEEK
• Sun Nov 22 @ 1:00pm – Home vs. Atlanta
• Thurs Nov 26 @ 8:20pm – Away at Denver
• Sun Dec 6 @ 4:15pm – Home vs. Dallas
• Sun Dec 13 @ 8:20pm – Home vs. Philadelphia
• Mon Dec 21 @ 8:30pm – Away at Washington
• Sun Dec 27 @ 1:00pm – Home vs. Carolina
• Sun Jan 3 @ 1:00pm – Away at Minnesota

Highlights

• The Giants will open the Cowboys new $1.1 billion stadium in a nationally televised Sunday night game on Sept. 20.
• December 27th against Carolina will be the last (regular season) game the Giants play at Giants Stadium.
• Home games against division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia late in the season.
• Five nationally televised games.
• Later bye week this season (Nov. 15).