Jamie Insalaco
"Where was the pass rush? Brees was having a field day."
This was the question one my friends put to me this morning, and the answer probably lies in the current status of Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, neither of whom are anywhere near 100% healthy. I’m sure few players are at the point in the season, but still, without these two guys playing at a high level, I think it’s pretty clear that the Giants are not able to get it done.
Here we are: the Giants have met the hard part of their schedule and for the most part, they have failed miserably. Although many thought that beating the Patriots was a sign of what was to come, it’s now looking like the last hurray in a season that may now be beyond recovery.
(It’s easy to forget that the Patriots were not looking good that game and the Giants weren’t exactly making plays; I remember the Pats offense looking fairly disorganized, especially in the 1st half, and the Giants couldn’t get out of their own way. Of course, the second half was a different story all together, and the Giants defense was able to hold on.)
So what has happened to the Giants season? Was it a front loaded schedule of easier opponents that made the Giants look better than they are? Is it the injuries? Or maybe just the roster construction over all? Perhaps that loss to the Eagles took some fight out of them.
Now the Giants have to prepare for the Packers on a short weak with a roster weakened by injuries, but even at full strength, the Giants have fundamental flaws, so it’s not like I’m disappointed – i predicted them to be a .500 team, and I still believe that’s where they’ll end up. Sure, they still have to play Dallas twice, and those as well as others are winnable games coming up on the horizon, but I can’t get too excited about their prospects. Even if the Giants do sneak into the playoffs (not that one really sneaks into the playoffs in the NFL but rather falls in ass first), I just dont see the them doing any significant post season damage.
But you never know how things will turn out. My buddy reminded me that the Jets got the last seed with a 9-7 record and went to the AFC championship. There they were, beating teams that won 11 and 12 games… well, they didn’t win the Super Bowl, but they certainly made a statement.
One they haven’t followed up on since.
The Bright Spot
Since Mario Manningham doesn’t seem to have the playbook memorized, it’s been fun to watch the emerging of Victor Cruz, this week coming up with 9 receptions good for 157 yards and 2 Touchdowns. Maybe Cruz is the long term answer at wide receiver that the Giants have been looking for since the fall of Plexico Buress…
