Posts tagged ‘New York Giants’

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February 6, 2012

2 Simple Reasons The New England Patriots Lost The Super Bowl

by Jamie Insalaco

As The New England Patriots learned when they played the Baltimore Ravens, sometimes you win the game, but other times, your opponent loses the game. I’m not sure if Super Bowl 46 was one of these cases, but Tom Brady made two mistakes that ultimately made it very difficult for the Patriots to win the game. (Which worked out great for me!)

The Safety
There’s been some Intentional Grounding calls we’ve seen over the years that felt a bit like splitting hairs, and then there’s an Intentional Grounding penalty that’s so blatant it is called by seven year old kids throwing yellow napkins at their TVs. What on earth was Brady thinking? I guess he wasn’t – he just panicked, trying to get rid of the ball and avoid the safety, but got one anyway.

The Interception
This wasn’t nearly as bad as the safety, but still, not a great throw. Sure, you look at the match up between the defender and the receiver, but it’s The Super Bowl; you can’t throw the ball like that. Oh well.

Still, even if it wasn’t he best played game, it was fun to watch. Tom Brady still gave a pretty good performance, and as I’m sure Eli Manning can sympathize, you can throw a bunch of good balls, but you can’t catch them for your receivers.

And hey, I was pretty close on my prediction – I had the Giants winning the game 24-17, so not too bad.

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February 3, 2012

2 Simple Reasons The New York Giants Will Win The Super Bowl

by Jamie Insalaco

As the New York Giants marched into camp, began the season and perhaps as recently as Thanksgiving, I was a naysayer. The Giants let important players like Kevin Boss leave after last season and didn’t replace them. Key players were hurt and others weren’t producing. When I watched them play, I just didn’t see a championship team, and often, I didn’t see a playoff team. Then something happened: players began performing to expectation or better (maybe not Brandon Jacobs, but he’s better than he was), still other players got healthy and Victor Cruz rode in on a white horse and saved the day. Suddenly, Eli Manning had a team around him that was firing on all cylinders at the best possible time.

Now, the Giants find themselves in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots for the second time in just a few years, and conditions are looking right for Big Blue to repeat against the Pats. Why? As Mr. Spock would say, "Simple logic will suffice."

1. The Giants have a great defense
Defense wins championships in any sport, and the Giants have a great defense. Sure, the Patriots have a great offense, and Tom Brady is a great quarterback, but the Giants D can limit the damage more so than the Pats D can – hence, the Giants will allow fewer points.

2. The Patriots’ record is against them
Yeah, I know – the Patriots lost only 3 games all year. But the proof is in the numbers; look at who they beat and who they lost to. I’ll give the Patriots their due; they are a good team, but they aren’t great. They didn’t win that game to get to the Super Bowl, the Ravens lost it (bringing to mind the Giants win over the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl way back in the early nineties), and that’s a big difference. During this season, the Patriots didn’t beat a single team with a record better than .500 except the Ravens, and the Ravens blew that game. The Giants are just a better, more well rounded team, pure and simple. Also, it should be pointed out that the Giants have already beaten the Patriots this year. In New England. Sure, it was a close came, but the Giants were in bad shape and on the road… the Patriots should have found a way to win that game, but they couldn’t because they just don’t have what it takes to beat the better teams – not this year. (Oh, and the Giants beat the Pats in preseason, too, but I’ll let that slide. Preseason is BS.)

That’s all there is to it. Of course, it’s football, so anything can happen, but the smart money is on the Giants. Unlike the defense heavy Ravens, the Giants are, again, a well rounded team that simply has more weapons than the Patriots, and I’m looking forward to celebrating a Super Bowl victory Sunday evening.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:
New York Giants 24
New England Patriots 17

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January 20, 2012

New York Giants Fans: Dare We Dream Big?

by Jamie Insalaco

After all of my complaining, the New York Football Giants have peaked at the right time and are on a collision course with the San Francisco 49ers.  Eli Manning is having an MVP type season.  Victor Cruz has emerged from nowhere to become the Giants best receiver while making Mario Manningham, Hakeem Nicks, Jake Ballard and everyone else around him better.  And when it comes to making the players around you better, you need look no further than Ahmad Bradshaw – Brandon Jacobs knows what I’m talking about.  Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck continue to take care of business on the defensive end – last week, the Packers never held a lead during the entire game.

If the Giants can keep Manning, Cruz, Bradshaw and Umenyiora healthy, a season that I thought would barely merit a playoff birth could suddenly become a Super Bowl win!  Dream big!

 

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November 29, 2011

Mourning the Giants

by 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…

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November 21, 2011

Giants Tumble Further Down The Rabbit Hole

by Jamie Insalaco

The New York Giants just don’t have the pieces they need to succeed, and while I’m usually yelling at the receiver core until I’m blue in the face, it’s time to take a hard look at the Giants running game.

Or lack there of.

The Giants rushed for 29 yards. Twenty-nine yards. That’s it. Brandon Jacobs averaged under 2 yards per carry in 12 tries. What. The. Hell. Is. That. About?!? At this point, the guy just doesn’t provide the Giants with much value, and I don’t know what they can do to turn around his season.

Whatever. This is who the Giants are. They play close games against mediocre teams and sometimes they make fewer mistakes than their opponents, and sometimes they make more. It’s a weak division in a weak league, so ultimately, it doesn’t matter, because the Giants don’t have what it takes to go all the way. If you have any fantasies about the Giants going deep in the playoffs, it’s time to let those go. If they were in the other league, they’d have a .500 record instead of being 6-4, and yet, they could easily be 8-2 and it still wouldn’t change who they fundamentally are – a flawed team that can’t get out of it’s own way and has no hope of winning the Super Bowl this year.

At all.

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November 18, 2011

Football Friday: Giants Receivers Are Self Aware!

by Jamie Insalaco

It’s always nice when someone can admit they’re wrong. In this case, it’s the Giants wide receiver core. Yahoo! Sports’ Jason Cole has got the goods:

…on at least half of Eli Manning’s eight interceptions this season, the problem has been tied to the receiver being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “There have been some pretty crucial times when we haven’t finished routes or read them correctly,” a Giants source said earlier this week. The latest example came on Manning’s second interception during Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers as wide receiver Mario Manningham didn’t finish a route the quarterback expected.

“You could say I’m supposed to work through it a little further,” Manningham said, a little sheepishly. “We definitely weren’t on the same page, so that has to get fixed.”

Likewise, Manning had an interception on a pass to Cruz in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks earlier this season when Cruz was in the wrong spot.

Yeah, I noticed that myself. I’m sure that memorizing an NFL playbook is no easy task, but when it’s your job, I’d like to think there would be a bit more emphasis on getting that done. Hell, Plexico Burress was usually hurt and couldn’t even practice with the team, but I don’t remember him having this problem. I’m willing to give Cruz a pass for now; after all, he’s been on the team for like five minutes, right? But Manningham needs to get his act together so I can start making Super Mario puns.

But yeah, look at Yahoo! Sports coming in handy! I usually don’t have much in the way of positive words for them, but this was a decent article… although they did make the obligatory joke about Giants receivers being in the wrong place at the wrong time in reference to a shooting at a nightclub that some of the Giants were at to celebrate Victor Cruz’s birthday. It’s not an especially funny joke and given that someone died, it’s not in the best of taste.

So, you know – standard Yahoo! article.

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November 15, 2011

Giants Drop Passes in Lose to 49ers

by Jamie Insalaco

While I am willing to concede that Mario Manningham made some fine catches (including a well thrown ball for a touch down) in Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco Giants, I must also point out that the ball bounced off his chest at least once and his inability to complete his route directly caused an interception that was probably a game changing turnover. These kind of mental mistakes are the sort of things that continue to hold the New York Giants offense from climbing up to the next level. Eli Manning is not guiltless in the loss, but when he hits a receiver in the chest with the ball, they need to catch it. When you’re running your route, you need to finish it so the only person that’s anywhere near where the ball comes down isn’t the other team’s safety. Still, big kudos to Eli Manning and the offense for their 4th down conversions in the fourth quarter – that was some hardcore shiz. But taking this thing to the next level is not looking like a possibility right now, although a playoff birth is looking mighty obtainable at this moment. If Brandon Jacobs and the Giants wide receivers can elevate their game, we might really have something here. I was pleasantly surprised by the Giants rushing defense;I thought the 49ers would run all over the place, but it didn’t feel that way; I can’t remember now, but perhaps the Giants were able to bring in an extra safety due to the 49ers less than stellar passing attack.

This feels like a game the Giants should have won – they led in nearly all offensive categories, but that extra turnover really broke their back. Maybe next week, the Giants can take advantage (again) of a damaged Philadelphia Eagles team that is just waiting to be put out of it’s misery.

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November 7, 2011

Giants D Holds Against Pats

by Jamie Insalaco

I couldn’t have been more pleased with the Giants defensive performance in the first half.  Shutting out Tom Brady and the Patriots at home is something to be proud of.  Yet, the Giants were also unable to score on a weak New England secondary, so while beating the Pats at home is an achievement, it hasn’t convinced me that the Giants are ready to go to the next level on offense.

Again (before I start complaining), great job by the defense.  The 3rd down stops, the interceptions, the secondary (until late in the game) – GREAT JOB!  (Although, 20 points in one half is pushing it.)

Of course, the ball had to bounce of somebody’s chest this week, so why not pick the biggest chest on the team?  Still, I di think that despite that blooper, Brandon Jacobs looked pretty good.  I’m still not convinced that Victor Cruz is the answer at wide receiver, but he’s pretty good.  I was also impressed by Jake Ballard; key receptions combined with his huge 6 ft 6 in, 275 lbs frame is a recipe for limited success.  D.J. Ware, however, might be getting too many touches.

The Giants brutal stretch of games continues next week at the San Francisco 49ers, then the game I’m most looking forward to:  in East Rutherford against the Eagles!

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November 1, 2011

Giants squeak by the Dolphins

by Jamie Insalaco

Reggie Bush did his best to knock the Dolphins out of the Andrew Luck bowl, but in the end, mediocrity triumphed over the team with no quarterback.  Barely.

In an effort to be positive, here are two things I like about the Giants:  Eli Manning and the pass rush.

That is all.

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October 17, 2011

Bills Mistakes + Giants Achievements = W for New York

by Jamie Insalaco

I’m a huge fan of Corey Webster – not only is he an outstanding play maker (2 interceptions this week!), he’s also keenly aware of reality:

“We still have a long ways to go, but it is easily corrected off of a ‘W’ instead of a ‘L.’ We made some mistakes, but we get to correct them. We have two weeks to do that so hopefully we get started moving in the right direction now.”

This is the sort of comment he makes after a win – no wonder I admire his play so much. Webster must know that yesterday’s win was achieved not only due to some good play by the Giants, of course, but also some tremendous mistakes by the Buffalo Bills. Both teams committed 3 penalties, but the Bills pass interference and face mask penalties in the fourth quarter were back breakers for them and W makers for the Giants. If the Bills don’t commit those blatant fourth quarter penalties, we could be looking at a different outcome, and I think Corey Webster understands that.

Eli Manning had a stellar game – 21 of 32 for 292 yards and no interceptions! Coupling this with Ahmad Bradshaw’s 104 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns and that’s good offensive production. The defense also had a great second half by allowing the Bills to score only once.Still, the New York Giants problems are there for all to see. I don’t expect Bradshaw to rush for 100 yards every week and although it seems that Victor Cruz is quickly becoming a fan favorite, I don’t see him being the answer at wide receive any more than I do Hakeem Nicks or Mario Manningham. I have always believed that to win a Super Bowl, a team has to have an elite receive, and I just don’t see that guy on the Giants roster at this time.

Enjoy the bye week!

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