Somebody talk me down...

[fishgutmartyr]

I'm getting too high on this team. I keep thinking this is the strongest team we've had since the 80's (and you can include the '07 team), and I don't see much to worry about.

 

Yes, we don't have the vet wide receiver that's been a regular starter, but we do have receivers that potentially can do it, but haven't gotten the chance yet.

 

Our linebackers were our only defensive weakness--but we've addressed that problem this off-season. Even if none of our young backers break the starting rotation, we're still light-years ahead of where we were even in '06.

 

The only other thing I worry about is BACKUP Oline. Even there, only at center. I really hope we get a Guy Ruegamer clone after the first few cuts of training camp.

 

I mean there's a lot of fretting about kicker here--but think about that--our worries include kicker? I bet St. Louis fans would love to have one of their big personnel worries be a kicker.

 

But as a long-time Giants fan, all this scares the shit out of me. I'm half-waiting for the other shoe to drop. Where could that shoe come from?

[Lubeck]

Kevin Gilbride is still the offensive coordinator.

[Treehugger]

Kevin Gilbride is still the offensive coordinator.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[K3VIN]

We No Loner Have Spags and Potential and Ability or two different things

[Lubeck]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

 

Yeah everytime I look at the team and start thinking like fish I think of Kildrive and I am grounded.

[Nesta]

We can count on Gilbride to force the pass, so it will all hinge on Nicks and co. being able to move the chains.

 

[fishgutmartyr]

Hey, maybe Gilbride forces the pass to Brown or our Tight Ends. That wouldn't be so bad. And I still haven't heard who you guys would replace him with. We did a lot of scoring last season.

 

I'm not ready to bemoan the loss of Spags yet. Let's see what the new guy can do.

[NightFire]

We No Loner Have Spags and Potential and Ability or two different things

 

This is my biggest concern. The difference between Lewis and Spagnuolo was night and day. Gilbride may not be perfect but he coached a SB win and then a number one seed the next year. Nobody knows how Sheridan will do and the Giants could easily be back to Lewis time.

[fishgutmartyr]

This is my biggest concern. The difference between Lewis and Spagnuolo was night and day. Gilbride may not be perfect but he coached a SB win and then a number one seed the next year. Nobody knows how Sheridan will do and the Giants could easily be back to Lewis time.

I just don't see that. Sheridan is planning on keeping things the same, except for zone blitzes, which I DESPISE anyway. It just doesn't make any sense to put one of the best pass-rushing DEs on the planet (Osi or Tuck) into coverage in a passing situation. Hated it when Lewis did it, couldn't understand why Spags kept it.

 

 

[giants50]

Well..still having Killdrive as our OC.

 

Losing Spags won't hurt is as much as people say it will.

 

and our new defense will kill all opposing o-lines.

[fringe]

I'm getting too high on this team. I keep thinking this is the strongest team we've had since the 80's (and you can include the '07 team), and I don't see much to worry about.

 

Yes, we don't have the vet wide receiver that's been a regular starter, but we do have receivers that potentially can do it, but haven't gotten the chance yet.

 

Our linebackers were our only defensive weakness--but we've addressed that problem this off-season. Even if none of our young backers break the starting rotation, we're still light-years ahead of where we were even in '06.

 

The only other thing I worry about is BACKUP Oline. Even there, only at center. I really hope we get a Guy Ruegamer clone after the first few cuts of training camp.

 

I mean there's a lot of fretting about kicker here--but think about that--our worries include kicker? I bet St. Louis fans would love to have one of their big personnel worries be a kicker.

 

But as a long-time Giants fan, all this scares the shit out of me. I'm half-waiting for the other shoe to drop. Where could that shoe come from?

have you lost your mind, fish? i thought you suffered alongside me through the 70's? Don't you know that optimism has no place in the giants fan vocabulary? :readtherulesbuddy: shame on you

[fishgutmartyr]

have you lost your mind, fish? i thought you suffered alongside me through the 70's? Don't you know that optimism has no place in the giants fan vocabulary? :readtherulesbuddy: shame on you

That's why I'm ascared, Blu. Right now, considering my high, I almost have to expect meltdowns of titanic proportions. Maybe not Pisarcik to Czonka level, but definitely at least SF 2002/Tenn. 2006 levels...

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody hold me. :baby: :down:

[NightFire]

I just don't see that. Sheridan is planning on keeping things the same, except for zone blitzes, which I DESPISE anyway. It just doesn't make any sense to put one of the best pass-rushing DEs on the planet (Osi or Tuck) into coverage in a passing situation. Hated it when Lewis did it, couldn't understand why Spags kept it.

 

Here's hoping but I am more pessimistic about Sheridan than Gilbride. Actually I am not sure why most posters are so down on Gilbride to begin with.

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

have you lost your mind, fish? i thought you suffered alongside me through the 70's? Don't you know that optimism has no place in the giants fan vocabulary? :readtherulesbuddy: shame on you

 

 

To think I called this miscreant a brother....his Deutschlander strutting ass and all. We both love Gabrielle Drake of UFO fame and numerous other similarities....yo man optimism and Giants fans don't mix....just for that I am not going to let you visit my stable....nor will I show you my favorite ravine....you're on your own man.

[fishgutmartyr]

To think I called this miscreant a brother....his Deutschlander strutting ass and all. We both love Gabrielle Drake of UFO fame and numerous other similarities....yo man optimism and Giants fans don't mix....just for that I am not going to let you visit my stable....nor will I show you my favorite ravine....you're on your own man.

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

Suffer knave..... :evilgrin:

[ppodlesny]

we had kildrive in '07 also...but yeah finding someone else to call the plats I am sure would already improve the offense

[BlueInCanada]

We're going 16 straight.....

 

 

0-16 that is.

 

(I do not support this previous statement)

 

There ya go Fish.

 

 

[boohyah]

Gilbride plans on making Michael Matthews the main focus of our passing attack. He used the words "extreme hidden potential".

[Martin]

The Giants suck ! I feel better now so

 

For my homework assignment I will watch

3 hrs continuous "The Fumble" and H. Edwards racing to the

endzone.

 

That will cure the optimism sounding this season!

[TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt]

 

 

OK...I have consulted with the other dark masters of debauchery and they say I have been too hard on you.....you are hereby placed on Defilement Probation....I of course have been assigned as your monitor....any signs of compassion or empathy seen being given to any member of your stable will result in the revocation of your Defiler's License for no less than one year. Never ever....let one optimistic appraissal of the Giants chances be allowed to utter forth past thy lips for any reason. You have been warned. :brooding:

[JMFP]

Here are my main concerns heading into 2009:

Eli Manning – can he manage a poor-weather game?

The Green Bay game tells me cold is not a problem. But we’ve seen games at home v Minnesota, Washington, and Philly were he has struggled with the shifting winds. Eli will not become a truly great QB unless he can manage the elements like Phil Simms did. More than anything else, he needs to work on this one segment of his game. To me, it could mean the difference between him becoming a Terry Bradshaw or a Trent Dilfer.

 

Gilbride – can he adapt his gameplan? Will he use every tool he has?

Not to make excuses for Eli, but part of his struggles can be laid at the feet of Gilbride. That Philly game was like a repeat of the Washington game when we passed something like 48 times in swirling winds. In the Philly game, with rough wind conditions, the Giants didn’t roll out Manning, and completely ignored Bradshaw, who could have been an excellent check-down receiver. Instead, they went with a conventional passing game that ignored the affect of the wind on high-angle passes.

 

If Gilbride was calling the shots back in 1990, Buffalo would have handed our ass to us with Hofstetler under center.

 

Some games, he looks like a complete genius, and others (like Philly), are like understanding Stonehenge…. 1st and 5 inside the 20 of that Philly game is all any Giant fan needs to hear to understand what I’m talking about. As much as Nicks, Ramses, and Beckum excite me, it is tempered with the concern that none of them might be used properly.

Sheridan – can he take this defense to the next level?

As I posted elsewhere, I read Sheridan plans to stay up on the box, and this sends Tim Lewis shivers up my spine. I’m worried about losing that Spags-mojo that seemed to fire up this defense. On the flip side, I need to remind myself that some good defensive coordinators called the game upstairs. But the fact that all my favorite DCs strolled the sidelines has my spidey senses a little worried.

 

Placekicker – was the NCAA pool really that bad?

Carney was great when we were hammering everyone during the regular season, but when we needed him the most, he failed. The reason the Giants didn’t defend last season comes down to only a few plays: Carney misses 2 makeable FGs, Manning throws costly INT, and Gilbride, Coughlin, and Spags brainlock at halftime. The fact that we will once again be going into another season with a weak placekicker simply astounds me. The last I heard, Louie Sakoda (“King Louie”) from Utah was still trying out with NFL teams. Given where we play, I’m shocked that we don’t place more emphasis on a kicker with a strong leg.

 

 

[NeMesiS]

The Giants suck ! I feel better now so

 

For my homework assignment I will watch

3 hrs continuous "The Fumble" and H. Edwards racing to the

endzone.

 

That will cure the optimism sounding this season!

Why is it when I hear or read 'the Fumble' I think of Rob Carpenter instead? Oh yeah, now I remember.

[Nesta]

Here are my main concerns heading into 2009:

 

 

Gilbride – can he adapt his gameplan? Will he use every tool he has?

Not to make excuses for Eli, but part of his struggles can be laid at the feet of Gilbride. That Philly game was like a repeat of the Washington game when we passed something like 48 times in swirling winds. In the Philly game, with rough wind conditions, the Giants didn’t roll out Manning, and completely ignored Bradshaw, who could have been an excellent check-down receiver. Instead, they went with a conventional passing game that ignored the affect of the wind on high-angle passes.

 

If Gilbride was calling the shots back in 1990, Buffalo would have handed our ass to us with Hofstetler under center.

 

Some games, he looks like a complete genius, and others (like Philly), are like understanding Stonehenge…. 1st and 5 inside the 20 of that Philly game is all any Giant fan needs to hear to understand what I’m talking about. As much as Nicks, Ramses, and Beckum excite me, it is tempered with the concern that none of them might be used properly.

 

 

Agreed. At best you can call him stubborn, and sometimes it pays off when he sticks to his plan, but there are painfully obvious moments when he's clueless (or too stubborn) to adjust to a defense, weather, team execution etc..

 

And for all the points we scored last year, there were six games, including the most important game of the year, in which we couldn't put up 20 points. We only won one of those six games actually.

[fishgutmartyr]

OK...I have consulted with the other dark masters of debauchery and they say I have been too hard on you.....you are hereby placed on Defilement Probation....I of course have been assigned as your monitor....any signs of compassion or empathy seen being given to any member of your stable will result in the revocation of your Defiler's License for no less than one year. Never ever....let one optimistic appraissal of the Giants chances be allowed to utter forth past thy lips for any reason. You have been warned. :brooding:

 

That reminds me...need to brick off the crawl space. :sly:

 

Here are my main concerns heading into 2009:

Eli Manning – can he manage a poor-weather game?

The Green Bay game tells me cold is not a problem. But we’ve seen games at home v Minnesota, Washington, and Philly were he has struggled with the shifting winds. Eli will not become a truly great QB unless he can manage the elements like Phil Simms did. More than anything else, he needs to work on this one segment of his game. To me, it could mean the difference between him becoming a Terry Bradshaw or a Trent Dilfer.

 

I think that has as much to do with Gilbride as Manning.

 

Gilbride – can he adapt his gameplan? Will he use every tool he has?

If Gilbride was calling the shots back in 1990, Buffalo would have handed our ass to us with Hofstetler under center.

 

Some games, he looks like a complete genius, and others (like Philly), are like understanding Stonehenge…. 1st and 5 inside the 20 of that Philly game is all any Giant fan needs to hear to understand what I’m talking about. As much as Nicks, Ramses, and Beckum excite me, it is tempered with the concern that none of them might be used properly.

Yikes! You're probably right about Buffalo.

Sheridan – can he take this defense to the next level?

As I posted elsewhere, I read Sheridan plans to stay up on the box, and this sends Tim Lewis shivers up my spine. I’m worried about losing that Spags-mojo that seemed to fire up this defense. On the flip side, I need to remind myself that some good defensive coordinators called the game upstairs. But the fact that all my favorite DCs strolled the sidelines has my spidey senses a little worried.

I don't know, if I was on the defense on the field and looked to the sideline to see my coordinator praying, I wouldn't exactly feel confident. I think that part of Spags is way overblown. Play caller, practice guy, great coach. Still...

Placekicker – was the NCAA pool really that bad?

Again with the kicker. :lol:

 

 

Agreed. At best you can call him stubborn, and sometimes it pays off when he sticks to his plan, but there are painfully obvious moments when he's clueless (or too stubborn) to adjust to a defense, weather, team execution etc..

 

And for all the points we scored last year, there were six games, including the most important game of the year, in which we couldn't put up 20 points. We only won one of those six games actually.

 

Nesta, this may shock you: I completely agree with this. Although stubborn might not be the word: incapable of making changes on the fly might be the problem.