Allstarjim

I want to put my take on this team. As far as personnel wise, this team is not that bad. There is a lot to like about the Giants personnel wise. There is not a lot to like about the coaching staff. A lot is being made about injuries and injury prone players. First, every team battles the injury bug. Firing the strength and conditioning coach is not going to solve anything. We will still have injuries no matter who is in that spot, and some of them will be the same players. To me, the S+C coach is doing his job. If he wasn't, we would be man-handled at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that is not happening. More often, we are the stronger team in this area. And that leads me to the first point where I think we have a strength, the offensive and defensive lines. Obviously, on the defensive side, we probably have the best front in the NFL when you factor in Tuck with Strahan and Umenyiora with Robbins and Cofield. On the offensive side, you have one of the top RTs in the game with McKenzie, Deihl has been strong at LT, Chris Snee was voted a 2nd alternate to the pro bowl, O'hara is an underappreciated center, and Rich Seubert rounds out a more than just solid unit. This I believe, when you build a football team, is where you start. At running back we are strong as long as Jacobs is healthy, and obviously we need to see more of Bradshaw. WR is where we have a little bit of a problem, though. Plaxico is fantastic but hurting. We need to get him healthy. Beyond him, the cupboard doesn't look good. Amani while he still has great hands, is no longer a downfield threat. His one-dimensional nature of being just a possession receiver now to me means he should no longer be a starter. Sinorice Moss is fast and shifty, but is only 5'-8". Steve Smith is similarly undersized at 5'11" but is intriguing. Next year the Giants should look for a bigger WR to complement Burress who can also stretch the field. Colts have Anthony Gonzalez, 'Boys have Crayton. We need someone similar. Time to say goodbye to Toomer. And to Jeremy Shockey. He's been too injury prone (although this last one isn't his fault), and his dropped passes and penalties have hurt the Giants as much as he's helped. I really like him but the quality at the TE position around the league at the TE position has caught to him. Heck, he's only the 3rd best TE in our DIVISION (Witten, Cooley). I know some Giants' fans will kill me for saying that but it's called being real and not a homer. Watch games other than Giants' games once in a while, its true. Besides, Gilbride, Manning, or both have no idea how to use him anyway. I feel comfortable with Boss and using the discount on upgrading the receiver position opposite Burress. This team needs to be more dangerous. The only player we have that scares people is Burress and he's been playing at something like 70%. We're not getting enough from Eli. His decision-making has been suspect and his passes have largely been inaccurate and just not sharp. Hell, I watch other back-up QB's deliver the ball sharply with tighter spirals and with more confidence than Eli. Every week he's being outplayed. Our defense has kept us in these games, otherwise, the 3 and outs would really be hurting us and we'd be getting blown out. The Giants need to use a mid-round draft pick on a developmental QB to succeed Eli. Schaub was drafted in the 5th round I believe, we all know Brady's story so it can be done. The fact of the matter is that at some point we may have to give up on the dream that Eli is going to be a star QB. Back to the defense, I love Mathias Kiwanuka. We are a much better defense when he is healthy. Mitchell has been great. We need to look for another LB to replace him though, because he isn't a spring chicken. Pierce I think has had a down year but I still like him. Can't wait to see what Kiwi can do over a full 16 games. And the secondary is the last area of concern. Madison is just ok and he needs to be better than just ok to go against other teams' #1's. I'm jealous of teams that have a true shutdown corner. I would love for the Giants to have a Champ Bailey or Marcus Trufant. I was jealous of the Jets when they drafted Revis. This is where I think the Giants should use their #1 pick if a true shutdown corner is available. I believe they finally drafted a good one for the other side when they got Ross. Webster looks like another in a line of disappointing high CB draft picks along with Allen and Peterson. The safety position is pretty good when healthy. Overall, a lot to like about the Giants, but they are being held back by being truly one of the great teams in the NFL because of Gilbride, Eli, lack of quality depth at WR, secondary coverage issues, and Coughlin, in that order. Thoughts?

He was named a first alternate after playing almost the entire season with a nagging ankle injury. Fully healthy, he is probably the best WR in the NFC not named T.O.

I laughed.

I do feel better with Castro/Schneider behind the plate than I do with Estrada/Castro. Hopefully Church will have a career year. If not, the Mets are going to struggle to score runs. I predict less from Delgado than last year, Alou is not durable, Castillo could continue to decline, so things could get desperate for offense. Reyes Castillo Wright Beltran Alou Delgado Church Castro/Schneider

I hope someone fails a physical.

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY?

Goodbye Estrada. He will not remain a Met.

NEVER F@CKING MIND!!!

We didn't need a left-handed hitting corner outfielder THAT BAD. We just made a division rival better, and got robbed. Prediction: Milledge will play full time next year and be huge for the Nats. And Schneider? This is getting ridiculous. They absolutely can't trade Gomez now.

Thanks, Tree.

Wasn't Kareem McKenzie helped off the field last Sunday? I did not see him on the injury report nor did I see him on the transactions page where he would've been listed had the Giants IR'ed him. So I'm guessing he's ready to go on Sunday then?

If we're on Chicago's half, Feagles can just Coffin Corner Kick it and pin them inside the 20. Hester can't break a return if the ball is kicked out of bounds.

You can squib kick or pooch kick it up real high. As long as you don't kick it to Hester in the middle of the field then we should be able to bring him down. Our defense should be able to get to Griese or Grossman, whoever will be in there, and fortunately, neither of them have the escapability that Tarvaris Jackson has. As long as Eli minimizes mistakes and we can run the ball, we'll be ok.

We've been debating it here for at least a week or two, and finally Troy Aikman said it in the game yesterday... why not sit Plax down for a couple of weeks and let him get healthy? With Sinorice Moss playing and Hixon in there for the slot, just sit Plax and let him get back when he gets back. A 100% Moss is better than a 75% (or worse) Plaxico. It's hurting the team having him in there less than 100% That said, I think the Giants will beat the Bears. We have revenge to take out on them from last year, and I think the team will definitely not come out flat like they did this week. They will be motivated, but you just never know with this team, do you? Especially with Eli, because at any time he's capable of just stinking up the field to high heaven.

We did have 4 sacks and that's not bad. Jackson escaped a couple of times, too, so we were getting good pressure. It hurt that Strahan let him get away on that one play and that we couldn't recover Osi's forced fumble. We didn't tackle well against Taylor when he had the chance down near the goalline, but if not for an interception we wouldn't have been there to begin with. I felt that the defense played good enough. Not great though. Had the defense played great, even spectacular, we still would've lost because you can't allow 3 INT's to be returned for touchdowns, and another returned in the redzone, and win.

The first pick I knew where Eli was throwing it before the snap. They telegraphed the blitz and where it was coming from. Eli threw it to Shockey because it was Shockey's man that came off him to blitz. The safety was responsible for stepping up and he did. I knew this before the snap, and was already worried about the INT should Eli throw in that direction. Besides, you don't throw to a player that hasn't turned around unless it's a fly pattern or something. Usually the pass comes immediately after the receiver makes his cut. I don't know if the blitz was picked up, but since it was telegraphed, Eli should've made sure pre-snap that the blitzer was accounted for. 2nd Pick Eli didn't even SEE the defense, and it was an inaccurate pass again. 3rd - Tipped passes are on the QB. Nobody else can see the lanes for Eli but Eli. He's responsible for delivering the pass through a good passing lane. 4th - See pick #2.

To answer your question, Eli "haters" as you like to call them (I call them realists) don't need to do anything except for call for another option to be drafted in the middle rounds of some upcoming draft to compete for the starting job. It was Accorsi that felt that you HAD to have a franchise QB in the top of the 1st round of the draft to win in the NFL. That philosophy is not true. Brady is the quintessential answer to that. But other teams have had success with QBs in later rounds like Matt Schaub, David Garrard, Tony Romo (undrafted), and many others. But like you said, what's done is done. I don't want Eli bashers to do anything. What I want is for Eli-man-lovers to stop making a bajillion excuses for him every f#cking sunday when he yet again shows that he is not that good. He is not a champion either, he just doesn't have that spark in him that makes a championship caliber QB. It's a fire that you can visibly see on the field that he does not have. You can see it in Brady, Favre, Peyton. You could see it in Montana and Young and even Aikman. I can even see it in Jason Campbell, however, his skills are limiting him at this point in his career. But at least he has that moxie, that will to win, that fire that elevates his team and is a "refuse to lose" mentality. It's the will to be perfect. Eli looks like he's playing to not mess up. You can't win that way. At times has he looked good? Sure, or else he'd already be on the bench. But overall, he's been inconsistent at best. His numbers are garbage and he takes the main responsibility for that. Not the coaching staff, not the receivers, not the offensive line. Personal accountability, Eli needs to do a better job. You can hear Aikman up in the booth and he can't believe Eli couldn't get it done with the team we have. Aikman knows what he's talking about. And are you serious about the last comment you made? Two straight playoff appearances? Him not hurting the team? He sure as hell hurt us yesterday. He definitely didn't help us in London. And wasn't great versus Dallas either. Us Giants fans see that he was a NUMBER 1 PICK OVERALL. For that investment that our team has given up for him, both in where he was drafted, draft picks and monetary compensation. For all that, we are looking for a QB that can lead our team to victories, not a team that WINS in spite of its QB. I will say that last season I will give him a little bit of a pass (a little bit, let's not get carried away), because he lost Luke Petitgout halfway through the season and he had old ass Bob Whitfield protecting his blindside. But you can't say that he was the reason we have been winning. Last year it was Tiki Barber. And we went 2-6 the last 8 games, man. We BACKED into the playoffs. We didn't win that playoff spot! We barely made it in because the NFC was so weak it couldn't take it from us. Which is even more of an indictment on Eli, because he couldn't put up a better record than 8-8 in a weak conference. And in 2005, we won in spite of Eli as well. He only passed for a 52.8 completion percentage, and a mediocre 75.9 rating. We won a weak division again, good for us. He has benefitted from the greatest running back in the history of the franchise, a very solid offensive line this year, and at times, especially this year, a very good if not great defense, and he hasn't shown anything but flashes, and a lot of bad decisions and wobbly, underthrown passes. I've questioned his accuracy before, he doesn't put the ball on target very often from what I've seen, and we expect more from a #1.

The defense played well enough to win had we not given up 3 defensive touchdowns and another turnover. Hell if Umenyiora's forced fumble doesn't go right to Minnesota for a first down that's another scoring drive that gets stopped. And the Chester Taylor touchdown run was set up by yet another Eli interception that was returned into the red zone. I put that one on Eli. To me, the Defense only gave up 13 points. The special teams also did not play bad either. Ahmad Bradshaw ran well in his limited opportunities. Can't put too much on the running game either, because we had to be pass happy the entire second half because Eli had passed us way behind in the game. The Offensive line did not play well, too many penalties, and the protection was spotty at times, but not swiss cheese like other posters have said. I didn't think that Eli was harassed by the opposing front seven to a ridiculous level, but some of Minnesota's blitzes were effective and cleverly designed. Part of that is on Eli to recognize the blitz and make good decisions with the ball, audible the play, etc. He did not do any facet of the game well. To me, the game was lost by Eli first, the coaching staff second, the offensive line next, and lastly the receivers. But you can spin it how you want because you don't want to live in reality-land about Eli not being a big problem with this team.

Rivers made the Pro Bowl last year. Rivers has not been good thus far this year, giving him one good season and one inconsistent season. I will take that over 4 inconsistent seasons, however, Big Ben has always been my favorite, and I pushed for him before that draft. Also, it is entirely impossible for you to know if we would have had Merriman or not. They used our pick to get him, so one thing is sure... he wouldn't be a Charger today.

Eli apologists out in full force yet again. His sucky play is never his fault. I guess he'll only be great when the Offensive line plays a perfect game, the O-coordinator calls all the right plays all game, no receiver ever has a drop, and the running game sets him up with 2nd and short every drive. YEEEEEAAAAAAAH. And then what after that? It was cold outside? I've never seen another great QB need so many things to be perfect for him to really shine. Eli is not an accurate qb. Some of the drops that the receivers had were directly related to him not putting the ball in an accurate spot. When the ball is thrown behind the receiver and the DB has a play to get his hand in there, and the WR doesn't pull it in, I'm putting that more on the QB. The point is that happened more than once yesterday. He's not putting the ball on target. He is just not that good as we would like to think. No more f-ing excuses. That was the worst pass defense in the NFL yesterday. 32 out of 32 teams. And Eli gave them one of the best pass defensive games in the history of the NFL. Just re-read the last 3 sentences. That is all you need to know about Eli. "Great" QBs don't give the worst pass defense in the NFL a game like that. Wait a minute, I think I need to go... Eli just threw another INT to a Vikings DB.

Hence our hopeful philosophy in having Eli chuck the ball all over the field on Sunday.

I did another check and the sack stat I gave is a little misleading. You might believe from that that they don't generate much of a pass rush, however, they have 24 sacks on the season, with ranks tied for 12th in the NFL, so a little better than the league median. Guess who has the most?

Everyone knows that Minnesota's rush defense is the best in the league. But here's some other stats for you related to their pass defense: Minnesota opponents have 411 pass attempts against them, second most in the NFL. Despite the above stat, their leading sacker has only 4.5 sacks. Additionally, they only have 9 INTs on the season which ranks 20th in the NFL. Their pass completion % allowed is 65%, which is 6th highest in the NFL. They allow the MOST yards through the air per game in the NFL at 288 yards per game! Their opponents QB rating collectively on the season is 89.3, which is 10th highest in the NFL. Interestingly, though, they are 14th in the NFL (about middle of the pack) in TD passes allowed. All this says is we should be airing it out all day against them, but keep them honest with the run, of course. They seem to bend but don't break in the passing game, but we'll break 'em!

Not a bad move for Omar. I hope this means more starts for Castro. I know that Marlon Anderson says he is a "Willie guy", somehow I think Estrada is the antithesis of a "Willie guy" though. But at least we got a catcher that can hit a little for one season, and Mota is "OUTTA HERE!"

I agree that Rollins was more deserving than Wright, just that I thought Holliday was more deserving than Rollins.