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February 2008
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Here's the lowdown on the Giants offense this afternoon/evening ... 2 RB/1 TE/2 WR (‘21’ pers.): 37 of 81 snaps (13 1st half/23 2nd half/1 OT) ANALYSIS: The Giants basically decided what would work, and stuck to it. On early and running downs, it was trotting fullback Madison Hedgecock out their to lead for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, and to pass protect. In long-yardage situations, they spread the Packers secondary out. This benefited them in a couple ways. First, it got Amani Toomer and Plaxico Burress singled up on the outside in running situations, which allowed them to work over Charles Woodson and Al Harris. And it exploited the Packers secondary by forcing more defensive backs on the field to cover guys like Steve Smith and even Toomer some, when he was in the slot. If it wasn’t clear enough last week, this Giants team looks supremely coached right now. Here it is, from Packers-Giants. Interesting philosophical shift from first half to second half by the Packers: 1 RB/1 TE/3 WR (‘11’ personnel): 17 of 48 snaps (7 1st half/9 2nd half/1 OT) ANALYSIS: For some reason, and I can’t figure it out right now, the Packers closed up shop on substituting in the second half. After varying wildly in the first half with their personnel groupings, they ran 17 of their 23 second-half/overtime snaps out of either ‘11’ or ‘21’. This offense has thrived on running guys on and off the field, and getting matchups in both the passing and running games by doing so. Normally, I’d think that the change-up was to help in pass protection, but the blocking actually seemed to get worse in the second half, and that probably has to do with the three-and-outs. The Packers coaches may just have got tight in a tough spot.  Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Packers Personnel Breakdown" has no entry tags. Just got off the phone with Calvin "Lucky" Watkins, who wanted to pass along a heartfelt message on how right he was back in November. He'll be on Ch. 11 with Babe Laufenberg shortly, if any of you want to see just how giddy he is. Comments (17) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Special message from "Lucky"" has no entry tags. The two cities separated by less than 200 miles will battle for NFL supremacy in Super Bowl XLII. Just what everyone wanted, right? Another I-95 corridor war, for all of you that haven't had enough of Sox-Yankees, Pats-Jets, etc. Love to know how a native Texan like Timmy Tabloid feels about that. It's really hard for me to hand it to LSU alums right now, but Corey Webster has been a rock for the Giants in the playoffs, and now -- assuming the Giants win here -- he has his capper. Finally, we have our goat: Brett Favre. Although that one's on the long snapper -- Jay Alford. They should've had Zach DeOssie, an ace snapper and all-Ivy linebacker at Brown, take care of that one. He's a Massachusetts native, which means he can handle the cold. Got my wish for overtime. Packers just got the ball, although the way the legendary No. 4 is playing, I don't know that it's a good thing for Green Bay. And Timmy, lay off A.J. Hawk. It's slippery out there! I'm still looking for North Texas alums that played in either of today's games. Let me know if you find one. Can't recall the last time I saw a defensive player have two fumbles in a game, but somehow, former first-round pick/journeyman R.W. McQuarters has pulled it off. He should be thanking everything that's holy that a teammate was there to keep him from having "Goat" stamped across his foreword for eternity, by gathering the fumble he just had on that punt return. That's what I'm going to do. You? This really has been interesting to watch, if for no other reason than it's something to see Eli Manning outplay the NFL's all-time leading passer. They just showed the Pepsi commercial, starring Wade Phillips and Jerry Jones. You know, the one where an assistant coach yawns into the headset, Phillips fails to get the play to Tony Romo, and the Cowboys offense gets blown up, followed by Jones grabbing the headset from the assistant. Pretty bad timing there. For one thing, in the commercial, they're playing the Giants. And it comes a week after Jones found himself inside the coaching box, perched on Wade's hip, for the final drive of the Cowboys season. RT Mark Tauscher's head's up play there on R.W. McQuarters just took a potential "goat" play off of Brett Favre. Ridiculous, ridiculous throw. As an update, it now looks like Tom Coughlin's frost bite has frost bite. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Right tackle bails Favre out" has no entry tags. Marshall's finest, Mr. Bradshaw read his blocks well and got into the end zone. Giants take 20-17 edge late in the third. We might have a shootout in the fourth quarter. One thing this game tells me is that Eli Manning has grown up. He's won two playoff games, both on the road, and he's got his team in good position here. Good presence of mind by Eli Manning there to get the ball snapped, even it wasn't quite in time. And I doubt this one's getting overturned anyway. I don't know about you, but I'm having trouble adjusting to a poised Eli. Just doesn't seem right. Shouldn't he be immensely rattled by now? Where did that guy go? Despite mediocre numbers, he's playing a top-notch game right now. I'm genuinely concerned about Tom Coughlin. He looks like he's got about four forms of frost bite right now. On another note, the Packers just reclaimed the lead. Appeared to be a busted coverage -- that was one lay-up of a touchdown pass for Brett Favre. For a guy who loves the antics of several free-talking Cowboys, Timmy Tabloid sure seemed to have a problem with Brandon "Big Mouth" Jacobs' personality over the last few months. Well, the big man's telling the man of sensationalization where to stick it now. The guy's running with purpose, and letting everyone know about it. A week after he nearly blew up a Texas Stadium play clock, Jacobs ran up to the crowd in Green Bay and did a mock Lambeau Leap to rub in his latest visit to the end zone. I'm telling you, Timmy would love this guy if he was a Cowboy! What a homer. These two teams don't seem to like each other anymore. Which seems to be the case with everyone who plays the Giants. The latest blow was Nick Collins' haymaker -- landed a second late -- on Eli Manning. The pushing and shoving's going on in earnest out there, with Plaxico Burress and Al Harris serving as prime instigators. Good job of wrapping up and getting Plaxico Burress to the ground there by Al Harris, to set up his pick. Too bad it's not legal. Here's how the Giants deployed personnel in the first half: 2 RB/1 TE/2 WR (‘21’ personnel): 13 of 37 snaps ANALYSIS: It’s hard to look at anything here without considering the weather. The Giants have been able to get the ball out on the edges by getting Plaxico Burress and Amani Toomer isolated on the perimeter, with tight ends and backs filling in the other skill-position spots. The ’10’ personnel was used more heavily down the stretch, when the Giants were in a two-minute spot. Here's the Packers personnel breakdown for the first half: 1 RB/1 TE/3 WR (‘11’ personnel): 7 of 26 snaps ANALYSIS: The Packers are living up to their rep of being a multiple offense that has enormous depth, but one thing that’s interesting is that they’ve only really cleared out and gone with four or five receivers three times. That’s probably weather related, since it’s easier to throw it to bigger targets in close. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Packers Personnel Breakdown" has no entry tags. What are the odds that the name "Bob Sanders" would have this big an impact on defensive football in 2007? On one end, you have the Colts safety, defensive player of the year. On the other, you have the Packers defensive coordinator -- no one will ever mistake one Bob Sanders for the other -- who could be leading his team into the Super Bowl. Big stop by Bob Sanders, the overweight white coach, and his players there. Comments (2) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "There's more than one of them!" has no entry tags. This is not the Atari Bigby I remember from late November. That Bigby was lit on fire by Terrell Owens and Co. This one's leaving bodies in his wake. Unbelievable job of tight-roping the sideline there by Donald Driver, and we have a 7-6 Packer lead. Think it's a coincidence that a big player there involves a 16-year vet of the Green Bay cold, and one who's played nine seasons there? To answer Lucky's question: Yes, it does make a difference. I'd say it probably feels to the kickers and punters like they're booting a brick right now. I can recall talking to Adam Vinatieri about that back in the day (two years ago), and him saying that it hurts your foot to kick in extreme cold. And he dealt with a lot of snow, but never cold like this. Through three drives, in the bitter, bitter cold, here's the play selection for both teams put together: Pass: 16 My guess is that the coaches are trying to get their quarterbacks comfortable with the conditions. Again, Eli Manning -- for some strange reason -- looks more ready for them. That was my initial thought -- that Eli Manning could be spoiling the NFL's dream Super Bowl. But then I thought about it. And two words came to mind. New. York. Bet the network execs wouldn't be too disappointed. The only team they figured to rooting against this weekend had to be those Super Chargers. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Eli spoiling the NFL's party?" has no entry tags. The Giants are using backup center Grey Ruegamer as a second tight end. Take note. So we can see the footing's gonna be an issue up there in Green Bay. Two straight passes, in fact, went incomplete because of it. On the first one, a '9' route to Greg Jennings, the receiver couldn't come back to the ball quick enough because he couldn't change direction. On the second one, Donald Driver slipped into his out-cut and fell as the ball flew into the turf. Usually, bad footing gives the offense an edge, since they don't have to react as much as the defense does. But when the game-time temp is minus-1, I guess it works both ways. More knee-jerk instant analysis, before we switch gears over to Packers-Giants. Enjoy the big purple dinosaur, Timmy Tabloid ... 1 RB/1 TE/3 WR (‘11’ personnel): 18 of 64 snaps (7/11) ANALYSIS: The stark change in approach is a credit to the Patriots coaches. Look at two personnel sets for proof. The Patriots employed ‘10’ personnel 10 times in the first half, and not at all after halftime. And in the second half, they employed ‘22’ personnel 10 times, after not using it all in the first half. Clearly, there was an emphasis on getting bigger, stronger players on the field, so the Chargers couldn’t play as physical on the perimeter as they did in the first half. And it also helped them lead Laurence Maroney to one of the best performance of his career, and some of the most valuable yards he’s ever gained down the stretch on the clock-killing drive to finish things off. Comments (5) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Patriots Personnel Breakdown" has no entry tags. Here's the final count for the Chargers ... 2 RB/1 TE/2 WR (‘21’ personnel): 26 of 60 snaps (16 first half/10 second half) ANALYSIS: Not a lot changed from the first half to the second half, the Chargers stuck to their I-formation roots and moved the ball in the air both with two wide, and through spreading tight end Antonio Gates out. One question would be why there wasn’t more of an effort to play in tight formations, and challenge the Patriots physically with power-back Michael Turner near the goal line. Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Chargers Personnel Breakdown" has no entry tags. Guess that drive debunks the theory the Patriots are a finesse offense. They just went 67 yards in 13 plays to lead to these kneeldowns, and killed nine-plus minutes. Pretty impressive, all the way around. And I think now, it's pretty much official. These Patriots are to this decade what the Cowboys were to the '90s, the 49ers were to the '80s, the Steelers were to the '70s and the Packers to the '60s. Plus, Belichick and Brady are building serious arguments for being the best coach and quarterback of all-time. That's what we're left with, now. Can the Patriots score a touchdown and cover? There are some sweaty palms nation-wide. Not here, though, of course. Norv Turner's done a real good job to this point, but there's just no way you can burn that timeout in that situation. And it's probably hard to blame it on him. More likely, it's Ted Cotrell's fault. But those things usually fall at the feet of the head coach, right or wrong. This one's starting to feel like it's over. The Chargers defense has been superb to this point. But how much longer can they be expected to hold down the Patriots offense? They cracked on the last New England possession, and I'd expect a lot of the same things coming up here -- Laurence Maroney, Laurence Maroney, more of those bunch formations that lead to Wes Welker screen, and short, controlled passes to split-out jack-back Kevin Faulk. Comments (1) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "It's up to the Chargers defense, again" has no entry tags. That's what it boils down to. The Patriots have scored touchdowns on three of their four trips to the Red Zone, and the Chargers have kicked field goals on their three ventures inside the 20. Like I said earlier, I really like Michael Turner. But this is where you really, really miss LaDainian Tomlinson. It's a two-score game now. Tough to see the Chargers coming back from this one. So since everyone around here was Cabo-obsessed, I think the question has to be asked: Did Tom Brady's bye-week getaway with Giselle lead to this? Probably not. But the Patriots clearly aren't operating right out of their lighter personnel groupings. Like the trouble on that Cromartie pick. They were most effective there with multiple tight ends, and God only knows why they didn't try to just shove it in the end zone. Here's a number for you. In the first half, the Patriots went with multiple tight ends nine times. On their first two drives of the second half? Ten times. What a gutsy performance here by Phil, who's clearly got a bum wheel. He's having trouble planting, and he looks pretty ugly rolling out. But somehow, someway, he's getting the job done -- going 16-of-27 for 167 to this point, and playing a smart, efficient ballgame. By the way, in case you missed, LT doesn't look like he's coming back, per Steve Tasker. Comments (0) Leave comment
| E-mail entryThe entry "Whole new respect for Rivers" has no entry tags. Chargers need a touchdown here. Not a field goal. If they get another field goal, Pats are still in control. Good play by Drayton Florence there. The Chargers need to start taking advantage of these. Now. The Chargers defense is the reason this game is playing out the way it is, and it's because finally someone has had the cojones to press the receivers at the line, throwing off the timing of the Patriots offense. You have to give the Charger corners a lot of credit, especially Quinton Jammer. Jammer was victimized in last year's playoffs, on a long toss to Reche Caldwell that set up the game-winning field goal, and the Patriots seem intent on picking him. The ex-Longhorn ain't letting it happen, and is a big reason for the defense playing the way it has. I don't think there's been a tremendous amount of pressure from San Diego, but they've done enough with four to collapse the pocket to help the seven they're dropping into coverage. Now, it'll be a matter of the Chargers adjusting to the Patriots adjustments offensively, which figure to be a higher reliance on the running game and play-action passing. Oh, and how about the Chargers take advantage of one of those long drives by punching it in? Think Mr. Red Zone, LT, could help? The total yardage, by the way, reads like this: Chargers 204; Patriots 139. Here's the Chargers side ... 2 RB/1 TE/2 WR (‘21’ personnel): 16 of 40 snaps ANALYSIS: This can be misleading, because the Chargers used Antonio Gates, in effect, as |