BlitzBandit
Friend of CTG
Just thought I'd open up some thoughts and previews on some teams... and what better team to start with then the BIG BLUE WRECKING CREW... hehe... that should get BAR, YesSir, brewer, C-Money, Joe, Believe, and some of you other DIEHARD Giant fans jumping up for joy...
so here goes...
Starting things off with everyones' favorite topic.. Eli Manning. I'm going to get straight to the point here. He is NOT Peyton Manning, so let's not bother comparing. Afterall, there is only ONE Peyton Manning, period. With that aside, Eli is a good quarterback who does have the potential to lead his team deep into the playoffs, but because it hasn't happened yet, many seem to find it easy to blame him for that. That's just crap.
People also say how Eli is going to determine how well this team does, but I disagree. He is not the problem to this team and he is not the salvation for it either. The way I see it, he is not the one responsible for motivating this team (Coughlin). He is not the one blocking for himself. He is not in the secondary dropping potential interceptions. He is not the one rushing the passer, nor is he the trainer trying to cure as many injuries as they faced last year. Once the team can get their shit together and play like they were at the start of last season when everyone was healthy, then the 2007 season will look to be a great one, if they can't do that, then I won't expect much more than a 50% season.
Eli has the stats on paper to show he is a good quarterback. The problem was his accuracy and his inconsistent play. His footwork wasn't great at times, but I have to say that for the most part, it was fine. It was mainly those times when he would feel the pressure and throw forced balls that he wouldn't be comfortable in the pocket and wouldn't plant his feet correctly. Those were the times when he looked like crap. He ranked top 5 worst in underthrows and in overthrows last season, which is probably where alot of the "Eli Sucks" theories come in. The thing is, he threw alot of forced balls under pressure. That's also the reason the O-line only allowed 25 sacks last season (6th ranked) even though they suffered through injuries. He would always get rid of it quickly or just throw it away when he felt heat, even if the pressure was not even really there.
The worst part is, the O-Line is currently without a left tackle. Luke Petitgout went to Tampa and Bob Whitfield retired. That means they will move Diehl from guard to left tackle to protect Elis' blindside.. I know, a bit of a scary thought. The O-Lines' production this season is what is going to determine alot for Eli and his production. Unfortunately, he is not blessed with the O-Line of say San Diego or New England. Either way, Eli should mature this season. He will probably see more passing production now that Tiki is gone. Some people have been talking about Lorenzen and Wright, but the bottom line is.. so long as Eli's healthy, there's no point. They'll cross that bridge when they get to it.
Brandon Jacobs is going to be the horse for the G-Men. He's built like a fucking defensive lineman, and he's taking shit seriously so far. He got after Robert Douglas' ass for dogging it during practice already. That's shit tiki wouldn't do. Plus Gilbride has already hinted he would like to get him the ball 20-25 times a game. Not sure that happens, but just the thought of Gilbride thinking it says something. The guy can run over people. Not sure exactly the production he can pull out on the long run, but barring injury and barring a rb committee sheme, I don't see why he can't have double digit tds and over 1000 yards.
Plaxi is still plaxi. He's fortunate to be the featured receiver on a team that was ranked in the top half of the league in passing attempts. And may get even higher now with tiki gone. The guy has good size, speed, and athleticism, but he needs to find ways to get himself open. That's more important than all those attributes. Receivers like Jerry Rice and Tim Carter were not the fastest, tallest, or more athletic in the league, but they were the best at getting open and they had hands of glue. But that was then, this is now when all qbs' want is a tall receiver where they can just drop back two quick steps and lob it up into the endzone... oh well.. at least Plaxi can do that. I guess that's why it's no shock he was ranked fourth among receivers in passes overthrown... hehe.
The G-Men relied primarily in their defensive front to generate a pass rush last season. The front four was responsible for over seventy percent of their sacks which was about ten percent more than the league average. Strahan and Osi are arguably the best duet at defensive ends in the league. Strahans' decision of retiring is still up in the air, at least last I heard, but odds are, he'll end up playing. Either way, it's not the front seven that's the concern. It's the secondary. Hopefully Aaron Ross and James Butler will have a say in that for them. Cause let's face it, their secondary needs help bad. Sam Madison was nothing great to look at. I heard Corey Webster and R.W. McQuarters were both beating him out for the position in camp and Gibril Wilson was moved to free safety.
Overall, I figure they win between 8-10 wins. Coughlin sucks in my opinion. All this talk of him coming in and adding discipline to the team was all horseshit. There are alot of players on the team that don't even have respect for him anymore. How the hell do you expect to win that way?? In the three years under Coughlin, they have been to the playoffs twice, but the reality is they only had one winning season in those three years. The other playoff appearance was off an 8-8 record where they had a wild-card loss to the Eagles. I don't know why the hell they re-signed him for one more year... well... actually... isn't Belicheck's contract up after this season... hmm.. maybe that's what they were thinking...
so here goes...
Starting things off with everyones' favorite topic.. Eli Manning. I'm going to get straight to the point here. He is NOT Peyton Manning, so let's not bother comparing. Afterall, there is only ONE Peyton Manning, period. With that aside, Eli is a good quarterback who does have the potential to lead his team deep into the playoffs, but because it hasn't happened yet, many seem to find it easy to blame him for that. That's just crap.
People also say how Eli is going to determine how well this team does, but I disagree. He is not the problem to this team and he is not the salvation for it either. The way I see it, he is not the one responsible for motivating this team (Coughlin). He is not the one blocking for himself. He is not in the secondary dropping potential interceptions. He is not the one rushing the passer, nor is he the trainer trying to cure as many injuries as they faced last year. Once the team can get their shit together and play like they were at the start of last season when everyone was healthy, then the 2007 season will look to be a great one, if they can't do that, then I won't expect much more than a 50% season.
Eli has the stats on paper to show he is a good quarterback. The problem was his accuracy and his inconsistent play. His footwork wasn't great at times, but I have to say that for the most part, it was fine. It was mainly those times when he would feel the pressure and throw forced balls that he wouldn't be comfortable in the pocket and wouldn't plant his feet correctly. Those were the times when he looked like crap. He ranked top 5 worst in underthrows and in overthrows last season, which is probably where alot of the "Eli Sucks" theories come in. The thing is, he threw alot of forced balls under pressure. That's also the reason the O-line only allowed 25 sacks last season (6th ranked) even though they suffered through injuries. He would always get rid of it quickly or just throw it away when he felt heat, even if the pressure was not even really there.
The worst part is, the O-Line is currently without a left tackle. Luke Petitgout went to Tampa and Bob Whitfield retired. That means they will move Diehl from guard to left tackle to protect Elis' blindside.. I know, a bit of a scary thought. The O-Lines' production this season is what is going to determine alot for Eli and his production. Unfortunately, he is not blessed with the O-Line of say San Diego or New England. Either way, Eli should mature this season. He will probably see more passing production now that Tiki is gone. Some people have been talking about Lorenzen and Wright, but the bottom line is.. so long as Eli's healthy, there's no point. They'll cross that bridge when they get to it.
Brandon Jacobs is going to be the horse for the G-Men. He's built like a fucking defensive lineman, and he's taking shit seriously so far. He got after Robert Douglas' ass for dogging it during practice already. That's shit tiki wouldn't do. Plus Gilbride has already hinted he would like to get him the ball 20-25 times a game. Not sure that happens, but just the thought of Gilbride thinking it says something. The guy can run over people. Not sure exactly the production he can pull out on the long run, but barring injury and barring a rb committee sheme, I don't see why he can't have double digit tds and over 1000 yards.
Plaxi is still plaxi. He's fortunate to be the featured receiver on a team that was ranked in the top half of the league in passing attempts. And may get even higher now with tiki gone. The guy has good size, speed, and athleticism, but he needs to find ways to get himself open. That's more important than all those attributes. Receivers like Jerry Rice and Tim Carter were not the fastest, tallest, or more athletic in the league, but they were the best at getting open and they had hands of glue. But that was then, this is now when all qbs' want is a tall receiver where they can just drop back two quick steps and lob it up into the endzone... oh well.. at least Plaxi can do that. I guess that's why it's no shock he was ranked fourth among receivers in passes overthrown... hehe.
The G-Men relied primarily in their defensive front to generate a pass rush last season. The front four was responsible for over seventy percent of their sacks which was about ten percent more than the league average. Strahan and Osi are arguably the best duet at defensive ends in the league. Strahans' decision of retiring is still up in the air, at least last I heard, but odds are, he'll end up playing. Either way, it's not the front seven that's the concern. It's the secondary. Hopefully Aaron Ross and James Butler will have a say in that for them. Cause let's face it, their secondary needs help bad. Sam Madison was nothing great to look at. I heard Corey Webster and R.W. McQuarters were both beating him out for the position in camp and Gibril Wilson was moved to free safety.
Overall, I figure they win between 8-10 wins. Coughlin sucks in my opinion. All this talk of him coming in and adding discipline to the team was all horseshit. There are alot of players on the team that don't even have respect for him anymore. How the hell do you expect to win that way?? In the three years under Coughlin, they have been to the playoffs twice, but the reality is they only had one winning season in those three years. The other playoff appearance was off an 8-8 record where they had a wild-card loss to the Eagles. I don't know why the hell they re-signed him for one more year... well... actually... isn't Belicheck's contract up after this season... hmm.. maybe that's what they were thinking...