Setting the Stage
Cause for excitement - Giants sit atop the NFC East. Cause for concern - They're 5 & 7.
Giant fans have good reason fo be optimistic - (1) Their new HC Joe Judge, is a no-nonsense leader with echos of Bill Parcells. (2) The way they clawed their way to the top of their division was an upset win over the Seahawks last Sunday. (3) They beat the Sea-hags without their starting QB (the ancient Colt McCoy subbing for the youthful Dan Jones)
Most Recent Giants Game
Giants upset Seattle 17 - 12.
SEATTLE -- — Laughed at and mocked for being on top of the worst division in the NFL, the New York Giants now have an impressive win to validate their spot aatop the NFC East..
“The team had a different swagger about them...because we know we played our brand of football,”said Giants safety Jabrill Peppers.
Alfred Morris scored a pair of 3Q touchdowns, the Giant defense shut down Russell Wilson and one of the top offenses in the league.
Double-digit underdogs, the Giants (5-7) handed Seattle its first home loss of the season,
The Giants did it without starting quarterback Daniel Jones. Colt McCoy was far from spectacular but made key plays and avoided critical mistakes.
McCoy was 13 of 22 for 105 yards, and Wayne Gallman rushed for 135 yards on 16 carries. .
Russell Wilson was sacked five times. Biggest sack came in the closing seconds when Leonard Williams threw Wilson for an 8-yard loss on third down. ”
Seattle seemed poised for another of its late rallies after Wilson hit Chris Carson on a 28-yard TD pass with 6:09 left to pull within 17-12. But McCoy made two big throws on the Giants' ensuing drive, converting a third-down with a pass to Evan Engram and hitting Darius Slayton for 14 yards. New York eventually punted, but the Giants' defense came through.
The Giants topped 100 yards rushing for the seventh straight game. Gallman reached the century mark for the first time in his career. It was his 60-yard sprint on a second-and-7 early in the second half that changed the momentum.
After Seattle failed to convert fourth-and-1 at its 48, the Giants needed five plays to take a 14-5 lead on Morris’ 6-yard catch from McCoy.
The Giants widened the lead to 17-5 on Graham Gano’s 48-yard field goal after rookie Darnay Holmes’ made his first career interception.
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
Sea 3:10 FG Jason Myers 31 - Seattle 3 - Giants 0
2nd Quarter
Sea 14:32 Safety, Punt blocked by R.Neal - Seattle 5 - Giants 0
3rd Quarter
NYG 7:20 A Morris 4 run (S Shepard Pass from C McCoy) - Seattle 5 - Giants 8
NYG 12:31 Alfred Morris 6 pass from C McCoy (Kick Failed) - Seattle 5 - Giants 14
4th Quarter
NYG 5:10 FG Graham Gano 48 - Seattle 5 - Giants 17
Sea 8:51 C Carson 28 pass from R Wilson (J Myers Kick) - Seattle 12 - Giants 17
Final Score - Giants 17 - Seahawks 12
Grading the Giants
From Tom Rock
tom.rock@newsday.com
DEFENSE: B
It wasn’t explosive. It wasn’t pretty. But gosh was it effective. The offensive line bullied its way through the Seahawks and the backs carved out 190 rushing yards, including a 60-yard run from Wayne Gallman early in the third quarter...Only mark against Colt McCoy was his interception in the red zone, that went off the hands of Evan Engram (as so many often do).
DEFENSE: A
Holding the Seahawks to 12 points – and the offense to just 10 – is fairly remarkable for any defense. That it was accomplished on the backs of players such as Niko Lalos, Darnay Holmes, Tae Crowder, Carter Coughlin and Cam Brown, all of them rookies, makes it almost unfathomable. There were some big-name players making plays, too. Jabrill Peppers continues to play the best ball of his career, James Bradberry was able to contain DK Metcalf, and Leonard Williams had 2.5 sacks..
SPECIAL TEAMS: D
What’s happened to these guys? Since the bye week, they’ve become the most inconsistent unit on the team. This week, it was a blocked punt and a missed extra point that could have been crucial. Graham Gano did make up for it with a 48-yard field goal, to give him 25 straight.
COACHING: B-PLUS
The world knew that with a backup QB, the Giants would have to rely on their running game and defense to beat the Seahawks. They were able to get those two units to rise to the occasion. There were a few glitches. The Giants had trouble making defensive substitutions...and had to call a timeout to compensate. Offensively, they were probably a little too conservative toward the end of the first half...
Season Stats
...............................................................NY..............Opp
Total First Downs .................................227..............256
Rushing ..................................................74 ................74
Passing ..................................................132 ..............161
Penalty ...................................................21..... ............21
Total Net Yards ...................................3742............. 4068
Total Plays ...........................................749.... ...........758
Net Yards Rushing ..............................1437............1160
Total Rushes .........................................321........... ..292
Net Yards Passing ..............................2305 ...........2908
Sacked/Yards Lost ............................33-184 .......32 254
Gross Passing Yards .............................2489 .........3162
Att./Completions .............................395-248 .......434-291
Completion Pct................................. 62.8............. ...67.1
Had Intercepted .................................10 ...................10
Punts/Average ................................47-44.4........ 40-42.5
Net Punting Avg. .............................47-39.8 ........40-42.5
Penalties-Yards.............................. 66-519 ..........66-476
Fumbles-Lost ...................................12-7..............21.10
Touchdowns ........................................22................ 29
Rushing .................................................11.................10
Passing .................................................9... ..............1.7
Returns...................................................2...................2
"Unofficial" Depth Chart
Giants Offense
Quarterbacks
QB ...08 Jones...12 McCoy
Running Backs
RB...22 Galman...33 Lewis...41 Morris
FB...39 E Penny
Wide Receivers
WR... 87 Shepard...15 Tate...18 Board
WR...86 Slayton...81 Mack...13 Pettis
Tight Ends
TE...88 Engram...85 Toilolo...82 K Smith
Offensive Line
LT...78 Thomas...72 Bartonn
LG...66 Lemieux...71 Hernandez
OC...65 Gates...77 Pulley
RG..70 .Zeitler...60 Murphy...74 Pert
RT...75 Fleming
Giants Defense
Front Seven
SLB....47 C Brown...49 Coughlin...91 Sheard
DE ....97 D Lawrence...90 McIntosh
MLB....54 Martinez...48 Crowder...55 Mayo
NT...94 Tomlinson..98 A Johnson
WIL.....52 Downs...35 Brunson
DT...99 L Williams...95 Hiill.
OLB..51 Fackrell (INJ) ...93 T Harris
Secondary
LCBL...24 Bradberry...30 Holmes
SS...21 Peppers...43 Ebner
FS...23 Ryan...20 Love...29 McKinney
RCB..27 Yiadom...45 Harper...28 B Williams
Special Teams
P......09 Dixon
K.....05 Gano
LS...58 Krieter
H ...09 Dixon
PR ...15 Tate
KR ...33 Lewis
Player Stats
Passing
Murray 285 of 426 for 2987 yds...66.9%...22 TDs...10 Ints...Sacked 20 Times...94.5 Rating
D Jones - 228 of 361 for 2335 yds....63.2%...8 TD ...9 INT... Sacked 31 Times...78.7 Rating
McCoy - 19 of 32 for 136 yds 59.4%1 TD...1 Int.. Sacked twice...66.7 Rating
Rushing
Drake 178 for 768 yds 4.3 YPA 8 TDs
Murray 102 for 665...6.5 YPA...10 TDs
Edmonds 76 for 372....4.9 YPA...1 TD
Galman 109 for 504...YPA 4.6 ...TDs 6
D Jones 55 for 403...YPA 7.3...1 TD
Freeman 54 for 172..YPA 3.2.....1 TD
Receiving
Hopkins 85 for 1019...5 TDs
Fitzgerald 43 for 336... 0 TD
Edmonds 42 for 326...3 TDs
Kirk 35 for 498... 6 TDs
Engram 48 for 508 yds 1 TD
Shepard 42 for 381 yds 1 TD
Slayton 39 for 598 yds 3 TDs
Tate 32 for 336 yds 2 TDs
Tackles -
Baker 94
Hicks 93
Campbell 80
Kirkpatrick 47
Reddick 46
Martinez 111
Ryan 68
Peppers 61
Love 41
Bradbury 40
Sacks
Reddick 5
Gardeck 3
Golden 2.5
Baker...Blackson...Phillips...Kennard...Simmons 2.0 Apiece
Williams 8.5
Peppers 2.5
Lawrence & Fackrell 3 ea
Interceptions
P Peterson, Kirkpatrick 3 apiece
Bradbury 3
Cardinals Depth Chart
Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 15 Streveler, 07 Hundley
Running Back
41 Drake, 29 Edmonds, 38 Ward 26 Benjamin
Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...17 Isabella
WR - 13 Kirk....19 KS Johnson
WR - 10 Hopkins 16 Sherfield
Tight Ends
TE - 87 William 82 Arnold 81 Daniels
Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries ....79 J Jones...66 Miles
LG - 67 Pugh 73 Garcia
OC- 52 Cole 65 Galliard
RG- 64 Sweezy...64 Murray
RT - 68 Beachum
Defensive Interior Line
DT - 69 Mauro...93 Coley
NT - 90 Peko Sr
DT - 92 Blackson
Linebackers
OLB - 43 Reddick...49 Fitts
ILB - ..59 Campbell 48 Simmons 47 Z Turner
ILB - 58 Hicks 51 Vallejo
OLB - 44 Golden 42 Kennard...45 Gardeck
Defensive Backs
CB - 21 P Peterson...25 Joseph
CB - 20 Kirkpatrick...33 Murphy
S - 34 J Thompson...35 D Thompson...28 C Washington
S - 32 Baker...31 Banjo. 40 Tillman*
Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....05 Gonzalez
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR -29 Edmonds
PR - 13 Kirk
Matchups:
Matchup: Giants Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defense
It's uncleaar whether Daniel Jones will return to action or whether the Gianta will rely on Colt McCoy to manage the game. Giants kept things relatively mistake-free to outlast Seattle last week.
Statistically, the Giants' passing attack spreads the ball around to a number of receivers instead of relying on just one. WIth either a rookie (Jones) or elder statesman (McCoy) behind center, you can expect Joe Judge to keep it short and simple. This figures to put more pressure on Cardinal OLB's and safeties and less on corners like P Peterson or Murphy
Key Matchups - Engram and Galman vs. Thompson, Simmons, Banjo...Shepard...Slayton...Tate vs. Cardinal corners...Giant no-name OL vs Cardinal no-name DL.
Matchup: Giants Rushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Joe Judge beat the Seahawks with "ground & pound" offensive tactics and a tough defense. Why change this?
Card run-stoppers were tough in short yardage /red zone situations but undisciplined in longer down & distance circumstances.
Key Matchups
Hicks vs Gallman...Giant OL vs. Card Back 7...
Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Rams Pass Defense
Rams put together a tough physical, er mistake-free defensive game plan that kept Kyler Murray bottled up inside the pocket and didn't allow him to roll out and break contain. Murray was unable to hook up with D-Hopkins often enough to change the direction of the game. Coach Kingsbury, no doubt. will try to sculpt an effective response to this defensive tactic. If he can't it will be a long afternoon.
One quick peek at the Giants depth chart lets you know thatJoe Judge likes to innovate at least on defense: Instead of the traditional DE..DT...DT...DE...LLB...MLB...RLB setup, his chart shows: SLB....DE...MLB...NT...WIL...DT...OLB. Cards might best be advised to "do their own thing" and not get rattled by funky Giant defensive looks.
Three Giant defenders to watch - Blake Martinez (coming off IR), J Peppers and Bradbury.
Bradbury figures to cancel out Hopkins, but (the returning) Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk figure to match up well against other Giant pass defenders
Key Matchups:
Murray vs. Giant LBs...Hopkins vs. Bradbury...Fitz and Kirk vs. Holmes and Yiadom...OL vs. DL...Arnold vs Peppers
Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. Giant Run Defense
Giants play tough conservative football against the run. Cardinal running attack led by Drake and Edmond seems, at best, shaky. Who will show up Sunday? Look to Kingsbury to test the Giant run defense and pound the rock if this works or switch over to short passes and screens if it doesn't.
Key Matchups
Martinez vs. Drake...Peppers vs. Edmonds...Battle of the two lines.
Matchup Giants Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
Gano is on his way to setting a franchise record for consecutive field goal attempts. Gonzalez's inconsistency has probably cost the Cards a playoff spot. Dixon and Lee appear to be fairly even in the punting game. Tate is experienced and lethal returning punts. Kirk and Isabella are potential game breakers but haven't done much so far. Don't know much about Lewis
Key Matchups
Gano has edge over Gonzalez...Lee and Dixon are fairly even. Tate over Kirk...Not sure re Lewis vs. Isabella
Last Word
Giants are on the cusp of playoff contention and on the upswing. Cardinals are not.
Giants under Joe Judge figure to beat you with fundamentals (low-keyed offense, gritty defense ) and conservative play whereas the Cards have impressive game-breaking talent, but are a bit shaky on fundamentals and in the habit of "beating themselves."
Player by player - the Cards should have no problem beating the Giants. but when it comes to playing the game, the Giants are the sounder and more consistent football team.
We don't know which QB the Giants go with - they figure to open things up more with D Jones behind center. |
