Superbowl XLII – PREVIEW

February 3rd, 2008 5:35 am
by Pro Set

New York Giants vs New England Patriots – Superbowl XLII

Despite the substandard play of Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots remain clear favourites. The key to the game, when New England has the ball, is whether New York changes its tactics from the Week 17 contest.

In Week 17, the Giants attacked the patriots, and put pressure on Brady. He looked a little unsettled, and generally the tactics of the Giants met with widespread approval. But the seminal moment of Week 17 was the Brady to Moss TD pass when Moss was left single-covered. The playoff opponents that have faced New England clearly determined not to get beaten deep. This policy looked futile as Brady picked Jacksonville apart in the AFC Divisional Playoff. But JAX stuck form to the game plan, and never let the Patriots strike quickly.

San Diego followed this lead, despite the fact that JAX could not force the turnovers. Luck, however, was with SD as Brady was 5% off his game, and with 7 or 8 men in coverage, SD had the men there to swallow three INTs.

So, does New York attack or play coverage? The excellent weather in Arizona tends to suggest that Brady will be comfortable picking apart deep zones. But I think that the Giants must rush four and trust them to deliver. The Patriots offensive line has to have an off day eventually. Since New York has no one who can cover Moss in single coverage, it would be a massive gamble to bring excess rushers on a consistent basis.

For the Giants offense, Eli Manning needs to have his hot streak continued. The accuracy on his throws, the lack of one bounce receptions, and the reliability of Plaxico Burress have to arrive in Arizona. It is obviously well known that Eli Manning has not fared well in his career against the blitz. New England will be tempted to bring relentless pressure. This will test Asante Samuel, who is surely the man to cover Plax when the blitz arrives. He cannot fare worse than Al Harris, who had a nationally televised disaster that will surely be the epitaph to an overrated career.

The Patriots will win, and this author congratulates New England in advance on a perfect season.

Posted in Analysis, Asante Samuel, Bill Belichick, Game, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NY Giants, New England Patriots, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss, Superbowl, Superbowl XLII, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »

Superbowl XLII – Pros and Cons

January 31st, 2008 11:11 pm
by Big Dog

The Superbowl’s always an exciting time of year. It’s the culmination of a long and hard season. It’s one of the greatest sporting spectacles on earth. And yet, if your team didn’t make it, the Superbowl presents a very real conundrum. Who do you cheer for?

This year your choice is between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Each of these teams present their own sets of pros and cons when you consider offering your support.

New England Patriots
Pros

  • Perfect season (so far) – if you like backing a winner, the Patriots can offer all the winning you could want this season
  • Tom Brady – good looking, polite, friendly, humble, has a supermodel girlfriend and he can play football
  • Randy Moss – can run so fast and so far that Brady actually has to work at throwing the ball far enough to get to him
  • Laurence Maroney – while so much attention has been on the New England passing game this season, Maroney’s been getting the hard yards on the ground, forcing opposing defences to work even harder.

    • Cons

  • Perfect season – it’s hard to not want to see the underdogs knock of the undefeated favourites
  • Tom Brady – he’s good looking, polite, friendly, humble, has a supermodel girlfriend and can play football… too good to be true? Or just so good it’s annoying?
  • Bill Belichick – he’s sullen, surly, obsessed, clearly a manic genius and can come across as pretty arrogant

    • New York Giants
    Pros

  • Underdog status – everyone loves the underdog and it’s never a bad thing to support them, if you win, you did it against the odds, if you lose, well nobody really expected you to win anyway (indie band Spoon have a word of warning for the Patriots in their song The Underdog – “you never respected the underdog, that’s why you will not survive”)
  • Upset wins – the Giants have managed some tight wins in tough conditions recently. They’ve certainly found their form at the business end of the season.
  • Last time they met – the Giants really stretched the Patriots, up until the third quarter. However, if they’ve learned from that game… who knows how much they might stretch Belichick, Brady and the rest of the Pats this time round?
  • Plaxico Burress – the man’s predicted a definite 23-17 win for the Giants, maybe he knows something nobody else does
  • Eli Manning – he’s not only carrying the Giants team and fans on his shoulders, he’s also carrying the Manning family’s hopes for back to back Superbowl victories… that could be the inspiration he needs to lift his game

    • Cons

  • Eli Manning – Eli’s been famous for occasional bad decision making (usually when the game’s on the line) and it’s just possible that he’ll crack under the pressure of the biggest game of the year
  • Tom Coughlin – now, this is just me talking, but there have been several times this year when it’s looked to me like Tom just doesn’t know what to do, this is an issue that I mentioned earlier in the season.
  • The Patriots – Unfortunately for the Giants, they’re playing this year’s Superbowl against the New England Patriots, the record setting, unbeaten team of the year.

    • Anyway, no matter who you decide to cheer for this weekend, enjoy the game, enjoy the spectacle and enjoy the football.

    Posted in Bill Belichick, Eli Manning, Game, Laurence Maroney, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Game Previews, NFL Players, NY Giants, New England Patriots, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss, Superbowl, Superbowl XLII, Tom Brady, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »

    Week 13 Analysis: NYG @ Chicago

    December 2nd, 2007 9:08 pm
    by Big Dog

    There’s no pretty way to say this. The Ney York Giants and their battling QB Eli Manning got lucky today. In a game where Manning was continuing his recent and struggling form with two interceptions and a lost fumble, he managed an unexpected fourth quarter comeback that will finally give fans and media in New York something positive to talk about. The best feature of Manning’s game was that he didn’t allow the pressure to get to him. He stayed focused on his job and waited for things to start working. This is a character trait that I’ve long admired in Eli, he copes very well with the additional scrutiny and pressure that is applied to him as a result of his big brother’s stellar career. Eli plays his game and he clearly has the mental toughness to win.

    The conditions at Chicago’s Soldier Field were troublesome for both teams. With heavy rain in the morning, and swirling winds throughout the game, it was a difficult game for anyone to get going in the air. Even so, Chicago QB Rex Grossman put in an excellent effort in difficult conditions to complete 25 of 46 passes for 296 yards and a TD. That completion number looks low, but Grossman was especially impressive with his clock management and decision making within the final two minutes of both halves. Good clock management was a real feature of his work and he certainly demonstrated that despite his difficulties earlier in the season, this young QB’s still plenty to offer the Bears. The only consistent flaw in his game today was that he kept getting sacked (6 sacks this game) for big losses by dropping back to allow plays to develop. He should have realised earlier that the best way to beat the Giants’ pass rush (which applied no real pressure on the inside) was to step up into the pocket and buy an extra couple of seconds that way. Doing so would also afforded him better vision of the field.

    So, in a simple quarterback comparison, Chicago should have won. As we all know there’s a lot more to football than that. I still believe that there are serious questions to be asked, not just of Eli Manning, but the entire Giants offense and especially Head Coach Tom Coughlin. Manning and his key receivers (WR Plaxico Burress, TE Jeremy Shockey and WR Amani Toomer) have being playing together for several years now and it needs to be asked why these guys haven’t built a better playing relationship. To all appearances they get on very well together and when things work, they work really well, but by now I’d be expecting to see these guys have a better feel and knowledge of what each other is doing on the field. That said, it also needs to be asked of Coach Coughlin, when the QB of the team is struggling with an offense that runs a very vertical passing system, why aren’t there more options in the New York playbook? Where are the mid-range passing plays? Where are the options and adjustments in game?

    It’s clear that there are fundamental problems with the Giants offense, but I am unconvinced that the problem is with the players. I have a feeling that it might just be that the team doesn’t know what to do with the players they have. Until the Giants resolve these issues, the best they can hope for is these unconvincing and somewhat fortunate victories.

    Posted in Amani Toomer, Analysis, Chicago Bears, Eli Manning, Game, Jeremy Shockey, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NFL on FOX, NFL on television, NY Giants, Plaxico Burress, Rex Grossman, Tom Coughlin | No Comments »

    NFL Week 3 Instant Analysis New York Giants at Washington Redskins

    September 24th, 2007 5:34 am
    by Pro Set

    NY Giants 24-17 Washington

    This was the prototype game of 2 halves. With Washington playing exactly as the script anticipated in the 1st half, a solid running game and a couple of deep passes and zero turnovers brought them a deserved 14 point half time lead. In the second half, things went wrong. Let’s examine why.

    The simple answer is that WSH could not manufacture any first downs. The Redskins went 3 & out on every 3rd quarter possession and then fumbled the next possession with scores level. Looking inside that problem, the key was first down rushing. WSH ran to the outside on 1st down after half time and the Giants stuffed those plays. With WSH playing conservatively, losses on 1st & 10 will lead to 3 & outs more often.

    Despite the offensive ineptitude, WSH had 1st & Goal at the NYG 5 with a minute left, no timeouts, and the clock running. QB Jason Campbell was finally allowed to make some throws and he hit Antwaan Randle El over the middle for a huge gain. Having got to the NYG 5, the Redskins spiked the ball. This was madness. If they had huddled up, and ran a 1st down play at 30 seconds remaining, and called a pass, the clock would have stopped after that play (assuming incompletion or TD). This panic and disorganization was unacceptably poor.

    The Redskins look like frontrunners to me. I can’t see them overcoming too many deficits this season. This makes the loss of a home 14 point lead an utter disaster for WSH. This loss already feels as though it will cost WSH any shot at winning the division.

    For the Giants, Eli Manning is making progress. He overcame a 2 INT outing to move the chains and generally looked like a seasoned NFL QB. To get a divisional road win after trailing by 2 TDs at the half is never something to criticize. Unlike DAL QB Tony Romo, I think that Manning can improve further. The effort of a hobbled WR Plaxico Burress was also very impressive. Playing through the pain barrier is a sure way to unite a fractured locker-room.

    The Giants will need to bring their second half defense when they play PHI next week. The Giants will also need a running game. RB Derrick Ward looked solid today. Whether he can be a consistent NFL featured back is a matter for debate. Ward himself can settle it by dominating against a suspect PHI defense next week. Unfortunately for the Giants I think that poor play-calling and hesitance by WSH made the job too easy. The Redskins lost despite a +2 turnover margin and a 17 point first half.

    Posted in Analysis, Antwaan Randle El, Eli Manning, Jason Campbell, NFL, NFL Franchises/Teams, NY Giants, Plaxico Burress, Washington Redskins, Week 3 Instant Analysis | No Comments »

    Week 2 Fantasy Players

    September 16th, 2007 3:38 am
    by Big Dog

    There’s no question that the Buffalo Bills have had an emotionally challenging week as they’ve dealt with the news of Kevin Everett’s injury and then the nearly miraculous nature of his recover thus far. In spite of the distractions, expect the Bills to be playing with a lot of commitment and energy as their injured defense look to hold up against the attack of the Pittsburgh Steelers as led by Ben Roethlisberger.

    That said, Roethlisberger himself has a lot to be playing for this week. He’s been stung by criticism of his decision making, game management and his performance last season. He’s got a lot to prove and teammates have reported that he’s training and playing with the drive and commitment of a man with a chip on his shoulder. Add to this the fact that the Steelers defense managed to force five turnovers and six sacks last week. If that proves to be a trend, then the Steelers offense is going to get plenty of playing time. I’d expect Big Ben to be taking full advantage of the Bills’ injuries this week and looking for some impressive numbers from him.

    Plaxico Burress was a popular outlet for Eli Manning last week, with a total of 8 receptions for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. While Manning remains in doubt with a shoulder injury (he’s almost universally expected to play), it would be reasonable to expect that backup quarterback Jared Lorenzen would look for a similar performance from Burress this week. Either way, expect the ball to fly and for Plaxico to test the Green Bay Packers defense.

    Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt hosts his first home game as the Arizona Cardinals face the Seattle Seahawks. It’ll be a tough match as both teams posted some good performances in week 1. I think Seattle Running Back Shaun Alexander will supply some excellent value and entertainment this week. He traditionally averages close to 100 yards against the Cardinals and has scored 10 TDs in their last 5 meetings. If he gets a good jump this week, he could carry the Seahawks all the way to a win.

    Champ Bailey will be worth keeping an eye on as the Denver Broncos play host to the Oakland Raiders this week. Coach Mike Shanahan has an excellent record against the Raiders and Champ is an interception specialist. In addition, his expanded duties on special teams ensure his contributions to the Broncos are spread as far across the field as possible. The decision to include the Champ on special teams was more than paid for with his touchdown saving tackle in week 1.

    Good luck everyone, for week 2.

    Posted in Analysis, Arizona Cardinals, Ben Roethlisberger, Buffalo Bills, Champ Bailey, Denver Broncos, Eli Manning, Game, Green Bay Packers, Jared Lorenzen, Ken Whisenhunt, Kevin Everett, Mike Shanahan, NFL, NFL Coaches, NFL Franchises/Teams, NFL Players, NY Giants, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Plaxico Burress, Seattle Seahawks, Shaun Alexander | No Comments »