New York Giants 17 – Miami Dolphins 7
Overall: Another glimmer of hope revealed this team is improving in some aspects of the game. The Giants controlled time of posession and most of the momentum during the game to convincingly beat JJ’s team on a bright and sunny Miami day. Both sides of the ball played consistently well and it made one wonder what the heck was going on in Philly last week. Looking more deeply into the team’s ups and downs, my favorite explanation was best put by one of our contributors. A young team does not consistently make progress, growth comes in a series of peaks and valleys. Sure we also need a couple of leaders and impact players, but some are emerging.
QB: DB had an excellent game even after the crunching his shoulder received. He hit Lewis on a sweet pass for 15 on an excellent call in the second half. He dumped to Way 6 times and Cross half that for good yardage. He even threw the ball away a few times rather than run smack into on-coming linemen. On the fumble, he was still dropping back when the Miami defender dropped back with him. This was forgivable, even though it would have cinched the game. He threw 21 of 28, heck there was only one bad throw, with one TD pass. Brown really showed some skills though, as he picked the spots 12 to 15 yards down field, hit Dawsey more than once, as well as Calloway, Lewis and Saxton. I was looking forward to see how Brown would play in good weather, after last week’s debacle. He reacted by putting together a top-notch game. Now we are looking for some consistency in the next two weeks. If he displays the same type of poise in the next two weeks, (DB didn’t shuffle in the wrong direction much and he/they didn’t let the defense read the plays too early), we’ll all have to admit to some signs of growth. We’ll see.
Backs: Rodney, then Rodney, then Ty, Ty, Rodney and Ty. Each was effective with the bulk of the carries to Hampton. Way opened the way for both by delivering many solid blocks, helping the Giants establish a ground control game. The short passing game balanced the running game (28 tosses and 37 carries – many short yardage). Wheatley seemed off at the start, but then broke one for 40 yards up the sideline and gained some more confidence from there. The two combined for 120 yards. Way caught 6 passes for 56 yards to go with his consistent blocks.
TE’s: Howard Cross had his best game of the year, if you only saw this game you would say he is a sure handed TE. His blocking was there as well. Didn’t hear much from the Saxton, his play was limited except on short yardage and the one fourteen yard catch. If Cross could be this reliable next year, he’d be a big asset.
Receivers: Dawsey had his best game as a Giant, running decent routes and catching three passes. Dawsey showed nice extension and concentration on one grab in particular. Lewis saw limited action but contributed on the nicest pass play of the day, running a quick medium out route and concentrating on bringing the ball in, with defenders ready to pounce. CC was relatively quiet but also caught a first down pass and made a couple of real good blocks as he always seems to do. Got hurt after his second block that opened a hole, but I think he came back to play some more.
O-Line: Run blocking was very good bordering on excellent. Adam S. really powered open holes right up the middle with the help of Stone and Smith and of course Way. Hampton took advantage of the middle most of the first half, helping build confidence. Once Wheatley broke one the line really had a head of steam and knew they could keep the push going against the rotating defensive line. It is not so much that the Giants wore the front seven out, but more that they were very consistent and allowed them to play mistake free. They minimized situations where forces and turnovers happen. Smith got out in front of the first screen nicely and the Giants actually not only called a screen, but had a wedge in place. Gragg got beat a few times in pass protection, fanning twice it seemed on two sacks. One which resulted in a fumble, though it may have been a misassignment on the overload. His run blocking showed some nice potential even though he didn’t dominate every run block. Bishop played well and the Giants need to continue to see him play like this. Most impressive though is the line played like a unit.
D-Line: Strahan was doubled all game. The only time they didn’t was when Armstead blitzed, then Strahan man handled his block and got to Marino for a power sack. He also clogged the run throughout, making two nice solo tackles and occupying two guys all game so Hamilton or others could make the play. Hamilton was motivated by JJ this week and needs to show this kind of fire even when the opposition doesn’t insult him or the Giants. Bratzke had his third or fourth good game in a row and illustrating some spark and only getting blown off the line once. Harris did not impress today. The bench did not make any impact. Agnew should be history with his salary.
LB’s: Armstead was around most of the day again. On a few plays Armstead really showed not only his quickness but a unique ability to avoid blockers who are trying to get a hand on him. No need to shed blocks when you can dodge around them and still persue the ball. Six solos and a killer blitz that freed up Strahan. Widmer got a lucky INT off of Karim, aptly named. Buckley played a little, made one nice tackle and got very excited. Corey did the same. Quiet day overall for LB corps, coverage was decent but Marino was looking down field so the Giants brought in 5 DB’s and sometimes six.
Secondary: Ok Percy was picked nicely in a well designed play, Sparks was burned by OJ McDuff and Sehorn was beat once and his man made a hell of a catch. Those were the flaws, that’s it. Against Marino that’s pretty darn good. First the tackling, no missed tackles! Sehorn is becoming a solid tackler (8 total) and had a very strong game. His coverage is getting better, even though he didn’t go against a burner this week. He consistently kept his man in front of him and replays isolating the Corners showed just how little Marino had to throw to. Randolph had another quietly solid game and continues to play well fundamentally. His tackling technique is quite good for a smaller guy (4 solo tackles) and they didn’t throw one pass against him, so he came up and knocked one down for Sehorn. Marino also made the mistake of throwing to Hamilton’s side while he was in a zone. He made a perfect read and put himself in the position to make the INT and did. Good alertness. The Giants are merrily stacked at Corner. Percy and Campbell played the whole game at safety combining for six tackles and good run support. Marino picked up some yardage during one drive in Campbell’s area, and as mentioned, Percy was picked off trying to move into position on one long pass. Hey they are not perfect but all the DB’s who played, made many plays and little if any errors. No real mental breakdowns either.
Specials: Average, but we’ll give them a better rating since there were no mistakes. Why wasn’t Conrad running back the kicks though. Deluiso hit one medium range FG. Coverage very good, Hamilton and Randolph were down the field and made plays.
Coaching: Reeves called a nice game, was into it and looked like a coach in control out there. Excellent pass plays with the limited receiving corps. Draws and screens were run, good to see Reeves adding new plays into the gameplan. A flea flicker was good to see even if it fell harmlessly. The gameplan mixed up what appeared to be a fired-up D-line of Miami’s. A few of the calls already mentioned combined with some short stuff to Cross and Way layed the proper groundwork. This brought the LB’s in as Reeves then called for strikes right in front of the secondary. Fourth down calls were good ones, not too risky and worthwhile. Showed confidence. Nolan certainly called a beauty. His blitz call of Armstead worked perfect and was well timed. Playing four DB’s early and then going to five and six was well planned. The D showed a ton of different looks. Guys rotated positions on the line just enough without getting too gimmicky. There were no mental mistakes as the entire team was prepared and finished with only 3 meaningless penalties. Aside from the fumble it was mistake free football.
Sure the Giants got a break with the second INT to stop the driving Dolphins, but they didn’t give them any other chances and that’s good.