New York Giants 14 – New Orleans Saints 9
The Defense was not quite as dominating as it was last week, but it was still tough enough to deny the Saints any touchdowns and was largely responsible for the 14 – 9 win. After the Saints took possession of the ball at the Giants 35 with more than 5 minutes to play, the defense stood firm again by attacking the Saints from every direction, determined not allow the game to slip away. Unlike last week where Strahan, K. Hamilton and Armstead had monumental efforts, this time the D had a well-rounded and balanced effort that was ready to hold a second half lead. The offense played decent and the special teams were solid except for a 46yd FG miss. What counted most is that the Giants won at home in a game they needed, to keep the season meaningful and allow some positive progress
Defense – As a tribute the defense should be addressed first. Enough can not be said about the way they emasculated the Rams last week given the great field position throughout all four quarters. Despite endless stabs at the endzone the Rams only crossed the line at the end of the game. This week, the offense at least gave the team a chance to win the game and zero TD’s was the result. All of the starters plus the guys in the nickel contributed nicely and played like a unit exhibiting sustained progress.
DL – The line although not as terrifying as previous weeks still forced matters. Hamilton again was a man to be reckoned with as he consistently jammed the middle. Besides an alert fumble recovery, he was responsible for 4 tackles directly and as many indirectly. Keith played hard throughout (as did most all of the D) and made some very impressive moves to shed his man on a few of his takedowns. Strahan has been the other dominating force on the line. He too would have a tough time matching previous efforts this year (he was an absolute phenomenon against the Rams), especially since the Saints stayed away from him as much as possible. Michael still punched-in with another strong performance forcing Shuler to unload or leave the pocket early. Strahan totaled 3 tackles and held like a pillar against the run allowing others to make plays. Chad played a tough low profile game even though he was tied up a bit and got blown back on one run play in particular. Excellent run defense has become his forte and has raised expectation levels considerably. The Giants did go on to stop a Saint team that wanted to run and Bratzke was in part responsible. He has become an important component to this team. Harris played OK. No real weak moments and they did not slow up late in the game.
LB’s – Armstead led the LB’s again, but the group played well as a whole. Miller was free to roam partly due to the strong play of the DL, while Widmer had his best game of the season, showing how he can be a better than average MLB. Widmer played with intelligent aggression made plays early and late. Effective blitzes during critical times in the contest was nice to see. Jessie caused some havoc on both run and pass blitzes, but Widmer’s 4rth quarter rush was perfectly executed. Miller made a nice open field tackle and another while ducking his blocker. He did show his amazing lack of speed when he dropped back in pass coverage. He was beat a couple of times, was caught flailing at his man after a catch, and missed a key tackle in a long-gainer. Aside from a couple of mistakes which were quickly covered up, the LB’s performed admirably.
Secondary – The corners had a stellar game throughout. Early in the game Sehorn looked really bad as he missed a relatively easy tackle on a wide run that let Bates get good yardage. Was it an Omen. No way, Sehorn turned things around quickly. First by employing an extremely smart and effective coverage strategy which meant giving his man some room for 2 to 3 yards while squaring up his target and closing quickly for the wrap-up. This served Jason well as he stuffed pass plays for short gains and prevented getting turned around because of committing to soon against a quick receiver. His contributions did not stop there because he was able to impact the running game with excellent reads and sure tackling. One play had Sehorn dodging one blocker and shaking free a tight block to make a terrific tackle. Jason’s name was called by the announcer twelve times but it was not from getting burnt. Sparks supported the run with focus as well. He did not pay a penalty for it either since in pass coverage his man was not open. His best outing of the year. Randolph was back in the nickel for 15 or so plays and was flawless. Thomas showed sharp concentration on his interception in the first half, zeroing in on the deflected pass and leveraging his forward motion to quickly wrestle the football from another potential receiver, to his gut. He made a nice tackle, was not thrown at, and provided close coverage. Hamilton was caught on a pass interference but also made a nice play along with two tackles. The nickel defense was tough in general. Percy did not play more than 12 plays but made two nice plays on key third downs. Tito played a lot and came up big when he torpedoed the ball on the Saints last offensive play. Sometimes head tackles work. Tito clearly missed two tackles because he sometimes refuses to use his arms with the most blatant violation on a running play up the middle! However, they are easily overlooked because of his overall aggressive performance combined with some nice stops and a couple of clutch, third down plays. Tito and Garnes were both responsible for a few blown coverages against the TE. First they let him get underneath for some long catch and carries, and then they let him behind them twice only to get lucky as Heath left the pocket and missed how open he was. Garnes supported the run also and got a few breathers on some passing downs. Possibly because the TE was playing like a WR. This was a team effort on defense.
Offense – The O came through with enough offense to win although they almost blew it late in the game. Once they got it back, they finally showed some smashmouth of old by literally running the clock out.
QB – Brown looked sharp at times, especially on his TD pass to Alexander. A few crisp passes to CC, including one that was incorrectly ruled out-of-bounds were impressive. He hit Tiki on two short passes and his accuracy and reads were good. Calloway made an adjustment on the other TD pass, but the ball was close enough. Alexander pulled off his route which might have prevented DB’s only interception.
Backs – Charles Way opened up lanes with devastating or persistent lead blocks. Fassel made some real smart play calls, specifically the two swing passes to Way who plowed for additional yards. Tiki caught two passes that he turned into nice gains and caused a few misses, with his jukes in the middle on some runs. He and Ty combined to gain over a 100 yards on the ground. Wheatley had a strong 4rth quarter helping the team run down the clock after he replaced an injured Barber. He was “credited” with not picking up Moten on the key late blitz.
TE’s and WR’s – CC was Mr. Consistent grabbing four passes and getting robbed on another. Crisp routes and nice adjustment turning around for the TD pass. Alexander in his first start, worked hard and was effective. He beat a fine CB a couple of times, fighting for the ball and showing good WR instinct. He should not have pulled up on the INT. The TE’s made no noise. Need more production here.
OLine – Engler was hurt and replace by Scott who did alright. Gragg was guilty of two false starts but there were no holding calls. Stone had trouble with Martin who is tough athlete. He was able to fend him off enough to not cause total breakdowns. Oben was pretty tough and Bishop had a decent game. The line real showed a burst of energy as they opened up some holes for Wheatley in the final period.
Specials – Brad’s kickoffs were good, but he missed another 46 yard FG. His accuracy is off and it is time he fixed it. Maynard must work on his pooch. Coverage teams were real good. Toomer had a few nice, straight-ahead punt-returns.