Gmen on the road to Green Bay

Conor Orr of the Star Ledger wrote up an interesting article after interveiwing Aaron Rodgers, heres the money quote:

"They've been playing really well as a whole,"

Rodgers is talking about the Giants secondary, not the pass rush. A secondary that is the most improved unit on the team over the last 3 weeks. Yeah the pass rush is better, but looking at the last 2 games of the season the Giants had 11 sacks, 3 of them were coverage sacks. And against Atlanta, the Giants only had 2 sacks.... so one couild argue... that vs Atlanta it wasn't so much the pass rush, but the secondary that was the difference maker.

Part of that improvement is the Giants ability to defend the middle. Since much the Green Bay offense is predicated on timing routes, slants and curls, much of the current Giants defense matches up well in that regard. And then add in the bend but don't break ability of the Giants secondary, its understandable that Rodgers tells us "it's going to be a tough challenge".

Aaron Rodgers can get rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds in the face of pressure, he can scramble and he can run the ball. On first down Rodgers is likely to see the Giants base defenseive line, 2 DE's and 2 DE's. This group of guys will get pressure up the middle to not allow Rodgers to step up, while the DE's are supposed to contain the pocket. The Green Bay running game is not effective enough to make the 1st down run fake meaningful so it maybe up to Rodgers to get the ball out quickly. If this means Rodgers has to challenge the Giants much improved secondary, who defends the middle much better, look to see if Green Bay runs routes to the sideline. Since the Giants tend to use an inside out technique, they may be vunerable to the sideline outs. But.... if the Giants secondary is playing press man coverage, disrupting the receivers as they try and get off the line, will we see Aaron Rodgers throwing the ball away on first down, yeah he's smart and won't take the chance.


While facing 2nd or 3rd and long Rodgers may face 4 DE's, Rodgers may try and scramble, but remember Tuck, Osi and JPP are quick, and they will chase the QB across the field. On 3rd and long Rodgers will have to be more creative, scrambling for time to allow his receivers to get 12-16-18 yards downfield.

The Giants defense has picked it up and Aaron Rodgers and his receivers are going to have to equal the Giants improvement, or lose the game.




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Giants by 10 pts vs Seattle

I doubt there will a let down by the Giants, considering they did well against Arizona in a potential let down game right after the emotional high of beating the Eagles, the GMen will do well vs Seattle. This game has the potential to be a blowout, I would not be surprised to see the score run up and offensive records for the young season set.

It looks like Brandon Jacobs will not play, look for DJ Ware who is a combination of Bradshaw and Jacobs, and we might even see some Da'Rel Scott who logged a 4.35 at the Combine. Proof of Da'Rel's speed came during the preseason when he ripped off a 97 yard run from scrimmage for a touchdown.

Justin Tuck is out, as is Free Agent center David Bass, Kevin Boothe who is a guard who also plays center, will start in place of Baas. Cordle just moved up from the practice squad, will back up at center.

Look fors:
Last week I thought Mario Manningham would be the star, he was not. Look for Eli to hook up with MM for at least a touchdown some good yardage.

With a good lead in the 4th quarter, we may get to see Da'Rel Scott, it may not take too many touches for him to flash his speed. We'll see. With a good lead do we see David Carr at the end of the game?

Look for 4-6 sacks, Osi, Tollefson and JPP are likely to team up for pressures, hits, and sacks. I really want to see the defensive line stuff the run. 80 yards rushing from Seattle.

Look for 160 yards team rushing.

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Week 4: Arizona Cardinals

Arizona drafted Dan Williams in 2010 as their nose tackle in the 3-4, Williams backed up 13 year vet Bryan Robinson. Neither had a sack in 2010. Now as the starter at Nose tackle, Williams and rookie David Carter have no sacks.  So far Arizona has been rushing 3 down linemen and blitzing, and they seem to use everyone to get to the quarterback, linebackers and DB's. Defensive coordinator Ray Horton likes to pressure  and blitz opposing quarterbacks and has not yet installed all of his defense, early in his first season.

Rookie Corner Patrick Peterson has 14 tackles and a pick 6 and will likely cover Hakeem Nicks, though last week budding star Victor Cruz saw time on both the left and right side.

Offensively Tight End Jeff King has gotten off to a good start for the Cardinals, catching 4 balls for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns while starting TE Todd Heap is injured. King might be a worry because of his ability to work deeper into the Giants secondary, so our linebackers will have to execute well in coverage to hopefully not let King loose in what is an already weakened secondary.

Vegas had this game at 3 pts, I think its down to 1.5, so Vegas is thinking a trap game for the Giants. If the Giants are to continue to show weekly improvement, they need to focus against a somewhat improved Cardinal team they should beat by 14 to 17 points.

Look fors:
Look for TE Jake Ballard to see continued time as a run blocker, Eli will probably throw to Ballard at least twice, as he's been a reliable target so far this year with 4 catches for 87 yards. If Gilbride has anything extra in store for Ballard, that there's something he thinks the TE can take advantage of, then that increases the odds of the big man (275 lbs.) rumbling thru the Arizona secondary. If Ballard continues to catch the ball he's on track to gain about 450 yards for the season.

Look for Victor Cruz to not be the star, 75 yards and one touchdown.

Look for Osi, Tuck and JPP to crush Kevin Kolb, as long as they're healthy. Good pressure on the QB can lead to an interception, but it wont be Aaron Ross.

Look for Aaron Ross to try and show he can be consistent, no picks but a defended ball on 3rd down to end a drive.

Look for Mario Manningham to try and make Giants fans forget about the Salsa dancing of Victor Cruz, he'll lead all Giants receivers with a big day. But Cruz will laydown a downfield block for MM.



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