I have been following you for a while, and I wanted you to know that I really appreciate what you do. I have a question about the defense, and about the offense. Defense first: I've noticed this all year, but in some critical spots against the Chargers, there seemed to be serious communication problems relative to assignments.(IE the TE release in the end zone when Pierce had the meltdown, and what appeared to be a blown assignment by Johnson not coming over to help). This may be unfair, but I didn't notice this during Spags tenure. Can you speak to whose responsibility this is?
Offense: It looked like Jacobs came out of the gate strong. He looked like he was ready to impose his will on the Charger defense...and yet, he ended the game with only 11 carries. Why are the Giants not making a more concerted effort to consistently RUN the football? Thanks! – Andrew C.
Andrew, thanks for the kudos. When we do our analysis, we don’t know what the specific calls were; we can only take educated guesses based on our review and on past tendencies. We try to cover topics such as these quite extensively in our subscription product. As for your question regarding the offense, again, this is another topic we covered about in the subscription product. (My boss doesn’t want me giving everything away as we rely on the subscription monies to fund our expenses associated with covering this team – hope you understand.)
I see that the Chiefs have put Larry Johnson on waivers and NO, I don't want the Giants to claim him. MY question is about how the waiver procedure works. I know that the teams with the worst records have the first shot, but do the teams in the waived players conference(AFC in Johnson's case) have first dibs at him and then the teams in the other conference get their chance, or is it based strictly on record? -- Thanks, Don P.
Don, please see this article I did about the waiver wire and how it works – it should answer your questions.
These next three letters all cover the same thing, so I’ll give one answer.
It sure looks from the outside that Sheridan is not very good at evaluating what is working or not during the game and adjusting accordingly. Do you think you can follow up with him during the off week on whether he still thinks like he might see the game better from the box? It seems like something has to be done to make better in-game adjustments and maybe TC will relent. – Jeff S.
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Great job on the post game report. I'm not going to pile on all of the others sending in rants about Sheridan. However, I do believe that he's is most certainly out of his comfort zone. My question about him is one that came up quite a bit last week. Why won't Coughlin let him coach from upstairs in the booth? It can't be any worse can it? Plus if he's used to seeing the game from up there, maybe he can make adjustments quicker during the game too, which in my mind, seems to be his weakness right now. Just a thought... I like everyone was disappointed yesterday, but I did see a team at least competing this week, which hadn't been the case the previous 3 weeks. That coupled with a healthier team should keep the Giants at least in the hunt, but they're going to need some help too. -- Don C.
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Before the season started Sheridan wanted to be upstairs in the booth during the games, but was told to be on the field, maybe they should move him upstairs. Jeff Feagles is now feeling his age. – Romeo L.
I will attempt to make an inquiry into whether this was considered, but my gut feeling is that it hasn't been, and that I'm going to hear that part of the problem has been the execution.
Here are the last of the rant letters...
OK I am going to rant, the Giants and Eli Manning really need a new offensive coordinator. I heard Pat Kirwan say several weeks ago that coaches under pressure tend to revert to their tendencies. At the end of the game, that is exactly what Gilbride (presumably with Coughlin�s approval) did. Everybody in the Stadium knew that on first down, the Giants would run. After the penalty, they played not to lose. Entirely predictable. For a team clearly struggling to recapture its edge--I think it was an unwise and exceptionally run-of-the-mill strategy. It seems to me, the Giants should have tried to win. As I have said before, Gilbride in a very smart coach. However, it really seems to me the he had taken the Giants offense as far as it can go with him at the helm. It is extremely unlikely that Tom Coughlin will let go his good friend and long term associate. However, in my gut I really believe it is time for a dramatic change. The Giants remain in a narrow window.
Another Super Bowl in the next two years is possible and achievable. However, insisting on exactly the same formula and expecting different results is foolish. I am grateful for what this Gilbride has done for the Giants. He deserves his share of the credit for the Super Bowl win two years ago. But, it is clear that unless the Giants shake things up and do something dramatic, we are likely to see this team sink into mediocrity. I just do not see this Eli getting better without a fresh mind to push him into new directions. Moreover, I tend to think they have made this offense too complicated at times. You mentioned that at times there seems to be a paralysis by analysis. It seems to me this is true.
The question is, can this head coach accept this and make significant changes? Can he bring in someone with fresh ideas and maybe a new approach? I just am not sure. I am conservative by nature. But without a genuine and fundamental shake up, I foresee three years of average or worse football under the final Couglin years, though it pains me to say this. I will withhold my thoughts on the defense for some other time, other than to say, the jury is still out on this coordinator and this current defense, which seem to me very old and increasingly ordinary. -- Todd C.
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I�ve been going to games since I was 7, 40 years now and yesterday�s loss was right up there with The Fumble and the Monday Nighter vs Dallas. I am so disgusted I don�t know where to start, but let�s begin with the last 2 series, when the coaches started playing not to lose instead of playing to win.
�Terrible playcalling on 2nd and 3rd down. You have to go for the win right there. Are you telling me you don�t trust your $100 mn QB to throw it away if he has to?
�Terrible defensive playcalling on the last drive. Couldn't generate any pressure and had some terrible coverage calls, esp the last one wher Michael Johnson had to choose between helping with Gates or Jackson. And I thought Sheridan specifically said preseason he wouldn�t be dropping DEs into coverage all the time.
Why on earth did I keep seeing Tuck covering Gates 15 yards down the field? On 3rd and 10�are you kidding me? �
Terrible special teams. Penalty on first play of game, botched FG, interference on fair catch, terrible punting, nothing on the return game. �
Our O-line + Hedgecock, which has been a real strength in recent years, is not getting it done. Numerous times yesterday, there were missed blocks that led to a LB or safety sitting right in the hole. Terrible on short yardage. Unbelievably costly penalties.
And though Eli wasn�t getting hit too much, he never had a clean pocket that would have let him really step up and zip the ball downfield. For the past couple of weeks, I�ve been thinking that this was a good team that had just hit a rough patch. But after yesterday, I am forced to admit that the combination of talent, chemistry and coaching that makes a winning team is not there for us this year. – AJ G.
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Right now there is mass hysteria in N Y Giant's kingdom with people wanting to cut the head's of the innocent as well as the guilty without benefit of fact. The Saints and Eagles games found the Giants clearly overmatched but the Cardinals and Chargers games were lost because the offense does not have the ability to finishe a drive. They have had a this problem for a few years now of being one of the bst teams between the twenty yard line and one of the worst teams in the red/green zone. Every year we hear that the team is working hard to improve those stats and every year it is the same. Look at the time of possession these past few games and you will see something strange in the relationship between time of possession and points. Itis wonderful to have a 10.5 minute drive Sunday or 9 minute drive in the super bowl but to settle for a field goal in both instances is mind boggling. Focus on the fixable instead of the unrepairable midseason. The Giants problems should be put in proper perspective. Thanks for hearing me out. – Myron S.
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FIRE Bill Sheridan, please Giants. – Paul K.
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I have given this letter a lot of thought. One can always argue about other losses,but to me this is the worst loss I have seen since the Pisarcik fumble which was a regime changing loss. What do we have here but a head coach essntially telling his team and particularly his QB that he does trust them to do their jobs.He did not have the guts to let his team try to end the game right there. Unforgivable. If I am Reese.I discuss this with TC and tell him he must own up to this mistake and work to reclaim his team. How can they support a coach who ,by his actions,says he does not trust them to do their jobs. If this action is not to TC's liking then Reese can always announce TC's retirement effective the end of the year.If TC is a man he realizes his mistake and will be more then willing to correct it. -- Frank C.
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