HITS
LB Michael Boley.It wasn’t a perfect showing, but in his first game back from knee surgery, Boley was very active and productive, finishing second on the team with seven tackles (all solo ) and a pass defensed. But then again, on the Chargers’ final scoring drive, Boley was spun around on a fake blitz on Darren Sproles' 21-yarder.
TE Kevin Boss. Seriously, what does this guy have to do to get a penalty flag on these defenders who insist on hitting him in the head? For the second time in three weeks, Boss was speared by a Chargers defender. To his credit, he hung onto the ball, but after the game admitted that the hit rattled him a bit. The sad thing was the officials didn’t throw the penalty flag. Now normally I think the officials do a decent enough job, but something tells me that these helmet-to-helmet hits is something that is going to need to be addressed as it’s disturbing to see it missed now twice.
RB Brandon Jacobs.I really thought this was going to be the week he got his 100-yard rushing game – he hasn’t had one now in a year, to be exact. However, as usual, offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride moved away from the hot hand. Jacobs did finish as the team’s leading rusher with 11 carries for 67 yards, a 6.1-yard per carry average and a long of 15. Maybe one of these days he’ll get his 100-yard rushing mark. Then again, maybe not.
FB Madison Hedgecock.Hey, it’s not his fault that his one reception, which went for six yards was wiped out by an Ahmad Bradshaw chop block penalty. This is the second time this season that Hedgecock has seen a reception get taken off the board because of a penalty, and heaven knows that given his track record in the pass receiving arena, he can’t afford to be having catches taken away. As for his lead blocking, he logged another solid game lead blocking for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, who combined for 25 carries for 106 yards (4.24 yards per carry).
MISSES
CB Kevin Dockery.Two big penalties on special teams, both of which were simply a loss of concentration (the false start and interfering with a fair catch). Simply inexcusable. It would not surprise me at all if the next time the Giants take the field, Dockery is removed from the punt gunner duties as he’s been simply dreadful in that role of late.
RG Chris Snee. After the game, Snee reluctantly agreed with the holding call that wiped out a Brandon Jacobs run to the Chargers’ one-yard line. It was only his second one this season, but this one was a big one, and kept the Giants offense from finishing yet another drive the way they needed to.
Defensive Coordinator Bill Sheridan.Justin Tuck in coverage in a third and long down situations (both of which were converted, by the way) in what was an obvious passing down. Seriously?
Jeff Feagles.I don't know what's going on with him lately, but he had two more clunkers this week in which the Chargers got the ball at the Giants' 45 and their own 49. The result? Two touchdowns. And let's not forget about the botched field goal snap which initially seemed to be Feagles' fault, though I do plan to look at that play again to see if the snap was off target or if Tynes merely panicked becaue things weren't perfect.
Lawrence Tynes. I still need to look at the missed field goal again, but one thing I do know is that unless the snap and the hold are perfect, Tynes doesn't always come through. And I suppose it says something about his role in the botched kick that he darted out of the post game locker room as most of the media was coming in.
MUSINGS
The late Vince Lombardi used to have a simple philosophy that served him well during his tenure as the Green bay head coach. Quite simply, if something was working, he dared opponents to find a way to stop him.
Too bad the Giants offensive coaching staff refuses to take this advice under consideration.
While I can certainly appreciate the fact that the Giants have a lot of weapons at their disposal, the way I see it, is that the coaches are trying to spread the ball around a bit too much which is in turn not only mucking up this tea’s identity, but it’s prohibiting anyone from getting into a rhythm.
Take for example the running game. In the past, the giants made their living by rushing the ball to set up the pass. This year however, it seems to be the opposite. In this week’s game against San Diego, the chargers often loaded up the box against the Giants running game, yet Brandon Jacobs, whom I had a feeling would have gotten his first 100-yard rushing game since last year, had success running the ball as he averaged 6.1 yards per carry.
Then the Giants moved away from running the ball with Jacobs, switching things up a bit with Ahmad Bradshaw and then f course the passing game. While the run/pass distribution was fairly balanced – 29 rushes compared to 33 pass attempts, I can’t help but wonder if the Giants had stuck more with the run if the results of this game might have been different.
Yes, yes, I know about the penalties (nine of them, including four on offense), the continued problems in the red zone (50% conversion rate), and the sacks (five this week). But good coaching puts a team in a position to win, and I would be lying to you if I sat here and told you that the coaching staff’s decisions on the offensive side has put the Giants in the best position to win games.
Sometimes less is more, and if it just so happens that you hare doing one or two things well during the flow of the game, you stick with it and let the other team try to stop you. When you start trying to make everyone happy, guess what? You end up disappointing the whole lot. Further, you muck up the identity of a team that so desperately needed a win this week.
I wish I had an answer for those of you who are hurting after this latest loss. Sadly, that’s up to the coaching staff to figure out as what do I know?
INJURIES/LINEUP CHANGES
DT Chris Canty and LB Michael Boley returned to action this week, Canty as a rotational defensive lineman and Boley as the starting WIL.
The Giants inactive list consisted of LB Bryan Kehl, who started out strong on special teams but who’s seen his play deteriorate the last few weeks; receivers Ramses Barden and Sinorice Moss; CB Aaron Ross (hamstring); RB Gartrell Johnson; OL Adam Koets and Guy Whimper; and DE Dave Tollefson.
As announced on Friday, Aaron Rouse started at free safety in place of CC Brown. Michael Johnson started at strong safety. Boley got the start at weak side linebacker for Chase Blackburn.
During the game, LB Gerris Wilkinson had to leave with an injury to his wrist. Wilkinson said after the game that it wasn’t broken, yet he was seen leaving the locker room with a cast.
DE Justin Tuck, who’s already playing with one arm thanks to a shoulder injury, can add a “lower extremity” injury to his list of aches and pains. Tuck wouldn’t tell reporters the extent of his injury, but one popular theory making the rounds was that he twisted his knee.
RB Brandon Jacobs had to come out of the game with a leg injury, but went back in. In addition, RT Kareem McKenzie was slow in getting off the turf at the end of the third quarter, but picked himself back up and didn’t miss a beat.
San Diego’s inactives include starting inside linebacker Kevin Burnett; C Nick Hardwick (ankle); CB Dante Hughes; LB Tim Dobbins; G Tyronne Green; WR Buster Davis; and DE/DT Vaughn Martin. QB Charlie Whitehurst is the third quarterback.
THE FINAL WORD
Bring on the bye!
