Saints provide toughest Giants test this season
EAST RUTHERFORD – You can look at the start of the Giants season two ways.
One: You can say that the Giants have done a tremendous in opening their first five games without a loss. Four of those wins coming in decisive fashion and the other in a hostile environment to spoil the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.
Two: Outside of beating Dallas (which at the moment does not have the same quality of victory considering they nearly lost to the same Chiefs team the Giants crushed the previous week), all that has been accomplished was beating up on a number of the worst teams the NFL could throw out there without calling it 1-AA football. There are no doubts the Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders, easily among the top five worst teams in the league, turning these games in de facto scrimmages.
Yet, as the Giants embark on their first true “test” of the regular season this Sunday in New Orleans, the chatter that the team needs to “prove” something in order to legitimize their undefeated start.
There seems to be something missing with this prevailing thought.
What is it that the Giants have to prove?
That their good? We already know that they are.
That they are the best team in the NFC? At last check, the trophy wasn’t given after six games.
If anything, the burden this week is on the Saints, who at 4-0 are beginning to take the role of “NFC’s best” among members of the (drive by) media and are attempting to put the Giants on trial instead.
A little researching shows the Saints have not been to the playoffs since 2006 when they went to the NFC Championship Game. Despite winning their first four games, dissection of their opponents shows they played Detroit (one win - awful), Philadelphia (Donovan McNabb did not play), Buffalo (one win – awful) and the Jets (rookie quarterback).
The Giants don’t make the schedule. They simply play it. No style points are given and there is no BCS in the NFL, where rankings trend based on game results (reserved for those dopes that do “Power Rankings”). Extra points are not given to factor in “strength of schedule”.
In the NFL, we have a tendency to overvalue certain teams because a quality that is aesthetically fun to watch. Seeing Drew Brees and the Saints offense operate is like watching a NASCAR race or the old Los Angeles Lakers famed “Fast break”. It is high-speed, up-tempo, video game style, endearing to viewers, yet never won a championship in the modern football era.
Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins, Jim Kelly’s Buffalo Bills and Warren Moon’s Houston Oilers all had offenses similar to what the Saints run now and none of them won anything. Perhaps Head Coach Sean Payton and Brees will be the first team to reverse that trend.
Outside of when the Giants travel to Philadelphia in two weeks, this game is the likely the biggest game of the year in one big respect. Losing to New Orleans would put them 1 1/2 games behind going into the rest of the season, giving the Saints an inside track to home field advantage with a softer schedule. They will have already played the two best NFC East teams and beaten team in the first six weeks.
Would you rather play the NFC Championship Game on the fast track of the Superdome, or in the middle of January in Giants Stadium?
Sure, the indoors would actually be beneficial to Eli Manning considering what we saw last year in that playoff game against the Eagles when passes when at the feet of receivers and over their heads, but requesting to play on the road is a much trickier proposition and one that should be avoided almost all costs.
If the Giants defense were at full strength, there would be plenty of confidence in slowing down the Saints Nintendo-style attack. Their offense spreads out with its three talented wide receivers (Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore), athletic tight end (former Giant) Jeremy Shockey, and the multi-talents of Reggie Bush either out of the backfield or moving in motion as a receiver.
Without Kenny Phillips in the secondary and Michael Boley out for a month, that takes away a vital part of the newest ingredient to the Giants defense, being team speed. Boley was brought in to slow down the league’s better tight ends and multi-functional running backs. In the four games he played, he was bringing everything that was expected. Now that he is out, one facet the Saints could exploit is the defense lack of linebacker speed as Bush can get separation from Danny Clark, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn on the edges and pick up first downs on short yardage situations.
Shockey can also get free in the middle of the defense and if lined up with a linebacker, can get by anyone the Giants choose to put out there.
The big thing for the defense will be to slow Brees’ timing and put pressure on him to disrupt his reads. Harass him, hit him and try to do things that make them feel uncomfortable. Having Corey Webster on one side of the field to lock down Colston should have the Saints quarterback looking at other options for receivers.
On offense, the key will be to keep this speedy New Orleans defense on the field. In many ways, the best defense for the Giants will be their offense. (averaging 30.2 per game). Rather than engaging them in a shootout, they can use their running game to an advantage and drain the clock to limit the amount of possessions the Saints can have.
Much has been made about the stinginess of the Saints defense in the early going, but considering the inexperienced, if not bad quarterbacks they have faced, should one really take that seriously? They will see a step up in class when Manning and his experienced offensive-line take the field. This group will not be intimidated by its surroundings.
In games like these, the big swing in this is always turnovers, but in this game can be absolutely critical. Offensively, the Giants have only turned the ball over three times (the actual number is four due to a muffed punt) and their ability to sustain drives, keep the clock moving and not allowing any momentum swings by turning the ball over and giving their powerful offense a short field to get points.
It will be great to see how these two teams stack up early in this young season. There is a great chance that there will be a rematch between these two several months down the road.
EAST RUTHERFORD – You can look at the start of the Giants season two ways.
One: You can say that the Giants have done a tremendous in opening their first five games without a loss. Four of those wins coming in decisive fashion and the other in a hostile environment to spoil the opening of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium.
Two: Outside of beating Dallas (which at the moment does not have the same quality of victory considering they nearly lost to the same Chiefs team the Giants crushed the previous week), all that has been accomplished was beating up on a number of the worst teams the NFL could throw out there without calling it 1-AA football. There are no doubts the Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders, easily among the top five worst teams in the league, turning these games in de facto scrimmages.
Yet, as the Giants embark on their first true “test” of the regular season this Sunday in New Orleans, the chatter that the team needs to “prove” something in order to legitimize their undefeated start.
There seems to be something missing with this prevailing thought.
What is it that the Giants have to prove?
That their good? We already know that they are.
That they are the best team in the NFC? At last check, the trophy wasn’t given after six games.
If anything, the burden this week is on the Saints, who at 4-0 are beginning to take the role of “NFC’s best” among members of the (drive by) media and are attempting to put the Giants on trial instead.
A little researching shows the Saints have not been to the playoffs since 2006 when they went to the NFC Championship Game. Despite winning their first four games, dissection of their opponents shows they played Detroit (one win - awful), Philadelphia (Donovan McNabb did not play), Buffalo (one win – awful) and the Jets (rookie quarterback).
The Giants don’t make the schedule. They simply play it. No style points are given and there is no BCS in the NFL, where rankings trend based on game results (reserved for those dopes that do “Power Rankings”). Extra points are not given to factor in “strength of schedule”.
In the NFL, we have a tendency to overvalue certain teams because a quality that is aesthetically fun to watch. Seeing Drew Brees and the Saints offense operate is like watching a NASCAR race or the old Los Angeles Lakers famed “Fast break”. It is high-speed, up-tempo, video game style, endearing to viewers, yet never won a championship in the modern football era.
Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins, Jim Kelly’s Buffalo Bills and Warren Moon’s Houston Oilers all had offenses similar to what the Saints run now and none of them won anything. Perhaps Head Coach Sean Payton and Brees will be the first team to reverse that trend.
Outside of when the Giants travel to Philadelphia in two weeks, this game is the likely the biggest game of the year in one big respect. Losing to New Orleans would put them 1 1/2 games behind going into the rest of the season, giving the Saints an inside track to home field advantage with a softer schedule. They will have already played the two best NFC East teams and beaten team in the first six weeks.
Would you rather play the NFC Championship Game on the fast track of the Superdome, or in the middle of January in Giants Stadium?
Sure, the indoors would actually be beneficial to Eli Manning considering what we saw last year in that playoff game against the Eagles when passes when at the feet of receivers and over their heads, but requesting to play on the road is a much trickier proposition and one that should be avoided almost all costs.
If the Giants defense were at full strength, there would be plenty of confidence in slowing down the Saints Nintendo-style attack. Their offense spreads out with its three talented wide receivers (Marques Colston, Devery Henderson, Lance Moore), athletic tight end (former Giant) Jeremy Shockey, and the multi-talents of Reggie Bush either out of the backfield or moving in motion as a receiver.
Without Kenny Phillips in the secondary and Michael Boley out for a month, that takes away a vital part of the newest ingredient to the Giants defense, being team speed. Boley was brought in to slow down the league’s better tight ends and multi-functional running backs. In the four games he played, he was bringing everything that was expected. Now that he is out, one facet the Saints could exploit is the defense lack of linebacker speed as Bush can get separation from Danny Clark, Bryan Kehl and Chase Blackburn on the edges and pick up first downs on short yardage situations.
Shockey can also get free in the middle of the defense and if lined up with a linebacker, can get by anyone the Giants choose to put out there.
The big thing for the defense will be to slow Brees’ timing and put pressure on him to disrupt his reads. Harass him, hit him and try to do things that make them feel uncomfortable. Having Corey Webster on one side of the field to lock down Colston should have the Saints quarterback looking at other options for receivers.
On offense, the key will be to keep this speedy New Orleans defense on the field. In many ways, the best defense for the Giants will be their offense. (averaging 30.2 per game). Rather than engaging them in a shootout, they can use their running game to an advantage and drain the clock to limit the amount of possessions the Saints can have.
Much has been made about the stinginess of the Saints defense in the early going, but considering the inexperienced, if not bad quarterbacks they have faced, should one really take that seriously? They will see a step up in class when Manning and his experienced offensive-line take the field. This group will not be intimidated by its surroundings.
In games like these, the big swing in this is always turnovers, but in this game can be absolutely critical. Offensively, the Giants have only turned the ball over three times (the actual number is four due to a muffed punt) and their ability to sustain drives, keep the clock moving and not allowing any momentum swings by turning the ball over and giving their powerful offense a short field to get points.
It will be great to see how these two teams stack up early in this young season. There is a great chance that there will be a rematch between these two several months down the road.
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