Week 4 Picks

Bottom line? This is the week we turn it all around. Enough said. Here are the picks for week 4.

Favorite—————Spread————Underdog—————Pick
At Miami—————- -4————– Oakland ————–Miami
Houston—————– -3————– At Atlanta ———–Houston
Baltimore————— -4.5———— At Cleveland ———Baltimore
Chicago—————– -3————– At Detroit ———–Chicago
Green Bay————— -2————– At Minnesota ———-GB
At Dallas————– -13————– St. Louis ————-Dallas
NY Jets—————- -3.5————- At Buffalo ————Jets
At Carolina———— -3 —————Tampa Bay ————-Tampa
Seattle—————- -2 —————At San Francisco ——-Seattle
Pittsburgh————- -6 —————At Arizona ————-Pitts
At San Diego———– -12 ————–Kansas City ————San Diego
At Indianapolis——– -9.5 ————-Denver —————–Indy
Philadelphia———– -2.5 ————At NY Giants ————Philly
New England———— -7.5 ————At Cincinnati ———–NE

Giants Show Some D, Even More Heart

Before Sunday’s game I thought I’d mix it up a little – old school style.

Instead of wearing an Eli Manning or Jeremy Shockey jersey as per usual, I went with Phil Simms, #11, hoping that some old-school Giants football would rub off…I never expected the old-school Giants defense to make the trip forward from years’ past.

Sunday’s win against the Redskins was huge on every level: undefeated division opponent; on the road; down 14 points; suspect defense; after an 0-2 start.

Backs to the wall, a yard away from starting 0-3, they did it. No one believed they would, but the Giants did it – they stopped the Redskins on four straight plays and flipped the bird to everyone who ragged on them after Green Bay.

In last week’s blog I questioned the Giants’ eclectic heart (especially the defense) and was convinced they’d break mine again on Sunday. I’m glad they stuck it to me.

There’s hope again for us – not much (I don’t expect playoffs) – but the Giants showed pride Sunday. They rallied from 14 points down on the road and held the Redskins when it mattered. In a way, the Giants’ season was on the line and they showed enough resolve to prove that they still care, a lot.

Much can be said about the Redskins LOSING Sunday’s game, (i.e.-where was Clinton Portis at the end?) but the fact remains, the final score read Giants 24, Redskins 17.

In football – a team’s week-to-week stock rises and falls very easily, especially this early in the year and especially for devoted fans. I wouldn’t punch the Giants’ playoff ticket just yet, but for the first time this season – and perhaps dating back to last season – we saw a team start to head in the right direction. Let’s hope it continues.

Week 3 Picks

They say picking the first week is always the toughest. I say picking the first TWO weeks is always the toughest. Ok so 4-11-1 last week against the spread. Yikes. Good thing these picks are for entertainment purposes. Here are the picks for this week.

Favorite————– Spread————- Underdog————-Pick

Indianapolis———– -6 ————— At Houston————Indy
San Diego————– -5.5————– At Green Bay———-SD
At Kansas City——— -3 —————-Minnesota————-Minnesota
At Philadelphia——– -6 —————-Detroit—————Philly
At New England——— -16 ————— Buffalo————–Buffalo
At NY Jets————- -3 —————–Miami—————-Jets
At Pittsburgh———- -9 —————-San Francisco———SF
At Baltimore———– -8 —————-Arizona—————AZ
At Tampa Bay———– -3.5————– St. Louis————-St. Louis
At Denver————– -3.5————– Jacksonville———-Denver
At Seattle————- -3 —————-Cincinnati————Cincy
At Oakland————- -3 —————-Cleveland————-Cleveland
Carolina————— -4 —————-At Atlanta————Carolina
At Washington———- -4 —————-NY Giants————-Washington
At Chicago————- -3 —————-Dallas—————-Chicago

Bam! Pow! Zing! Attack!

The problem with attacking defenses is that they are generally high risk and high reward. The attacking defense, in theory, makes a lot of big plays but is vulnerable to giving up the big play on occasion. On Sunday, the New York Giants defense epitomized to perfection what an attacking defense should be…except there wasn’t really any attacking. And no reward either.

Coming into the 2007 season, words like blitz, attack, pow, zam and zing were thrown around. You got the sense Steve Spagnuolo was going to launch a full-blown assault on opposing offenses with results so destructive that you’d need to peel jerseys off the turf. Here’s a secret that we’ve learned through the first two weeks of the season – the Giants don’t have the personnel to be an attacking defense.

Let’s look at the numbers:

Total Yards Given Up: 846 (621 Passing!)

Sacks: 2 (both by Justin Tuck – paging Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan?)

Interceptions: 2 (both by Gibril Wilson…Sunday’s was on a gift tipped ball)

Total Points Given Up: 80 (this isn’t the NBA)

If said “attacking” is going on, we’re doing a heck of a job, huh? Two sacks, two picks, 40 points a game.

There wasn’t a single defensive facet working Sunday. Pass rush was atrocious (I think I saw Brett Favre check his fantasy stats between a five-step drop and completion); linebackers can’t cover the middle of the field, (NFL tight ends can’t wait for Big Blue); and the secondary is prone to the big play (see: being torched by 57-year-old quarterbacks).

Bottom line, AGAIN, is that this is the same exact team as 2006 sans Tiki Barber. It’s the same old mistakes, same old excuses, same stupid penalties, same old Giants.

Jeremy Shockey and Amani Toomer both killed touchdown drives with stupid, stupid penalties. Don’t worry though, Tom Coughlin, the disciplinarian will work it out.

Excluding some promising looks from the offense, I am disgusted with the Giants’ performance Sunday. If there is any sense of pride left in this team, I’d ask that they please show it now. Losing is fine, just not like this. It’s hard to watch a team show no heart when thousands of Giants fans keep giving so much of theirs.

Could It Be? I’m Just Throwing It Out There…

I’m just throwing this idea out there, but could Jared Lorenzen be the Giants’ next season savior?

Think about it. When Phil Simms went down in 1990 against the Bills with a season-ending injury we all thought it was over. I was in third grade and I remember my dad and grandfather coming home from the game as if they’d just been to a funeral. Season over, Phil Simms is out.

About a month later I spilled sour cream dip all over the rug after Scott Norwood missed wide right to give us the Super Bowl. What’s the common link here? Sour cream. No, it’s that the underdog has always got a chance.

Does anyone remember who took us to the Super Bowl? Through Chicago and San Francisco? I’ll give you a hint – his last name rhymes with Motletler. Yes, I’m talking about good old #15 Jeff Hostetler.

We don’t even know if Lorenzen is going to be the starter Sunday, but wouldn’t it be something if he came in and got the job done. Granted we’re missing a workhouse running back in O.J. Anderson, and one of the best Giants’ defenses of all time, but you see where I’m coming from, right?

I’ve spent all week listening to naysayers give me agita about how the Giants season is already over. My point is this – there are so many things (including the emergence of a backup – ie – Derrick Ward or Lorenzen) that could help us out. Don’t give up yet.

Giants by a field goal this weekend.

Week 2 Picks

Alright so 5-11 last week against the spread. I feel like Ray Handley. Good thing I’m not a betting man.

Jim’s been rubbing it in all week that he went 8-8 last week. He thinks he’s John Anthony from “Two For The Money.” If he starts lifting again and wearing designer ties to work we’re all in trouble. Come to think of it, he’s already got the tie thing down.

On to the week two picks. I promise a better week than 5-11, but no guarantees.

Favorite———–Points——————-Underdog—————Pick
At Baltimore——–10———————–N.Y. Jets————-Jets

At Carolina———6.5———————-Houston—————Carolina

At Chicago———-12———————–Kansas City————KC

Cincinnati———-6.5———————-at Cleveland———–Cincinnati

Dallas————–3.5———————-at Miami—————Dallas

At Denver———–10———————–Oakland—————-Denver

At Detroit———–3———————–Minnesota————–Minnesota

Indianapolis———7———————–at Tennessee———–Indy

At Jacksonville——10———————-Atlanta—————-Jacksonville

At New England——-3.5———————San Diego————–San Diego

New Orleans———-3.5——————–at Tampa Bay————New Orleans

At N.Y. Giants——-1.5——————–Green Bay—————Giants

At Pittsburgh——–9.5——————–Buffalo—————–Pittsburgh

Seattle—————-3——————–at Arizona————–Seattle

At St. Louis———–3——————-San Francisco————St. Louis

At Philadelphia——–6.5——————Washington————–Philly

Report: Eli Manning Out At Least A Month With Separated Shoulder

ESPN is reporting that Eli Manning is going to be out at least a month with a separated throwing shoulder.

I’ll keep you updated on this news as it’s updated.

A severely separated shoulder will put Manning out for more than 4 weeks. That’s just a personal opinion; I hope it’s not right.

Early speculation is swirling that the Giants could pick up Byron Leftwich to step into the gaping hole that is now left by Manning’s injury.

–Ryan

Not Exactly The Week 1 We Hoped For…

Sorry for not writing until Monday afternoon but I’ve spent the last few hours trying to cover Jason Whitten over the middle. Somebody’s got to do it.

Ok, so we learned three things on Sunday:

1)I can’t pick against the spread: 6-8 on Sunday. If I win both Monday night games I’ll be 8-8. Does that clinch me a playoff spot in the NFC?

2)The Giants defense is atrocious. Tony Romo is good – but not “I won my fantasy week because of him” good. I am not even remotely confident in the Giants’ secondary and Mathias Kiwanuka looked as comfortable at linebacker as the class nerd playing dodge ball in gym class. Also, I saw John Madden get less winded running sprints before the game than the Giants D-line.

3)The Giants are the exact same team as last year minus Tiki Barber. Just when you think the game is lost, they come back to give you hope, only to say 10 plays later, “you silly, silly man, did you think we were ACTUALLY going to pull it out?” Last year’s team did just enough to lose the big games. Last night wasn’t any different.

Plain and simple, the defense let us down Sunday night. Injuries aside, you can’t get torched for 45 points and 336 passing yards. Defense gets an F for Sunday’s loss. I’m more worried about the secondary than the injuries.

Let’s look at the bright side of things, now.

Ok…done.

Just kidding. In reality, we’re 0-1 after an injury-plagued game, on the road. If we take care of Dallas at Giants’ Stadium later in the year, we can call it a wash. Last night would have been a HUGE win, but it’s not the end of the world.

Manning looked better than I’ve ever seen him. Assuming his injury isn’t long term – the passing game looks promising, and who needs Brandon Jacobs when you’ve got Derrick Ward, right? There were glints of Tiki Barber last night from Ward, but I wouldn’t christen him the savior running back just yet.

At the very least we saw that Ward can be an extremely effective third-down-type back. Paging David Meggett…

No, seriously, we need David Meggett and any other football player that’s played running back before. Send resumes to: OnTheHotSeat@coughlin.com

Bottom line, it could be worse – we could be the Jets.

–Ryan

Week 1 NFL Picks

Jets blogger Jim Scott and I are having a contest to determine who picks best against the spread. At the end of the year, the guy who wins gets to watch the loser come to work decked out in the other team’s gear. This will be cake – and there’s no way I’m wearing green! These picks are against the spread for entertainment purposes only.

Ryan’s Week 1 Picks

New Orleans (-5.5) at Indy———————–Indy

Houston (-3) at Kansas City———————-Kansas City

Denver (-3) at Buffalo————————-Denver

Pittsburgh (-5) at Cleveland———————Pittsburgh

Tennessee (+6.5) at Jacksonville—————–Jacksonville

Carolina (+1) at St. Louis———————–St. Louis

Philadelphia (-3) at Green Bay——————-Philadelphia

Atlanta (+3) at Minnesota————————Atlanta

Miami (+3) at Washington————————-Miami

New England (-6.5) at NY Jets——————–NY Jets

Tampa Bay (+6) at Seattle————————Seattle

Chicago (+6) at San Diego————————San Diego

Detroit (+2.5) at Oakland————————Detroit

NY Giants (-5.5) at Dallas———————–NY Giants

Baltimore (+2.5) at Cincinnati——————-Baltimore

Arizona (+3) at San Francisco——————–Arizona