Lots of talk yesterday in the media and radio talking heads about whether this “moral victory” will now springboard them into a playoff caliber team.
Banks, appearing in his regular spot on WFAN, is not buying into that notion. But he did state, “their football self-esteem has got be up a little higher than it was going into this game. They are good enough to play at this level but not good enough to outplay a champion. They played with an iron will but the execution in some areas you’ve got to clean up and that’s what it really came down to. Offensively (it was) 1 unforced error and one forced error (while) defensively it came down to stopping them at the end of the game. Banks alluded to the defensive issues when he states, “you had a kid out there who was on the streets last week (but) give the Packers credit (for finding that) weak link. Just like the Giants found a weak link when Woodson went out.”
On the upcoming battle for the NFC East against Dallas, Banks states “going into this Dallas game I’m sure if they know they can prepare and play at that level they will be okay. They’ve got to clean up (their execution issues) is where they are. They should have been at this point four weeks ago but they had to address effort issues and pass schemes. In the end, “let’s see if they can get their first victory in a month.”
Evan and Roberts kept harping on the poor refereeing in the game. Banks tried to defray about not being a “conspiracy theorist” on the referee involvement in the outcome of the game. But he added, “if I had to remove myself from analysis of the Giants and say I don’t have on blue-shaded glasses, there’s a lot of things I would have issues with. The one thing that upset me the most was the Jacquain Williams (contact with Finley on that critical 3rd down play) that was less than incidental contact. To Banks that was the “biggest head-scratcher of all.” On the Donald Driver TD that Driver appeared to step out of the back of the end zone prior to his tightrope catch Banks states, “Fox has an end zone camera that they never showed a view of.”
Re the Jennings juggle, Banks feels “the rule will probably be re-written again as to what exactly is a TD.”
Bottom line, according to Banks “the Giants had their share of opportunities they had some breakdowns defensively and it cost them. A loss they can build some positives from. If your coaching this team you say you keep fighting this way that ‘s what you tell them. We’ve got some issues to clean up but don’t you take your foot off the gas pedal one bit in terms of your effort as that was a winning effort in a losing cause.”
Other sound bites from Banks:
“Keep an eye on Jacquain Williams, this kid battled (Finley).” Finley said that Williams was holding him the entire game. To Banks, Finley “cried as they roughed him up.”
On Petrus Banks added, “he did a hell of a job. I don’t know if they are going to stay with this (OL) configuration but they added 20 lbs. per position. You could see they were moving Green Bay Packers backwards.
Paul here. We applaud the effort and heart they showed against the defending Champs. But, we have heard Banks allude to their issues on execution for several years now. This is nothing new nor should they have been at this point four weeks ago, try one season ago. Why do we continue to see each week a blown coverage assignment for a TD? Webster erred on Driver’s first TD when Coughlin stated, “They ran a switch route and we didn’t fall off outside.” Webster is in year 2 of Fewell’s defensive schemes.
Evan and Roberts kept whining about the officiating from the Jennings juggle in the end zone, Ballard’s knee in the end zone, Driver stepping out of the back of the end zone and Jacquain Williams illegal contact penalty. Yes it was a poorly officiated game that was NOT one sided. Perhaps the Giants ended up on the wrong side of bad calls more so than the Packers but as Andy pointed out in the comment section, good teams overcome that. In Bill Walsh’s book, The Score Takes Care of Itself, it is “your job as a team is to win by more than 10 points EVERY game to account for any referee who will make a bad call or two.” The referee didn’t allow the Packers to rip off over 60 yards in less than 60 seconds to set up the game winning TD. They weren’t responsible for failure to recognize Clay Matthews closing in behind Bradshaw for a pick six on a poorly designed play. Nor did they ask for their best pass rushers to drop back into coverage to allow for the best QB in the NFL more time (7 full seconds) to find some of the best receivers in the NFL.
Next Sunday, remarkably, the Giants have a chance to be in a tie for the NFC East. Yes, the Cowboys do not strike fear into any team based on their performance over the last several weeks, much less over the course of their season. But as one frequent visitor, Dave Castro, pointed out yesterday “the only thing consistent about the Giants this year has been their inconsistencies.” Will they play down the their competitor’s level or will they show immense fight and will like they did versus the Packers, Patriots and 49ers?
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