Over the course of the season, the numbers we will be passing along will make more sense because they will be compared to earlier games. So far, the TE, QB, DE and LB evaluations have come through and we can share some “early returns.”
Remember the grading?
+2 for a tremendous play
+1 for a good play
0 for doing your job
-1 for a poor play
-2 for a very bad play
Getting a slew of 0’s is very respectable. Especially for younger players. Remember what Michael Strahan said: before the Super Bowl, the players were told to do your job every play and the ordinary will be extraordinary. Make tackles. Make blocks. Hold onto the ball. Catch the ball before you run with it. Do your job. With that said, here are some early player TOTALS for the game vs Dallas:
Michael Boley +6
Eli Manning +5
Jason Pierre-Paul +5
Martellus Bennett +3
Keith Rivers +2
Mark Herzlich +1
Justin Tuck 0
Matthias Kiwanuka 0
Chase Blackburn -1
Jacquian Williams -1
Osi Umenyiora -2
Now please keep in mind, IT IS ONE GAME. And we do not profess to have the kind of accuracy that means that the performance of Tuck can be compared to a TE, for example. We tried to standardize the gradings. Here are a few conclusions that the numbers tell me.
1) Eli Manning played an unflashy but solid game. No horrible errors. No gaudiness either. Very steady and reliable, with some good plays sprinkled in.
2) How many times did you hear Justin Tuck’s name called on Wednesday night? I did not remember very much. The defense could have used some impact plays and it did not get them here. That is in clear contrast to what we saw from JPP, who was (typically) ubiquitous. The point is that this is what we CAN takeaway from the game, that JPP was more effective than Tuck. The fact that we had a grader who inspected all 38 snaps from Tuck means that he watched more Tuck than we did. Were his grades perfect? I would BET that they weren’t. But they will get better over time because of the experience, and even you or I would probably be within a point or two from the +0 net.
3) The LBers were solid. Collectively they were a +6 out there for the game. This is a positive for the team. When the Defensive Line gets their legs, when Austin and Canty are back, when the CB position is not playing 8th stringers, the Giants will be a much better defensive unit.
When all of the player data is loaded in, we will be able to look at broader data, like what the entire defensive unit looked like in H1 vs H2. Or even quarter by quarter.
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