Its the battle of NY. Alright, really the battle of NJ and NY. Bills vs. Giants happens on Sunday and joining me are the boys at Ultimate NYG to dish the dirt. Also, be sure to check out their site to see my Q&A.
1) If you were the opposing offense and defense, how would you attack the Giants?
Bills on offense: attack Giants LBers with underneath passes. Test rookie S Landon Collins in spread offense single coverage. Send Receivers on sideline and deep routes, squeeze Taylor out of pocket and demoralize Giants D w effect QB runs to move sticks. Bills on Defense. Overload OBJ and make Cruz prove he is healthy and ready. Make Randle beat you. Be ready for Vereen dumpoffs, screens, flares, slants and draws because Giants must use those to neutralize Bills pass rush.
2) How do you guys feel about Tom Coughlin at this stage in his coaching career?
Too much Teflon these past 3 years. Wished he got rid of Gilbride, Fewell, Quinn and their Strength/Conditioning coach (too many injuries) years ago. He’s either making the playoffs this yr or he’s out of a job.
3) What do you guys get with Steve Spagnuolo as your defensive coordinator instead of Perry Fewell?
Spagnuolo is going to get the most out of his personnel because he schemes well and brings along young players. He did the latter w Corey Webster in 2007 and in his 2nd stint he is trying to do it again with unproven guys like McBride, Bromley and Hosley. The Giants D is lacking a pass rush but Spagnuolo has his players in the right position to execute. Realistically Giants fans have to give him a year to get enough familiarity, comfort and talent together to hold their own.
4) Odell Beckham has been incredible since he’s entered the NFL. There are some within the Bills fan base and media who feel the Bills shouldn’t have traded up for Sammy Watkins and should have stuck with selecting Beckham at #9. In hindsight it looks like the right thing, but I wonder how much Beckham’s game is about having Eli Manning instead of what the Bills had last year with Kyle Orton. Do you think OBJ’s hot start to his career is more about Eli or himself?
It’s all OBJ. He’s the biggest talent the Giants have drafted since Lawrence Taylor in 1981, and that is not hyperbole. We did not see it on draft day. We liked Watkins over OBJ. It took OBJ’s sick quickness and incredible route-running to overshadow the physical gifts of guys like Watkins. If OBJ stays healthy he will be one of the greats of all time. If not, injuries will have a bigger impact on a player like OBJ than Watkins.
5) Any under the radar players Bills fans should keep an eye on?
Giants D: Kennard and Hankins.
Giants O: Vereen (via free agency from Patriots) can rip apart LBers underneath.
6) Why have you guys had issues with running the football?
Because GM Jerry Reese was negligent in reloading Offensive Line in the draft earlier in the decade. As but one example, Reese drafted RB David Wilson at 32 in Round 1 (now out of football) and our site preferred LT Cordy Glenn, who BUF picked in Round 2. The only guy who can really be a road grader is rookie Ereck Flowers, who will be returning from an ankle injury. The rest really do not have the kind of power to blow DLmen off the line of scrimmage.
7) Can you talk about the transition from having Kevin Gilbride run the offense to McAdoo?
Kevin Gilbride used to attack downfield. It is important to stretch the field and make sure a defense respects the deep threat so that it loosens the rest of the coverage area. The problem is that Gilbride used to do too much of it, and the result was that the short passing game was not established, making it harder for the Offense to get into a rhythm. Additionally, Gilbride playcalled to tendency, making it that much harder on his players. He did not practice or execute screens (sufficiently in my assessment), and if he called one per game, that was it.. predictable. During a game where his OL could not adequately protect the QB (pretty much all of 2013), he would NOT adjust his gameplan to 3-5 step drops or call more slants/screens/flares to help his OL. This ultimately cost him his job, as he was poor at making adjustments when given less than an ideal hand.
McAdoo is from Green Bay. He is a West Coast Offense type of playcaller. The addition of Shane Vereen is huge gamechanger, as it represents a true RB pass threat out of the backfield. Coughlin still wants to stretch the field with long passes, but Shane Vereen moves the sticks. With Victor Cruz coming back after an almost yearlong injury, this will help McAdoo tremendously. Consider the Bills lucky that they are seeing Cruz in his first game back. If he gets back to 100%, the Giants offense (despite a shaky OL) will be a juggernaut. And if LT Beatty can come back (Week 9-10?) and solidify the OL, it will be scary. Donald Duck could be the OC at that point and the offense is going to be off the charts. All of this is predicated on health, so considering the Giants have been an injury trainwreck, we need to see it to believe it.
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