Banks comments on the NFC East and the Giants at their bye. KC Joyner makes a quant observation on the running game.
A topic that got Banks worked up was Shanahan benching McNabb for Grossman, down 6 with less than 2 minutes left versus the Lions. Banks felt Shanahan would “have been better off with grabbing a cheerleader off the sidelines than going with Grossman” in running their 2 minute offense. He called Shanahan’s postgame news conference a “bunch of b.s.” and believes Shanahan is “inferring that McNabb is too dumb to run (his) offense.” If anything, Shanahan should be questioning his offensive line, which gave up 6 sacks against the Lions. Just wondering if Osi, Tuck and company have circled that date in December, when they face the Redskins OL? Banks also feels that Shanahan is so arrogant in thinking “that his system is bigger than (his) players.” In the end the coach “has to adapt to the players that you have” in running your system to have success in this league. Banks pointed to “K.C. and Tampa in making the most of what you have in players” given their current 5-2 records.
Our last opponent also didn’t fare very well this past Sunday. It appears all is done for 2010 when Jerry Jones “apologizes to the fans” of Dallas. In all, Phillips has “lost the locker room.” Given their talent, they “need a better infrastructure” to succeed. And if you are looking at the “heir apparent to Phillips” with their assistant head coach, Banks certainly is not a fan. To sum up their running game “they have 2 running plays…both a draw” which is “an indictment on their offensive coordinator.” Remarkable how Dallas, the preseason consensus to win the NFC, has fallen so far.
When we look around the NFL we see a “league of bad tackling” this season. Banks keeps referring to the theme of teams like the Pats, Ravens and Pitts who “win ugly” waiting for the “opportunity to capitalize” on a miscue by the opponent. The Jets did not come out with an “ugly” win against the Packers because “they couldn’t take advantage of their opportunities.” There is a difference between “competitors in ugly games” and “elite teams” but the Jets have not proven to be an elite team yet. It was interesting to hear Banks comment on the bizarre fake punt play by Jets’ punter Weatherford on 4 and 18 on their own 20 yard line. The fact that Weatherford stated he did not know “the down and distance” makes it flat out “irresponsible.” The coaches have to instill “certain parameters and a certain amount of liberty” to players in those situations. What “parameters” and “liberty” have been set for Eli since Dallas?
Last week we talked about what the Giants need to do to get to the “elite” level. Banks states that “the team that is fundamentally sound will come out of the AFC and NFC” this year. No one has separated themselves and the opportunity is there for the Gmen.
KC Joyner is conducting a Giants versus Jets analysis for ESPN-NY and recently broke down the Giants running game. The offensive line is judged by good Blocking percentage:
This metric came about after I did some studies on running backs to determine how well they did when they received good blocking (defined as when all POA (point of attack) blockers win their POA battles) and when they received poor blocking (defined as when one or more POA blockers loses his POA battle.
The Giants tallied in as an average offensive line by Joyner with 71.2%. Yet Bradshaw and Jacobs came out far ahead in his metrics. Per Joyner “the rule of thumb here are the elite runners will post a Good Blocking YPA (GBYPA) of 7-9 yards. Good backs will end up in the 6-7 range.” Overall, “the Giants’ runners as a whole are so far in the good back category, as they have gained 917 yards on those 141 Good Blocking runs for a 6.5 GBYPA.” Bradshaw, as many would expect, leads with 6.9 GBYPA versus Jacobs with a respectable 5.8 GBYA. A testament of how Bradshaw has made what appears to be a 1 yard loss into a 3-4 yard gain.
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