Emotions were running high and tempers were flaring in Giantsville after the thorough dismantling done by the Colts.
Carl Banks spoke on Evan & Roberts yesterday on WFAN and brought his revealing perspective on the state of NY Giants. His first critical words were directed at the coaching staff. Banks was blunt, noting that they “prepared for the wrong type of game” and ” ..they were out-coached.”
The Saints offense was successful against the Colts in the Super Bowl because they were “patient.” We all know what a fan Pete is of Tampa-2 but you’ve got to “take what they give you” and not “time after time take shots down the field.” Bottom line, Carl feels they have a “lack of commitment to running the football.” They also “lack identity” as they have, in the words of both Andy and Carl, “the tools” and “personnel to be a balanced” offense but are “always allowing themselves to be one dimensional.”
On the Offensive Line’s embarrassing performance Carl hinted that this “offensive line is no good” and this is an “ongoing thing.” On the record he believes “they are still not as bad as they played” but just “gotta’ find a way to scrap and claw to get the job done.” To confirm Glenn’s thoughts yesterday on keeping Eli in the game when it was clearly out of hand, Banks conversed with Papa offline and said “maybe it’s time to take Eli out” as he is “gonna’ get killed out there!”
Around the NFL you could quiz Defensive Coordinators on an effective approach to Indianapolis and surely the words would not be to “make your football team a reactionary team” but quite the opposite. You “need to be proactive” in your game planning approach with Peyton. Fewell “wasn’t quite sure how to commit to (his) personnel” and in Banks words “you gotta’ know your personnel.” Clearly Fewell did not trust his LBs in coverage, which explains why they went with a 4-1-6 formation that got shredded by Addai and Brown. When Fewell went with his pass rush, Peyton Manning consistently took “3 step drops” and hit his receivers running “crossing routes” and quick “sideline routes.” Earlier in the week Fewell was all “jacked up” to “have an opportunity to go against the best. You have the opportunity to face Peyton Manning. It’s a challenge to go against him to see if you can match wits with him.” Oops!
Last week we discussed the weakness of the left side of the offensive line in game rewind. We admire Banks for his honest and objective input. His statements regarding the offensive line have been candid to say the least but perhaps they really are the “old offensive line.” Eli was clearly getting nervous back there in the 2nd half as Diehl was being both battered and beaten as the 2 sacks didn’t even tell half the story. Youngmisuk states “Shawn Andrews waits in the bullpen.” This is just a matter of time.
Banks comments regarding the offense being “one-dimensional” bring back memories of his words last December: “you make a team have to honor the run on 1st and 2nd down, then you have your choices of plays…in shotgun you become predictable” … “also leaves your guys vulnerable.” Does Gilbride panic once his team goes down by 14 points or more and become reactionary by “taking shots down the field” time after time? His insistence on calling plays with a lower probability of success causes a lot of 3 and outs. This lack of ball control on offense in turn caused a total of “41 plays against the defense” in the 1st half Sunday night. This is the “equivalent of an entire game for a defense.” Unfortunately we have more questions than answers about the coaching, which is exactly where we were last season. Tom Coughlin has been good at not supplying meaningful answers, and not supplying meaningful coordinators. Maybe that is because (beyond Spagnuolo, who was coaching a 2007 defense), Coughlin, Fewell and Gilbride are mired in the past.
Later today, a snapshot on raw NFL rankings by Wonder, plus his view of the Giants.
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