Finally got a chance to watch a tape of the Bills win. Nothing has changed.
1) So the Giants give up another TD in their opponent’s first possession. Not a good place to start. This has happened in 5 of the last seven games (Dallas game after the bye, Vikings, Bears game, Eagles, and now Bills game). Digging a hole is not exactly a good way to have success against good teams.
2) Daryl Johnston was right on the money when he commented that Amani Toomer lifted this team out of the early 14-0 hole. But the Giants had BIG HELP from the Bills– a) the aborted Bills punt b) the Feagles roughing the kicker 15 yarder to enable the drive to continue (NEXT play TD, talk about a swing). POINT- decent execution by the Bills keep us in that deep hole. The Giants deserve credit for making the Bills pay for their sins, but this is a microcosm for how the Giants slip by weaker teams…
THE GIANTS MAKE MISTAKES AND MANY OF THEIR WEAKER OPPONENTS SIMPLY MAKE MORE.
3) Fox mentioned a great stat- that Bradshaw had exactly 6 carries from scrimmage before this game. That is pretty damning. Everyone is yelling “what took so long?” We saw his ability in PRESEASON. (There were numerous other entries along the way too.
4) I will not beat the Manning-dead-horse anymore. You have to be blind to miss how Eli is killing this team. Eli did some good things with connections to Toomer in h1, and it was not his fault that Steve Smith drops a 50 yarder which would have set up 1st and Goal. But his 4 turnovers were another killer. Read Vaccaro if you want to pile on some more.
5) Gilbride was playcalling pretty well this season until his consistent lack of use of Shockey in the passing game and other items started creeping in. The goal line set (and the entire red zone, for that matter) is primetime TIGHT END time. Also, why use Droughns exclusively in this short yardage area? They might as well put him in a junior high school hallway with “kick me” slapped on his back. And why does Coughlin go for it on fourth down when they were unable to punch it in 3x in a row? That is a very simple rule– if you cannot get the ball in with three tries from ~goal line, you kick the FG. Coughlin took the 3 vs the Skins and it was the right thing to do again. These are the costly mistakes that come back to haunt you in closer games vs better opponents.
6) Cofield disrupting screen plays, Hedgecock making good seal blocks for Jacobs/Bradshaw, Wilson doing a lot of open field tackling… among the quiet contributions.
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