Posted by VDesai:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by VDesai:

Giants pass rush is freakish. So many big, fast guys coming at you. Justin Tuck might be the most disruptive defensive player in the league so far this year.

Osi bro... he's the best defensive player in football right now... Tuck's going to be great someday & so is Kiwa... Strahan even showing a little gas left in that tank... once Spagnuolo got all 4 of those guys running AT the QB instead of away from him, this defense started to dominate.

You know Osi has only had a sack in 3 of the games. Tuck has been the guy there every game. Not to say Osi isn't great, but Tuck is not only 2nd in the league in sacks (only 1 less than Osi( but he's also top 5 in run stuffs (tackles behind the line of scrimmage 6 vs. Osi's 2). Put those two together and Tuck leads the league in negative yardage tackles by a significant margin. This kid is already right there.






[Edited by - vdesai on 10-22-2007 09:32 AM]

[Edited by - vdesai on 10-22-2007 09:32 AM]

You watch Tuck, you know he's good. Really good. But i ididn't realize he's THAT good. Good stuff

The season is becoming sweeter and sweeter. Giants look good vs inferior teams and its good that they are beating up on them the real part of the schedule doesn't start until the bye week. Lets hope they keep the winning going, they are making their way up the power ranking fast. Hope they don't experience a let down in London vs the Dolphins.

Posted by Vmart:

The season is becoming sweeter and sweeter. Giants look good vs inferior teams and its good that they are beating up on them the real part of the schedule doesn't start until the bye week. Lets hope they keep the winning going, they are making their way up the power ranking fast. Hope they don't experience a let down in London vs the Dolphins.

DAL will be the true tes... they played them even up in week 1 & almost beat them even when their defense was playing like crap... this is a completely different team now... i think the Giants take that game personally... if they do, then an 11-5 season or better is very realistic IMO when you look at the other games remaining on the schedule.

i gave them up for dead after week 2, but man, they sure proved me wrong... lovin' every minute of it too.

this thread is still stickied? martin/andrew, when the regular season rolls around there better be only 2 threads stickied:

1. the game thread for that night
2. the bargnani progress thread

DAL will be the measuring stick to see if we're contenders or just pretenders... the Giants have a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way.

There are two ways to looks at this game:
(1) The Giants player a terrible, terrible game and were lucky to win, even against a team as horrible as the Dolphins.
(2) The Giants are now good enough to win when playing terrible football

For now, I'll choose the latter... I hope weather/jet lag were overwhelming factors in this one, because if they play like this against Dallas, Week 1 will look like one of the finer games the Giants played this year.

[Edited by - supremecommander on 10-30-2007 12:58 AM]

i agree that this was a typical game that we usually lose and we did well enough to win. we have a bye and then the real tests are coming to end the season starting with a home game against dallas. hard to believe we are among the top teams of our conference with our record but we were there for two years in a row before. however i feel confident that this team will not collapse. i think las year they were embarassed and i hate to admit it but it seems like barber was a cancer in the locker room. the body language of this team is much different than before as they are confident. i also like to be thankful about not having major injuries so far this year ( knock on wood). injuries played a huge part last year especially defense. to make the playoffs is great but i still don't think this is our year yet. in a year or two we will definately be a force to be reckon with the the conference.

Posted by jazz74:

i agree that this was a typical game that we usually lose and we did well enough to win. we have a bye and then the real tests are coming to end the season starting with a home game against dallas. hard to believe we are among the top teams of our conference with our record but we were there for two years in a row before. however i feel confident that this team will not collapse. i think las year they were embarassed and i hate to admit it but it seems like barber was a cancer in the locker room. the body language of this team is much different than before as they are confident. i also like to be thankful about not having major injuries so far this year ( knock on wood). injuries played a huge part last year especially defense. to make the playoffs is great but i still don't think this is our year yet. in a year or two we will definately be a force to be reckon with the the conference.

i don't know about Tiki being a cancer in the lockerroom, but w/o his record breaking performance vs. the Redskins in week 16 last year they don't make the playoffs... i was at that game at Fedex & he was a man on a mission... i think the lockerroom situation has eased up this year because Coughlin took it upon himself to be more personable with the players, & they've responded to it... Strahan was quoted saying just that on ESPN interviews.

i don't doubt that Tiki wasn't happy w/the way Coughlin ran things, but neither were Strahan, Toomer & plenty of other veterans on that team... i think the biggest difference from this year & last is the fact that Coughlin has tried to lighten up a little & the players have responded to it, along w/the obvious contributions of our young up & comers & Spagnuolo's new defensive scheme.

newsday.com/sports/football/giants/ny-spgchalk1031,0,301516.column
Newsday.com
CHALK TALK
Giants midseason progress report

Arthur Staple

8:14 PM EDT, October 30, 2007

It's time for the midseason awards. Hard to find a lot wrong with a 6-2 team that enters a well-timed bye week on a six-game winning streak, so the envelopes, please:

MVP, offense: Plaxico Burress. Back in training camp, the thinking was that maybe the mercurial receiver was dogging it a bit by missing so much time with a sprained ankle -- not even the ankle from which he had bone fragments removed in the spring. But now, having missed almost every practice since the season began, he's producing at a higher pace than ever. Eight touchdowns (third among NFL receivers), all in the first six games, and he's still Eli Manning's go-to guy.

MVP, defense: Justin Tuck. The third-year end/tackle isn't just a pass rusher, though his seven sacks are second on the team. He's become invaluable by getting the most out of his limited number of snaps, making many plays behind the line of scrimmage from end and from inside. His contract is up after next season. Getting Tuck locked up for the future should be Jerry Reese's top priority.

Most underrated: Jeremy Shockey, the complete player. This isn't just about his Pro Bowl skills as a pass-catcher. We'll get to those in a moment. Shockey has been a terrific blocker at the line this year, a huge reason the Giants have the second-best rushing game in the NFC. Shockey loves to say he'd be perfectly happy never blocking again, but he's probably better at that now.

Most overrated: Shockey, the pass-catcher. He had a couple of critical drops in the first two weeks and, although he's on his usual pace with 31 catches, he's had a few miscommunications with Manning on routes. Shockey is still a viable threat, and teams have to account for him, but he's not the receiving tight end he once was. He'll still make the Pro Bowl thanks to his all-around game, though.

Defining moment: Fourth-and-goal from the 1 in Landover, Md., Sept. 23. Ladell Betts runs left, Aaron Ross blocks the running lane and Tuck grabs Betts' ankle to give the Giants a 24-17 win. Everything was awful up to that week (and into the second half of that game), and everything's been golden since.

Biggest surprise: Michael Strahan. Not necessarily his play, though that has become solid. Osi Umenyiora is getting the glory with eight sacks, but opponents still don't much like running toward Strahan's side. It's more how easily Strahan has slipped back into his leadership role on the defense despite the 36-day holdout through training camp and a book published while he's still playing. The holdout cost him more than $200,000 but no good will in the locker room, and the book is actually entertaining.

Biggest disappointment: Sinorice Moss. Didn't figure to have much of a shot at big playing time when rookie Steve Smith outplayed him in camp for the third wide receiver's spot, but Smith hasn't played in six weeks. Moss has been on the field plenty during the six-game winning streak but has only six catches to show for it. His speed either hasn't been utilized or hasn't presented itself.

Forecast: They've beaten six teams with a combined 11-33 record. A six-game streak is nothing to sneeze at, but the real test begins in 11 days when the Cowboys come calling. Even if the Giants had beaten everyone at the top of the league, they all know how quickly things can break down (last year and to a lesser extent, the year before). Health is the biggest factor in whether the Giants can maintain their run to the end of the season, and they are awfully healthy now. We'll say 11-5 and a home game to start the postseason.

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