A Giant Debacle

I thought losing to the Falcons last Sunday was tough. Nope. Getting sucker punched by the Giants in our home opener was a whole other level of depressing.

I knew the Gmen wouldn’t come in and lay down no matter how banged up they were. That team still has a lot of quality veteran players. Those guys have talent and pride. That can be a dangerous combination, as we found out. Showing up with a more talented roster meant nothing to them. The Giants played with a sense of purpose and they played for 60 minutes. We took control of the game in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but had a meltdown in the 4th (stop me if you’ve heard this before).

COACHING / STRATEGY

At the 11:43 mark of the 4th quarter yesterday we led 16-14. The Giants had 232 yards of offense to that point (205 in the 1st half, 27 in the 3rd Qtr). Those yards came on basically 4 plays:

Jacobs 40 yd TD catch

Cruz 74 yd TD catch

Bradshaw 37 yd run

Bradshaw 26 yd run

4 plays led to 177 of 232 yards. We’d largely controlled the game, aside from our mistakes. I’m not excusing the mistakes. We made them and they cost us 14 points. But…to that point, we’d kept things under control and had taken the lead. Unfortunately that’s when Andy made a critical mistake. He went for it on 4th/1.

Go here to read my full thoughts on why that was a bad decision.

We didn’t get the 1st down and the result was that the Giants had renewed hope, not to mention great field position. Horrible, horrible decision by Big Red. The Giants may still have won the game, but that call really changed things instantly.

The defense, which had really come alive after a slow start, finished the game by giving up 2 TDs and a 2-pt conversion. Part of that is on the players. There were times when they were in position to make plays and simply didn’t. We also have to give credit to Giants OC Kevin Gilbride. He did a masterful job of playcalling in the 4th Q and got the best of us on some critical downs. His screen pass on 3rd/11 that went for a TD was perfect. We had an all out blitz and Bradshaw beat that for an easy TD. Juan Castillo was guessing while Gilbride was like the chessmaster just waiting for certain moments.

Marty and Andy didn’t fare any better. Mike Kafka was the QB on our final couple of drives. Andy publicly admitted he was too conservative last week. The Giants heard that. So when Kafka came in they expected the same thing we did…we’ll try to go deep on them. Be aggressive. Kafka threw deep and the Giants were all over it. They picked the pass and went down for the TD that sealed the win. We were down 6 points. Why not dink and dunk for a few plays. Then call a deep play, but stress to Kafka not to put the ball up for grabs. We were fighting last week’s battle this week.

Marty and Andy had some positives. They actually stuck with the run very well. There were more called run plays than pass plays (38 to 37 I think). Someday you can tell your grandkids that you saw the game where we had 8 straight running plays in the 1st half of a game where we trailed 14-0. That’s what’s so frustrating about this game. You can’t really enjoy the positives because of the terrible finish and overall result.

There is another situation that was highly questionable and that was some goal line playcalling. We had a couple of series right down by the goal line and came away with 2 FGs. Shady McCoy only got 1 carry. He also caught 1 pass. Owen Schmitt had 2 carries. There was a QB sneak and a failed pass to Steve Smith. I’m fine with most of the play, but the series when we gave the ball twice to Schmitt was questionable. I loved giving him the first run. That’s a tendency breaker and something you can catch the D off guard with. Owen got to the half-yard line so the play did work pretty well. Giving him the ball on 3rd down was dumb. I cover the play in more detail below. That was getting too cute.

Why not feed Shady the ball down there? He’s not a great GL runner. Shady isn’t a guy who gets the ball and then hits the hole. He reads blocks and runs to daylight. During the game Tony Siragusa compared him to Barry Sanders for his ability to make jump cuts and to make defenders miss. That stuff is great, but not at the GL. That’s a compressed area where the Safeties are in the box. You can’t get wide down there. You must run N-S. I’ll write up a post on Shady as a GL runner later on.

My biggest frustration is not involving Ronnie Brown more. He’s bigger. He’s a N-S runner. If you need half a yard, that’s the guy I would feed the ball to. Put Todd back at LG. Put King Dunlap at RT. Then go I-formation and run left behind Todd/Jason. I think you can get half a yard.

OFFENSE

3 things killed us.

1 – We went 1 for 5 in the Red Zone.

2 – We had 3 turnovers. One cost us 3 points and another set up the Giants with a short field that helped lead to a TD.

3 – We had no huge plays. Our longest play was 24 yds. Giants had 5 longer than that, including 2 TDs of 40 or more.

PLAYS

* 3rd/6. Opening drive. Blitzer comes free up the middle. Vick makes great move and guy goes by him. Vick moves up, sees Steve Smith open. Vick throws a laser his way. Bounces off Smith’s hands and is picked off. Costly. We were in FG range.

* 2nd/GL. Mid-2nd Q. We go play-action and then throw middle screen to Shady. His back was to the GL and the action. Blockers were to the right, but there was room to run left. Shady went right and was tackled. That might have been the design of the play so I can’t really fault him. Possible TD if he goes the other way.

* 2nd/10. Late in the half we’d driven to the Giants 11. Shady started up the middle, then bounced out left and did all kinds of stuff before finding a seam and running for the TD. There was no great individual blocking. Shady just went Shady on them. Couple of notable things. Celek lined up right but went left as the play got started. He ended up blocking Boley as Shady cut back. Good hustle from Brent. JPP was calling for a holding flag on Jason. Should have been paying attention. He had a chance to tackle Shady after he had cut back toward the middle. You wait and complain after the whistle.

* Late in the half Vick went down on 3rd down. We had no timeouts and time was running down. Had to kick FG. The OL were milling around. Celek got them alerted to the situation. Vick stood there on the field, as if he wanted another play. Celek had to order him off the field. Henery and the FG unit got out there with seconds to spare and he drilled the kick. Weird, but it worked.

* Bizarre play in the mid-3rd. Vick went back, as if to hand off. Shady, Schmitt were looking the other way. The OL took off upfield blocking like it was a run play. Vick followed them for a few yds. DB knocked the ball loose, but it went right to Jason Peters who caught it and went forward a couple of more yards. Gain of 21 on the play.

* 1st/GL. NYG 2. Late 3rd. First play came out of I-right. Ran FB dive. Had Schmitt cut off the backside as the line flowed right. Great call. FB is underused in situations like this, but you can only do it so often. Schmitt came close to scoring, but was ruled down at the 1/2 yard line.

* 2nd/GL. Ran QB sneak and they stuffed it, but there was offside penalty. We then ran it again on new 2nd/GL play. Looked like Vick scored, but there was no TV angle that showed the ball across the line. Couldn’t challenge.

* 3rd/GL. Got cute. Went back to the FB. Dumb. Schmitt got the ball at the 3. He’s now got to get 3 yds with 11 guys coming after him. Low percentage play. Kelce got driven back off the ball and that really blew things up. TFL.

* 4th/1. We lined up in Ace formation. Giants had 4 DL. 2 LBs were in middle. Had defenders on both edges, so as not to let Shady get wide. Shady had killed them all game with cutbacks to the backside. He tried that again, but someone was waiting for him. There was some room to the left side, between Harbor and Peters. Not sure if that hole would have closed before he got there, but that’s where he should have gone. Shady got greedy and went for the big play one too many times. Just needed the 1 yd.

VICK — Mike looked sorta funny. Some people thought he had post-concussion symptoms. I just thought he had one of those games where he couldn’t get into a good rhythm. Those happen to QBs from all teams from time to time. The guy then gets frustrated and it seems like he’s not all there. Overall was 16-23-176. INT, but no TDs. Ran 7 times for 31 yards. Used the hard count effectively. Was able to get the Giants offside a couple of times and it affected them.

Had good run on first drive. Made LB look silly. The guy thought he had the right angle on Vick, then boom.

Made awkward throw over the middle toward Maclin on first drive. INCL. He was covered by LB, but the guy was positioned perfectly. Mac had no chance. Dumb throw by Mike. Shady was in the flat wide open.

Forced the ball over the middle to open 2nd drive. Almost picked by Boley. Seemed like Vick didn’t see him, but not sure how.

Made a pretty impressive throw in early 2nd in RZ. Giants DT was bearing down on him, but Vick held the ball until Avant came open. Hit him for a gain of 8.

Had 3rd/GL throw to Smith tipped and almost picked off. Not sure the throw was going to be good anyway.

Made good blitz read and got the ball to Maclin on the left side for an easy gain of 13.

Bobbled snap, then picked it up and run up the middle for 5 yds.

Threw a strike to Maclin over the deep middle for 24 yds late in the half.

Made a heckuva throw to DeSean on 3rd down just after halftime, but he dropped it.

Made a subtlely great throw to Mac in the mid-3rd. Had to get the ball over the LBs. Had to hit Mac on the move. Also managed to put touch on the ball. Play went for 23.

Scrambled left in the late 3rd and found Avant open at the 5. Got him the ball and set up 1st/GL.

KAFKA — Came into the game in the 4th, about 8 mins left. First pass was a deep ball to DeSean that was picked. Forced throw. Got hit by DT as he threw it. Best throw came when he hit Smith for gain of 19. Forced a ball to DeSean after that and it was picked off. Game over.

SCHMITT — Good game. We ran several dive plays with Schmitt. He did well on 3 of them, was stuffed on the 4th. Good blitz pickup of DB in mid-2nd. Most impressive play came when he caught a pass in the left flat. Ran for the 1st, then hurdled a CB and added an extra 5 yds on the play. Good stuff. Got 13 on the play.

MCCOY — Great game. 24-128. Ran for 11 yd TD. Caught 3 passes for 13 yds. Words won’t do some of his runs justice. Go watch highlights. Sometimes out-thinks himself. First play of the game was a screen. Shady had a trio of blockers. He wanted to get behind them, but had pursuers to deal with. Should have gone outside. Would have only gotten a few extra yards, but had room. Shady wanted to cut to the middle for some huge play. Had to settle for 9 yds. We ran a direct snap to him with Brown as Wildcat QB. Shady had room outside, but cut back to the middle. Got a few yds on the play. Got 13 yds on run on 2nd drive. We used the ghost reverse and it froze the backside DE. Easy run for Shady. Got 9 yds on a run in the early 2nd when he bounced the run way out to the right side. Got through one tackler on the edge and then ran to the sideline for 9. Had a great run on 3rd/2. The line flowed left. Shady went to the right. There was a big cutback lane just off Todd’s hip. Shady saw Kenny Phillips coming up. Shady probably should have just run straight since we just needed 2 yds. He decided to bounce wide of KP. Phillips got a good hit on him and tried to wrap up, but Shady is so strong in the lower body that he ran right through the tackle and got into space. He ended up getting 11 yds on the play. Ran for 21 right up the middle on play in early 4th. Looked for a second like he might go all the way, but the S came in quickly and made a good stop.

BROWN — First carry came in early 2nd Q. Got tripped as he went through the line. Had a lot of room if he’d been able to keep his feet. Just got a couple. Next play was a run to the left side. Just got a couple. Giants played it well. Final carry came a few plays later when he ran left. Had no room, but fought for a yard.

D. LEWIS — Got a carry in the early 4th and ran for 3 yds.

DJAX — Mainly a decoy in this game. The Giants changed their gameplan on us and didn’t blitz as much, but did keep Safeties over the top to limit DJax. It worked. Finished 2-30. Ran the toss play to him on first 3rd down of the game. Tuck read it perfectly, but Djax was fast enough to circle deep and still get around him for the 1st. Caught a 1st Q pass over the middle. Made a great catch in the late 1st Q. Vick threw him a strike in heavy traffic. DeSean was able to snatch the ball and make a clean hands catch. Had to really extend for it. Got 17 yds on the play. Used DeSean on a ghost reverse in the early 2nd Q. Shady cut back his way. DeSean saw that and hustled upfield to block. Didn’t end up affecting play, but it was good to see him thinking like that. Could help on play in the future. Bad drop on 3rd down just after halftime. Vick stood in the pocket and made a really good throw. Hit DeSean in the hands. Would have moved us out near midfield. DeSean did have an impact in the game. The DBs staying back opened up the middle for Maclin on several plays.

MACLIN — Good game. 5-69. Caught short pass over middle to move the chains on 3rd/2. Similar play to his final drop in ATL. Nothing fancy, but must have felt good to make the grab this time. Had our long play of the game, a 24-yd catch. Did a good job of getting open on intermediate routes. Strained his hamstring late in the game and missed some time.

COOPER — Played for Maclin late. No catches or throws coming his way.

AVANT — 4-33. Typical Avant game. Just got open and made solid catches. Caught first pass in Red Zone in early 2nd. Just sat down in traffic and Vick hit him for 8. Caught a short pass late in the half. Looked like he had a chance to get out of bounds, but fought for a couple of yards. Wasn’t a gimme that he’d get out, but I wish he’d focused on that. Set up 1st/GL with a catch in the late 3rd. Got open as Vick scrambled. Jason caught the pass and immediately went upfield to secure the 1st down. Smart.

SMITH — Made first big mistake as an Eagle. Steve had pass go off his hands on opening drive. That was picked off and it came in the Red Zone. Ugh. Caught a short pass on 3rd down in the 4th Q. Got 8 yds on 3rd/9 and set up the fateful 4th/1 play. Caught a 19-yd pass from Kafka.

CELEK — Good block of LB on 3rd/1 RZ run. Gave Shady room to run. Caught short dump pass from Vick and got a couple of yds on the play. Good block of Rolle on run play. Sustained the block. Eventually turned to shoving match and Brent put him on the ground. Rolle then got called for a penalty for not stopping with the whistle. Caught a pass from Kafka and finished 2-9. Called on to block a lot and was up and down with that.

HARBOR — Caught one pass for 17 yds. Came on 3rd down in mid-2nd. Got open up the field. Vick’s throw was a bit off, but Clay adjusted and caught the ball as he went to the ground. Had a poor in-line block of Rolle on run play that led to Shady getting tackled for no gain in the mid-3rd. I’d like to get him the ball a couple of times a game. Good potential.

PETERS — Good game. Kiwi shot gap and Jason couldn’t get to him in time. Shady stuffed on early run play. Smart play on 2nd drive. Giant came across line due to hard count. Jason moved and refs threw the flag on them. Free 5 yds. Strange play on 3rd/11. Jason was slow out of his stance, almost as if he had wrong snap count. JPP flew by him. Jason got a hand on him and slowed him a bit, which allowed Vick to get wide momentarily. Ended up getting sacked. Great seal block of DE on 3rd/1 run in the RZ. Allowed Shady to get the 1st. Jumped offside late in the half.

MATHIS — Good block of LB on Shady run up the middle. Effective block of Canty to open the 3rd Q. Let the guy go wide, which gave Shady a cutback lane. Had a sloppy block of JPP on pass play. Looked like he could have sustained it better, but got too casual. Guy didn’t hit Vick, but pressured him. Got beaten by Jimmy Kennedy on run that came to his side. TFL. Good block of DT on Shady’s run in the early 4th. Good seal on the play.

KELCE — Mixed bag. Had some terrific blocks, but also got pushed around at times. There was an early play where Jason was trying to hurry Vick to call for the snap. A Giants DL was offside and Kelce wanted to snap the ball and get the free yds. You could hear him yelling at Vick to hurry up. Good on LBs, as usual. Joseph beat him in pass pro up the middle and flushed Vick. Bernard got off the ball quickly on run play. Jason walled him off and that gave Shady room up the middle to get 1st down. Poor block of Joseph on 2nd/GL play where we threw middle screen to Shady. Jason needed to wall off his DT. Let him get to the inside and make the tackle. Got driven into backfield on run play late in the half, but it didn’t hurt Shady. On a run play Jason drove LB Boley 5 yards away from play. Locked on and just kept his feet moving. Really pissed off Boley. Sustained contact on defender for 10 yds on the Vick/Peters fumble/run play. Really impressive. Played LG on final drive due to cramping by Mathis. Got beaten by JPP for sack.

DeVAN — Good block of LB on Brown run to his side in early 2nd. Great block of DT on Shady’s run of 21 in the early 4th. Moved his guy out. DT beat him on Kafka’s first play and hit Mike.

HERREMANS — Good game. Overall was solid in pass pro. Had false start that turned 3rd/6 into 3rd/11. Vick was sacked on the subsequent play so that was a drive killer. Bad penalty. Good block of Boley on run play gave Shady room up the field. Got 10 on the play. Jumped offside late in the half, right after Peters did it. Had a very good block of LB on Shady run in the mid-3rd that went for 11 yds.

J JACKSON — Came into the game on final drive. Mathis got hurt and Kelce slide to LG.

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DEFENSE

* Castillo blitzed in this game. Saw the success that the Rams had and copied it. Mixed results.

* Giant burned blitz on 2nd drive for 15 yd run. We created a gap and that happened to be right where Bradshaw ran.

* Giants burned it for TD on screen pass late in the game.

* Didn’t force any turnovers.

* We did come up with 3 sacks. 2nd in the NFL with 12.

* Controlled Brandon Jacobs. He went 7-19. Bradshaw was 15-86, but 63 yds came on 2 runs. DTs didn’t get much penetration, but they did eat up blockers.

PLAYS

* 3rd/2. We blitzed DRC off the edge. Eli threw ball to that side and Cruz caught it. We’d been burned for the 1st down, but Coleman was in position to make the tackle. For some reason he came in high and made a horrible tackle attempt. Cruz busted loose and took off up the sideline. Nnamdi was in position to make the play. He read Cruz and said afterward he expected him to cut back inside. Cruz did just that, but Nnamdi was in poor position and Cruz got by him. Some have faulted Coleman, who’d hustled back into the play, for taking Nnamdi out. No way. Nnamdi screwed up on his own. Kurt hit him after Cruz was pulling away. Complete and utter disaster.

* 3rd/11. Late in the game. All out blitz by us. Screen pass. Bradshaw got the pass and had a wide open path to the endzone. Ugh.

COLE — Good game. Had 5 tackles and a sack. Got the best of 2 blocker on opening play to help bottle up Bradshaw. Got thrown to the ground on the TD pass to Jacobs. LT put his hand on Trent’s back and pushed. 9 of 10 times that is called holding. This was the 1 exception. Got a gift sack in the early 3rd. Rolle blitzed and Eli spun right into Trent’s waiting arms. Cute couple. Chased down Bradshaw on run play to the other side of the field. Great hustle to make that tackle. Should have been credited with TFL on run play in mid-4th, but ruled no gain. AB tried to cutback and Trent was there to get him. Giants tried to burn Trent with Flip 90 late in the game. He made a great play to get AB for no gain.

PATTERSON — Helped to stuff run on opening play. Helped to stuff a screen pass before halftime. Stayed with his blocker and gave the RB nowhere to go.

JENKINS — Got off block and grabbed Jacobs by lower legs on run play up the middle. Used a hard inside move to beat Snee and get sack of Eli late in the half. Got held by Snee on pass play in the early 4th, but no call. Used inside move on him and Chris had his arm up by Cullen’s neck as he tried to go by. Got to Bradshaw in the backfield on run play in late 4th. Came up with a sack, his 4th of the year.

BABIN — Had 3 tackles, sack, and TFL. Mixed bag vs the run. Had a chance to tackle Bradshaw on cutback run, but missed him. Got TFL late in the half when he got to Jacobs in the backfield on screen pass. Assist to Patt on the play. Really hustled in pursuit. Got in on a lot of plays. You can question some things about Jason, but never his motor. Came up with a big sack to open the 4th. 3rd/medium play. Jason got inside the RT and reached for Eli. Got him by the facemask, but no penalty was called. After the quick grab Jason got free and sacked Eli. Flew downfield in pursuit and tried to get a kill-shot on Nicks. Hakeem went to the ground just in time. Looked like Jason was shot out of a cannon on the play. Screwed up on the next play and let AB get out wide to his side. Jason went inside and left the edge open. Set the edge well on 4th Q run and created TFL opportunity.

DIXON — Quiet game. Fired upfield on 2-pt run. Got penetration and had a chance to make the play, but for some weird reason he spun away. I have no idea what he was thinking.

LAWS — Hustled on screen pass to Bradshaw and had a chance to tackle him, but whiffed. Went low and tripped up BJ on run play in the late 3rd. Not pretty, but effective. Fought through a double team and got pressure on Eli on 4th Q pass. Unfortunately the ball was out and it was the TD pass to Cruz.

HUNT — Played as backup DE. Flew off edge as LDE and got by RT in mid-2nd. Got piece of Eli’s jersey and affected his deep throw to Nicks. Pass ended up incomplete. Good burst on that play.

CHANEY — MLB. Not a good game. Was in on 4 tackles (3 solo). Too sloppy. Missed tackles hurt us a couple of times. Helped bottle up run on opening play. Took on blocker in the hole and held his ground. Had trouble getting off block on 2nd drive when Bradshaw ran to our left for 15 yds. Read cutback run by Bradshaw on 2nd drive, but whiffed when he tried to make the tackle. Got off block and stopped Jacobs for short gain on run up the middle. Tackled AB after gain of 9 in the early 3rd. Got blocked initially, but recovered to get the tackle. Missed tackle of AB after short pass over middle. Play should have gained 2 yds. Went for 26. Tackled Nicks after catch over middle in the early 4th. Got blocked by Snee on 3rd/2 run in 4th and was completely out of it. Tackled AB for short gain in the late 4th.

MATTHEWS — WLB. Hustled outside on screen pass where Bradshaw was split wide. Got sealed by OL, but forced Bradshaw inside to the pursuit. Got utterly burned on PA pass. Eli faked ball to Jacobs, then Brandon released downfield. Casey stared at Eli for a second before realizing his mistake. Easy pass. Nice catch by Jacobs. TD. Made good tackle of Jacobs to open the 3rd drive. Came upfield and grabbed him by the ankle. Took a few other guys to get BJ completely down. Got in on tackle of Bradshaw on inside run on 3rd drive. Read short pass to Jacobs well and came up and made the tackle. Helped that Jacobs slipped a bit. Good read, quick reaction. Attacked the FB on 3rd/2 run in the early 4th. Slowed Jacobs down, but couldn’t make tackle. Finished with 3 solo tackles. I’m seeing progress from Casey, but his mistake cost us a TD. He’s not diagnosing plays quickly enough on a consistent basis.

FOKOU — SAM. Blitzed on 2nd play of the game and got a hit on Manning, but it wasn’t a big shot. Helped get Jacobs by the ankles on run up the middle. Chased down Bradshaw after short pass turned into gain of 26. Suffered some kind of arm injury on the play. Had 2 tackles. Quiet game.

K CLAYTON — Played in some dime looks (6 DBs plus him). Helped tackle Bradshaw on 3rd/1 run in the the 4th Q. Gave up 2 on the play.

JORDAN — Took over SAM when Fokou went out for short period. Made tackle of Jacobs on inside run play on his first snap. Came up and made a good stop.

ROLLE — Played in the Nickel early on, then got into the base defense at times. Missed tackle of Bradshaw in the mid-2nd Q. Read the play and slid over to the spot, but wasn’t prepared for Bradshaw’s speed. Made a simple hustle play in the mid-2nd. Eli hit TE in the flat on 4th/short. The guy fell on his own and was less than a yard away from getting the 1st. Rolle hustled out there and tagged him to end the play. All the TE had to do was roll forward for a yd. Hustled over to tackle Bradshaw on screen pass late in the half. Read it quickly, reacted quickly. Blitzed in the early 3rd. Was unblocked and should have gotten the sack. Missed, but did get Eli to spin into Cole and Trent got the sack. Giants tried to hit the FB on a wheel route down the field in the early 4th, but Brian had it well covered and knocked the ball away. Similar to Casey’s play, but Brian played it well. Had 2 solo tackles.

COLEMAN — Made a colossal mistake. Went to tackle Victor Cruz after short catch on early 3rd down and missed. Tried to hit him up high for some reason and Cruz escaped with ease. TD for the Giants. I have no idea what the hell Kurt was thinking. All he had to do was wrap him up and put him down. Got benched after that and deservedly so.

ALLEN — Took over for Coleman in the 2nd Q. Slow start. Bradshaw gave him a wicked stiff arm that put Nate on the ground. Had a deep ball thrown his way in the mid-2nd. Wasn’t in bad position, but let the WR get by him at the last second and make a play for the ball. Luckily, pass was incomplete. Took sloppy angle on short pass to Bradshaw that busted out for long play. Turned to run, but Fokou knocked him down. Came up and made good tackle of Bradshaw right at the LOS in the early 4th. Went low and got him down.

J PAGE — Started off playing well. Broke up pass to TE on 3rd down on opening drive. Made open field tackle of Bradshaw on 2nd drive after he’d gotten into space. Came up and tackled Bradshaw after short gain on screen pass. Made poor tackle attempt on Bradshaw’s long gain in 2nd Q. Was in position to make solid tackle, but dove for some reason. Dumb. Played in the box on 4th Q run. Lost sight of Bradshaw and let him get out wide for the 1st. We should have stuffed him for no gain or a loss. Jarrad did make the tackle or we’d have given up another big play. Was there to help Nnamdi in coverage on Cruz’s 4th Q TD. Jarrad was just a step late. Got away with a facemask on the play. Called for PI on Giants first 2-pt try. Finished with 3 solo stops.

ASOMUGHA — Another uneven performance. Played physical press coverage on 2nd play of game and Eli had to throw off target since the WR wasn’t open. Played in the slot on the opening 3rd down. Eli threw deep to Nicks in the mid-2nd. Nnamdi was outside and Allen inside, but Nicks still almost pulled off the grab. I don’t think Nnamdi is used to this much action coming his way. Gave up completion to Nicks for 9 in the early 4th. Gave up TD pass to Cruz in the early 4th. We were in zone, but Nnamdi was right there to make the play and didn’t. Missed the ball by inches…but still missed it. Great players have to make that play.

SAMUEL — Got burned on 2nd drive. Giants threw PA pass and used double move. Asante bit and WR went right by him. Safety bit up and the play was there, but the throw was off. Got lucky. Tackled well in the game. Took down Nicks after a gain of 9 on a quick throw on the 2nd drive. Came up and made a good tackle of Jacobs on run play in the late 3rd. Held him to just a couple of yards. Shocking to see after last week where Sammie hid on some run plays. Almost got TFL on Bradshaw in mid-4th. Got him down, but AB managed to get a couple of yds on the play. Tackled Cruz after gain of 7 on 4th Q pass play. Injured their TE late in the game with a shoulder hit/tackle. 4 solo stops in the game.

RODGERS-CROMARTIE — Hustled in pursuit and made strong tackle of Bradshaw after gain of 37 yds. Had a chance for huge play in the mid-4th. Giants ran toss play on 3rd/1. DRC flew upfield and had Bradshaw for a loss, but couldn’t make the tackle. Costly mistake.

HANSON — Played in some dime packages. Made tackle of Nicks on 3rd/9 and kept him short of the sticks.

SPECIAL TEAMS

CHAS HENRY — Had 2 punts. Averaged 45 yds per kick.

ALEX HENERY — 3 of 3 on FGs. 21, 38, 21. Showed excellent focus, composure on kick before half when he had to run on late and kick in a hurry. Good depth on his KOs.

PR — One PR for 13 by DJax. Another kick they kept away from Djax and it went out of bounds. Short kick that gave us good FP.

KOR — 2 for 45 by Lewis. No bad decisions. He’s improving. Looks more confident out there.

MISC —

* Half our stinkin’ team jumped offside on FG attempt in the late 4th. That gave them a 1st down and led to a TD to completely put the game away.

* Did give up 33 yds on one KOR to Devin Thomas.

GAMEBOOK