Tag: New York Giants (Page 54 of 55)

      Redskins at Giants Game Preview, Prediction

      September 4, 2008 /

      The 2008 NFL Season kicks off Thursday night as the Washington Redskins travel to New York to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.

      Game Time: 7:00pm ET on NBC
      Spread: Giants –4.5

      Eli ManningGame Preview:
      The Giants that host the Redskins tonight will look quite different from the team that beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl this January. Gone are defensive end Michael Strahan (retired), tight end Jeremy Shockey (trade/Saints) and safety Gibril Wilson (free agent/Raiders). The team also suffered a huge blow when it lost defensive end Osi Umenyiora to a season ending knee injury during preseason. But the offense remains largely intact led by quarterback Eli Manning and a power running game featuring Brandon Jacobs. Even though he complained about his contract much of the offseason, Plaxico Burress also returns to give Manning a deep threat in the passing game.

      The Redskins meanwhile, are in a transition phase as head coach Jim Zorn takes over for Joe Gibbs. Zorn will usher in the West Coast Offense and while quarterback Jason Campbell is expected to struggle while learning the nuances of the new system, word out of Washington is that his development has been good up to this point. Campbell will be joined by running back Clinton Portis in the backfield, as well as receiver Santana Moss and tight end Chris Cooley in the passing game. The defense received a much-needed boost in the pass rush department when the team traded for former Dolphins’ defensive end Jason Taylor.

      Jason CampbellOutlook:
      Assuming Taylor can play (he’s listed as questionable), the Redskins will need him and the rest of the front seven to get pressure on Manning. If the Skins can disrupt Manning and the rest of the Giants’ offense, they should be in good shape. The Giants love to use play action fakes to suck opposing safeties to the line and then go over top to Burress and his fellow receivers. As for the Skins offensively, expect Zorn to keep things simple by running Portis and working the short to intermediate passing game so Campbell doesn’t have to win the game on his own. It’ll be interesting to see how effective the Giants’ defense can be without Strahan and Umenyiora on the line. Justin Tuck is an emerging star so he should still be able to get pressure on Campbell, but Mathias Kiwanuka has to make the transition from linebacker back to defensive end and it might take time before he can be disruptive.

      Prediction: Giants 17, Redskins 13. Something tells me this will be a low scoring game seeing as how it’s the opener and it’s a division rivalry.

      Be sure to check back during the game for discussion and analysis.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Couch Potato Alert: 9/1

      September 1, 2008 /

      Things are looking up sports fans! With the return of college football, and the NFL kicking off this week, there won’t be a shortage of games to watch on TV this week.

      Plaxico– The NFL season kicks off this Thursday when the Washington Redskins travel to the Meadowlands to take on defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. The game will be televised on NBC at 7:00 PM Eastern. Be sure to tune in!

      – The fourth round of the U.S. Open will be shown on CBS on Labor Day from 11:00 AM Eastern, to 6:00 PM Eastern. That’s a whole lot of tennis!

      – Speaking of Labor Day, ESPN will be airing a couple college football games on the holiday. Tune in at 4:00 PM Eastern as Fresno State @ Rutgers, and then again at 8:00 PM Eastern to see Tennessee travels to UCLA. Be sure to check ESPNU and other sports networks to see if any games are airing.

      – The Tampa Bay Rays will try to stay ahead in the AL East when they get a visit from the New York Yankees on Wednesday. The game can be seen on ESPN at 7:00 PM Eastern.

      – “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys” will air it’s finale this Wednesday night at 10:00 PM Eastern on HBO. Expect an inside look at how the coaches decide who’s good enough to make the roster, and who’s not. Also: In my last Couch Potato Alert, I said there were six episodes. I stand corrected, this will be the fifth and final one.

      – The ole’ ball coach, Steve Spurrier, will lead his Gamecocks against Vanderbilt this Thursday at 8:30 PM Eastern. The game can be seen on ESPN.

      Couch Potato Alert

      No Strahan or Umenyiora – how will Giants’ defensive line cope?

      August 29, 2008 /

      In the weeks leading up to the kickoff the 2008 NFL Season, I’ll take a look at position groups that could potentially lift teams to new heights, or bury them and their postseason hopes. Today I take a look at how the New York Giants expect to cope without having Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan on their defensive line.

      Michael StrahanWhen the New York Giants selected defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka with the 32nd pick in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft, many eyebrows were raised at the pick. Why would the Giants take another defensive end when they already had Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck on the roster?

      After Strahan retired following the Giants’ Super Bowl victory in January and Umenyiora was lost for the 2008 season because of a knee injury, nobody is questioning New York’s decision to draft Kiwanuka now.

      Kiwanuka not only has the daunting task of having to transition from outside linebacker back to defensive end, but he also will attempt to fill the shoes of Umenyiora, a highly productive player who registered 52 tackles and five sacks last season.

      Playing opposite of Kiwanuka on the line will be Tuck, a promising fourth-year player who compiled 10 sacks last year as part of a rotation. While he’s shown plenty of upside, this will be the first time in Tuck’s career that he’ll be counted on as a full-time starter.

      Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins will man the interior of New York’s defensive line. Neither stands out as impact players, although Cofield did show promise in his rookie season when he compiled 44 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

      There’s no denying that losing both Strahan and Umenyiora was devastating. The Giants demonstrated what a heavy pass-rush could do for an entire defense in the Super Bowl when they completely flustered Tom Brady and his offensive line. While young corner Aaron Ross is developing into a nice player, the rest of the secondary is average at best – especially after safety Gibril Wilson signed with Oakland this offseason – and will need the front seven to put pressure on opposing teams’ quarterbacks so they’re not vulnerable in coverage.

      New York GiantsNew York is going to need Kiwanuka and Tuck to provide the type of rush that Strahan and Umenyiora got last year in order for the defense to not be exposed in certain areas. Both ends have a ton of talent, but how will they do as full-time starters? Can they be as effective as every-down players as they were in a rotation last year? Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was outstanding in devising game plans last year to frustrate opposing teams, but a lot of what he does depends on his ends getting pressure.

      Time will tell if the Giants will sink or swim without the two ends that helped them when a Super Bowl last season.

      NFL

      Giants contact Michael Strahan about return

      August 25, 2008 /

      According to the New York Daily News, Giants’ GM Jerry Reese has reached out to Michael Strahan’s agent about possibly returning to the team in wake of Osi Umenyiora’s season-ending injury.

      According to the agent, Tony Agnone, he spoke with Reese earlier today about whether Strahan would be interested in returning to the Giants. Agnone said the discussion was very general and very preliminary and definitely didn’t involve any talks about money.

      They ended with Reese telling Agnone to let the Giants know if and when Strahan decides he’s serious about a return.

      “They reached out and they talked to us about the possibility of Strahan returning,” Agnone said. “It’s something he’s thinking about.”

      Agnone said that Strahan wasn’t considering a return at all before his friend and former teammates, Osi Umenyiora, suffered a season-ending knee injury Saturday night. After seeing that, Agnone said, Strahan “feels the ship isn’t even out of the harbor and they’re already taking on the cannons. He feels like maybe he should jump back in there.”

      Agnone insisted he had no idea what the 37-year-old Strahan would decide to do, or what would happen if he told the Giants officially that he’d like to return.

      If I were a betting man (“if” – ha!), I’d throw money on Strahan returning. Either way I think it’s a good move by the Giants. I know they’d be willing to move Mathias Kiwanuka from outside linebacker back to end (he played end in college), but why move him after he’s already spent two years learning linebacker? And when Umenyiora returns next season, what do they do with Kiwanuka? Move him back to end? Strahan coming back for one more year just makes sense if he’s willing to do it.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

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