One thing I hope that doesn't get lost in the Giants amazing victory against the Patriots yesterday was the truly awful play-calling by Kevin Gilbride. The Giants went into a game against the 32nd ranked pass defense in football and their offensive game plan was, well, I don't really know what their offensive game plan was. A Brandon Jacobs dive into the line, a delayed draw to DJ Ware out of the shotgun, and then a third and long situation? The Giants actually started the day 1-9 on third down conversations but somehow ended 4-14. That's still bad. But there was no reason to stick with such an ineffective running game for so long. Especially with Bradshaw out. The one nice thing I've read about Jacobs is that he's actually an elite pass protection running back (though awful as an actual receiever). They should have been using him in that role, passing on first downs, hitting Cruz and Ballard on slants over the middle and occasionally shooting deep towards the sidelines to Manningham. The Patriots only have one above average pass defender (Patrick Chung) and he's a more of a "big-play or nothing" defender in the Antonio Cromartie mold. But really the entire offense should have been pass-oriented yesterday. The Giants only scored one touchdown in the first 57 minutes of the game. It's no surprise that in the end, when they were losing and they were forced to pass, they lit the Patriots up with 14 points. Coaching is tough. Football is hard. But some things aren't. This isn't like politics where it can be smart to attack a candidate's perceived strength (like swift-boating John Kerry's military record). When you know your opponent's actual weaknesses (pass defense), you attack that weakness relentlessly. If Kevin Gilbride doesn't understand that, well then, he should not be offensive coordinator for the NY Giants.
A blog about politics, pop culture, sports, and my life, mostly fueled by anger and alcohol.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Fire this man
One thing I hope that doesn't get lost in the Giants amazing victory against the Patriots yesterday was the truly awful play-calling by Kevin Gilbride. The Giants went into a game against the 32nd ranked pass defense in football and their offensive game plan was, well, I don't really know what their offensive game plan was. A Brandon Jacobs dive into the line, a delayed draw to DJ Ware out of the shotgun, and then a third and long situation? The Giants actually started the day 1-9 on third down conversations but somehow ended 4-14. That's still bad. But there was no reason to stick with such an ineffective running game for so long. Especially with Bradshaw out. The one nice thing I've read about Jacobs is that he's actually an elite pass protection running back (though awful as an actual receiever). They should have been using him in that role, passing on first downs, hitting Cruz and Ballard on slants over the middle and occasionally shooting deep towards the sidelines to Manningham. The Patriots only have one above average pass defender (Patrick Chung) and he's a more of a "big-play or nothing" defender in the Antonio Cromartie mold. But really the entire offense should have been pass-oriented yesterday. The Giants only scored one touchdown in the first 57 minutes of the game. It's no surprise that in the end, when they were losing and they were forced to pass, they lit the Patriots up with 14 points. Coaching is tough. Football is hard. But some things aren't. This isn't like politics where it can be smart to attack a candidate's perceived strength (like swift-boating John Kerry's military record). When you know your opponent's actual weaknesses (pass defense), you attack that weakness relentlessly. If Kevin Gilbride doesn't understand that, well then, he should not be offensive coordinator for the NY Giants.
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Nicely written, but what the people really want to know is have you ordered your jeff feagles jersey yet?
ReplyDeleteI will be true to my word.
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