(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
"Pitch and catch."
As No. 17 broke free over the middle and left St. Louis Rams' safety Oshiomogho Atogwe in his wake Eli Manning's pass was already in the air. Radio announcer Carl Banks summed up the Week Two touchdown catch as simply, "pitch and catch."
Plaxico Burress always made it look so much easier. His long, nonchalant looking strides made it seem like he was gliding rather than running.
His 6'5" frame made his leaps look effortless and his ability to make defensive backs like Atogwe stumble over their own feet made Burress one of the league's most feared receivers and not too mention, Eli Manning's best friend.
The New York Giants have a few very noticeable changes as they enter this season, but none more important than the absence of Plaxico Burress.
Former defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is now head man in St. Louis but leaves his successor, Bill Sheridan, with one of the most talented defenses in the league. While Spags' innovation, intensity, and excitement on the sideline will be missed, his system is now the Giants' system, and Sheridan will play it the same way.
Running back Derrick Ward found a new contract awaiting him in Tampa Bay and leaves his role in the running game to Ahmad Bradshaw, Danny Ware, and rookie Andre Brown.
While Ward rushed for over 1,000 yards last season and averaged 5.6 yards per carry; the Giants still boast the same dominant offensive line and should be able to find a more than suitable replacement from their stable of backs.
This brings us back to the gaping hole left by Burress. The Giants offense is based off their power running game. They averaged 157.4 yards per game on the ground and 5 yards per carry; both numbers led the league.
They also averaged 31.4 rushing attempts per game, seventh in the league and used this run happy offense to set up their "vertical" passing game. It is widely known that sucking the eighth and possibly even ninth defender into the box is exactly what the Giants want to do and Eli excels in play action passing.
The Giants vertical game though, is almost nonexistent in terms of numbers. Even with a healthy Burress in 2007, the Giants were 27th in the league in yards per pass and only had 42 passes completed over 20 yards, 25th in the league.
In 2008, they were 18th in yards per pass and only had 38 passes completed over 20 yards, good enough for 28th in the league.
What was widely considered one of the strongest parts of his game when entering the league, Eli's long ball in the NFL has been less than stellar at best.
What this really shows though, is when Burress was on the field teams could not afford to bring the extra man into the box to stop the run. While Eli and company benefit from play actions passes off the run game, the run game almost benefits more from the mere threat of Burress down field.
This effect, which has been shown even more prominently in players like Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, more commonly known as the "T.O. Effect", is the one thing the Giants will miss the most this season.
The biggest problem the Giants have had with the deep ball has been the timing, in multiple senses. Outside of Burress and Toomer, Eli's timing with other players down field has never truly fallen into place. Ironically enough, neither player will be wearing blue this season.
Offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride also has trouble finding the right time to actually call the right play and often wastes down field opportunities on inside draws or play action bombs on first down.
There is nothing wrong with attempting the play action on first down, but doing so almost every third series after opening the previous two with powers or counters to Jacobs is hardly surprising anyone.
So what changes should the Giants make to improve the passing game that has lost its two most reliable targets heading into the season?
First, and most importantly, get to know the talent around you. The Giants' wide receiving corps now boasts only three players with more than four years of experience (Sinorice Moss, Domenik Hixon, and David Tyree).
The other four expected to see passes their way (Mario Manningham, Steve Smith, and rookies Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden) all have three or less years of experience.
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