Bleacher Report - Articles by Matt Chin

Memo to the Patriots: Pay Randy Moss or Suffer the Consequences

Matt Chin — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:00:53 -0500

Take a second and think about what the 2007 New England Patriots accomplished. Now, take a second to think what would happen if you put Randy Moss in Dallas with Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, and Marion Barber III.

Sounds like a pretty unstoppable team, right?

It is, and it would be. Which is why New England needs to pay up and give their All-Star receiver the money he is due.

Moss was the 2007 Patriots' most prolific receiver. He finished the regular season with 23 touchdown receptions, beating Jerry Rice's record of 22. He finished with 98 receptions for 1,493 yards this past year.

Now compare those with Terrell Owens' statistics this past year. Owens finished with 15 regular-season touchdown receptions, with 81 receptions for 1,355 yards.

Combine those statistics and you have 38 touchdown receptions and 2,848 yards.

Any defensive coordinator would most likely be worried about having to cover these two. So, what would be a good way to cover them?

First, the defense needs to not allow the ball to even reach their hands. Moss has incredible hands and can make the hardest catches look easy. But the defense would need to maintain constant pressure on quarterback Tony Romo. That's hard to do because Romo is one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the league. Although, it has been shown that it is possible to catch Romo. He can get flustered and can make costly mistakes.

When the ball is snapped, it would be advisable for the cornerbacks to go with a bump-and-run tactic. The cornerbacks need to disrupt the flow the receivers get into. A man to man coverage would probably work best for these two, or on at least one of them and then double-team the other.

When the ball does inevitably reach their hands, Moss or Owens need to be brought down immediately. Other than that, defensive coordinators and head coaches need to pray.

So, really, Randy Moss cannot go to Dallas. New England needs to bend and pay up. Otherwise, they may have a much harder time reaching the Super Bowl in years to come.

Eli Manning: The Right Choice for the New York Giants

Matt Chin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:01:51 -0500

Many people in the NFL have come under scrutiny for various reasons this season. Bill Belichick was under the microscope this year for his questionable spying tactics, but not because of his talent as a coach.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith's ability was put in to question. Matt Leinart of the Arizona Cardinals faced plenty of heat from critics when Kurt Warner outperformed him. Even veteran quarterback Chad Pennington landed on the hotseat.

But none of them were there as long or drug through the hot coals of public opinion like Eli Manning.

Maybe Eli was there because he is the younger brother of super-star Peyton Manning and son of Archie Manning. Maybe critics discussed his ability so often because he quarterbacks the New York Giants, one of the NFL's biggest franchises.

Or maybe it is because New York traded Phillip Rivers for Eli Manning after San Diego picked him first in the first round of the 2004 draft. But it wasn't just Rivers that New York gave up in that trade. It lost future draft choices who turned out to be Pro-Bowl linebacker Shawne Merriman, kicker Nate Kaeding and left tackle Roman Oban.

Back then it seemed a lopsided trade, and it still is. But it seems to have worked out for the Giants being that they are headed to Super Bowl XLII and the Chargers are not.

In the first game of the season, Manning played pretty well, completing 28-of-41 attempts for four touchdowns and only one interception; a quarterback rating of 113.1.

However, in the second game Manning leveled off, completing only one touchdown to one interception. In the next eight games, he averaged a quarterback rating of 71.31. That rating doesn't seem spectacular enough to warrant trading away draft picks in both 2004 and 2005.

But then in week 17 against the unbeaten New England Patriots, Manning found himself. He learned how to be a quarterback. His rating —118.6— not so bad for a guy who was awful in the middle portion of the season.

Many people called it a fluke.

In the wild-card round his rating was 117.1. That was the highest of all the quarterbacks that weekend. In the game against Dallas, he had a 132.4 rating. Also, to this point, he had not turned the ball over once since the New England game.

Lastly, in the NFC championship game, he had a 72.3 rating. While it was far from a dominating outing, it was the highest rating of the four quarterbacks, including Tom Brady and Brett Favre. It was a solid rating for a game played in less than optimal conditions.

Maybe his Super Bowl run is just a fluke. Maybe he'll be like Rex Grossman next year and Manning will regress back to his old self.

Probably not though, because he is playing with confidence. He drove the giants 71 yards in 46 seconds before halftime, showing he is learning to play well under pressure, and that he has learned the hurry-up offense.

He has learned to spread the ball around more, throwing to rookie Steve Smith and veteran Amani Toomer four times in the divisional game. He threw to Smith twice and Toomer four more times in the NFC championship game. He learned to identify a matchup advantage with Plaxico Burress lined up against Green Bay cornerback Al Harris, targeting Burress 11 times in the championship game.

Hopefully, this trend Manning has set for himself will continue through Sunday, and he can silence his critics once and for all.

Why the New York Giants Will Beat the Green Bay Packers

Matt Chin — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 06:33:48 -0500

Let's face it, practically no one is picking the Giants to win this weekend's championship game against the Packers at Lambeau. Last time these two teams met, the Packers beat them, 35-13. So, why on earth would anyone pick the Giants to beat the Packers this time around?

The Giants started this year off an abysmal 0-2. Then they heated up and won six games straight. And then the red-hot Giants got a bucket of ice water dumped on them and lost to the Cowboys, yet again. And now the G-men have heated up again. They almost beat the Patriots in the regular season finale, only losing by three points and almost pulling off a huge upset. Eli Manning had one of the better performances of his career.

Then, in the wild card round of the playoffs, Eli and company were listed as the underdogs. They came through and beat the Buccaneers. Still, no one took them seriously. Only they believed in themselves.

Next, in the divisional round, the G-men were again underdogs. And guess what? They shocked everyone again by beating the heavily favored Cowboys at home. Now they take on Brett Favre and the Packers.

Now, for a few listed reasons of why the Giants can pull of the upset:

1. Their win record on the road is an impressive 9-1. The only road game they lost was the season opener against Dallas.

2. The running back tandem of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. Sure, the Giants gave away running back Ryan Grant to the Packers, and yes, it may seem stupid that they did that before the discovery of Ahmad Bradshaw. But New York has since discovered how good of a back Bradshaw is. He is the new Tiki Barber for the Giants. He's small and quick on his feet. Which is a good for when they need to change things up after using Jacobs, who is huge and break through tackles.

3. The defensive line. Anchored by Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, these front four can get in any quarterbacks face better than anyone else in the game. They got all over Tony Romo and Jeff Garcia and managed to put some pressure on Tom Brady, so, why should this be any different with Brett Favre?

4. Eli Manning is becoming a top tier quarterback. He threw zero interceptions against a number-one rated defense against the Buc's. He commanded a 46-second, 71-yard
drive to tie the divisional game up at 14-14 right before halftime.

5. Last, but not least, they are the underdogs yet again. And they love being underdogs. It is going to give them the motivation they need to beat the Packers this Sunday, when the windchill at Lambeau field makes it feel like -8 degrees.

Being not believed in can be a teams greatest weapon.