The Five Most Lethal Offensive Plays for the New York Giants

Identity: The set of characteristics that somebody recognizes as belonging uniquely to himself and constituting his or her individual personality.

In the NFL, teams who establish a distinct identity typically find the most success on the field. In 2008, The New York Giants were one of only three teams to be ranked in the top ten in both offense and defense, a testament to the strong sense of identity which The Giants had.

As a part of that identity, The Giants ran a distinct group of plays on a regular basis, regardless of situation, opponent, or personnel. Some people call these plays “bread and butter” plays. Regardless of name, the success of said plays is derived from the ability of the play to properly utilize the strengths of the players on the field.

The counter play

Formations run out of: I, Strong I, Weak I, Single back (one or two tight ends)

In seven of 16 games in 2008, The Giants’ longest run came on some variation of the counter play. The counter play is predicated on two distinct ideas: taking advantage of an over-aggressive opponent and utilizing the skill sets of unusually fast linemen.

The anticipation that The Giants will employ a power running game will frequently cause opponents to be very aggressive at the line of scrimmage, which generates just the over- aggressive approach that the counter play is designed to take advantage of.

With opponents ready to react to any movement The Giants make, Big Blue then calls upon their agile linemen to take advantage.

Typically, one of the guards (Rich Seubert or Chris Snee) will take one step in the opposite direction that the runner will be headed, drawing the defense in that direction, then proceed to “pull” (or run laterally before engaging a defender) in the opposite direction.

The quarterback fakes handing the ball off in the direction that the guard initially pulled in, and then quickly flips and hands the ball off the opposite way.

All the Giants need is for opponents to make one wrong step and they may find daylight.

On a typical counter play, the tight ends or full back engage the defensive ends, while the pulling guard takes on a linebacker. The center and an offensive tackle (on the same side as the pulling guard) take on the defensive tackle, before the center peels off to engage the safety.

The remaining tackle (typically the left tackle) then takes out the last remaining player in the opponent’s front, the second defensive end. Like any successful play in the NFL, it is the subtle adjustments within the play that make it so effective.

For example, on Nov. 30 against Washington, the Redskins had their sight set on stuffing the Giants run game, and had effectively done so throughout the game.

Just then, the Giants ran a variation of the counter which yielded their longest run of the day (23 yards). Rather than have Chris Snee (the guard) pull, they used center Shaun O’Hara in that role instead, and Snee barreled straight forward and took linebacker London Fletcher out of the play.

The sheer number of different formations The Giants run the play out of coupled with the subtle adjustments within the execution of the play make the counter play as deadly as any for New York.

The Draw Play

Formations run out of: Shotgun (two backs or one back, three wide receivers or four)

The draw play is yet another deadly running play which is used on a regular basis by New York. The draw play is designed to take advantage to two distinct things: a defensive line with wide gaps between each player which is committed to defending the pass, and an undersized defensive personnel grouping which may include up to seven defensive backs.

With defensive linemen wide in the stances, The Giants’ interior offensive linemen can then quickly team up on each of the interior defensive linemen (creating a gaping hole up the middle), and then engage the smaller defensive backs.  

Essentially, the play begins by mimicking a pass play, with the quarterback looking down field, the linemen pass blocking, and the receivers running routes. All of those components to the play are centered around decompressing the defense before going into attack mode.

Derrick Ward was the primary beneficiary of this play, as he saw most of his duties on third downs as well as in the second half of games (when the draw play is employed most often).

Through the first six weeks of the season, Ward was averaging 7.2 yards per carry, and finished tops in the league (min 100 attempts) at 5.6 yards per carry (also tied for third all time).

As a testament to the draw itself, in the second half, Ward was also tops in the league (min 50 attempts) at 6.4 yards per carry. Ward was also fifth in the league in rushes over 10 yards with 35. While not all of Derrick Ward’s runs were draws, he successfully ran the draw play for massive chunks of yardage in key spots throughout the season.

Against Cincinnati, when the Giants needed a touchdown to take the lead late, the Giants ran the draw to Ward who bounced the run outside to his left for a massive gain that kick started the drive. Something similar occurred against Carolina in overtime, as Ward broke off a draw play (on a third down) which put The Giants in field goal range.

Eventually Big Blue would pound it in for a touchdown with Jacobs, but it was Ward who got the job done in a big time situation.

The Slot Option

Formations- Shotgun and single back (must have three wide receivers)

The New York Giants employ what it referred to as a streak-read offense, where each receiver reads the opponent’s coverage and chooses a route from a pre-determined tree. The quarterback reads the coverage as well, and will throw a pass based on which route he believes the receiver selected.

This is one of the most difficult offenses in the league to execute, but Eli Manning and his slot receiver Steve Smith have this down to a science.

Essentially, every route in the Giant’s passing scheme is an option route, but where it becomes most crucial is for the slot receiver. On third downs when The Giants are in need of a first down, Steve Smith (the slot receiver) will choose from a grouping of routes designed to take advantage of soft zones which are occupied by linebackers and safeties.

Typically the grouping of routes will include a hitch, a slant, and a corner route (or a route designed to go towards the sideline). The hitch route can take advantage of zones which are occupied by linebackers, the slant takes advantage of blitzes, and the corner route is a cover two killer.

In the cover two, cornerbacks stay in the flat and the safeties stay over the top, leaving the sidelines most vulnerable.

As a testament to Steve Smith’s aptitude in executing this play, he was fourth in the NFC with 22 receptions for a first down. Eli Manning led the NFC in completion percentage for a first down in third and long situations (seven or more yards) and also sported an 84.3 rating when there are were three receivers on the field.

In conclusion, every passing play with three receivers can be considered a slot option, as there are always several routes to choose from. The variations and plethora of different routes make The Eli Manning/ Steve Smith duo a tough one to stop.

The Skinny Post

Formations- Shotgun, I, Strong I, Weak I, or Single back (one or two tight ends, two, three, or four wide receivers)

The skinny post is a route that The Giants have used from just about every formation and a number of different players have successfully run the route. The number of different formations from which New York employs the skinny post make it very tough to defend on a consistent basis.

Over the course of the season, Plaxico Burress, Kevin Boss, and even Sinorice Moss have caught touchdown passes while running this route.

The skinny post itself is designed to do one of two things: undercut the safeties who are playing deep, or beat safeties over the top who bite on shorter routes.

The size of Plaxico Burress and Kevin Boss coupled with the speed of Sinorice Moss make them ideal candidates to run this route.

On a weekly basis The Giants ran this play to Plaxico, as it was often a way to get him the ball independent of the coverage. Plaxico could use his big physical body to snatch the ball out from in front of the safety and shield himself from the cornerback.

The first offensive passing play the Giants ran in the Super Bowl was a skinny post to Burress, displaying the type of trust The Giants have in the play itself. Burress scored in week two this past season against St. Louis while running this route, and he has seen a lot of success while running it over the years.

In 2008, Kevin Boss scored a touchdown in a key moment against Arizona while running this route, as he snatched the ball away from the underneath coverage and jogged into the end zone. Sinorice Moss on the other hand, scored his first career touchdown in week four against Seattle while running this route over the top of the defense.

Though The Giants are a running team, the skinny post was their bread-and –butter passing play.

Off Tackle Left

Formations: I, Strong I, Weak I, Single back, or Goal-line

Running off tackle is essential to Big Blue’s identity as a power running team, as it is a very simple and straightforward play which pits blocker against defender.

After David Diehl moved to left tackle, many a fan were concerned as to how well Diehl would perform. What most people forgot to take into account is the fact that Diehl had been The Giants’ most dominant run blocker. At left tackle, Diehl became dynamite at the point of impact when running left.

Referencing the off tackle play in particular, the zone blocking scheme that The Giants run allows for there to be a blocker directly on a defender. The running back then heads left with the intention to run outside the left shoulder of David Diehl, but can run wherever he sees daylight.

The play is so effective because it is so simple, the key is to overpower opponents, and that is what The Giants do best. If each linemen can overpower his assigned defender, the play will be a success.

In conclusion, each of these plays proved essential to The New York Giants success offensively in 2008. Within each of the plays, it is the “wrinkles” or different ways to run the play (in terms of both formation and personnel) which allow the plays to be so successful.