NY Giants vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Breaking Down New York's Game Plan
Every Wednesday, when New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin meets with the media to introduce the next opponent on the team’s schedule, he usually speaks of the next opponent as though it is the current defending Super Bowl champion.
Here is a snippet of his rather lengthy (three-minutes plus, according to the counter on my voice recorder) introduction of the Jacksonville Jaguars, this week’s opponent.
"Let’s talk about the Jacksonville Jaguars, the youngest team in the National Football League. Just a couple of thoughts in terms of recognizing this team—they did beat Cleveland at home for their only win; however, last weekend, if you watch the Indianapolis game, it’s 6-3 at halftime.
In the first quarter [linebacker Chris], Clemons sacks [quarterback Andrew] Luck three times. They get a total of five sacks in the game. They are very good, I think, a very good defensive team. I was shocked to look at the numbers, but they’re a team that has an outstanding front, they rush the passer very, very well with 33 sacks.
They’re third in the National Football League. They trailed Cincinnati by three points with eight minutes to go in the game. They lost to Pittsburgh, 17-9, and 16-14 to Tennessee. Those are big games for them, obviously.
They defeated Cleveland, as I said. They had 23 points against Cincinnati (and) lost, 33-23. They lost, 31-17, to the Cowboys when the punt returner fumbled the ball, gave the Cowboys the ball at the 6-yard line going in. They were driving the ball, [running back Denard] Robinson fumbled on the 32-yard line going in and denied themselves a chance to score.
"
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Well, if nothing else, Coughlin has a future career as a spin doctor when his football coaching days are done.
Bill Parcells, for whom Coughlin was once an assistant coach when both were with the Giants in the 1980s, once said, “You are what your record says you are.”
If that’s the case, then the Jaguars (1-10) are a football team that’s been unable to finish what they’ve started.
Gee, where have we heard that before?
However, there is one major difference between the Jaguars and the Giants, two teams that haven’t been able to finish games this season and two teams that are likely going to have a top-10 draft pick in the spring.
In Jacksonville’s case, it is a young team with many new pieces that is eventually going to grow together in the team’s culture, the goal, of course, to become unified under the program, the first step toward building a winning franchise.
Yes, the current record is ugly, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
The Giants?
They are an older team with a mix of veterans from the franchise’s 2011 Super Bowl championship team, newcomers from the two most recent Super Bowl participants (Denver and Seattle) and guys who have either not been a part of a winning program or who are too far removed from one.
When you look at the “youth” on the Giants, you see Odell Beckham Jr., Devon Kennard, Justin Pugh and Weston Richburg, to name a few who are part of the team’s foundation.
You also see a lot of dead weight of players who never really panned out and older veterans who are just passing through because the Giants were the only team interested in their services.
It’s a dismal picture for New York, which is almost certainly headed for a major housecleaning after this disappointing season that has seen veterans who should know better than to blow assignments, make stupid mental errors, fail to communicate with each other on the field and fail to simply do their job.
That dismal sentiment was echoed by Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News as he discussed the Giants' playoff hopes:
These things simply shouldn’t be happening to a veteran team.
Yet here the Giants are, in their second six-game losing streak in as many years, the weekly breakdowns seeming to come at random, much like a game of roulette in which it’s anyone’s guess as to what area is going to be the next one to come up short in a game.
“We are going to Jacksonville, they have one win, and we have three wins,” quarterback Eli Manning told reporters. “I don’t think we are in a position to label anybody or to think we are better than anybody.”
So if you are sitting there, thinking that this weekend’s game is a “gimme” for the Giants, know that this team has proven that there is no such thing as a “gimme” this season.
| Quarterback | X | |
| Running Backs | X | |
| Tight Ends | X | |
| Receivers | X | |
| Offensive Line | X | |
| Defensive Line | X | |
| Linebackers | X | |
| Defensive Secondary | X | |
| Special Teams | X |
The Game Plan: Keys to Victory
Giants on Offense
Last week, rookie linebacker Telvin Smith finished with 12 against the Colts. While Indianapolis’ running game racked up 175 yards on the ground, Smith’s play was actually one of the bright spots in the Jaguars’ run defense.
The thing that Smith has so much of is patience. He rarely overcommits, and he shows excellent instincts for where the ball might be going on the ground.
Once he has a feel for that, he is quick to fill a hole that either forces the running back to the outside, where help is usually waiting or stopping the back for minimal gain.
“He’s a safety playing linebacker, is kind of the way I look at him,” Giants fullback Henry Hynoski said. “He’s all over the field. He’s just very fast, flows to the ball. He creates enough separation from his blockers to make plays on the running backs.”
Here is Smith in action, holding Colts running back Trent Richardson to just three yards on a run where Richardson tried to cut back to the inside but ended up being forced to take to the left end, thanks to Smith’s patience and then quick reaction to get to the hole Richardson was looking to exploit.
At the start of this play, Smith (No. 50) has his eyes on the backfield, waiting to see what happens. Smith patiently waits for the Colts quarterback to put the ball in Richardson’s hands before he moves laterally. In this case, he waits until Richardson has committed to running to the left.
Once the run is underway, Smith charged into the hole, where all he has to do is beat the fullback. He wins that battle, which forces Richardson to continue out to the left end instead of cutting back between the left tackle and the tight end.
Meanwhile, safety Josh Evans, who is dueling with Colts’ tight end Coby Fleener, is able to shed his block and string Richardson out for only a three-yard gain, sharing the tackle with Smith.
What does this mean for the Giants’ running game, ranked 22nd in the NFL and averaging 99.2 rushing yards per game?
“We just have to drive the defensive line off the ball,” Hynoski said. “They’re stout guys and big guys and we have to work our way up to linebacker level and find ways to neutralize them because they’re going to fly around the ball, they’re going to try to move and create chaos in there.”
Speaking of that Jaguars defense, it is third in the NFL in sacks with 33.0; the Jaguars are a team that mostly gets it done with their defensive front, as opposed to sending linebackers or defensive backs at the quarterback.
Kind of like how the Giants are supposed to get it done, right?
Giants on Defense
The formula is very simple for this week: stop the run and force rookie quarterback Blake Bortles to win the game.
Again, simple enough, right? The problem is that when it comes to the Giants, nothing is that simple.
OK, so how do they at least try to shut down the Jaguars rushing attempt, led by second-year player Denard Robinson, who is averaging 4.5 yards per carry?
We will answer that question in a minute, but first, let’s look at what makes Robinson—who also has 25 catches for 272 yards—so effective with the ball in his hands.
Two things that come immediately to mind are his vision and his quickness to change direction such as on this seven-yard run that unfortunately was negated by a holding penalty.
Here, Robinson starts his run to the left side, behind his left guard. However, he sees that a Cincinnati Bengals defender has won his one-on-one matchup (red "X"), so Robinson quickly cuts back inside and through the gaping hole he has up the middle for the gain.
The other thing that Robinson has going for him is his vision, such as what he displayed on this 39-yard run against the Bengals. Initially, Robinson starts to follow his fullback up into the hole, but he hits his blockers, who are trying to fight for the slightest crease.
No problem, though, as there is a tiny crease just to his right, which Robinson sees and exploits for his longest run of the game.
Let’s look at the play during its various stages. In the following frame, Robinson’s only hope would seem to be to bounce the run outside as the blocking in front of him has not yielded much of a crease.
Once he is in the pile, it looks as though the Bengals defender, who is winning his one-on-one against Jaguars tight end Clay Harbor (No. 86), is going to be able to shed the block and stop Robinson.
After hitting his helmet on Harbor’s back, Robinson quickly spots an opening to his right (red line) and exploits that tiny crease upfield.
But wait, he’s not done yet, as he jukes a pursuing defender (red circle), tricking him to go to the inside, while Robinson cuts back to the inside for some additional yardage before he’s finally brought down.
OK, so what do the Giants, they of the NFL’s 31st-ranked run defense, need to do to minimize the damage Robinson does on the ground?
The first thing is they need to shed their blocks. Far too often last week, there were instances in which the linebackers, in particular, couldn’t get off their blocks until it was too late.
This is basic football. If you win enough of your one-on-one battles, you will win the play. If you win enough plays, you will win the game.
The second thing the Giants must do on defense is play sound gap control. What this means is that a defender can’t be caught out of position; he must be on guard for the possibility of a cutback before charging forward.
This takes discipline and reading the keys in front of him. If a defender starts to guess or take gambles, it will lead to disaster.
Unfortunately, the Giants’ run defense hasn’t always played with discipline, which is part of the reason why it’s a step above being in the league’s cellar.
| WR Odell Beckham Jr. (back)—Full | LB LaRoy Reynolds (neck)—Did Not Practice |
| DT Cullen Jenkins (calf)—Limited | WR Cecil Shorts III (illness)—Did Not Practice |
| DE Mathias Kiwanuka (knee)—Did Not Practice | DE Andre Branch (groin)—Limited |
| LB Jameel McClain (knee)—Did Not Practice | LB Jeremiah George (ankle)—Limited |
| OL Justin Pugh (quadricep) - Limited | |
| CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (back/hamstring)—Full | |
| OL Geoff Schwartz (toe)—Limited | |
| OL Adam Snyder (knee)—Did Not Practice | |
| LB Jacquian Williams (concussion/shoulder)—Limited |
Giants Key Injury: LB Jameel McClain
Jameel McClain, currently the team’s starting inside linebacker, is a gritty fighter who, over the course of his life, has overcome a lot of things that might otherwise have caused anyone else to have given up by now.
However, if McClain, the last of the original three starting Giants linebackers from Week 1 left standing these days, is unable to overcome his knee injury that he suffered last week against Dallas, the Giants are in deep trouble at the linebacker position.
How deep? Well, Devon Kennard, who has played well but who is still a rookie learning on the job, would be the strong-side starter. Mark Herzlich would move to the middle, and Spencer Paysinger, who has had trouble getting onto the field for the defense this year, would be the starter on the weak side.
Behind them would be Terrell Manning, just added to the roster on Tuesday from the Bengals' practice squad, a player who was with the Giants in training camp this year. As for Jacquian Williams, who was limited in practice on Wednesday, he is probably a long shot for Sunday’s game.
Chances are that McClain, who did come back in the game after initially suffering the injury, will be able to go, though it’s anyone’s guess as to how much his injury will affect him. Any way you slice it, it’s not a pretty picture for the Giants’ injury-plagued linebacker unit.
Prediction
All signs point to the Giants having an easy time handling the Jaguars, right?
Well, maybe if the Giants were at full strength that would be the case, because these days, nothing seems to come easy for this Giants team.
This game is going to come down to whoever makes the fewest mistakes—and there will definitely be mistakes made by both sides, there is no doubt about that.
Theoretically, the Giants, the veteran team, should easily come out on top in a game like this. However, nothing has come easy for this team since it beat up a hapless Washington team 45-14 back in Week 4.
Will this week be any different? If you are expecting a blowout, that probably won’t be the case.
However, when it comes to who will make fewer mistakes, it’s probably safe to go with the Giants, even though injuries and a subsequent drop-off in depth have really weakened the structure of this team.
Giants 20, Jaguars 14
Season-Prediction Record: 7-4
Patricia Traina covers the Giants for Inside Football and TheSportsXchange. All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.
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