New York Giants: The Cure for the Giants and Their Super Bowl Chances
If you're a New York Giants fan, you know exactly what went wrong in 2010.
There are no smoke and mirrors in explaining how the G-Men collapsed late in the season while surrendering a Week 15 matchup to the Philadelphia Eagles that could go down in Giants history as one of the biggest loses ever.
Even worse, I was there.
What's the worst that could happen when you get free luxury box tickets, sit under heated awnings and see the Giants up 34-10 over the rival Eagles in the fourth quarter?
Watching DeSean Jackson redeem his two fumbles by running back a game-winning punt-return for a touchdown as time expires. That's the worst that could happen.
The collapse for the Giants in that game falls under their success they've had, or lack there of, since winning Super Bowl XLII over the Patriots (greatest day of my life).
Just look at 2009 when they needed to win their last two games on their schedule to get into the playoffs.
What do they do?
Drop back-to-back games to the Panthers and Vikings, giving up 206 rushing yards to Jonathan Stewart in the Week 16 loss to Carolina.
As a Giants fan and an NFL enthusiast, it's become rather predictive in watching the roller coaster ride that is the New York Giants. They've become that team that looks like the best team in the league sometime during the season, then collapses from their usual woes to miss the playoffs and waste their talented roster.
Whether it's Eli Manning throwing too many important interceptions, Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw hitting a running wall late in the season, watching one of the worst linebacking groups struggle or seeing the team drop so many crucial divisional showdowns, the Giants always seem to find a way to literally and figuratively drop the ball.
Coming into 2011, the New York Giants still have one of the most talented teams in the NFL. With a Super Bowl MVP quarterback, a returning 1,000-yard rusher and a top-ranked defense, the G-Men are positioned to make a run at another Super Bowl victory.
Here are the major requirements for Big Blue's season success and how they should attack each need.
Healthy Offensive Line
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The Giants past success has hindered on the healthy play of their offensive line. Everybody knows that.
If the O-line is healthy and productive, so are the Giants. Through the air and especially on the ground.
The on-field effect of a depleted line was more evident than ever in 2010. Not only did it increase the workload of the Giants running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, but it immediately took away from Eli Manning's production down the stretch.
Manning produced a career-worst 25 interceptions on the back of 16 sacks.
Now, while the Giants' sack total last season ranked second-best in the NFL, it comes at a price.
With a depleted and unhealthy offensive line, Eli Manning was forced with an on-field dilemma. Wing the ball into tight spaces or try to avoid the sack.
Manning chose to throw the ball into tightly covered spots around the field, disabling defenses from getting to him behind the line of scrimmage, but enabling secondaries to jump routes and attack from tight coverage.
The depletion of the Giants All-Pro line last year can be attributed to their average age of 31.2. That's hardly young. And with age comes injury.
In 2010, the offensive line proved unhealthy. Injuries became a major reason why New York underachieved after getting off to such a promising start.
If the Giants can stay healthy in 2011, with all the veteran presence on that O-line that has proven their worth already in this league, then Manning and the pass game with revel in their opportunities to smoothly move the ball.
Ahmad Bradshaw
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There's one problem with Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants need to re-sign him and do it quickly.
Bradshaw became a restricted free agent heading into this offseason. With a second-round draft pick tendered on Bradshaw, many teams will look the other way. However, Bradshaw showed last year that he deserves a big contract and that an early draft pick is more than reasonable for his services.
If the Giants decide to test the waters and tease other teams into possibly signing the 25-year-old, they will instantly regret their decision of letting a 1,200-yard rusher walk away.
I personally don't think Jerry Reese and company will chance their opportunity to re-sign the Giants featured back, but you never know. Reese has shown over the past few years that he's one of the best college player draftees that the NFL has to offer, so maybe he figures he'll easily replace Bradshaw with that second-round tender.
But any future pick isn't going to help New York's chances of success heading into 2011.
If we have football next year, which I'm sure we will, the Giants must know they can't limp into the season with Brandon Jacobs and Darius Reynaud lining up behind Eli Manning.
Bradshaw has been nothing but a solid running back since the Giants drafted him in 2007. He helped the Giants make their unforgettable playoff run on the way to upsetting the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
He proved last year that even with his size and physical nature of running, Bradshaw can still withstand the rigorous schedule of an NFL season. All considering he has consistently played with lingering ankle injuries.
The bottom line is simple. The Giants need to re-sign Bradshaw. There's nothing with more importance heading into 2011 and I hope that a check will be written to prove his worth.
Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith
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There really isn't much to explain here so I'll keep it short.
If Hakeem Nicks and Steve Smith can stay healthy, they'll prove to be one of the best wide receiver duos in the entire league.
Both are great possession receivers and both can grab passes from Manning in traffic.
Smith was hurt for about half of 2010, creating an offensive hole that was never filled.
Nicks was on and off the field last year as well, missing four total games.
While their injuries last season cause some concern, they've been for the most part healthy throughout each of their careers.
The two wideouts have the potential to effect the Giants in ways they can't imagine. Teamed up with Mario Manningham, Nicks and Smith have the ability to form an unmatchable wide receiving core.
Nicks has already shown flashes of greatness, grabbing 11 touchdowns on 79 catches in 2010.
Smith has already eclipsed 100 catches in a season and is no doubt a top-five slot receiver.
Healthy, productive and ready to redeem the Giants' lackluster finish in the NFC East, Nicks and Smith are poised for career years.
Eli Manning has got to be licking his chops.
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Mistake Free Manning
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Well, that didn't go as planned.
The giant collapse that was the weekly performance of Eli Manning shortened the Giants' chances of making the 2010 NFL playoffs.
With 25 interceptions, a new career high, Peyton's brother proved that sometimes it's better to take the sack than throw the ball up.
Don't get me wrong. Throwing the ball up has helped Eli win a Super Bowl ring, but last year wasn't 2007 and Manning didn't have David Tyree's sticky helmet.
The problem for Manning was his decision making. I mentioned it before about the Giants low sack total, which was nice to see, but it was detrimental to their passing attack and the awful turnovers they lost.
For Manning, taking a deep breath and scanning the field is the remedy to cutting down his picks. Easier said than done. The offensive line needs to protect the quarterback long enough for him to drop back and give his receivers enough wiggle room to run their routes.
The super bowl MVP has consistently been left out of the top-10 passers in the league, which doesn't make much sense. But that's something better left for another day. Regardless, Eli has enough gusto to make plays on the football field and win divisional games for New York.
Given time, with the wideouts Manning has at his disposal, the Giants turnovers through the air should decrease with consistency and Eli should build on his career high 30 touchdowns from last year.
Coughlin's Control
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The bottom line is this: If the Giants start to lose early, they can not abandon Tom Coughlin.
New York's head coach is currently in the last year of his contract, attracting many rumors of the Giants going after former coaches Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden after 2011.
For Coughlin, winning and winning early is going to do wonders for one of the oldest coaches in the NFL.
It looked as if big blue lost a little bit of trust in their coach last year, but Coughlin is a type of leader that will dispel any concern within the Giants locker room and get his team ready to play come season start.
We've seen in the past that players have no trouble in throwing their coaches under the bus when their team's struggling, so it wouldn't surprise me if some of the high profile Giants players spoke out if or when New York struggles.
There really isn't much to contemplate or discuss. We'll just have to wait and see.
An early season losing streak could prove to be all that's needed for the super bowl winning head coach to lose his locker room.
Replacement Linebacker
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The Giants haven't head a dominate linebacker since Jesse Armstead and Mike Barrow.
It's been evident ever since those guys left.
New York has experimented with draft picks, free agents like Michael Boley and Keith Bulluck, but nothing has worked and it's left the Giants searching for a roaming tackler.
Unfortunately, management did little to nothing in attacking this problem, so another repeat season of missed coverage, slow run stopping and below-average tackling seems imminent.
The Giants' struggles in covering running backs out of the backfield has been a major cause for concern throughout the past few years.
Nothing was worse than seeing Chase Blackburn try to cover Brian Westbrook out of the backfield when he played for the Eagles.
I realize Westbrook was a beast, but come on.
Heading into 2011, New York is trusting their linebacking duties to second-year Phillip Dillard and potential breakout nominee Jonathan Goff.
Goff is seemingly the only hope for the Giants second line of defense, offering good coverage and solid tackling.
Boley is starting to show signs of decline after looking like a linebacking patch job when he was signed over from Atlanta in 2009.
If Goff can prove worthy of being a go-to option for big blue than so be it. But as it stands right now, the Giants are still lacking a serious threat to manage the field and makes plays at the line as well as in the middle of the field.
Beating Philly
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Boy, do I hate to be talking about this.
Being an avid Giants fan, I've been programmed to hate the Eagles and Cowboys. Not because I despise their players, but because they continue to be the Giants' main threats.
This year, as it was last year, the Philadelphia Eagles have passed the Dallas Cowboys in becoming the Giants No. 1 threat in NFC East.
After reincarnating Michael Vick's career, the City of Brotherly Love has combined speed from the quarterback position with even more speed at the wide receiver slots.
I love Michael Vick. Always have and always will. He's one of the most dominate players in NFL history when it comes to astonishing playmaking.
But he is human.
After looking like the NFL MVP throughout 2010, Vick came into week 15 looking to beat the Giants at home for a claim of first place in the division.
The Giants came out roaring, making Vick look pedestrian through the air and on his feet. Quick tackling and good secondary coverage made the G-men seem like they were ready to make a serious playoff run.
I think we all know the end to this story.
Vick came back, the Eagles pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in NFL history, DeSean Jackson won the game on a time expiring punt-return for a touchdown, and the Giants were left to clean up what is now known as the "Miracle at the New Meadowlands."
It was a breathtaking moment. That game alone knocked the wind out of the Giants' sails and proved to be the nail in their coffin.
That is why beating Philly is the biggest feat the Giants have to overcome in 2011.
It's going to be hard, but New York's defense has already made Vick look like an average passer and a healthy offense should provide the team with enough stability to ward off any future historic comebacks.
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