Mark’s point about allowing the defenders to handle the receivers a little bit more is valid.  Most analysts have likened the middle of the field in todays NFL to a NASCAR track.  They have purposely opened up the filed to create more offense and therefore they believe more excitement, but has this come at a cost?  Has it actually added to what the NFL says is it’s biggest concern in player safety?  Maybe the NFL could look into allowing contact of a receiver 10 yards down the field, instead of the current five.  If a defender is closer, and can hand check a receiver, then defenses could play less zone coverage and the big open spaces that allow for the high speed collisions could be lessened.  This is coming from a man that played 13 years in the NFL and understands the game from a players perspective.

The New York Giants won a Super Bowl after the 1990 season vs. the Buffalo Bills, and their entire defensive scheme was to punish the receivers after they caught the ball, and therefore slow them down.  Not one of those receivers was hit in the head or even above the shoulders.  Mark Collins played in that game and agrees that proper form tackling and teaching legal hitting has all but disappeared form the college game and now it shows in the NFL.  ESPN, the league itself, and the other networks continue to tell us what we want to see….violent collisions, long pass plays, receivers running free all over the field.  I would challenge anyone to go back and watch that Super Bowl where the Giants ran a two tight end or three tight end set the majority of the game, while the Bills ran a no huddle fast break offense, and tell me it’s not one of the most entertaining games of all time.

Big hits can be legal, defense can be exciting, and it will go a long way towards ensuring the safety of todays players.

Antrel Rolle Gets Pumped Up for Giants Football

The show will be called “The Blue and Green Review” and will center on the New York Football Scene.  My co-host will be Kristine Reese who writes and follows the New York Jets.  The plan is to have guests from opposing teams, either blog writers or media types, each week to discuss match-ups and what to look for in the upcoming game of the week.  We will talk fantasy football, have a survivor pool, and will feature a very special guest we call our “Resident Wiseguy” to pick the games of the week.

Make plans to join us live, or watch at your convenience as the week progresses.

Here are some of the Giants audio clips from Wenesday. Stay tuned to Gmenhq and twitter (@tom_brant) for GIANTS information leading up to the game.

Tom Silverstein with Mike Francesa on WFAN. Silverstein works for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel covering the Packers.

Justin Tuck with Mike Francesa on WFAN.

Paul Dottino with Joe and Evan on WFAN. Dottino covers the Giants for WFAN.

Greg Jennings with Joe and Evan on WFAN. Jennings is a WR for the Packers.

Antrel Rolle with Joe and Evan on WFAN.

JPP with Joe and Evan on WFAN.

Here are some quick hits from around the NFL and the blog worlds today:

The Dolphins fire Tony Sparano. Read more here.

The Chiefs fire Todd Haley. Read more here.

Justin Tuck is a little bit beat up from last nights game. Listen to his interview on WFAN by clicking here. His gut feeling is that he will play.

Giants.com has an update from Tom Coughlin regarding the latest injury news, click here for that great information!

Bradshaw is keeping his mouth closed about his benching, you can read about that here.

Finally, our friends at Barstool Sports New York have an interesting take on Tebow, look here.

The Bavaro!

[via CBS NY]

Some highlights:

“Yes it was a good win for the Giants and the thing that pleased me the most was the fact that all three phases complimented each other well. The fact that we got the three interceptions. We did not turn the ball over. Of course we had outstanding goal line stands and big plays in the first quarter and the fourth quarter, but we kept hanging in there and playing and playing and playing. We were worried about time of possession coming into the game because offensively they’ve gotten the ball an awful lot to be honest with you. That is the way they played in the first 2 games this year, so we worried about that and we were able to overcome just 51 snaps. We would of liked to have had more, but it wasn’t to be the case. We played well. We had real good effort and a lot of contributions from a lot of people.”

On finishing:

“Well we had talked as you had mentioned Mike [Francesa] about that as theme from the very first moment we came together at camp and not just the Eagles game last year, but on other occasions too. We didn’t feel like we finished the way we were capable of finishing in the 4th quarter. Finishing the game properly is something we have talked about for a long, long, time. We did finish it yesterday in a very good fashion and played physical. Both teams played very physical as they always do. The Eagles have a lot of talent. They certainly do press you in a lot of different areas. Our guys responded.”

On Eli Manning connecting with Victor Cruz:

“I thought Eli [Manning] did a real nice job with not only distributing the ball, but also making good solid decisions and getting the ball to people and not putting them into harms way. In this particular case he did trust that Victor would come back on the ball and he did.”

On Antrel Rolle’s physical play:

“Well let me just say this: He is a physical force. He’s down at the line of scrimmage. He makes a lot of plays tackling down close to the line of scrimmage. There was some back-and-fourth yesterday. I’m not going to defend or say what I thought really took place there, but one of the reasons that I had spoke to the officials was when I thought they had to be sharp at that point in time to keep the game under control because no one wants to lose a player because they get too emotionally involved. We had talked about this going into the game. As a matter of fact at halftime Antrel really came to me and said just all the right things about the second half.”

[via Sports Radio Interviews]

“I’m happy with the team’s performance. You know, I feel like we could have played better on offense. It was one of those weird games….it started with the first play of the game; we had a great first play, and then we had a 2nd and 1 and all of a sudden 3rd and 7, then we get an offsides and it’s 3rd and 12. So it was kind of one of those deals where we had a 2nd and 1 and don’t convert on that. So I thought we had some good things. We need to be a little more consistent. We need to be better in the passing game, had some throwaways, some protection stuff, we had some drops, some bad throws by me — just a combination of all those things that didn’t lead to being very efficient in the passing game. But we ran the ball well, I thought we communicated very well, better than the first week. You know, the line talking to each other, the receivers and everybody being on the same page. I thought we played well and played smart.”

The full interview can be heard here:

[via Sports Radio Interviews]

Take a listen:

[via CBS NY]

Source: Sean Kerr

Memorial Day weekend started early for Giants fans this year and on a very positive note to boot. With weather forecasters predicting rain over the holiday, and on a seemingly overcast night, the left tackle for the New York Giants brought a heaping portion of sunshine for all to enjoy, as well as a few friends.

David Diehl hosted the Big Blue Moon Charity Event on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at The Garden @ Studio Square in Queens, NY. Diehl is 6′ 5″, 319 lbs but with the passion and motivation that he has for his charity, it is safe to say that his heart is twice the size.
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Eli Manning joined ESPN Radio NY to talk about whether he believes that the Giants are the best team in football, whether he feels as good about this year’s squad as he did with the Super Bowl-winning team, and how confident he is with their backup offensive lineman.

Whether he thought the game against the Seahawks would be so lopsided:

“No you never think a game would end up like that.  Some times that is just what it turns into.  We got into a good start, after our first turnover we moved the ball pretty well up and down the field and not too many hiccups.  Our defense played outstanding, a lot of 3 and outs, getting the turnovers, everything was going our way and we took advantage of the turnovers.  When we got inside the red zone we scored every time and it was just one of those days where we executed really well, had a great game plan and went out and things kind of went the way we hoped would work out the way they did.”

Whether he believes that the Giants are the best team in football:

“Well you know each week things are different.  Right we’re playing really well.  The last 5 weeks we have been playing strong, offensively and defensively, both sides of the ball are clicking well together and helping each other out.  We have been scoring a good many points, the defense has been holding teams to getting turnovers for us and not really giving up too many points…  We’re rolling right now, and again, each week that changes.  You can’t just say, hey we’re the best team in football right now ‘cause each week you have got to be the best team in football each and every week and so you never know when all of the sudden some of the bounces don’t go your way and you have got to gut things out and just find ways to win.  That is kind of the way it is in the NFL.”

Whether he feels as good about this year’s squad as he did with the Super Bowl-winning team:

“Again it is tough.  With the Super Bowl winning team, things were going kind of similar right now where to start the season we didn’t start great, we weren’t winning games and a lot of questions and then all of a sudden we rally.  We rally around each other, our coach and all of the sudden we start playing with great confidence.  Right now we are in the thick of our schedule where it really gets going and we still have only played one game in the NFC East and we haven’t played Philly yet, we haven’t played Washington.  We have got to play both teams twice.  We have got Dallas again this week.  You know people say, well its Dallas, they’re not playing well.  They still got talent; they are going to be hyped up.  They obviously have a new coaching change and they are trying to resurrect their season a little bit and win some games and we know they have got talent.  It is kind of a big mystery why they are not winning games.  They’ve got talent all over the field, so we have got to handle business and take care of our job.  We have got to each week get better.  This week I’ll have things we have got to improve on for our receivers, for our offensive line.  Obviously we are going to have some injuries at the offensive line with things going on and so we’ve got to make sure that some young guys and new guys are playing up to speed.”

How confident he is with their backup offensive lineman:

“Yeah we are going to have to have some guys step up.  Hopefully we can get O’Hara back as soon as possible but we’re going to have some things going on.  I think Kevin Booth should be getting back pretty soon.  He has been practicing the last couple of weeks so guys have got some experience…  Some guys played some and then obviously we had a big help from Shawn Andrews playing at left tackle this past week.  He has been a guy that has been playing some tight end in some situations but we put him at left tackle and moved Seubert to center for this week and it’s probably a good thing we did that where he gets some playing experience and get some live action at playing tackle and playing a full game.  He is going to be playing left tackle for us for probably the next few weeks  if someone has to step in.  Hopefully Diehl will be back but if Mitch Peppers had to step in at guard, but hopefully O’Hara gets back and all you have to do is put Richie back at guard, just kind of one guy at left tackle is replaced and Sean is a guy that has played left tackle, been a Pro Bowler, a good player and he just has to continue to grow and learn how to communicate with those front five.”

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE >>