There were three high-profile injuries in the preseason openers last night:

1. QB Michael Vick  – In the first quarter of the Philadelphia Eagles’ preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Micheal Vick hit his hand on the helmet of lineman Jason Kelce while throwing a pass. X-rays were negative and Vick is scheduled for an MRI today. Stay tuned to GmenHQ.com for details as they are released.
2. RB Ryan Matthews – In his first carry of the game, San Diego Charger running back Ryan Matthews broke his collarbone. He is undergoing surgery Friday morning and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. Ryan missed four games in 2010 and two games in 2011. Ronnie Brown is expected to step into the starting roll until Matthews is healthy again.
3. LB Dane Fletcher – New England Patriots linebacker Dane Fletcher tore an ACL in the first quarter while running down the field covering a punt. He will not return this season. In the game, Fletcher was replaced by Dont’a Hightower and it is not clear who will play that position when the regular season begins.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) — Garrett Reid, the oldest son of Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid, was found dead Sunday morning in his room at training camp at Lehigh University.

The Eagles held Sunday morning’s practice, but Andy Reid was not present. Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman told reporters that Reid asked the team to go forward with training camp.

Edward Schupp, chief of police at Lehigh, said a 911 call was made at 7:20 a.m. Schupp said Garrett Reid was deceased upon a policeman’s arrival at the campus dormitory. Schupp added “there were no suspicious activities.”

Players gathered for a team prayer before the walk-through began and were told not to speak to reporters afterward.

Andy Reid is a great football coach.  That doesn’t always translate into being a great father or family man. Andy’s sons have had legal and personal problems for years, and unfortunately this news is not shocking.  The time that needs to be dedicated to coaching in the NFL is legendary.  The stories of coaches sleeping in their offices, of getting two and three hours of sleep, and of the intense preparation necessary for each week are all true.  Unfortunately this leaves little time for the rest of their lives.  Hopefully the new CBA rules will allow the coaches a few days off too to tend to their families, and new technology should continue to streamline the preparation process.

We here at GMENHQ.COM pass along our condolences and prayers to the entire Reid family.

KEY RANKINGS:

1. New York Giants

Best addition: RB David Wilson, first-round pick

With Eli Manning and the front four, the Giants are still mighty Giants, and rookies Wilson and Rueben Randle will make up for key departures. The Giants will need to hang tough with a schedule even stronger than last season’s.

9. Philadelphia Eagles

Best addition: MLB DeMeco Ryans, trade acquisition

No one is talking about them as the Dream Team this year, and the perceived lower expectations may be just what Michael Vick and Andy Reid need for a big rebound.

10. Dallas Cowboys

Best addition: CB Morris Claiborne, first-round pick

It must have hurt to see the Giants wrestle the division away and then go on to win it all. The Cowboys have rebuilt their back seven pass defense, but they still go as Tony Romo does.

25. Washington Redskins

Best addition: QB Robert Griffin III, first-round pick

Griffin brings more than a dash of much-needed electricity to the offense, the entire team and the city. It will be fun watching him, even it if comes with significant growing pains.

SURPRISES?:

7. Denver Broncos

Best addition: QB Peyton Manning, free-agent pickup

This team already got to the divisional playoff round with a questionable passing game. If Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning, they can go a few miles higher.

12. New Orleans Saints

Best addition: G Ben Grubbs, free-agent pickup

Sean Payton is gone for the season and Gregg Williams is gone for good, which means Drew Brees will have more riding on his arm than usual. Now would be a good time to give Brees that big raise.

19. New York Jets

Best addition: S LaRon Landry, free-agent pickup

The Jets were a mediocre team last season, and despite the flashy Tebow pickup, there are still  big questions about just how much substance they have on both sides of the ball.

What do you think of these rankings?

This tells me the Eagles are in love with Fletcher Cox, DT out of Mississippi State who is a Top 10 projection. Worst case scenario for the Eagles is they stay at 16th loose Barron (to Cowboys) and Cox and draft Michael Brockers, DT out of LSU which really is not that bad of a choice. Now if the Cowboys do not get Barron (whether he is drafted higher or the Eagles make a move for him) well they have a lot of other needs on Defense with emphasis on the D-line. Courtney Upshaw, DE out of Alabama may still be available. So could Nick Perry, DE out of USC or South Carolina’s OLB Melvin Ingram who can cause some chaos in Rob Ryan’s blitz happy scheme.

Now the Giants, holding the last pick and a team that sticks to the philosophy of best available player. Okay I am going to get opinionated here; to all those Coby Fleener TE from Stanford supporters, not happening. The Giants signed Martellus Bennett, Jerry Reese and Tom Coughlin saw something in this TE that made them believers (maybe to a degree). That being said I can see the Giants drafting a TE like Ladarius Green from Louisiana-Lafayette, Deangelo Peterson, TE, LSU or Michael Egnew, TE, Missouri in Rounds 3 or 4. As for the OT Mike Adams (Ohio State) believers, not happening either. The G-Men have not drafted a OT since 1999 and are staunch believers they can find a good OL in the later rounds and develop him within the organization. Now add to this the rumors of Adams being a “work hard when he feels like it guy”. Does that sound like someone Coughlin would put up with?

So who should it be? The Mel Kipers and Todd McShays of the Draft World will never be able to predict how a draft will go and who will move up or down. Now if Kendall Wright, WR from Baylor happens to move down to 32 grab him. He will open the Giants Offense even more and make Cruz and Nicks look that much better. Now I have been a supporter of RB Doug Martin (Boise State) he is a good runner between the lines and is great in pass protection, receiving and YAC (yards after catch). But we don’t know who will be there at 32, we don’t have that crystal ball. One thing we do know if there is a highly rated DE at 32, well enough said.

Here now is the remainder of the GIANTS 2012 NFL Schedule:

Week One: vs Dallas September 5th (WEDNESDAY NIGHT) 8:30 P.M. (NBC)

Week Two: vs Tampa Bay September 16th 1:00 P.M. (FOX)

Week Three: At Carolina September 20th (THURSDAY NIGHT) 8:20 P.M. (NFLN)

Week Four: At Philadelphia September 30th (SUNDAY NIGHT) 8:20 P.M. (NBC)

Week 5: vs. Cleveland October 7th 1:00 P.M. (CBS)

Week 6: At San Francisco October 14th 4:15 (FOX)

Week 7: vs Washington October 21st 1:00 P.M. (FOX)

Week 8: At Dallas October 28th 4:15 P.M. (FOX)

Week 9: vs Pittsburgh November 4th 4:15 P.M. (CBS)

Week 10: At Cincinnati November 11th 1:00 P.M. (FOX)

Week 11: BYE (Nov 18th) November 18th

Week 12: vs Green Bay November 25th (SUNDAY NIGHT) 8:20 P.M. (NBC)

Week 13: At Washington December 3rd (MONDAY NIGHT) 8:30 P.M. (ESPN)

Week 14: vs. New Orleans December 9th 4:15 (FOX)

Week 15: At Atlanta December 16th 1:00 P.M. (FOX)

Week 16: At Baltimore December 23rd 1:00 P.M. (FOX)

Week 17: vs. Philadelphia December 30th (SUNDAY NIGHT) 8:00 P.M. (NBC) FLEX GAME PREDICTION

Details on days and times to follow, but as you can see a late BYE week, two sets of back to back road games, and a late season schedule of Division Rivals and Playoff Teams from last year, actually after Week 5 they play either a division rival or a playoff contender from 2011…..Here is the link to the entire NFL 2012 Schedule

Is Smith healthy? Would he come back to New York? Is this the logical choice to put Victor Cruz outside with Smith reclaiming the slot role?  Smith said some things on the way out the door that were unnecessary, would the fans welcome him back?

Earlier today we wrote a post about how the Giants needed to apply pressure on the Packers and steal 2 possessions to have a chance to win.  They actually stole four possessions, but Referee Bill Leavy gave two of them back to the Packers.  No matter, instead of getting credit for a 37-6 win, and keeping the high flying Packer offense out of the end zone, the Giants settle for a 37-20 win and a trip to San Francisco for their 5th NFC Championship game.  Tomorrow we will break it down play by play.

So, First the “experts” picked the Eagles to be the team of the year. Then it was the Jets and the Cowboys. Then the darlings of the media were the Packers and of course the “Great at Home” New Orleans Saints.  And yet the Tom Coughlin led New York Football Giants will try to make it to their 2nd Super Bowl in 5 years….Rex Ryan must be beside himself.

The Giants finished their regular season in style, with a little flash, and according to the script we laid out last week in an article titled Giants All In  The Giants are looking stronger as a team each week and are NFC EASTERN DIVISION CHAMPS.  They now host the Atlanta Falcons in the first ever playoff game at New Giants Stadium Sunday at 1:00 Eastern.  Let’s take a quick look back at the Cowboy game.

The Giants for the first time in a long time started quickly.  Electing to defer after winning the toss, they figured they would test Tony Romo and his bruised hand quickly, and see how he did in the wind and the rain.  Tony actually had a pretty good statistical night finishing 29/37 with 2 TD’s and one INT. A rating of 106.  However after running just 7 plays in their first two drives the Cowboys found themselves down 7-0.  One of the keys we discussed was the Giants healthy defensive line against the Cowboys Offensive line. The rotation of fresh players took it’s toll on the Cowboys as a combination of J.P.P., Tuck, Canty, and Osi Umenyiora accounted for 5 of the 6 sacks the Giants had on the night.  There were a few errant snaps from the Cowboy centers as we had discussed, and overall their line played poorly.

The other topic we touched on last week was the playmaking ability of both teams in the passing game.  Both Laurent Robinson and Victor Cruz made some big plays, but on this night Victor was the star again…even though Laurent thought he could dance the salsa too.  Cruz finished the game with 6 catches for 178 yards and another memorable TD.  Hakeem Nicks had a solid game as did Dez Bryant, but the Giants FINISHED their plays, as the Cowboys seemed to muddle along.

In the running game the Giants, although it sure didn’t seem like it, rushed for 106 yards, while the Cowboys managed just 49.  The ability to get some production out of the running game for the Giants is paramount to success.  The fact that Ahmad Bradshaw can run it in from anywhere, and Brandon Jacobs punishes those that dare get in his way when he makes it into the secondary, allows the Giants to be balanced and keeps defenses on their heals.

The Giants have FINISHED the seasons of the Cowboys, Eagles, and Jets, the past three weeks.  Let’s see if they can’t send the Dirty Birds from Atlanta south for the winter.

After most analysts were against the Giants last week, they have learned their lesson to not count this team out just yet. They proved it by almost unanimously naming the Giants winners over the division-rival Redskins. There is one holdout, but we aren’t going to worry about him. (more…)

National Football Post has dropped them five points to number 11. Let’s see how they fared across the board. (more…)

Overall, this performance was pretty typical of the Giants in recent years. A game in the second half of the season, one that could have playoff implications, against the Eagles generally means the Giants will make no effort to win. They play with no sense of urgency. In fact, they seem to give the impression that they don’t even want to play. The only difference here is this is not week 16, where the Giants are out of chances to turn things around after two consecutive losses. There is still time to save the season and hold onto playoff hopes. See that? I found a pro already. Now let’s break this one down.

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What went wrong? Nearly everything. Manning didn’t play a bad game, it just looked that way as he got virtually no help from the rest of the offensive unit. The line didn’t block well, which meant that there was no rushing game, which meant there was no way to set up the passing game. That didn’t matter either, as the O-line didn’t do a good job of pass protection. With the exception of Victor Cruz, the receivers didn’t have a good game, either.

Defensively, Prince Aumkamara showed why he was the Giants number one choice, and Michael Herzlich showed promise. There were a couple of other players on the defensive side of the ball that had and OK game, but the team did not look as if they were prepared or motivated. Maybe the coaching staff is to blame, maybe the the players are to blame, maybe it was a joint effort. Whatever the reasons, the Giants must now fight and claw the way the Eagles did the other night. Maybe the Giants are now so angrywith themselves that they will find a way to upset the Saints.

I apologize for the short post, but Thanksgiving Day preparations call. Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

If you’re like me and kicking yourself for not picking up Kevin Smith last week, who went on to score 3 touchdowns, then take a look at the following players who should be available in your league to help you out for the playoffs

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Just like last week against the 49ers, they had us all on the edge of our seats, anticipating another miraculous fourth quarter comeback from Eli Manning and company, and once again, they came up just short. The 17-10 loss to the Eagles means the Giants dropped to 6-4 and 1-2 in division games. They’re now second in the NFC East behind Dallas.

A few observations from the game:

-One of the first things my father taught me about football was that it starts and ends at the line of scrimmage, and tonight’s game against the Eagles showed me how right he was. The Giants offensive and defensive lines alike were outmanned by the Eagles throughout the game. Eli Manning was given very little time to throw and had to scramble most of the night. Brandon Jacobs and DJ Ware had few holes with which to work. And the defensive line got next to no pressure on Vince Young, giving him time to throw and get comfortable. Frankly, I was amazed they even managed the one sack they did get.

Chris Canty did play a good game though.

-Speaking of the defensive line, I have to admit that I was looking forward to see Osi Umenyiora get to suit up against Philadelphia. He traditionally plays well against them (who can forget his glorious six sack game back in 2007?) so to see him as a non-factor all evening was a bit of a disappointment.

-One more thing about the defensive line- has anyone else noticed that almost all of their pressure seems to come from the outside? When they’re effective at getting to the quarterback it’s not that a big deal but if they miss, it leaves the middle open, allowing opposing quaterbacks to either step up and throw or scramble for some yardage. That was definitely evident tonight, especially with Umenyiora being shutdown by the left tackle all game.

-Congratulations to Prince Amukamara on his first career interception! It had be a big confidence-booster for a rookie to get his first pick less than seven minute into his NFL career. I was overall pretty pleased with Amukamara’s first game and it benefits the Giants to have another cornerback in rotation.

-Mark Herzlich was decent overall in his first career start at linebacker. He had a few spectacular plays against the run but his pass coverage needs some work.

-Actually, that statement about Herzlich applies to all the Giants linebackers. Just look at how Kiwanuka got smoked on Steve Smith’s touchdown. As they did last week, the Giants did a great job of shutting down the run but the linebackers kept leaving guys open. That’s the one area where they really miss Michael Boley.

-The poor play of the offensive line was partially to blame for the poor run game, but how much do the Giants miss Ahmad Bradshaw?

-The Giants now have a defensive takeaway in 23 straight games, dating back to last season.

-I guess Jake Ballard is human after all. He had three pretty significant drops that could’ve been difference-makers. But it’s hard to complain after what he’s done for them at tight end this year and he came back and had a big catch after leaving the game to get his elbow examined. (Thankfully the x-rays came back negative.)

-On the bright side, I think it’s become more evident each week that Victor Cruz is the real deal and not just a fluke. He still needs a little work when it comes to dropping passes but he’s been extremely clutch for New York all season and helped the Giants set up another potential comeback. New York’s depth at wide receiver is astonishing.

-While we’re on the topic of Cruz, am I the only one who gets nervous when I see him returning punts over Aaron Ross? I just keep thinking about how Domenik Hixon’s back-to-back season ending injuries came from returning punts and I’d hate to see the Giants lose Cruz that way too.

-When DeSean Jackson negated his own 50 yard reception by taunting defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, I found myself wondering how he can expect the Eagles to pay him the big bucks when he keeps pulling stunts like that.

-The Giants continue to struggle on third downs. Once again, they had trouble converting third downs on offense and the defense gave up six third downs on the Eagles game-winning drive. That’s one problem that definitely needs addressing.

Boley and Bradshaw have been ruled out of the game. Prince will still be a game time decision.

@NotoriousOHMOhm Youngmisuk

Amukamara active. The Prince is cleared to make his debut tonight.

51 seconds ago via webFavoriteUndo RetweetReply

MetLife Stadium, Time to make good memories

history to fortify that abhorrence. No, I think a dispensing with all the statistics is in order, for this game will come down to who makes fewer mistakes and imposes their will over the other. Let’s try to isolate some of the questions regarding this game.

The Eagles run the ball better than anyone else, gaining almost 173 yards on the ground. Simply because Michael Vick is not expected to play does not negate the Eagles ability to move the ball on the ground. Vince Young is a capable runner and poses a physical presence. LeSean McCoy is one of the most exciting running backs in football. He runs with a style reminiscent of Barry Sanders which raises big red flags when imagining the challenge the Giants will have in stopping him. Couple McCoy’s outstanding running ability with the undermanned linebacker unit and it is time to pour a double for yourself. It will be interesting to see if Mark Herzlich is ready for prime time, for the speed of the game may be more than he is currently able to match. I remember watching A.J. Hawk and Clay Matthews in their first few games some years ago and they struggled. They also were not coming off a life threatening disease that robbed their bodies of muscle and substance. So in view of these facts I invoke the Michel Jordan Doctrine: You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him. And containing McCoy will be key if the Giants are to ostensibly end the season for these dirty birds from 90 miles down the turnpike.

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The offense:  Michael Vick appears to be out for the game tomorrow night, as does WR Jeremy Maclin.  In steps Vince Young who has thrown a total of one pass this season, and that was intercepted.  Which Vince Young do you get?  The one that can break open a game at any moment with his strength and speed?  The one that doesn’t go down so easy when hit?  Or the depressed, once great, washed up, indecisive Qb that was shipped out of Tennessee?  I believe the Giants will see both Vince Young and Mike Kafka tomorrow night if Vick indeed is inactive.  That leaves LeSean McCoy as the main weapon for the Eagles, and he is a formidable one.  On a team with Vick, DeSean Jackson, Maclin, Avant, and Celek, McCoy has managed to rush for 900 yards and 10 TD’s.  The Eagles LEAD the league in rushing averaging over 170 yards per game.  The Eagles are 3rd in total yards, but only 11th in scoring with a Net Point Differential of only 17. (more…)