Offense:  The 9ers are a pure running team.  They find all sorts of ways to get Frank Gore in good positions.  Their two running backs have a total of 999 yards on the ground so far this year.  They have a young and talented offensive line whose athleticism has proved to be it’s strength.  In my opinion Alex Smith, the QB, is still not ready to win at this level.  He has been kept under wraps, been given safe throws to make, and has not been asked to win a game without his running attack.  He has thrown for less that 1500 yards this season with a completion percentage of 64% and has been sacked 19 times.  The San Francisco team has some talent to catch the ball in Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, and Tedd Ginn Jr. however Smith’ accuracy on anything too far down the field is still a problem.  The 9ers will throw to backs, TE’s, and even some offensive tackles, in order to keep the opponent guessing, and to provide Smith with quick short throws.

Defense: Ranked number 1 against the rush, and first in points allowed with just 14.  They haven’t played many good scoring teams, and therefore that rank might be a little optimistic.  They are an impressive +12 in turnover ratio and have 22 sacks.  They are a strong 3-4 defensive team against the run, but rank 30th against the pass.

Specials:  Here comes another explosive special teams layer in Tedd Ginn Jr.  He has kickoff and punt returns for T.D’s, and can ruin any game in a hurry.  They have ex-Eagles kicker David Akers who is 19 of 21 with a long of 55.  With Alex Smith being a liability the 9ers don’t hesitate to call on Akers to put points on the board.

The call here for the Giants is simple.  Make Alex Smith beat you.  While looking out for play action passes the Giants will face their toughest task to date stopping the run.  The 9ers run the ball an average of 30 times a game while averaging 59 plays a game.  Look for the Giants to stack the box, play the three safeties a lot, and do whatever they can to force San Francisco into third and long.

As of this writing it looks like the Giants will be without Ahmad Bradshaw again this week, but Hakeem Nicks seems on track to go.

On Offense: Tom Brady……I could stop there, but they do rush for 112 a game over and above the absurd number of 325, which is what Brady averages a game, to go along with 28 points.  They have two players that they call tight ends.  They are nothing more than big, fast receivers.  The just line up a little differently.  The Giants might have an edge on other teams though, since they routinely play three safeties and don’t rely on line backers to cover tight ends that much.  The right side of their offensive line has been rebuilt, but old friends Mankins and Light remain on the left.  The same left side Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan had so much success against in the Super Bowl.

On Defense: Here’s the good news for Giants fans.  The Patriots and Bill Belichick actually rank last in passing yards and total yards allowed.  They yield 23 points a game.  They have made some adjustments going forward, but Eli should be able to continue at his high level of performance he has shown this year.  The short to intermediate passing game is key to keep the chains moving, the clock running, and the Patriots offense off the field.

 Key Injuries:  As of this writing their were some significant injuries on both sides.  Wes Welker has continued to miss practices and might be limited on the game.  The Patriots injury list as most people know is a joke.  They list everyone who has ever had an injury basically because Belichick doesn’t believe it’s his job to inform the other teams of the status of his players.

On the Giants side, Hakeem Nicks and Ahmad Bradshaw are questionable.  Without them look for names like D. J. Ware, Da’Rell Scott, Ramses Barden, Devin Thomas, Michael Clayton and ,oh yeah, some guy named Jacobs to play roles in this Sundays contest.

The Giants as we all know face opponents with a record of 39-25 the rest of the way.  What really matters is that no one, except Green Bay, has a better record than the Giants themselves.  Keep fighting, play smart, get healthy, and FINISH.

On Defense they have a total of 14 sacks, with Cameron Wake having 5 of those.  Their starting secondary has a total of zero interceptions, with the team totaling only two.  They allow an average of almost 380 yards a game while yielding over 24 points per contest.

The good news for the Giants this week is the health of their players.  Justin Tuck is back. Chris Snee is back.  The entire team is healing in time for the second half push.  While this is one of those games where the Giants might start slow, and look a little sluggish, I am hoping that the Seattle disaster a few weeks ago is fresh in their minds.  I hope they start quick, get the Dolphins down early, and cruise to an easy win before their schedule turns brutal.

The Offense (B):  The Giants offense is starting to click at the right time.  Although the running game has not quite reached the level they will need it to, the overall offense is moving in the right direction.  When you see Eli feel comfortable with the likes of Victor Cruz and Jake Ballard you know the offense is working.  It is great to see guys step up and make plays.  Yes, teams will start to keep an eye on Ballard now, but that only opens up opportunities to get the ball to the backs, and to the other wideouts.  The O-Line continues to be the victim of injuries, but again this builds depth for the rest of the season.  All in all this offense which ranks 9th in points and 7th in passing is moving in the right direction.  The running game will prove to be the final piece of any success they enjoy this season.

The Defense(C):  It seems the defense has been struggling since day one.  They must rely on pressuring the QB and have to find a way to limit the running games of opponents.  Hopefully Justin Tuck will return in the next week or two and be able to stay healthy the remainder of the season.  This is a big piece of the puzzle.  The pressure that a healthy D-Line puts on the offense is key.  Not only in the passing game, but against the run.  Hopefully the second half sees the beginning of the career of “The Prince”.  Prince Amukamara will allow the safeties to return to their natural positions and should strengthen the defense overall.  Health is the key for this defense.

Special teams(B):  The most pleasant surprise here has been Steve Weatherford. Top ten in average and top 5 in return yardage against is a big reason the specials have been better.  Aaron Ross has stabilized the punt return position.  I still would look for Jerrel Jernigan to get a shot somewhere here this season.  He did dress for his first game last week.  The kickoff returns have been so-so, but no turnovers in either category is a goal achieved.  Lawrence Tynes has been stellar on kickoffs, but the confidence certainly isn’t there on the field goal front.

The Outlook:  30-16….That is the combined record of the teams the Giants will face after the Dolphins leave town.  Not only do the Giants face some traditionally good teams, they play them at all the wrong places and times.  IN New England, IN New Orleans on a Monday Night, IN San Francisco, IN Dallas on a Sunday Night, add to that home games against Green Bay and the cross town rival Jets.  This is a tough challenge.  Now, you never know what a team will look like when you finally play them, but it lays out as a very tough road.  Maybe the best thing that happens for the Giants this year is Philly, Dallas and Washington stay mediocre to poor, and the path gets a bit easier.  The Good news is this team can only get healthier.  Hopefully they will continue to improve on this front and have a complete team to compete with going forward,

The Seahawks Offense:  Led by old friend QB Tarvaris Jackson, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings, and RB Marshawn Lynch.  Saying the offense hasn’t hit it’s stride yet would be an understatement.  They currently rank at or near the bottom in every offensive category, and this week they may be without a big weapon in Mike Williams.  Williams suffered a concussion last week and hasn’t practiced as of this writing.  Also not practicing were CB Marcus Trufant, and LG Robert Gallery.  The ‘Hawks start two rookies on the right side of their line, and now with Gallery out, it becomes a very young line, and one that has a few people out of position.  The job of the Giants will be to fix their run defense this week.  Marshawn Lynch is a very capable, strong runner with some speed.  He will test the Giants defense this week.  While Tarvaris certainly has the arm to throw it down the field, and Sidney Rice has the talent to get open, the Giants will have the luxury of not having to cover Mike Williams.  They should be able to do as they have done the past few weeks and keep the receivers in front of them.  Not giving up big plays to this team will be the key.  They should be incapable of sustaining long drives if the run defense does a decent job, and then exploit the young O-Line on passing downs.

The Seahawks Defense: The ‘Hawks play a 4-3 defense with an undersized linebacking core.  The team has only recorded 5 sacks this season, and has given up an average of 5.1 yards per play.  If they are indeed without their CB Marcus Trufant, it could be a long day for the ‘Hawks defense if Eli Manning remains hot.  The Giants will do their usual plan of attack in using the run to bring down the safeties, and then exploit them with play action passes down the field.  The Seahawks are a -4 in turnover ratio.

Special Teams:  Usually I don’t put a section on Special Temas, but this week it is relevant.  Former Jet Leon Washington returns to the Meadowlands as an explosive and very intelligent return man.  He also is used on third downs and even in some wild cat formations.  Leon is about the only thing that could wreck the game plan for the Giants this week.  Look for the Giants to force the ball deep on kickoffs, and to completely neutralize him on punt returns.

The Giants take care of business in this first of three straight at home.

On Offense: The Cardinals have struggled so far to gel as an offense. New Qb Kevin Kolb, whom the team acquired from Philadelphia in the off-season, has struggled in his decision making. He has not yet found a chemistry with his teammates. He has thrown for 5 TD’s while also throwing 3 picks, and fumbling once. He has also been sacked 8 times in this young season. Of course the Cardinals have All-World WR Larry Fitzgerald on their team, and he can be instant offense for any QB. Fitzgerald is capapble of making any catch against any number of defenders. We can only hope this isn’t the week Kolb and Fitzgerald find the same page. Also back in the mix for the Cardinals is running back Beanie Wells. Wells was out last week, but says he’s ready to go for the game on Sunday. Wells has 32 carries for 183 yards in 2 games, a great average, but if he only carries the ball 15 times, the Giants will have done their job. The Cardinals are a veteran team that have not learned how to work together.

On Defense: The Cardinals play a 3-4 defense. They are very strong up front and have an active Line backing corps. They are particularly strong on the left side with Darnell Dockett, Joey Porter, and rookie CB Patrick Peterson. Once again they are a veteran group, except at the two corner spots. Second year man A.J. Jefferson joins the rookie Peterson in the defensive backfield, however they are backed up by 18 years combined experience at the Safety spot in Adrian Wilson and Kerry Rhodes. Look for Rhodes to blitz off the corner on third downs. The Giants must establish some dominance in the running game to neutralize the safeties. The more the Giants can run, the better chance they will have to throw it over the top of the defense for some big plays.

As I stated earlier these two teams are statistically similar. Let’s take a look:

Offensively the Giants rank 10th in the NFC, the Cardinals 8th. Yards per play, and total yards are almost identical. The Giants hold the edge in points per game and also in the all important turnover category. The Giants are +4, while the Cardinals are -1. On Defense the Giants currently rank 8th, while the Cardinals are at 14. However yards per play and points scored are virtually identical.

This contest will be all about turnovers, and pressuring a Qb in Kevin Kolb that hasn’t quite grasped his new system. Kolb will throw some prayers against pressure, the Giants have to hope Larry Fitzgerald doesn’t answer those prayers. Controlling the running game and forcing Kolb to look across at JPP, Tuck, Canty, Osi, Kiwi, and Michael Boley all day on third and long should prove a successful formula for the Giants. If this team were coached by anyone other than Tom Coughlin I would warn against the long travel, and a let down after last weeks big win. I don’t feel these are concerns. Giants should prevail, but this game is closer than most people think.

On Offense:  The Giants, for the second week in a row, face a team that plays poorly against the run.  In what is admittedly a small sample, the Eagles give up an average of 5.3 yards per rush.  Unlike the Rams, the Eagles are extremely weak at the Linebacker position.  To back-up this claim, the Eagles have re-aligned their much maligned Linebacking corps.  The Eagles drafted Casey Matthews purely on name recognition alone.  He is not an NFL Middle Linebacker.  He has now been moved to the outside and is replaced by second year man Jamar Chaney.  Andy Reid is saying the change is being made for the matchup against the Giants, in other words he’s searching for an answer to a huge defensive problem.  The Eagles play a scheme with their front four, as we all heard Sunday night ,called The Wide-Nine.  Their Rush ends are split wide, about 4 and a half yards away from their interior tackles.  Their sole job is to rush upfield and turn everything back to the inside.  The linebackers are supposed to fill the holes, and make the plays in the gaps….they haven’t.  The Giants will need to find some blocking schemes to exploit this alignment that the Eagles employ on almost every down.  Getting a back one on one against a linebacker on the Eagles is a good thing, Bradshaw and Jacobs will need to carry the load this week.  The Giants will run, run, run, setting up the over the top passes as they did last week when the secondary drops down to help.

On Defense:  The Giants cannot cover all the speed the Eagles can employ in their offense.  The pressure on Michael Vick must be relentless.  Keeping Vick in the pocket, or forcing him to his right will be a key element in this game.  The Eagles of course have also learned that Vick cannot throw when running right, so look for their line to move the pocket left from the snap.  The Eagles also employ lots of screens, swing passes, and mis-direction runs.  When trying to put maximum pressure on a Qb, it is very difficult to fill all the lanes on the back side.  The Giants must remain disciplined in their attack, send pressure from the secondary, and do their best to keep the receivers in front of them.  A few long drives by the Giants offense would go a long way in making the defense a success.

The key to this game should come down to turnovers and penalties.  As an official, I can tell you that penalties stop more drives than anything else.  Penalties on Special Teams are especially tough.  The Giants need to play smart and avoid unnecessary penalties.  The other key is winning the turnover battle.  Michael Vick is prone to fumbling.  He fumbles when sacked, and can be stripped when he runs.  The Giants defense must win the turnover battle this Sunday for any chance of success in this division match-up.

This is an early tough test for the G-Men on the road within the division….One thing I look for is for the Giants to play a full 4 quarter battle.  The Falcons kept fighting last week, stuck to their plan, and came back for 14 points to win.  FINISHING is the KEY.

Will Beatty: (A) Will played a very good game yesterday.  As the new starting left tackle their was much concern over how Will would respond.  He was left alone most of the day on Stephen Bowen who had one tackle, and got a late sack when he was moved to the other side of the line.  Beatty had some key blocks on running downs, and protected his side well.  It seems that the coaching staff trusted Will with his assignments because most of the afternoon he was left one-on-one against both Bowen and the linebackers on his side. Hopefully Will can continue to play at a high level, and the Giants can figure out how to help the other areas that are in need of help.

Greg Jones: (C-) Greg had a tough night, but was also in a tough spot starting week one.  He played mainly on first and second downs, and was replaced by Williams on third down.  Greg seems to be a better straight ahead player, and struggles with the side to side.  He is going to need to get more aggressive and find the gaps to the backfield.  At times he seemed to hide or wait behind the defensive line instead of attacking and shooting the gaps.  Again, not knowing the play calling, it was hard to tell if he was properly placed on pass plays.  He seemed to be chasing a lot instead of putting himself in good positions.  He did make some tackles in the passing game on receivers that certainly weren’t his to cover, which shows some hustle.  He was credited with 4 solo tackles.  This, of course, is a work in progress and we will see if there is improvement week to week, or if the Giants feel they need to make a change there already.

I hope you find this feature informative.

The Offense:  The Giants moved the ball very well against the Jets. Now the Jets are not very good against the run, as Pittsburgh proved last year in the playoffs, but they are a top defensive team in the league and it was a good measuring stick.  Brandon Jacobs looked solid and ran committed.  He ran over a few Jets on his way to 51 yards on 10 carries, and more importantly ran well in short yardage situations.  This also shows the O-Line is starting to come together and working as a unit.  The receivers however, as a whole, look confused.  Hakeem Nicks made some nice catches against a very good secondary, and Mario Manningham was open a few times, but Eli failed to make the throw, and this is where the problem lies this off-season.  I think Eli has had to take too much on his shoulders what with a new O-Line, in particular a new center, and new receivers.  On certain plays Monday night Eli seemed to have to speak to every player on offense individually.  he would call the protections, then move the backs, then look at each receiver, then try and get people to move or go in motion at the proper time.  While I think Eli is a good Qb, he is going to need help as the season progresses.  I think some of these receivers are doing a great job, but at times they forget where they are.  They have taken penalties for illegal motion, illegal formation, they have not read blitzes correctly, and have run some bad routes.  It is all part of the growing pains of playing in the NFL, but these guys are going to need to step it up, become professionals, and be consistent on every play.  Travis Beckum, Victor Cruz, Devin Thomas, and Domenik Hixon are going to have to contribute something for this sesaon to be a success.

The Defense:  This will be another strong unit this year.  Even with the loss of Terrell Thomas, the Giants proved the other night that they are deep enough and talented enough to be a top defensive team this year.  Aaron Ross continues to play like he did his rookie year.  Antrelle Rolle quietly, well quietly for him, has moved to the nickel corner in passing situations and looked good on Monday night.  The defensive line has learned to get pressure using just the 4 linemen, and that is a big key to success.  If you can rush a QB in this league using just the four guys upfront, your chances of success go way up.  Of course the addition of Osi and “The Prince” down the line will only improve this unit.  The much maligned linebacking core has even looked good this pre-season, and will continue to improve as we move forward.  Giant fans love their Defense, and this unit will make you proud this year.

Special Teams:  And now for the bad news.  Wow, as good as they seemed to look the week before, that’s how bad they looked this Monday night.  A step back for most units.  The punt return situation has remained the same….awful.  As a Giant punt returner your main job has always been to secure the ball first and foremost.  That became a major challenge Monday night.  I think Thursday night will be a test for some young players, and some veterans, to see what we can accomplish in this area.  I am hoping it was just an off night by a young player trying to impress. We will see. Kickoffs will be returned by Devin Thomas, and he will be a major upgrade over the 17 yard average from a year ago.  The punting competition continues, and the health of Lawrence Tynes will determine who the place kicker will be.

So, Thursday night will be a last ditch effort by some players to show something, but I imagine the final 50 if not 53 has already been determined.  Stay tuned to GMENHQ.COM for all roster moves when they are announced on Saturday, and as always, enjoy the game!