While the rest of the football world looks towards the Tebow Brady match-up, The Giants take on the Washington Redskins (4-9) in New Jersey tomorrow at 1:00 Eastern.  The Redskins have struggled this year after a good start due mainly to injuries.  No Giants fan wants to hear about how injuries have affected another team, but the losses by the offensive side of the ball have prevented the Redskins from finding much success this year.

Offense:  The Losses of  WR Santana Moss for a large portion of the season, RB Tim Hightower, and TE Chris Cooley, among others has taken away all the balance of this offense.  When your choices at QB are John Beck and Rex Grossman, losing weapons like the above mentioned names is a killer.  The ‘Skins average only 17.5 points per game and are last in rushing yards at 94.  Rookie Roy Helu has stepped in and done an admirable job replacing HIghtower, and the Giants must concentrate on stopping him both in running situations and out of the backfield.  The Redskins showed last week a myriad of trick plays and mis-directions that will test the discipline of the Giants.  Half back passes, wide receiver passes, throw back screens, and double reverses will all be utilized tomorrow to somehow score enough points to be competitive.

Defense: The strength of this Redskin team is up front on defense.  They have drafted and signed well in this area.  They play a three four with both outside linebackers being very active in the pass rush recording 34 sacks as a team.  The Giants will need to continue their strong work up front and give Eli time to find his receivers downfield.  The ‘Skins placed Safety LaRon Landry on IR this week.  LaRon, who regularly gets flattened by Brandon Jacobs, is their best run stopper from the secondary. The secondary has 9 interceptions on the year and the team has an abysmal -14 turnover ratio.

The Giants will need to play well on offense as has been the norm the past few weeks.  Getting off to a fast start and converting early will go along way in this game.  The defense will need to stay disciplined, stop the run, and let Rex Grossman deal with the pressure from the front four.  These last three games are all extremely important to the Giants, but the two division games against these Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys are MUST wins.  I see Eli continuing his good play and the Giants getting a win here.

We have landed at the halfway point of the 2011 season. Every team in the NFL have played out their first 8 games. Only two teams have played into the second half of a 16 game schedule, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts. The second half is upon us and the playoff brackets are beginning to take shape.

The NFC East has always been a competitive division, in and of itself and outside of the conference/division. The first impressions that many had of the NFC East have been blown out of the water. Regardless of record, any team in this conference is capable, at any time, of making the opposition sorry for mistaking a losing record for terminal weakness. We’ve got the grades and projections for the remainder of the season right here. Welcome to the NFC EAST Midseason Report Card! Check it out!
(more…)

Quick tidbits from around the NFL today:

1. WFAN’s Boomer Esiason and other league sources are reporting that Oakland Raiders QB Jason Campbell is out for the season with a broke collarbone. Click here for the information.
2. 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and Lions head coach Jim Schwartz got into it after the Lions-49ers game. Click here to read.
3. Trouble is brewing in our nation’s capital. Sexy Rexy was yanked as the starting QB today. To read about it click here.
4. The Dallas Cowboys played not to lose against the Patriots today and it cost them. Read it here.
5. Saints head coach and former GIANTS defense cordinator Sean Payton tore his MCL and broke his leg today. For more click here.

Week 4 – the NFL lockout is slowly becoming a distant memory and the playoff race is taking shape…well not quite. But we are one quarter of that way done with a football season that almost didn’t happen. Tie flies when you’re having fun!

Keeping with tradition, we gaze into the crystal balls of the necromancers of the NFL over at ESPN. We’ll look into their picks from last week, this week and see how I rank among them. Who am I picking this week? What’s my record thus far? Read on for my breakdown and analysis of each game.
(more…)

Welcome to week 3 in the National Football League. The shapes of each conference are being to take form. The divisions themselves match up quite well at this stage of the season. But this week will begin to separate the men from the boys. Those professional pickers over at ESPN have cast their ballots and the results are in!

As usual, I have made my predictions right long side the likes of Mike Golic, Ron Jaworski, the two robots and the rest of the ESPN panel of pundits. Last week was a wild wind up of football. There were upsets along with easy pickings. How did I fare against the ESPN machine? Who am I picking this week? You just might be surprised. Read on.
(more…)