Giants: Turnovers Make all the Difference

Joe Tufaro — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 17:24:30 +0000

We, as Giants fans, know that Tom Coughlin like all good coaches preach that ball security is the most precious commodity and tells the story of most games and seasons. Yesterday we saw a prime example of this philosophy. The Giants dominated the entire 60 minutes of football yesterday vs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They were dominant in every phase. They should have won by a big margin going away. The difference? Turnovers. The Giants not only cost themselves points and possessions with their first half mistakes, but provided Tampa with 21 points along the way. The stats at halftime as well as the end of the game make this point very clear. At the half the Giants had rushed for 62 yards compared to just 35 for Tampa, this against the defense that held Carolina to 10 total yards rushing the week prior. The Giants passed for 215 compared to 89 for Tampa. With 16 first downs and a time of possession of over 18 minutes, this should not have been a close game.

In the second half the true story was told, and as Eli said the difference in the two halves? “I stopped throwing interceptions”. The totals for this game are mind blowing, especially for old time Giants fans. 94 yards rushing, 510 passing, 31 first downs, and just under 33 and a half minutes of possession. That is a dominant team and a dominant performance, if the turnovers disappear.

Now, the questions about the back end of this defense need to be addressed. Corey Webster thinks they need to be more aggressive, and this was the plan at the end of last season that seemed to work well. The Giants, once a bit healthier, should ask the guys that can cover tight to do so, and then play zone underneath and over the top. It’s a complex scheme, and with short practice times and the Giants crazy schedule, it will not be easy to implement. Hopefully Jayron Hosely keeps learning quickly, and can stay on the field. They need to get Prince back and also see if Michael Coe can last a full game with his hamstring problems. The good news however is we know the offense works, and works well with Eli, Nicks, Cruz, Bennett, and a running game that showed some life yesterday, even without Bradshaw being healthy.

Who are the Buffalo Bills?

Joe Tufaro — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:21:50 +0000

The Bills are a surprisingly good team this year. With wins over Oakland, New England and Philly already, they travel to New York to face the Giants Sunday afternoon. I say the Bills are surprising because some of their stats belie their record. They are 30th in yards per game on DEFENSE. They give up a little over 420 yards per game, however they have 12 interceptions to counteract that fact. They are 29th in the league in rushing defense, while forcing 5 fumbles in the process. They are last in the league in sacks with a total of 4. To say that this was a stout defense would be a lie, but they manage to create turnovers, and that’s how they have won some of these games. With all of that yardage and the negative statistics on defense, they are in the middle of the pack allowing 24 points per game. They do have some injuries to their defense this week. Their nose tackle Kyle Williams most likely will be out of the line-up Sunday as will Steroid freak Shawn Merriman, no great loss there. Merriman has been missing in action for them for a while now, even when he has been on the field. It is a bad stat when your safeties lead your team in tackles, but when your D-Line has a total of 30 tackles and no sacks thru 5 games, someone has to be stepping into the hole.

On Offense the Bills rank third in points scored with almost 33. They are 4th in rushing yards and 13th in passing. They are led by Ivy League (HARVARD) QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who seems to have found a system he can work within. Head coach Chan Gailey has turned this part of the team around. Fitzpatrick now completes 66% of his passes. He has 10 TD’s with 4 INT’s. He has not fumbled the ball so far this year. He is a possession Qb with the ability to throw the ball deep. Again the stats say he averages 7 yards a throw, but he has only been sacked three times, and has thrown for a total of over 1200 yards. Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson are the stars of this offense. The Bills know how to spread the ball around through the air, and can pound you on the ground. This is a true west coast offense, one that can give the Giants fits if they are not careful.

Finally we face a team without a Special teams nightmare waiting to happen. The Bills average 7 yards a return on punts with a long of 10, and 24 yards on kickoffs with a long of 25. Hopefully the Giants can win a field position battle this week.

Giants need to avoid the turnovers this week, and turn both of the sack stats of Buffalo around. The Giants should be able to keep Eli upright against a team with a total of 4 sacks, and hopefully can have Ryan Fitzpatrick visit the Meadowlands turf more times this game than he has all year…it would go as a big plus towards winning this game.

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Giants: Turnovers Make all the Difference

Who are the Buffalo Bills?