It was the best game the Giants had played in since the Super Bowl and boy was it a battle. The win over the Steelers on Sunday afternoon kept the Giants atop the NFC East, alone in first, for at least another week, but the fact of the matter is that their 21-14 victory over Pittsburgh should not have been as close as it was.
There is a problem with the 2008 New York Giants. Sure they are 6-1 and only a few wins away from a postseason berth, but there is a looming problem that nearly cost them a win on Sunday. And that problem is their inability to score in the red zone.
The play calling from inside the 20 and more so inside the five makes no sense and I am not sure if the calls are coming from Tom Coughlin or Kevin Gilbride, but after the Giants first five trips to the red zone on Sunday, they came away with four field goals and 12 points out of a possible 35 points (including the extra points that likely would have been good). It wasn’t until their sixth and final trip deep into Pittsburgh territory that the Giants were able to score a touchdown and put the game away. But really the game could have been put away in the first half and the second half would have just been the Giants running out the clock. Instead, they were in for a thriller with seconds remaining on the clock before Ben Roethlisberger threw his fourth interception of the day.
I have said the Steelers are overrated this entire season and I still believe it. There was no doubt that the Giants were the superior team and had they converted a few more times in the red zone, they might have won by 20 points or more. The Steelers have a great defense and they get some of the credit for stopping the Giants, but the Pittsburgh offense is nothing special. However, they do appear to be at the top of the AFC class alongside the Titans.
Eli Manning outplayed his 2004 draft classmate, Roethlisberger, as Eli managed the game nicely without throwing for any big plays, unless you call the pass to Amani Toomer in the fourth a big play. And that pass brings me to another point. Down 14-9 and in field goal range the Giants decide to go for it on 4th and 6 instead of taking a field goal attempt. Eli connects to Toomer inside the five and the Giants fail to get into the end zone. So on 4th down from the 5, the Giants decide to kick a field goal. How does kicking a field goal from the 5 yard line on 4th down make sense if you weren’t going to attempt one on 4th and 6 from about the 30? Once again strange decision making and play calling from the coaching staff.
But once again, a win is a win. And a playoff spot is now in sights for the 2008 New York Football Giants. Way back I said they would need to go 10-6 to get in and now staying with those numbers they need to go 4-5 over the next nine weeks to reach the promised land. With five games left against division opponents I am not ready to clinch the NFC East for the Giants yet, but they are making a strong case for that first round bye in the playoffs.
THE PICKS
So far the picks have been the best they have been since Week 1 when I went 10-6. This week with one game (IND @ TEN) remaining the picks are 10-3 with IND +4 tonight. The season record is 63-51 (.553).