Unpacking The Win (Panthers Edition)

Welcome to the first GmenHQ edition of my recap post – Unpacking the Win/Loss.  Every week whether the Giants win or lose, I’ll be breaking down the game stats in an attempt to uncover the deeper stories that lie within the numbers.  I like to flag each meaningful stat with either a red or green mark where appropriate. The breakdown begins after the jump.

PASSING

First and foremost, let’s start with Eli. Despite his stat line of 3 interceptions, he had a decent game overall.  The tipped passes that went for INTs were each a bit high, but that’s typical Eli and each should have been caught by the respective receiver.  I expect as the season progresses for the receivers to get a better handle and haul those balls in.  The Bradshaw tipped pass alone should have been caught for yardage. And for what it’s worth, these balls were thrown at each receiver with the reasonable expectation that they be caught — each had a legitimate chance of being caught, it’s not like they were poorly thrown balls into triple coverage like what we saw from Matt Moore.  It’s not like those miscues were all on Eli.

Side note: forgive this rant folks, but it’s getting to the point of utter frustration for me when I see these NFL video recaps where the tone of the “analyst” drags down the performance of Eli Manning when there is no cause to do so.  Simply seeing a stat and thinking Eli had a poor day (3 INTs) just proves they didn’t actually see the game footage (at best) before opening their mouth… that’s just plain incompetent (at worst).  Not that it’s anything new, but It’s bad enough that the NFL preview spent 99% of the time focusing on how the Carolina Panthers were going to beat the Giants. It clearly wasn’t balanced analysis and it definitely was not an accurate representation of what the Giants had done to rebuild their team in 2010. If anything, it was a fairly uniformed, and frankly — just a BAD JOB all around from NFL’s team of “analysts”.  I expect more from Brian Billick, who I hold in a fairly high regard as a coach and “analyst”… but to leave the Giants side of the story up to a simple footnote is inexcusable.  It’s fine if you think Carolina is going to win, but the kicker is the snide comments about Eli Manning and the Giants during the recap video.  It basically proves that the game didn’t fit the template story these “analysts” wanted to see unfold, that they could care less about getting the story about the Giants right, and it leaves me to conlude that there is a pervasive negative opinion of Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning, and the Giants stemming from the NFL “analysis” and coverage teams.   At this point, what other conclusion can one draw?  Each and every year I feel like Eli Manning and the Giants have an uphill battle when it comes to the mainstream sports media, this is just one more bullet in that gun I guess.  [end rant]

Anyway, take away those tipped pass interceptions and Eli has a passer rating of 127.5 for the home opener with the same stat line otherwise  — this to me is a better indication of how Manning looked Sunday afternoon for the home opener.   He was sharp, on time, and the routes to the end zone were absolute perfectly thrown balls.  Manning had a relatively comfortable pocket to work within as well thanks to the offensive line.  Only one sack was given up on the day.  Several penalties though on delays and false starts — that needs to be cleaned up ASAP before the Giants head to a very noisy stadium in Indy next week.

RUSHING

Lets start from the conclusion on this one and work backwards.  In the end, the rushing stats were enough.  Not good, nearly decent.  I won’t even say adequate, because for 30 straight minutes it was inadequate yardage on the ground.  And the reasons for this are simple — it took FOREVER to get a hole opened up. But to the Giants credit, they made some adjustments in the second half and turned a -2 rushing stat into a 118 yard gain to end with the ground game on a high note.

It was crystal clear that Bradshaw and Jacobs had little to work with in the first half, no running lanes, nobody could hold a block either and with Kevin Boss leaving early with a knee injury, things spiraled out of control.  Carolina simply overpowered the Giants offensive line and got to the point of attack consistently to stop the Giants on the ground.  In the second half however, the Giants offense really got clicking and scored 17 unanswered points with some very dynamic series of plays from Kevin Gilbride. First and foremost, the play to start the second half with Jacobs getting the snap and taking it outside on a flip — no one saw it coming.  It was a great play call, great deception on Eli’s part, and Jacobs executed perfectly. He looked quick too, in his own words the idea on that play is to just “run as fast as you can” – it sure looked like he got up to speed well too.  And we can debate this all day as to why it worked, but one thing I’m going to suggest is that the rotation between Bradshaw and Jacobs worked well for the Giants here.  It shows the Giants are committed to staying dynamic with their running calls, something that took great form late last season particularly the game against the Redskins when Bradshaw and Jacobs were in and out from snap to snap.

Bradshaw was able to bail himself out statistically with a couple of long runs, the 39 yard scamper to the 1 yard line and then the ensuing draw play 3 plays later for a TD basically saved the day for him.  I find it interesting that even a fresh Jacobs still could not pick up that yard on the 1 yard line, Bradshaw did a nice job finding the lane to the endzone off a playcall I think most saw coming – the draw. But while he worked it out late, Bradshaw couldn’t get anything going early behind a rusty offensive line.  Although to be fair, a few times he showed elusive abilities to get up field on a completely busted play… great individual effort where perhaps Jacobs would have taken a huge loss.  So I still like the strategy of Bradshaw starting, getting the first snap going forward and getting the bulk of the snaps for the Giants.  Carolina still showed that defenses are still going to stack things up against Jacobs every time he’s in on the play, and you can’t go to the well too many times with the flip and quick out passes.

The fumbles are still and issue for Bradshaw though, he’s going to have to go to Coughlin’s school of “High and Tight” if he want’s to get better and see his accolades continue.

RECEIVING

Hakeem Nicks had a hat trick to start the season, if this were hockey the story would be everywhere.  But this is football and Nicks is a second year rookie who plays for the Giants, who coincidentally never get press about this sort of thing. Nicks didn’t even get a top 10 nod from ESPN… oh well, get used to it. The Giants don’t have any receivers that aren’t named Steve Smith, I forgot (and even he plays for Carolina I hear).

Speaking of which, Steve Smith was hardly used for a man of his consistent caliber. The only time he happened to come through was when I recited aloud “third down and Steve Smith”  — it worked like Beetlejuice, but only the one time.  He ended the night with decent slot receiver numbers, but what are we to make of the fact that Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks both had great nights with crucial pickups for big yards and TDs?  Are teams game planning for Steve Smith now too? Or did Eli want to make a statement that Smith isn’t the only receiver the Giants can throw to?  Either way, it makes Indianapolis’ job that much harder now that there’s some fresh footage of the Giants top 3 receivers tearing it up all over the field.

Tipped balls need to be caught, end of story.  Manning takes responsibility, of course he does…. he’s a player. He’s a class act, a teammate, a pro.  He’s not going to throw Nicks, Bradshaw, and Barden under the bus. But the fact is those throws were very catchable and need to be hauled in if the Giants are going to win those tough games down the stretch. Gutting it out is about minimizing mistakes, not getting away with them or getting bailed out by the defense.

INTERCEPTIONS

Great to see Kenny Phillips get on the board his first week back. And not only here, but he had that shoe string tackle (literally) on DeAngelo Williams to save a sure touchdown and with it, a much harder game to win.

Deon Grant did well for himself in that backup role as well, although Perry Fewell’s 3 safety look brought him onto the field with Rolle and Phillips more than I think even he anticipated.  A great pick in the endzone though.

Terrell Thomas did an overall good job Sunday. It would be GREAT except for that one stinking play where Carolina’s Steve Smith caught a TD ball with Thomas in coverage at the end of the half.  And a great route / pass is what it is — which in this particular case is what we’re dealing with — so no credit to be taken away from Carolina.  But that same post up the middle for 20 yards seems to get the Giants every time whether it’s the Eagles, Redskins, Chargers, Saints, or Panthers.  Every single time that play exposes the Giants underbelly and I’m sick of it.  Thomas needs to figure out how to stay on it and get his hand up and tip the ball so it’s uncatchable on that play. Easier said than done I know, but other teams’ corners get it done when the Giants are on the other end.

PUNTING

Dodge was consistent in the punts he actually got off, nothing really boomed but just an average performance. The blocked punt in the closing minutes of the game wasn’t his fault… it was unfortunate that Kehl had to lose his roster spot because of it.  What’s clear from this example though is that Coughlin is hyper-sensitive about Dodge and the punting issues and if we thought this unit was on a short leash after the preseason, it’s practically been taken by the collar after Sunday. 28.7 yards net punting is worse than Feagles by a long shot.  And the coverage teams were just lackluster at best, completely disgusting at worst. Take your pick.

TEAM STATS & NOTES

• Time of Possession: typical Giants winning formula here.  Glad the Giants could win on their own turf, on their own time.
• Gain per pass play:  actually very efficient and quite good for Eli and the Giants receivers. For perspective, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning both averaged a yard less in their outings. The Giants defense holding Carolina to under 4 ypc is also a great accomplishment.
• Run stopping: only 2 rushing first downs for Carolina, just great effort and concentration on the rejuvenated run stopping ability from the Giants defense.
• Tackled for a loss:  the offensive line needs to work with Bear Pascoe and Travis Beckum this week and get in sync. 6 tackles for a loss for a former league leading rushing attack is unbelievable. Can Shawn Andrews make an appearance if this keeps up?
• Punting: this aspect of the Giants team needs to come into focus – both in the actually kicking of the ball a long ways and the coverage team that is supposed to prevent a long run back. Starting position will help the defense in the tough games they’ll face ahead. 28 yards on average is pathetic and 16 yard net with the blocked punt counting is criminal.  And with over 170 return yards for the Panthers, you can see why Special Teams is one of the three facets of the game that accounts for a win or loss.
• Penalties:  First game, no cohesion on the line from an injury riddled preseason – fine.  But clean it up on the false starts and time of possessions this week in practice gentlemen, that noisy stadium in Indy will not go easy on you.
• Touchdowns: great to see that number above the field goal stat, as well as the defense keeping Carolina to just one TD and 20% efficiency in the red zone.  Bend but don’t break as they say…. what a difference a year makes.
• Red Zone and Goal To Go:  great to see the Giants are well above chance here, particularly with goal to go.  Evidence there was a good mix of play calling and execution at work all around.

Well folks, that’s it for the first edition. Hope you all enjoyed it and check back later in the week for the Sunday Night Football preview with the Giants going up against the Colts.