Who are The Patriots?
By Joe Tufaro
The Giants start their quest for 5-4 in their next nine on the road this week in Foxboro at 4:15pm Eastern. The Patriots are coming off a loss to Pittsburgh and that doesn’t bode well for the Giants. The Steelers laid out the perfect plan for beating The Pats….don’t let them have the ball.
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.