New York Giants - Rd6 Buffalo Bills - REVIEW

Getting a win before a bye is always important. It's like you're girlfriend is going away for 2 weeks. You want to send her on your way satisfied or you'll spend the fortnight with visions of a latino stud servicing the needs you were unable to.

The good news is we got the win. It was as sloppy as a high school prom night but we can rest easy that the week off can be used to regroup and hopefully bring the Miami Dolphins into our house on the 30th of October and slap a pair of fingercuffs on her. No latinos for her!

So how was it won?

Eli's O Face

Eli Manning is currently sitting 5th for yards, 3rd with a rating of 101.1, 9th on comp%, 3rd for avg and 6th with 11 touchdowns. Apart from the touchdowns the rest are Career highs.

In the last 3 weeks Eli has thrown for 321, 420 and 292 yards and is averaging 296 per game over the season.

Usual suspect Hakeem Nicks caught 4 for 96 yards including an impressive 60 yard catch and run. TE Jake Ballard continued on from last weeks impressive 3 receptions for 72 yards and a score to pull in 5 for 81 yards. He is averaging 18.2 yards per catch this year and looks to be a handy option for Eli Manning.

Not so Carrie Bradshaw

In the absence of RB Brandon Jacobs Ahmad Bradshaw has had a lean trot struggling to establish the run early leaving the team to rely on the Arm of Manning. Well finally Bradshaw Bradshaw CARRIEd the running game and recorded his 1st 100 yard game of the season. Is average of 4.0  yards per carry was average but he was able to punch the ball into the end zone 3 times from the 1 yard line for scores.

Fast Freddie

Again the Giants defence was run over by a running back for 100+ yards including the typical big run this time of 80 yards. Fred Jackson is a fast back but he was allowed to waltz through too many open wholes in the line for a 1st down. Hopefully Justin Tuck's return will help sure this up in 2 weeks. CB Corey Webster did come up with 2 interceptions and Jason Pierre-Paul added another sack to his tally leaving him at 2nd in the NFL.

Flamin Fitzy

On the whole the secondary did a good job of stopping the air attack considering Ryan Fitzpatrick has been playing well and full of confidence. However another breakdown saw a inside slant route go for 60 yards and a score.

Special Teams

The only 2 notable ST plays were a 17 yard punt return by Aaron Ross and the Bill blocking a field goal that could have seen the game go into Over Time.

I'm selfishly not a fan of byes but I will be avidly watching the Notre Dame vs USC game. An Irish win could see them slip into the rankings with a 5-2 record.

Until then hail to the Gamma!

New York Giants - Rd5 Seattle Seahawks - REVIEW

Well I let it stew for a day but losses like these have a lingering burn much like a dodgy curry.

Online there is much finger pointing including injured players who some think should be out there. (Brandon Jacobs and Justin Tuck most notably) I think it will be easier to just stick to facts and stats.

Seattle Won 36 - 25

New York turned the ball over 5 times!!!!!!

Up up and give it away!

Okay so Eli Manning threw for a career best 420 yards including 3 touchdowns but has also ended up 3 crucial interceptions and a lost fumble. So did he lose the game or do his best to win it? Well let's look at his picks, the most notorious one in the dying stages tipped by Victor Cruz and returned for a 95 yard touchdown and in essence ending the game.

For the Giants offense to work it needs a balance of run and pass and in the absence of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw having a quiet game Manning was forces to try to win the game off his own game. Ironically Eli Manning's largest passing days (420 last week, 391 in 2009 and 386 in 2010) were all home losses. Eli is best as a 200-300 yard passer complimented by a strong running game.

Despite a fumble and a tipped pass for a pick Victor Cruz continued his strong recent form with careers bests 8 catches for 161 yards and a score. Back to back 100+ yard games have seen the exposure of Cruz as a legitimate threat heightened. He'll be looking to have another strong game next week against the Bills.

TE Jack Ballard again proved we still have a threat in that position hauling in 3 passes for 72 yards and a score.

Hakeem Nicks had a quiet day by his standard but caught 4 for 65 and a lay out score. Mario Manningham improves weekly recording 5 for 56 yards and will add a triple threat for Eli to aim at.

Go the runs?

Brandon Jacobs didn't play and Ahmad Bradshaw may as well not have. He had 2 nine yarders towards the end that fluffed his numbers up to 58 yards off 17 attempts. To compound matters DJ Ware took a hand off and was tackled in his own end zone resulting in a very important 2 point safety.

Thrown to the wolves

Sure the Giants recorded 6 sacks, knocked out a quarterback and even came up with an interception to Aaron Ross but they also gave up 300+ yards, a touchdown and way too many 3rd down conversions. They also let back up QB Whitehurst waltz down the field to score a crushing TD in the last quarter. Jason Pierre-Paul recorded 2 sacks taking his total to 7 in 5 games and 2nd in the NFL and Osi Umenyoira had a sack giving him 3 in the two games since his return from injury. A return to the field by Justin Tuck will see a very formidable pass rushing attack take on the Bills next week.

Run All Over Me

Again the G-Men gave up 100+ yards including RB Lynch ripping off 98 yards and a score from only 12 attempts.

Special Teams

Seattle kicker Hauschka hit 2 field goals including a 51 yarder and 4 from 4 PAT's. Seattle punter J. Ryan landed 4 of his 7 punts inside 20. Not much to be said about the Giants special teams.

Yet another disappointing loss for the Giants in a game they were favourites. Let's hope for a smarter ball game from the Big Blue Wrecking Crew next week against the Bills.

Until then hail to the CD!

Notre Dame attacks Air Force for 4th straight win!

So stats that matter. Yes I'm a big stats man but now is bigger than a W and the Fighting Irish had this in the bag before half time. The final score was 59 - 33.

Yeah Air Force had more Time of Possession and total yards but that is deceiving as the Falcons turned the ball over twice and had many long drives that resulted in no points or a field goal. The Falcons offense was always going to be tricky to stop with Tim Jefferson and his multi faceted attack. Although they piled on the yards on the ground (363 yards) they were unable to open up the defense in the air passing for 202 yards. The Falcons tried a lots of different things with a fake punt, onside kick, and an effective no-huddle offense. They also converted 4-4 on 4th down. The Falcons scored a respectacle 33 points but 17 (more than half) were in the last quarter after the game was wrapped up in a gold guiled bow.

The Fighting Irish knew they would need to get the pigskin in the End zone early and often to be a chance and they came out all guns blazing. 3 touchdowns in the 1st quarter was matched by another 3 in the 2nd giving ND a 42 to 16 lead. Notre Dame scored a touchdown on the first 6 offensive possessions. The running game held up their end of the bargain and ran well but Quarterback Tommy Rees had a stellar first half throwing for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns. And most importantly ZERO turnovers. The offence ran the ball a little more in the second half but Rees still finished with strong numbers: 23 off 32 and 261 yards and 4 touchdowns. Most impressive for Rees was his ability to spread the ball around hitting 3 different receivers for 6+ 70 yard+ games. Theo Riddick caught 8 for 83 yards and a score. Tyler Eifert also caught 8 for 81 yards and a score and school record setter Michael Floyd continued a strong season with 6 for 78 yards and also a score. The runners had 3 strong contributors, Cierre Wood backed up from a 195 yard game last week to total 66 yards and a score. Jonas Gray was strong early running for 69 yards off 7 attempts at a 9.9 yard average and a score. Andrew Hendrix came in for the last quarter for Rees to chew up the clock and instead had bird stew on a 78 yard run to the 2 yard line and had the only 100 yard game for the Irish amassing 111 at an 18.5 average. He also completed 4 for 4 passing.

Notre Dame go into next weeks game on a 4 game tear and will look to advance to 5-2 with a win over major rival USC.

NOTES: This marked the most combined points scored in a game at Notre Dame Stadium. 92 points

Until then hail to the Pieces!

New York Giants - v Arizona Cardinals - RD4- REVIEW

With the NFC race being so tight with the exception of the Green Bay Packers this was a gettable and important win against the Arizona Cardinals.

And got it they did.

So where does that leave us at the quarter pole of the season? Well we currently sit 3-1 and equal top of our division with the Washington Redskins who are in my opinion still the weakest team in the division. Dallas are only a game behind at 2-2 and the unpredictable dream team (for the Giants anyway!) Eagles are languishing at the bottom with a 1-2 record.

I love me some stats so I going to look at where are leaders are at and even extrapolate (x4) to see where they may be heading to finish the season.

Although the Giants gave the Cards plenty of chances to put the game away they never seemed able to hammer that last nail. With the way QB Eli Manning is finishing games of late that turned out to be a big mistake. Well lets look at how the qu(w)est was won.

Air Supply

Coming into the season the focus was the defections of TE Kevin Boss to the Raiders and WR Steve Smith to the Eagles among a smattering of injuries. Eli Manning then made a call about being in the same class as Tom Brady (Elite) which didn't help not to mention a slow start to the season and a slow start in every game so far. Lucky he's throwing the lights out in the second half. 
Said Mannings 2nd half was 16 for 20 for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns this week and over the last 3 weeks his 2nd half stats read like this 32 for 40 for 415 yards 4 TDs and zero interceptions. If that doesn't burn your peepers then how about he is 3rd in the NFL with a rating of 105.6. He's behind red hot Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. He also boasts a healthy 64% completion percentage and a 8-2 TD to INT ratio. If he were to keep up his per game averages he would finish the year with these gaudy numbers.
320 Comp - 500 Att - 4264 Yards - 32 TD - 8 INT  Career records in yards and touchdowns and a low in interceptions. If he were to keep up these numbers he'd have to be a lock for the Pro-Bowl and more importantly give the Giants the best possible chance to go deep into the Play-Offs. )On a side note Manning has been sacked 11 times already this season and 44 for the season would definitely be a career high he doesn't need)

Hakeem Nicks was back to his beastly best with 10 receptions for 162 yards and the winning score. Considering he totaled 7 receptions for 63 total for the last 2 games combined showed what he could do to a defence if other receivers are holding their end of the bargain. I'm not going to get into the Victor Cruz 'fumble', but he did total 98 yards in a game where he was over looked several times despite being wide open.and could have turned up field after a reception for more yards however opted to step out of bounds. If Nicks and Cruz were to keep up their per game averages they would finish the season like this.
Nicks 92 Receptions - 1388 Yards - 8 TD's
Cruz 44 Receptions - 900 Yards - 8 TD's 205 AVG (All the more impressive as he has only really been a regular option for the last 2 games.

Run Forrest Run

This aspect of the offence was probably the one let down for me and would have been a even bigger issue had the passing game not clicked so well. Ahmad Bradshaw again was given the bulk of the attempts but failed to have an impact with an insipid 39 yards from 12 carries and a long 13 on his sole touchdown run. Brandon Jacobs had an even rougher day with 18 yards from 9 attempts and a touchdown. He would be forgiven for his 2 yard average as he was called on to run several 3rd and short runs when the defence knew he was getting the ball. The running game won't be able to rely on the passing game and expect a win too many times in the NFL so hopefully they use the week to take stock and come out Sunday against the Seahawks and pound 'em like they are initiating a new cell mate.

Nickleback

It has been well documented the injuries to corners and benching of Aaron Ross so I won't rehash. I will mention however that after round 2 the secondary have given up 300+ yards to 4 straight quarterbacks. In the last 2 weeks they gave up 237 yards to the Eagles and 237 to the Cardinals and more impressively zero touchdowns and 3 interceptions. This is against offenses with weapons like Michael Vick and Larry Fitzgerald. Safeties Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle have stepped up in particular 13 tackles each over the last 2 games and a pick each. The secondary was also helped by the pass rush where Dave Tollefson backed up a good game with another recording 2 sacks. Osi Umenyiora played his first game and although he made a couple of rusty mistakes he was often in the QB Kolb's face recording a sack and a forced fumble.

Stuff it!

The run stop has been the polar opposite to the pass. It was particularly stingy in the first 2 games but has given up some serious yardage and points in the last 2. Against the Eagles, RB McCoy opened up the their offence with 128 yards from 24 attempts and a score. And this week Beanie Wells tore threw the defensive line for 138 yards from 27 attempts and a massive 3 touchdowns. For the Giants to gain immediate ascendancy against the Seahawks on Sunday, the D-Line and Co need to crunch Marshawn Lynch and the other backs in submission.

Kicks, Returns and Tackles

I personally prefer a game when the Special Teams isn't needed and this was one of them. Although Aaron Ross' 18 punt return was a fantastic start to a drive in the last quarter.


This week will be the 3rd game in a row we play a bird related team (Eagles, Cardinals & Seahawks) so let's hope that is a sign for how the result will be.

Until then hail to the Sin!

New York Giants - v Philadelphia Eagles - RD3- REVIEW

The Giants entered this game on a 6 game losing streak to the Eagles including a playoff game. Two long range touchdowns to Eli Manning in the 1st quarter set up a healthy 14 point lead but the Eagles bounced back scoring the next 16 giving them a 2 point lead heading into the 4th quarter. Manning threw another pair of touchdowns and including a 2 point conversion gave the Giants a 29 - 16 win. Let's look at how they did it:


Air Attack

Eli Manning threw for 4 touchdowns for the 6th time in his career and completed 16 of 23 passes for 254 yards and thank goodness no interceptions. Not even a fumble!! Manning's passer rating of 145.7 is his highest ever in a game where he took most of the offensive snaps. Manning connected for 2 TD's to Victor Cruz for 78 and 28 yards. The 78 yarder being his 4th longest. A 92 and 85 yarder to  Mario Manningham (Inactive for this game) and a 78 yarder to Plaxico Buress. Manning also threw TD catches to running backs Brandon Jacobs (40 yards) and Ahmad Bradshaw (18 yards).  On a side note Brandon Stokley caught his first pass as a Giant receiver (8 yarder) making him one of only 2 people to catch a Peyton and Eli Manning pass, Jim Finn being the other.
Rating 9 / 10

Ground Force

Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw combined for 105 yards on 22 carries. Apart from Ahmad's 37 yarder and a couple of 3rd and shorts converted the running game was best described as serviceable.
Rating: 7.5 / 10

Rushing D

The combined yards conceded by the G-Force rush stoppers was 194 so 177 today seems a lot. However I would assume that the defence was going to focus on stopping the potent air attack with Vick et al being dangerous on any given play. Take that into account and the impressive play of RB LeSean McCoy and QB Michael Vick is just as dangerous as a runner as he is passing.

The Eagles rushed for 13 first downs but only scored 1 touchdown on 5 trips into the red zone and were denied both times Goal To Go. The defense as a whole also kept the Eagles offence out of the end zone for the whole 2nd half when the game was there to be won.

Rating: 8 / 10

Secondary Support

Crucified by injuries and giving up way too many big plays in the first 2 games you be ok in assuming that Vick was going to tear them a new one? Well a knew one was torn and it's bleeding/broken and whinging on the TV about the Ref's not protecting him. Silly me thought it was Vick's O'Line that was meant to do that. Vick eventually left the game with a broken hand but not before he was sacked twice by Jason Pierre-Paul and picked off by maligned Aaron Ross. Ross was actually benched last week but has redeemed himself with 2 interceptions (He also picked off Vick's replacement Mike Kafka (Not the famous writer!)). Safety Kenny Phillips also joined the fun intercepting Kafka on their drive as well as forcing a Vick fumble. The Giants secondary had conceded 300+ yards in 4 straight games. However they seem to be more stout and the largest play they gave up in the air was a 24 yarder. They also kept the Eagles to 199 nett yards.

Rating: 8  / 10

Special Teams

ST wasn't really an issue today. No Field Goals, no punt returns and a sole 33 yard kick off return.

Rating:  N/A

A Redskins win over the Cowboys tomorrow will mean the Giants are equal leaders of the NFC East with Redskins and Eagles on 2 -1 going into the clash against the Arizona Cardinals next week.
Until then hail to the awesome foursome!

Notre Dame beats Pittsburgh Panthers - 2nd Straight Win!

Although Pitt aren't a Top 25 ranked team (Either are ND ATM) they came into the game win a 2-1 record and the sole loss last week came after after a 21 point 4th quarter capitulation against Iowa.

The Pitt defence pushed Notre Dame around for 3 quarters and would have them scoreless if not for RB Jonas Gray scoring his career touchdown ripping off a 79 yard run down the sideline in the 2nd quarter.

The last quarter started with a 12-7 lead for the Panthers but QB Tommy Rees had other ideas. Relatively ineffectual for 3 quarters he started to find his rhythm culminating with an extremely impressive 8 for 8 record on the game winning drive including 4 to WR Tyler Eifert including the score. Rees finished with average numbers of 24 for 41 for 216 yard and a touchdown and interception. ND offence continued it's turnover conundrum with another 2 for the game. Record holder WR Michael Floyd was held to 4 receptions but the running game more than picked up the slack.

RB Cierre Wood kept the offence rumbling with 96 yards from 23 carries and Jonas Gray had 84 yards from 3 carries including his long touchdown run.

Pitt QB Tino Suneri was very accurate but occasionally held onto the ball to long going down for 5 sacks including 2 on the final drive ending any hopes of a Pitt come from behind win. Suneri went 22 from 30 but couldn't find any targets down throwing for only 165 yards and the longest being only 18 yards.

In the end ND did enough to resurrect their season taking their record to 2-2 with an important game against Purdue next week. The 2-2 record is all the more impressive when you look at the 2 losses. The 1st loss was an upset to Florida State by 3 points and the 2nd was to #22 ranked Michigan Wolverines in a shock last minute score in a game the Fighting Irish should have won!

Until then hail to the Grayman!

North Melbourne Kangaroos - Drew Petrie - All-Australian

Congratulations Dish!

During the week Drew Petrie was named on the interchange bench for the All-Australian team for the first time in his career.

I'm going to look at how the 2nd round draft pick from Ballarat recovered from 3 separate broken foot injuries in 2010 to reach career best form.

During the early 00's under Coach Dean Laidley, Petrie was literally Mr Fix It and roamed from forward to defence to the ruck and back again as the team needed him. This was great for plugging up holes but it gave Petrie no continuity in 1 position and also disguised how well he was doing. He would get 10+ hit outs, 2 goals and several telling marks in defence. If he had played the same position for the game his dominance would have been easier to see however it was diluted around the ground like a weak coffee.

So under 2nd year coach Brad Scott, Petrie has been given the focal forward position as his for the midfield to target on their inside 50's. Petrie was always going to take time finding his feet (pun intended) and missing the 1st game of the season against the Eagles to a dubious suspension didn't help.

The Roos were smashed the following week by Collingwood so it's no surprise the supply to the forward line was limited and so was Petrie's influence. It was 2 weeks later against Richmond that Petrie gave us a glimpse of what he was capable of being the main forward target. He kicked 6 goals from 17 kicks, 8 marks, 4 hit outs and an impressive 4 inside 50's. Although the Roos lost it wasn't due to lack of effort and output for Petrie. Petrie showed that when the supply was quality he is a hard man to match up on and this made most of the teams double up or even triple up making Petries 48 goals for the year all the more impressive.

Petries season just simmered along nicely with him kicking 3 or more goals in 9 out of 24 games (Over a 3rd) including 5 agianst the Bulldogs in arguably the Roos best win of the year and 4 in the last game of the year again against the Tigers. Petrie kicked 5 goals 5 in the Bulldogs game and probably should have kicked 7-8 goals but there's no denying he able to get his hands on the ball. In 5 separate games he registered 20 or more possessions and in 9 games he pulled down 8 or more marks in a game.

Speaking of getting his hands on the ball Petrie was able to use his 197cm/103kg frame to pull down several hangers and if he wasn't in a position to take the mark he invariably busted the pack open bringing the ball to ground allowing the other North forwards the chance to score. I'm not sure if it's a record but Petrie was nominated for the Hungry Jack's Mark of the Year on 6 separate occasions. Yep that's over a quarter of the games Petrie played for the season. This also includes 3 of the last 5 games he played.

One interesting fact I stumbled upon was that in the 5 games Petrie kicked 4 or more goals they won 4 only losing the game to the Tigers in round 5 in the last minute. And in the 9 games Petrie kicked 3+ goals they won 6 losing 3. The losses include a 1 point shock loss to the Swans, the Tigers loss and a Geelong pumping where Petrie was almost a lone force for the whole game.

Massive bucket of win for Petrie, well done!

New York Giants - v St Louis Rams - RD2- REVIEW

U G L Y we ain't got no alibi it was ugly.

However a win is a win and a 1-1 record is much better than a 0 - 2 start.

A shock loss to the Redskins in the opening round and this being a National Monday Night Football game the Giants needed to set the tone and show the league what they are capable of. Although Eli Manning came off to the very slow start the offence was opportunistic and got enough points on the board to never really give the Rams a sniff. The defensive line did their part and special teams came up with several key plays. I'm going to break the game into 5 sections for clarity from now on so we can focus on each group. So let's start with the pass attack.

Air Attack

Eli Manning was woefully slow to get momentum and again threw a crucial interception on along drive. He went 3 for 11 with an interception to start the game but ended it 15 for 18 and 2 touchdown for redemption. So while 200 yards and 2 TD 1 INT is an average game it was enough pull out the win and looking at the start he had quite a game to end it. For the Giants to beat the Eagles next week Eli will need to start the game like he ended this one, crisp and precise.

Rating 7 / 10

Ground Force

While some people look at 50-60 yards a game as average, for the Giants they need to take into account that 2 running backs share the load and although either will be unlikely to be named to the Pro-Bowl while they are doing this it is their shared contribution that the Giants will be looking at. Overall they combined for 109 yards and touchdown. While their 3.51 average is suspect they do include a lot of 3 and short ad 4 and 1's. Steady would be an apt description to the output for Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw but they did keep several drives alive and all behind a new o-line that is still finding its feet. Bradshaw also caught a 23 yard screen pass on 3rd and 18 to keep a drive alive for Jacobs to score a touchdown on the next play. This wasn't a super game on the ground but again was enough to get the W.

Rating: 7.5 / 10

Rushing D

It's fair to say the Giants ability to stop the run kept them in the game against the Redskins (74 yards) and they did it again against the Rams. The secondary was porous however the against the run stout would be a better adjective. They kept them to 59yards. They also kept them out of the end zone 3 of 4 entries into the Red Zone, the only touchdown being in the air.  They places them 3rd in the league for run defence. LB Michael Boley also used nous in picking up a seemingly dead ball for a fumble and rumbled 68 yards for a score. This is also his 2nd fumble recovery in 2 games. Notre Dame alum Justin Tuck returned to his bruising best with 1.5 sacks and 5 tackles. Antrel Rolle led the team with 9 tackles.

Rating: 9 / 10

Secondary Support

It has been widely acknowledged that the corner backs for the Giants have fared about as well as swimmers at Amity Beach. Take into account #1 Corner Terrell Thomas has a season ending knee injury, #3 corner Bruce Johnson is out and 1st round draft pick Prince Amukamara is currently out with an injury. So it's no surprise secondary again gave up 300+ yards in the air making it 4 in a row (1st two games this year and last 2 games 2010). Even if the concussed Michael Vick doesn't play next week the secondary will need to tighten up given the aerial weapons the Philadelphia Eagles have it could get ugly.

Rating: 2 / 10

Special Teams

The special teams was a mix of good and bad. Bad being a 29 yard punt return. Good being a Dave Tollefson muffed punt recovery at the Rams 38.

Rating: 6 / 10

Bring on the Eagles next week, I'll be getting at 3am to watch the game.

Until then hail to the air attack!