Post-Game Overreaction (Preaseason Week 3)

I wrote this shortly after coming home from the game on Saturday night.  For various reasons I wasn't able to finish and post it.   I've tempered in the past few days, but the point of the Post-Game Overreaction is to give you my instant raw emotional response, so I haven't altered this at all.  I'll give you the cooled down, more logical evaluation soon.

What do I think?  I'll tell you what I think.  I think it's going to be a long year for the G-men, and by extension, me--and by further extension, my wife.  I continuously raised the issue in the off-season that one of the Giants main concerns on defense, other than the obvious need at safety, was the play of their defensive tackles.  They were too soft last year, and they are still too soft.  The Giants seemed to think that rookie Linval Joseph would add some strength in the middle, but he gets pushed around like a blocking sled whenever he gets double-teamed.  Barry Cofield and the oft-injured Chris Canty struggle in this regard as well.  Amazingly, fat Rocky Bernard has been one of the Giants most consistent tackles in preseason.  A pass rush from the outside doesn't do any good if the QB can just step up, and that's the problem right now.

The linebackers remain an issue as well.  Clint Sintim is a real disappointment as he was given every opportunity to take over the starting SLB spot, and has completely failed to seize his opportunity.  Keith Bulluck looks like an old linebacker coming off of knee surgery--why I thought for a minute he'd look like anything else is beyond me now.  Honestly, the Giants best 3 linebackers at this point are probably Jonathan Goff, Michael Boley, and Gerris Wilkinson--which is not exactly an all-star cast.

It was obvious that Ravens' QB Joe Flacco had pretty easy pre-snap reads to make.  Find whoever Bruce Johnson or Courtney Brown is covering, and throw to him.  He abused the young corners all night.  You can say that the Giants will be better when they have Terrell Thomas and Aaaron Ross back, but honestly, for how many games do you expect Ross to be healthy?  His latest ailment is plantar fasciitis--which Eli suffered last year and is one of those lingering injuries that doesn't go away. You can't dismiss your back-ups as not important, as they will be called on at some point this season. Right now it doesn't look like the Giants have much depth on the back-end of this defense.  The good news is Corey Webster played outstanding last night.  Forget about the interception, that was more luck than anything else, I was more impressed with how he more or less shut down everyone he covered.  If I had to give a game ball, it would go to Webster.  Let's hope he and Terrell Thomas never get hurt this year.

As concerned as I am about the defense, it does not compare to my concerns regarding the offense, in particular the offensive line.  The Giants missed the warning signs brewing on their aging offensive line and it could cost them big.  Shaun O'hara's ankle will be an issue all year, and so might Chris Snee's knee.  Guy Whimper, Adam Koets, and William Beatty do not appear to be guys you want to count on.  Beatty is particularly disappointing.  I really thought he would win a starting job this year, but after watching him closely last night, it's clear he is nowhere near ready.  He was flat out beat all night.  The once cohesive unit is also suffering from a serious lack of communication.  No way to tell how much of that is on them, and how much is on Eli, but there were several plays last night when they allowed for a free rusher to get in right off the snap.  They remain confident and say once they get everyone back they'll be fine, but that's part of the problem.  There is no way this aging group stays healthy all year (they haven't been healthy yet), so the Giants need guys to step in and be reliable.  I don't see it.

The only good I can take from this game is that the Giants have sufficiently lowered my expectations enough that I'm pretty sure they'll meet them this year.