So I decided to rewatch some parts of the Monday night game on NFL rewind and there's some key plays that allow you to view them via the coaches film option. One of the reasons I love NFL Rewind to be honest.
I don't know if any other Giants fans have it but I'll post a few thoughts for anyone who's interested and has access to view the videos. It sucks that I don't have the video to go along with this but....
1. The first is the interception by Mikell on the deep pass to Mario Manningham.
Eli gets a single safety look here with the zone pressure the Rams are bringing. Mario thoroughly beats the corner back though looking at the film the CB stops allowing Mario to run free and then starts moving again to close the gap (though he's so far behind...) so it's possible they were baiting him to make the throw. Either that or the CB was just totally lost on the route Mario was running. Regardless, the ball is under thrown and Eli underestimated Mikell's ability to move to that side of the field as quickly as he did. Mikell makes an excellent play here.
The worst part about is that Ballard runs a quick little out route towards the sidelines and is obviously the check down. He has NO ONE around him. Had Eli checked down. that would have been a 15-20 yd gain and put us 1st and goal inside the 20.
2. The second play is Bradford's deep pass to Alexander for 68 yards. (1st Qtr)
The good stuff:
Kenny Phillips is the FS playing deep center field and either Boley or Rolle are playing the slot. Boley/Rolle actually has pretty decent coverage and Phillips is providing proper support. No throw to be made in the center of the field.
On the other side of the field, Webster is pretty much stride for stride with his man. Totally covered and no where for Bradford to throw.
The bad stuff:
The coverage on the other side of the field is so fucking broken here I don't even know where to begin. Aaron Ross is supposed to press the receiver at the line and boy does he fail miserably. He literally gets half a hand on him before Alexander blows right by him. I mean he's literally 4 yards behind Ross before the ball is even thrown. That's not even the beginning of the problems with this play though. Grant is playing down close to the line and is late backing up so Ross has little to no support over the top. Both are in a trailing position before the ball ever comes out. Once the ball arrives Ross and Grant are both 2 yards behind the receiver and can make no play on it. The REALLY bad part is that they don't down the guy! Come on, man!
3. Bradford 26 yard completion to Lance Kendricks (2nd QTR).
Zone coverage here by Webster. Deon Grant is playing the other half of the field and there's just no way he can get over to offer any over the top help on this.
Webster is playing 5 yards off of his man and while Kendricks is running his route, Webster breaks to the outside and then runs straight back towards him. He's actually in a good position to make a play on the ball but he can't reach out far enough to get a hand on it. Coverage wasn't terrible but a bit better route recognition could have lead to an INT or at the very least a pass defense. Zone has never been Corey's forte and it shows here.
4. Bradford 33 yard completion to Simms Walker (2nd Qtr).
More Zone coverage. Simms-Walker literally runs right past the linebacker to the center of the field after a play action by Bradford. Phillips is playing deep and keeps backing up despite the fact that the linebacker already bit. Ross and Rolle are covering the one side of the field well enough while Boley hands off the other receiver to Webster.
Phillips could have and probably should have made this play a lesser gain but it seems like he expected the linebacker to cover here. There was still avoid in the zone coverage in the middle of the field though Kenny shouldn't have continued playing so deep if he recognized that. Not sure if that was communication problem or just broken coverage because the linebacker bit so hard on the PA.
5. Bradford 35 yard completion to Alexander (3rd qtr)
I could copy and paste what I said about the 68yd completion earlier. Ross playing press at the line. The guy totally whiffs by him as though he wasn't even there. He's in a trail position by the time the snap is off. Grant is playing the free safety here and his recognition is terrible. He's already on that side of the right side of the field and when Bradford releases the ball he takes a step in the wrong direction and then turns around and starts running towards the direction of the receiver. The angle isn't bad but he's so late getting there it doesn't make a lick of difference. Ball caught and Aaron Ross is on the ground 2 yards behind the receiver.
6. 19yd completion to Alexander for the TD (3rd QTR)
Ross is out, Coe is in. Same results. Alexander runs a sluggo route to the outside of the end zone. Coe is in good position to make a play on the ball and he literally just watches it go into his hands and then acts confused about what happened. No jump for the ball, no hands in the receivers chest/face to knock it loose. No safety help on this play since they were playing at or near the line for run support. A good play call by the Rams and poor coverage equals a TD.
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So what do I take from this? Nothing new. Aaron Ross is terrible and the players behind him aren't any better. The left side of the field will be a gaping hole for us all season long until we get improvement out of the players we have or pick someone up. Also, the only safety that's worth a damn in pass support on the field is Kenny Phillips.
On the pick, I agree with margi. Eli made the right choice there. He just under threw the ball. I know the announcers made a big deal about him not seeing Mickel or him baiting Eli or whatever, but the reality of it is Mickel a) was forked with a good throw and b) made a great play on the ball. I don't know if anyone asked Eli about this one (bad decision or bad throw) but I'd bet if they did he'd pick the latter.
I agree with the sentiment on Canty but frankly I don't think as a unit the DL had nearly the pressure we needed or I expected. I haven't watched the film but my recollection is no blitz, no pressure.
What about the idea of having several BBIers with Rewind do this on a regular basis?
This analysis was far better and more detailed than what you'll see anywhere else.
For example, one person could review OL only....another LBs, etc.
We'd need volunteers, but i'd be glad to get Rewind and contribute (although there are plenty of people here with a deeper understanding of the game).
We'd get more great threads like this, and collectively we'd all learn more about our team, players, and more importantly the action none of us see on tv.
Hopefully the OL will get better with Reps, people under estimate the OL changes we have made and its effect on the lines execution. Reps will make it get better and better, question is, will it be this year or next year? we really miss Richie..
These are the same guys that will call him a bust the first time he allows a deep completion.
As for Ross, it seems the biggest problem the other night (and it was visable during the replays) was his complete failure to get an effective jam at the LOS. He MUST get a good jam, especially with someone like Grant providing help who's sooooooo sloooooooow.
I'm not wanting to come off as though I have some hatred for Ross here. I would love for him to improve and show some of what he had in the 2007 season. I'm just calling what I see and he had a poor game on Monday and his game against Washington wasn't any better.
I'd actually like to take a look at some of the blocking on the run plays as well to see what the offensive line is doing. I usually watch the games again when avaiable so maybe I'll make this a semi-regular thing.
Thanks again for the kind words and the opposing viewpoints on the plays. I'm enjoying reading them.
I hate to say it but it looks to me like Ross is in physical decline. He's getting beat at the LOS because he's weak and he loses ground deep because he's slow. If you didn't know he was a 2007 #1 pick, you'd thing he was an aging vet scrub in there because we lost our starter and Fewell is grasping at straws.
Webster has not been great by any stretch given the level we've seen him play on in the past, but opposing QBs are completing less than 50% of their passes when targeting him. 10 for 21 on the season for 147 yards, 1 TD. He's actually been targeted more than Ross, it does not seem that way. But hes allowing completions on just 47.6% of the passes at him
Jacobs and Bradshaw are both among the league leaders in forced missed tackles, combining for 15 through 2 weeks. Yet we haven't run the ball all that well overall. Here is their preview
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