Let me make this point before explaining myself. I am not a real good x and o guy like some on this site. So my opinion about Fewell might be based on perception rather than fact.
But it seems to me that Fewell's defense is almost entirely dependent on the front four creating pressure. He doesn't seem as willing or maybe as capable as Spagnuolo was in creating different bliz packages to create pressure.
For most of this past season my lack of confidence in Fewell was justified and shared by most.
However, even after the run began, it seemed to me that there were many games, where the Giants defense caught a break in a big spot with a poor throw or drop by the offense.
I keep remember the first Cowboy game, and even the unsual number of poor throws by Rogers in the play off game.
Even in the Super Bowl, during the two touchdown drives by the Patriots it seemed recievers were comming off the line, untouched, going down field a few yards open and running for yards after the catch. There never seemed to be any thought by them of throwing deep and yet the Giants made no adjustments.
Even in the second half, on the Patriots drive before the Giants went ahead, it seems like the Patriots stopped themselves as much as anything.
On the final Patriot drive, 1st play, how far was the receiver going had that pass been thrown just a bit more ahead of him.
I have been trying to convince myself, that the Giants defense really stepped up in the post season, and statistics say they did.
But somehow it didn't pass the eye test.
Tell me where I am wrong.
Fewell responded to the situation and more importantly his defense responded and the Giants accomplished the ultimate goal of a Super Bowl...
Thats the pinnacle.. both men have done it..
In 2011... that really wasn't the case...
The Giants offense almost let the SF game slip away.. and the Giants Defense stiffened heroically in the second half of the Superbowl...
I think this was a harder run and the 2011 defense was better since the Jets game...
As I said.. Spags was excellent. I have nothing against him. But it's not like the 2007 Giants defense was the 85 Bears.
There were times this year where the overwhelming majority of fans wanted Fewell fired. They got it going late in the year and had a fantastic year. But the offense was the bread and butter of this team, namely Eli Manning and the passing game. In 2007, it was the defense that bailed us out. In 2011, it was the offense.
The difference is less than 2 points per game.
There is awhole hell of alot more difference than two points per game.
Also whether there were adjustments or not, Spagnuolo's schemes allowed for more variety in creating a pass rush.
Again, there were times with Fewell that it seemed all his eggs were in one basket, getting pressure from the front 4.
Do you remember well timed corner blitzes or safety blitzes from Spagnuolo that could turn a game around.
We didn't see much of that with Fewell. Maybe it was because we were better in the D-backfield in 07, I don't know.
But as I stated in the original post, and got critized for, Fewell's defense, at least for me, didn't pass the eye test in comparison to Spagnuolo.
Most Points in a Season
Most Touchdowns in a Season
Tom Brady took over the Most Touchdowns Passing in a Season
Randy Moss took over the Most Touchdowns Receiving in a Season
Most wins in a regular season
Most consecutive wins in the regular season
Tom Brady set the record for highest completion percentage in a playoff game
Rodgers' 2011 and Brady's 2007 also weren't all that different. Brady threw 5 more TD's, 2 more INT's and the yardage was only about 200 yards different.
There's really no major difference between the 2011 Packers and 2007 Patriots offenses. Both were tops in the league in their respective seasons and both produced similar scoring outputs. I also think the fact that we beat the Packers at Lambeau whereas we beat the Pats on neutral ground is worth mentioning.
Spags and Fewell both accomplished the same thing as DC's. 4 impressive playoff wins and a Championship. There are arguments for both.. but I don't think Spags has some massive edge and I think people tend to overrate him a tad.
And we're talking about one game. The 2007 Giants allowed 65 total points in the playoffs.. the 2011 team allowed 54.
Also, the 2007 Cowboys were the best Cowboys team of this generation. We went into their house and beat them. Ditto for a very good Packers team in Lambeau in minus 30 degree weather.
It's pretty even, IMO.
Like Fats said earlier in the thread.. it's a pretty hard comparison to make. You can't really just isolate DC's because there are so many other factors that come into play. For whatever reason, though.. it seems like people forgot that Spags had his warts just like Fewell did.
And why does one game define the entire run? Great, the Pats averaged a whopping 1.8 PPG more than the 2011 Packers. The other 3 games don't count?
It may seem like harping on it, but that point needs to be drilled home. It was that big of an achievement. I'm not trying to paint Spags out to be perfect. We are discussing which DC is better, I belive that his run here was more impressive than Perry's thus far. If Fewell wins another SB with the Giants, the better DC is undoubtedly him.
I'm not saying they aren't close. But I do think Spags' run was alittle more impressive than this one. Yes, a big part of that is beating the Pats. But the 2007 Dallas team was the best Dallas team of the 2000s and the Packers were damn good as well. Hell, we were the underdogs in the Bucs game!
Anyway, I apologize if I came off rude at all. That wasn't my intention. I just feel pretty strongly that defensively, 2007 was more impressive than 2011.
But let's not talk about facts when dealing with such subjective criteria in a debate.
Yes, the pats did do all that stuff. Is that the criteria for having more confidence in spags over fewell? I mean look at the thread start.
'Even in the Super Bowl, during the two touchdown drives by the Patriots it seemed recievers were comming off the line, untouched, going down field a few yards open and running for yards after the catch. '
Sounds like the two TD drives in SB42.
arc's right that there's a nostalgic god-like status given to spags.
Spags was amazing here. But he was no Belichick. His time with both us and the Rams has proven that. But he's still good
Fewell had a very good first season here and now he capped it with a shitty regular season (where injuries may or may not have presented a tough challenge depending on who you ask) followed by an amazing run at the end. He's no Belichick. But he seems to have proven himself pretty well.
The debate is subjective, both guys have earned lots of merit, imo. I don't necessarily know if Spags is significantly farther ahead of fewell.
This year our defense did perform very well in the SB. However, in the 2nd and 3rd quarters the Pats offense basically did what they wanted. Brady completed 16 passes in a row, a new SB record. They never looked that good in SB 42.
I think solid arguments can be made both ways but again.. there are so many factors that come into play that it's hard to really isolate it enough to make a fair, fact-based comparison.
Either way, I think they're very similar... hell, they even defeated the same team in the Super Bowl with the same QB's and same HC's on both sides. Bottom line.. the Giants are World Champs again and that's all that matters.
Save for the 16 straight passes, this: 'However, in the 2nd and 3rd quarters the Pats offense basically did what they wanted.'
When the pats scored their two TDs in 42, it looked the same, like they did exactly what they wanted.
Save for 5 points, (pats FG, pats safety) those games were frighteningly similar.
We're swerving off topic a little bit with this post but what the hell, it was fucking eerie.
Blackburn was brought back from the abyss, and accomplished the same thing for Fewell.
Some here, can't wait for Goff to come back. I'll tell you one thing, as flawed as Blackburn has been in the past; he played (especially pass defense) and directed traffic as Goff never has.
Another very good thing the happened - To took Rolle into his office, and quietly encouraged him to chill.
Fewell was the perfect DC against the Pats this past year for the kind of offense they ran this year.
Having a savvy guy like CB definitely helped.. but Boley was calling the shots all year (aside from when he was injured, obviously).
look this is a subjective argument. Its obvious no facts will skew someones opinion. To me, I'll take Fewell. He relies less on the blitz (which is the defensive version of the big play), and gets the same results. Also I do give him an edge in the SB because his D shut down the Pats the second half, while Spags let the Pats score with 2 minutes to go (which could have easily been the game winner). Also because of this I discredit this whole "better offense in 2011 thing", because Spags was bailed out by the 2007 offense.
To arc's point, the difference between the two offenses is so slight that arguing that Spags is a better DC because he beat NE and Fewell only beat GB is asinine.
Spags might very well be a better DC than Fewell. My personal opinion is that it is too difficult and close to tell right now, and it certainly won't be decided because Spags beat a supposedly better NE team.
Spags also did nothing since leaving the Giants, and his defenses have been average to bad.
People acting as if they can prove who the better DC is are the ones fooling themselves. There is no clear cut answer here - nor does there need to be. One ring for each is good right now.
Both defenses faced the cream of the crop in the playoffs and won. The end results were the same, and that's all that matters.
That defense had some major hiccups that year. Anybody who acts like Spags walked in here Day 1 and dominated isn't remembering correctly.
Add don't forget to add in all the following:
the diminished play of that Fraud Tuck,
the weak linebacker play before Blackburn returned,
and the lack of a running game from the offense to help keep the defense off the field.
Fewell in my opinion was doing a decent job before the turn-around and then turned in some very good work once more pieces came back.
You can find those articles with a google search
Link - ( New Window )
He did get the same results, but I guess I'm wondering, what happens if the front 4 doesn't get there, will there be answers?