The first win against Dallas in 2011 was a 2 man carry job. JPP having a legendary game and Eli having perhaps his most unlikely 4th quarter comeback ever (my favorite non-SB comeback). It's just such a big contrast from what we've seen from those 2 this year. In 2011, the Giants had the best combination of QB + star defensive player in the league. In 2013, LOL.
The pass rush and passing game have been 2 of the major issues on this team. And it starts at the top, JPP and Eli are supposed to be our best players on both sides of the ball but they haven't been. They both started the season out playing like crap, JPP has slowly kept improving as he regained his health while Eli is finally showing signs of life.
Our season is on the line against Dallas once more, we don't need a 2011 performance from these 2 but if they can play close to their 2011 level this team can hang with any in football. The pass rush and passing game are the weak links on the team right now, the rest of the team actually looks pretty good now that Beason and Brown have added new dimensions to the team with their arrivals.
If our star QB and DE can play at the level we know they're capable of, this team will start looking pretty damn good. And the league will start to realize what's about to hit them again. But it starts with those 2 playing well against Dallas, they've had disappointing seasons but we desperately need them to show up now. We did a great job grinding out 4 wins and clawing back into the picture against 4 crappy teams, but to beat teams that are actually good we will need our 2 best players to play like it.
Sunday can't get here fast enough.
2013 team w/o JPP + Eli
2011 team w/o JPP + Eli
I think the 2013 roster is arguably better, except for our top 2. Eli and JPP played like 1st ballot Hall of Famers in 2011, they're playing like crap this year. At the end of the day, I think it's as simple as that and if they can pick up their level of play this team will look like a totally different group.
I love Eli, but I definitely blame this season more on Eli than the OL. Because I saw what he did with that OL in 2011.
They graded the Giants OL as 31st in the NFL in 2011. 24th in rushing, and 32nd in pass pro.
32nd in pass pro. I don't take PFF as gospel but those guys tend to be right far more often than they're wrong and I think most of us agree that the 2011 OL was pathetic and that Eli and the WRs carried that passing attack despite the OL.
I know that the interior of our OL has been worse this year than 2011, but the tackle play has been better. As a whole, I just refuse to believe that the 2013 line is THAT much worse than a 2011 line that was arguably the worst in the league.
Good point on the RBs in pass pro, that's an edge to 2013 as well. But there's just no way the difference between the OLines in 2011 and 2013 is large enough to explain Eli's performance. Eli played like a Legend in 2011 and he's playing like Rex Grossman this year, you can't put that on the OL when they already sucked so badly in 2011.
PFF ranked the Giants OL 31st in 2011. Let's say they're wrong and be nice to that 2011 Giants OL. Let's say they were 25th in the NFL that year. There's no way I'd rank that OL any better than 25th in 2011, I think the hatred for this 2013 OL is clouding your judgment about how awful that 2011 OL was. So let's just say they were the 25th ranked OL in 2011.
2011 OL: 25th (being nice here remember)
2013 OL: 32nd
2011 QB: 4th (Rodgers, Brady, Brees)
2013 QB: ~27th
Yes, the OL may be even worse this year than it was in 2011. But the difference isn't massive by any means. The difference between Eli's performance in 2011 and 2013 on the other hand has been enormous.
The OL is putrid, fine, but the problem isn't just about them, no matter how badly the fleet of excuse makers keep trying to bang that drum. There's something broken in Manning himself, as a player, and while I'm not saying he's forever shot, expecting anything more from him this season than maybe another game or two like the okay performance against GB and the rest being much like the other three wins doesn't seem prudent. He seems to need some sort of serious reboot, if he's ever to get back to 7-12 QB quality, and you're not very likely to get that now, in season, with how long he's been "lost."
JPP hasn't been great, but he's not been awful either. More mediocre (thanks at least to his quality run blocking), which provides some grounds to reasonably hope or expect a snap-to-quality with him.
I just have that "feeling" in my gut that we are going to see our best game from all on Sunday.
Giants 27-23 over Cowboys. Boys score late to make it seem closer than it really was.