Before you say anything, I completely understand that the coaches see these guys every day, in all situations, so there must be something. What is it? Blocking, perhaps? Is Darkwa a sub-par blocker?
Perkins last night showcased why I was not a fan of his last year, and still cannot fully understand why he is the No. 1. How many of you, like me, yelled at the TV screen last night for Perkins to stop dancing, and to attack seams?
The one replay where they showed the play from the defensive side, and above, there was a gigantic hole and just a linebacker (I believe it was Smith) anywhere near the back side of it. Instead of attacking the seam and gaining what may have been 3-4 extra yards if he had finished strong through or into Smith, it was what & gt; A 2-yard gain, at best, after Perkins jitterbugged behind the line of scrimmage as soon as he saw the LB. Very frustrating.
Other plays showed Perkins' happy feet, which amounted to absolutely no difference, as he was often tackled for little gain. He gained just 16 yards on 7 carries and his long was 3 yards.
I have never claimed to be a football expert here, or anywhere. I'm a big fan. Played in high school. Love the game and watch, read, attend, all of it. I'm a junkie.
Am I alone in this: I don't believe you need to be a football expert to SEE the difference in just how a running back carries the football. A difference in how they attack holes that are there, or are intended to possibly open by the time they arrive. How they finish. The "violence" with which they run.
This is full year 3 for Darkwa, and he's 25. He's been allowed to carry the ball 78 times total (3.9 average). While Perkins does have a 4.1 average, and he showed improvement as the season went last year, last night was a red flag to me.
Anyone else feel similarly?
I do think they could have been used better last night, in particular in the red zone, where Darkwa should have gotten the call.
Vereen, most of us would agree, is our best receiver out of the backfield and he got plenty of plays last night.
Percentage-wise, Darkwa stacks up just fine as a receiver. Targeted 15 times, 11 receptions (73 percent) and an 8.2 ypc average. Perkins 24 targets, 15 catches (62.5 percent) and a 10.8 ypc.
Who is more "reliable?"
Not on the one highlighted play, at least. A small truck could have driven through that hole.
Perkins or whoever runs the ball needs more carries then we gave out last night. The sad thing is that he didn't do half bad on most runs. We just had no intent on continuing to run.
You can sit there and blame the offensive line all you want but I'm not a Perkins fan. I feel many good to better RB's would be able to make something happened even with this offensive line!!
But none of these guys are doing pass protection as far as I can tell.
Give me 13 personell (3 TEs 1 back) with the fullback, if the kid can do pass pro, I will take that.
short power runs out of 13 both right and left (falcons) and any wide variety of passes to TEs, whom you can move pre-snap if you like. (gives you a 12 or even an 11 look, albeit with taller mostly slower players)
that leaves you one true wr, maybe its a redzone set.
Hopefully this doesn't become a similar share as early last year, where we switch them out constantly and play different RB's all game. We are not the Patriots, or anything close. More barely capable RB's continually splitting reps drains an offense, does not help it. We have seen that first hand.
Eventually maybe Gallman will get his shot as well. But knowing McAdoo, it will probably have to wait until the many slow, mostly untalented RB's before him embarrass our offense for weeks, right there along with Eli's inaccuracy and our O-Line's inconsistency.
As badly as I don't want to believe it, these are our same Giants.
...and right there is a red flag for me if true. Do you think the coach in New England would play a guy vs someone who may be better simply because he was one of their higher draft picks?
When I was watching the game last night. I also was thinking Darkwa looked better. However, I was also thinking that last year too.
Regarding Perkins being a patient runner....
We do not have an O-line that opens holes as the seconds tick. If the holes are there, they are closing quickly. We need someone who is going to get through them before they close...not someone who is patiently waiting for it all to collapse around him.
Perkins? Darkwa? Come on.
The coaches may simply think Perkins is better. But even if it's a toss-up, there are reasons to favor Perkins.