Jets Downed, Giants Fly to Atlanta

Can the Giants take advantage of a paddy cake schedule to build some momentum and confidence? They took the first step last week with a win over the Jets. It was not a heady performance like the 12 sacks the week before over the Eagles, but the defense came up with some big plays to seal the win. Ross had two interceptions, and although the first one was an easy gift, on the second he made a very strong play, jumping the route and taking it in for a score. However it was the old pro Madison who had the truly stunning interception. Obviously seeing something Pennington was giving away, Madison abandoned his receiver along the sideline and instead broke 15 or so yards across the middle to grab the ball in front of a totally different receiver. Madison traveled so far I have to believe he broke away from his own receiver before the ball ever left Pennington's hand. A great, great play.

One comment about the defense. While the Giants had some pressure, they were not getting any steady hits on Pennington and the Jets were moving the ball pretty steadily and completed a number of 3rd and very longs. The defense stopped the Jets with some great individual plays that resulted in turnovers. But for those turnovers, the Giants defense was certainly not dominating the Jets.

In fact the Jets were leading this game deep into the 4th quarter. In my opinion the Giants won this game because of Brandon Jacobs who had the first 100 yard game of his career. But it was simply the yardage that mattered. It was the attitude. The Giants first touchdown was a 67 yard 9 play drive that spanned the first and second quarters and included only two passes. The Giants then opened the second half with a 6 play 80 yard drive that included only one pass. In those two drives Jacobs carried the ball 6 times for 9, 6, 6, 7, 8 and 19 yards - an amazing 9.2 yards per carry. And with attitude. The manner in which he ran the ball set the tone for the rest of the players, including the defense.

This week the Giants head to Atlanta for a Monday night match up with the Falcons. They have no QB and they lost both of their offensive tackles last week. And on the other side of the ball the Falcons are horrible defending against the run. The Giants need to avoid anything fancy and play to their strengths. On offense, run the ball and force Atlanta to stop them. That means forget balance and run Brandon Jacobs at least 80 percent of the time on first down. At least until Atlanta is forced to put 8 or more men in the box, when throwing the ball should be easy pickins. And on defense the solution is too obvious to have to say out loud - pressure, pressure, pressure.

The Giants have 11 games remaining of which 7 are against teams currently sporting losing records:

Oct 15 Mon at Atlanta (1-4)
Oct 21 Sun San Francisco (2-3)
Oct 28 Sun at Miami (0-5)
Nov 4 Sun BYE
Nov 11 Sun Dallas (5-0)
Nov 18 Sun at Detroit (3-2)
Nov 25 Sun Minnesota (1-3)
Dec 2 Sun at Chicago (2-3)
Dec 9 Sun at Philadelphia (1-3)
Dec 16 Sun Washington (3-1)
Dec 23 Sun at Buffalo (1-4)
Dec 29 Sat New England (5-0)