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| E-GIANTS BONUS
OBSERVATIONS ON THE GIANTS By
Scott Landstrom It's not even possible he would say such an outrageously critical thing to a national audience without solid "sources" within the Giants. Moreover, comments after the game by both Victor Cruz and Eli Manning seemed to give further credibility to the claim, with neither steadfastly defending Randle's practice habits or intensity, and both indicating that Randle needs to "figure it out" how he can bring focus and a sense of urgency to his training and practice habits. With every family member and friend Randle has in the world hearing those critical comments, I would be surprised if the kid doesn't "wake up and smell the coffee," and as a result, become much more of a force as a reserve receiver in the latter half of the schedule. He has all the physical skills to do exactly that, so if he does emerge down the stretch, we may look back on Collinsworth’s criticisms and be thankful he made them and humiliated the kid a bit. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Defensive coordinators are constantly "walking a tightrope" relative to personnel packages and formations of balancing the value of having the best formation for a given opponent’s scheme, down and distance, and enemy personnel in the game versus having the best PLAYERS on the field. Having the right formation doesn't help if you have to take your most talented defenders out, and having the best 11 on the field doesn't help if the formation is a mismatch for the situation and the likely opposing play. With that as background, I saw The (N.Y.) Daily News point out that starting SAM linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka, probably our best "form tackler" as well as our most disciplined "gap defender," has only played 33.7 percent of the defensive snaps this season. I realize that this era in the NFL is a "pass happy," wide open generation (Giants mix last Sunday: 42 pass, 19 run), but one has to question whether LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick would have gotten nearly the second half yardage they got on the ground if Mathias was more heavily used. Putting "nickel" and "dime" packages in so liberally has a cost, and I am just wondering if D-coordinator Perry Fewell isn't "over-thinking" this if Kiwi is out of the game two thirds of the time, you know? ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** Thirdly, and lastly, an update and related observations on former Giants players, and how they are faring: --- Brandon Jacobs, now with the Niners, has had some nagging injuries and has yet to get a single carry or reception through four games, and is currently listed on the team's depth chart as fourth-string. Wonder if that couple of hundred grand delta between New York's and San Francisco’s contract offers makes sense to make the move now, eh, Brandon? --- Mario Manningham, also with the Niners, is tied for second on the team in receptions with 15, but is only on a 640-yard yardage pace, well shy of his 800-plus yard annual pace he had in his final three seasons with the Giants. Wonder if going to the 29th ranked passing offense feels as good now to the Super Bowl hero as it did the day he signed his big contract? --- Kevin Boss, always a "feel good" story for the Giants, was just told by the medical staff in Kansas City that they won't be clearing him any time soon based on a severe concussion, roughly his sixth since entering the NFL. His career may, in fact, be over, as he may have reached the "Steve Young/Troy Aikman" late career stage where even a minor blow can set off another brain trauma. While no one wanted to see Boss go to Oakland and take the (absurd, Al Davis-directed) big contract, he was always a fearless Giant who went after any pass without regard for his own physical safety, and who (in retrospect) did the right thing for his family, and may have caught his last pass. Smooth sailing, big guy - I will always remember that Super Bowl 42 critical 45-yard catch-and-run ... the Giants probably don't even win that game without your huge play. --- Finally, Jeremy Shockey, the man-child superstar (at one point) first round draft choice for the Giants out of the University of Miami 11 years ago, is out of work and, for the moment, it appears that his career is over. Shockey tried out for a few teams this summer, including the Eagles, if you can believe that. The combination of his self-destructive, uber-physical ways of running over defenders, his off the field wild life, his sideline rants when he wasn't getting the ball, and persistent rumors that he was "the snitch" (according to Warren Sapp) who informed the league about the Saints bounty program seems to have resulted in there being no "takers" for the big tight end at the quarter pole of the 2012 season. It was fun watching the guy, especially when he was a baby bull, but he got an inflated view of himself, in many ways, and that ended up being the beginning of his demise - as it can for anyone. Still can't believe he dropped that "game clinching" pass, uncovered, right in his hands in the famous botched snap playoff game in San Francisco. But there were four good seasons when teams started their defensive game plans around him, to be fair, when they played against the Giants, and former Cowboys' safety Roy Williams is STILL in therapy for all the times Jeremy abused him, so must keep that in mind. Good luck in your next chosen challenge, number 80. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** By Dave Klein I hope you’ll excuse
Scott for being so wordy, since it doesn’t leave much room for the old guy. Bednarik, who was a good guy, was terrified that he had seriously injured Gifford, and every day for the next several days he made three or four calls a day to Gifford’s hospital room. Gifford instructed the nurses to answer and say that he was still unconscious, in serious condition and on shaky ground. Why? Because the Giants and Eagles, like today, played twice each season, but in a quirk of the 1960 schedule they were to play on back-to-back weeks. The game in which Frank got hurt was Nov. 20 in Yankee Stadium, and the next week, Nov. 27, they would stage the rematch in Franklin Field. "I wanted him to be so worried and so upset that he might play badly that next week," Gifford once said. "If I couldn't play and help my team, at least I figured I could unnerve their best player and help the guys that way." It didn't work. The Eagles won that second game, too, went on to play for the NFL championship (against Green Bay) and lost, giving Vince Lombardi (himself a former Giants assistant coach) his first in a long line of league championships. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** While Scott told you of all the lousy games against the Eagles, part and parcel of the overall nightmare of this series, he didn’t mention the game played Nov. 26, 1972, in Yankee Stadium, when the Giants delivered the most crushing blow to their rivals in that franchise's history. The Giants won, 62-10, and a quick look back uncovers some of the best old names of those non-winning seasons. It was a rout from the opening kickoff. The Giants piled up 28 first downs to eight for the Eagles and it was 38-10 at halftime. They did it with two quarterbacks, Norm Snead and (the late) Randy Johnson. Snead completed only nine of 16 passes for 105 yards, but three of them were touchdowns; Johnson hit on four of five for 152 yards and two more touchdowns. Receivers included tight end Bob Tucker (eight for 100 yards, two TDs, both on Snead passes) and wide receiver Don Herrmann (two for 95, TDs of 63 and 32 yards, both from Johnson). The leading rusher for the Giants that day was Ron Johnson (22 for 123 and two more scores). Johnson hit on four of five for 152 yards and another two TDs. His backup, Joe Orduna, grabbed the third Snead touchdown pass. For years after that game, a single, lonely cardboard sign fluttered in one end zone of Veterans Stadium. It said, merely, "62-10," and was affixed only when the Giants were in town. Some people never forget. ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** And finally, Fran Tarkenton was the Giants' quarterback from 1967 through 1971. In 1969, (the late) Alex Webster became the head coach, and it was apparent from the start that the two were not meant to get along. Alex was strictly old school and Tark was an enlightened, literate sort who preferred Park Avenue to 42nd Street. Anyway, in 1971 Tark had a sprain or a pull or some such nonsense. He also had a consecutive appearances streak that was one short of tying the NFL record. So one day Webster announced that Randy Johnson would play since Tarkenton was injured. OK, no big deal. Tark sat and R.J. played. It was a home game against St. Louis, and the Giants were terrible that season, as displayed by the final score of 24-7. But when the Giants did score their only touchdown, the world fully expected Tark to get into the game as the holder for the extra point attempt. He did not. Johnson took the snap and the game was over. Afterwards, someone asked whether Webster knew about Tarkenton's impending record-tying opportunity, and if so, why didn't he use him and keep the streak alive? "Who? You mean number-f****** ten?" he responded. "Tell him I forgot." Check out Dave's website at E-GIANTS
where you can subscribe to his newsletters which
run much more frequently than what is available here. NEW - Send a request to davesklein@aol.com for a free week's worth of news!
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