E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he is one of only four sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

BYE THE BYE, DID THE GIANTS
USE THEIR WEEK OF FREE TIME
TO ANALYZE AND BUCKLE DOWN

By Aaron Klein
I think the fans (and the media) needed this bye week as much as the players and coaches of the New York Giants.

It's time to step back, breathe and analyze before the final six-game push to the playoffs. The players were busy relaxing and staying away from football these last few days following an embarrassing loss to Cincinnati a week ago Sunday.

Gee, aren't these Giants good for one embarrassing loss or two a season, Super Bowl or not?

Meanwhile, the coaches must take a hard look at the playbook, the game film and in the mirror and try to answer many questions, not the least of which is this:

Why has the team fallen into a rut?

There are many answers, some that go together and some isolated. A few possible answers include injuries; age at key positions; confusion over complicated schemes; bullheaded reliance on veterans; bullheaded refusal to allow rookies to fail and succeed on the field; stubborn loyalty to certain players; unwavering belief in the system without willingness to make changes.

With an extra week to prepare, the focus now must be on the Green Bay Packers, the Giants' Week 12 opponents, as well as their remaining games against Washington, New Orleans, Atlanta, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Sure, they can look back on particularly lousy performances by the team and individuals but only to fix what’s broken, not to dwell on them.

There are areas of concern that must and can be addressed, most notably the seemingly porous offensive line, a secondary prone to giving up big plays, the lack of pressure on the quarterback from a once-vaunted defensive line, an anemic defensive line and a slumping quarterback.

Is that enough for you?

Still, there is cause for hope. This is also the same team that crushed the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park earlier this year. This team dominated Carolina and Cleveland; neither team is very good, but championship teams like the Giants should dominate lesser opponents. There are reasons, fans, to be either hopeful or worried -- or both -- about this season. On one hand, there is no reason to think the Giants can’t win the division. At 6-4, it’s likely that a nine-win season should be enough to win the NFC East, especially if two of those wins come against Washington and Philadelphia. We have seen the Giants wake up for the final push twice in five years, and the idea that any team in the playoffs has a chance to go all the way could not be truer when considering this team.

However, it is tiresome to see these mid-season swoons, the flat performances and the apparent need for a cold brick wall at their backs, over and over, before the giant awakens. They are inexplicable and because of that, fingers are pointed in all directions.

Some blame general manager Jerry Reese for signing the wrong free agents. Really? I don't think he’s to blame.

Some like to point to head coach Tom Coughlin for somehow remaining just distant enough from his players to cause a bit of a communications breakdown. Not true. Not only do the two Super Bowl titles prove his worth, it is widely believed that his players would run into the proverbial brick wall for him.

Some point to Eli Manning, he of the 24 career fourth-quarter comebacks, the pair of Super Bowl rings and MVP titles, the heroics and the leadership. Well, it’s not fair to blame Manning alone, but he has gone without a touchdown in his last 99 pass attempts. Very un-Eli. Manning, like most great quarterbacks, tries hard to make things happen on the field (see: Brett Favre) and will throw too many interceptions and incompletions along the way. Also, like most pocket passers, needs a little help from the offensive line, which has turned into a bank of turnstiles as of late.

The lack of defensive line pressure can be traced to many factors, from the age/health of Justin Tuck, lack of production and even presence of Osi Umenyiora, double- and triple-teams against the still dominant Jason Pierre-Paul and injuries to just about every other defensive tackle on the team except Linval Joseph, who can’t take up three gaps on his own.

The secondary, with its share of injuries since Terrell Thomas went down in the preseason, has become vulnerable and seemingly confused at times, and has allowed too many big plays by the opposition and executed too few of them. The secondary play works in tandem with the pressure the team puts on the quarterback and both units need to help themselves as well as each other.

Running back Ahmad Bradshaw’s neck and feet are hurting, apparently leaving Andre Brown as the coaching staff's only alternative. Second-year pro Da'Rel Scott is on Injured Reserve. But there’s this guy, this first-round pick named David Wilson, who fumbled his first snap as a pro back in September and, apparently, is still working his way out of the dog house.

He's had a few chances here and there on regular offense and, with one, ripped off a 41-yard touchdown run. While he may not have learned all of his pass protections yet, one has to wonder if the staff is too stubborn about not playing rookies -- if he's not yet ready to be a superstar or if he just isn't nearly as good as advertised. Let’s assume it’s because of the first two reasons that he’s on the bench, aside from kick returns.

In the end, the Giants have over a week to be ready for the surging Packers. A win would give the Giants a 7-4 record, 6-2 in the conference with just one non-conference game remaining. Winning the division gets them into the playoffs, though they'd prefer a high seed. A surge in the final weeks could secure a post-season bye. A swoon might take the defending champions out of the picture.

The team will take this all one game at a time. The rest of us should do the same, though that’s not easy.

Try.

Have something to say? Got a question? Thoughts? Send it over to aklein22@verizon.net or follow me on Twitter @_AaronKlein_.

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.
- Team Giants

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