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Giants (0-1) vs Bucs (1-0)
In our last preview we said that Tony Romo plays
well against the Giants even when he loses, noting that last year he had completed
50 of his 68 passes for 610 yards and 6 touchdowns in the Cowboys two losses.
Well, Romo plays well against the Giants when he wins too. He completed 22 of
his 29 passes for 307 yards, 3 touchdowns and just 1 interception.
It feels
like the Giants have been on a bye week as it's been so long since their 24-17
loss to the Cowboys. With plenty of time to prepare for this game, they watched
first hand and saw that Tampa Bay allowed just 10 rushing yards (no misprint),
against one of the best running teams in the NFL, to win their home opener over
the Panthers 16-10. Tampa
Bay Buccaneers.
They won only four games
last year which which is surprising since they started out the season with a 4-2
record. You need to go on a 10 game losing streak to accomplish that feat and
that's just what they did. Not surprisingly, the players earned themselves a new
head coach for their lack of efforts. Just about everyone on this coaching staff
is new to this team and some are new to the NFL. First time NFL head coach Greg
Schiano had 3 years with the Bears in the 90's, and is coming off being a very
successful Rutgers head coach from 2001-2011. He brought some of his star staff
along to Tampa Bay.
Giant fans know both of the Bucs offensive and defensive
coordinators. Offensive Coordinator Mike Sullivan was with the Giants from 2004-2011
as wide receivers and quarterbacks coach. Defensive coordinator Bill Sheridan
was with the Giants from 2005-2009 as linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.
They both have Super Bowl rings from those times. There's a saying 'familiarity
breeds contempt', and agree or disagree, one thing can't be argued - 'familiarity
breeds familiarity'. These two coaches know the Giants inside and out on offense
and defense, so watch out. Tampa
Bay Offense.
Quarterback Josh Freeman
is in his third full season as a starting quarterback. He had a real good first
year with 25 touchdown passes and only 6 interceptions, but followed that up last
season with 16 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. Freeman needed some help and they've
brought in veterans All-Pro left guard Carl Nicks (Saints), two-time Pro Bowl
receiver Vincent Jackson (Chargers) and tight end Dallas Clark (Colts). Jackson
last year had 1,106 yards on 60 catches and 9 touchdowns.
Last week against
the Panthers Josh Freeman completed his first seven passes and drove the Bucs
80 yards in 13 plays, finishing with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams.
LeGarrette Blount, with 781 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns, led the Bucs in rushing
last year, left the game early and may have injured himself. Rookie first-round
pick, Doug Martin, rushed for 95 yards and had 4 catches for 23 yards. Former
Giant D.J. Ware was newly introduced to the team and played on some third down
situations. The Bucs added three field goals as they controlled the ball for over
37 minutes to win 16-10. Tampa
Bay Defense.
They ranked dead last in the
league in points allowed, turnover differential, rushing defense, and sacks. Last
week, inspired by new coaching blood, they literally caught the Panthers flatfooted.
They allowed just 10 rushing yards to a team that was ranked 3rd in the league.
That included containing Rookie of the Year, elusive quarterback Cam Newton (706
rushing yards), to only 4 yards on 5 rushing attempts. Newton was held to single
digits in rushing for the first time. The rest of his team came up with just 6
yards on their combined 8 attempts as they abandoned the run.
Yes, there
was a lot for this defense to overcome and starting off this year they seem to
be on the right track. He's still here. Ronde Barber is 37 and playing in his
16th season. The smarts are still there and to make up for any loss in speed he's
been moved to the safety position. Last week Barber had one interception and one
sack. In free agency they added veteran cornerback Eric Wright (Lions-4 Ints)
to the secondary and tackle Gerald McCoy with one sack last week, is looking for
a breakout year. Giants
Offense.
Where was it? They totaled only
269 yards of offense against the Cowboys. All of last year, even with those seven
regular season losses, they did better. You have to go back to a Nov. 21, 2010
loss to the Eagles where they did worse (208 yards). The offensive line didn't
open up many holes and allowed 3 sacks and lots of pressure on Eli Manning. The
running game 'built a bridge' straight to this year. They averaged a league low
89.2 yards a game then and a lower 82 yards now. They forgot to add a 'passing
lane' on this new bridge. They had averaged 295.9 yards in the air and now, in
single lane traffic, they recorded more than a hundred less, just 187 passing
yards.
It's a good thing they picked up tight end Martellus
Bennett from the Cowboys in the offseason. He had four catches for 40 yards and
Manning's only touchdown. The best running play was the 33 yarder by Ahmad Bradshaw
who also had a 10 yard touchdown run. First-round draft pick David Wilson was
benched after fumbling on his second carry, so we don't know what he can really
do. He's been hanging onto the ball and doing special practices with it for ten
days now. Maybe he'll shock Tampa Bay and the rest of us this week. Giants
Defense.
Where was it? In the fourth quarter
Romo completed every pass he attempted including one called back for a penalty.
(5-5 for 91 yards and 1 TD). How was the Cowboys front line able to keep Justin
Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul sackless? Tony Romo was under pressure
a number of times, but he made good plays while slipping away except for Rocky
Bernard and Linval Joseph grabbing him for two sacks. Outside linebacker Keith
Rivers played well until he got hurt. Michael Boley was alert, returning an interception
51 yards.
They killed themselves by allowing a number of big plays that Tony
Romo needed to overcome the penalty yardage his struggling offensive line gave
him. The Giants looked like they were out of gas the entire second half where
every drive went against them for points expect for the Cowboys final run out
the clock series. The rushing defense stopped DeMarco Murray in the first half
for just 20 yards, but later in the second half he came away with 111 yards. Bucs
running back LeGarrette Blount can break loose, and rookie Doug Martin showed
some skill last week, so the Giants defense will have to play much sharper. Overall
Can Tampa Bay lose 10 games in a row, turnover their whole coaching staff, win
one home game and continue on to beat the reigning Super Bowl champions? This
would be after traveling to the Meadowlands to face the Giants in their own stadium
after 10 days of preparation. Tom Coughlin said it was "upsetting" that
the Giants had made "the run we did and then come back to the same issues"
from early last season.
What happened to the Giants that last game must have
been a fluke right? Maybe the Giants still weren't over sleeping on those bad
beds in Albany. Fan-talk says that each of the last two seasons that finished
with a Giants Super Bowl victory began with a defeat to an NFC East rival. Well,
for what that's worth, fine, but if the Giants lose this one, forget about beds,
they may be 'sleeping with the fishes' as far as this season goes. NFC
East
The Eagles play at 1pm, the same time
as the Giants, when they host the Baltimore Ravens. The Cowboys and Redskins both
play on the road at 4:05pm. The Cowboys play the Seahawks and the Redskins play
the Rams. All the NFC East teams are favored to win their games. From
thirty two to sixteen to fifteen.
As you
would expect only 16 teams in the NFL remained undefeated after week one. One
more dropped out after the Thursday night game. Unfortunately, the Reigning Super
Bowl champions are not on the 'A' list and all their division rivals are.
Check
out.
The
Team Giants Store, and
see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items
you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps out our site.
Giants DVDs and
Posters. 
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Notes.
Giants have won two Super Bowls
in the last five years with just 10, 12, 8, 10 and 9 regular season
wins.
Giants
former running back DJ Ware had 2 carries for 14 yards in his first action with
Tampa Bay. Bucs had the youngest team
in the league each of the past three seasons (26 years, 100 days - ninth).
St. Louis Rams now have the youngest average (25 years, 300 days). Bucs
home opener against the Panthers last week was blacked out locally. Bucs
had zero turnovers and only 4 penalties. Bucs
Ronde Barber, with 44 career interceptions and 28 sacks, will make his 201st consecutive
start. Bucs Ronde Barber was named the
NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his gameplay last weekend. Bucs
Ronde Barber saw sixty-five players drafted before him, including twin brother
Tiki in 1997. Only one, Falcons' Tony Gonzalez remains active now.
Next Games
Sept 20 - Giants at Carolina.
Giants Tickets
- Buy
or Sell
Sept 30 - Giants at
Eagles.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
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