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Giants (3-2) vs Niners (4-1)
Coming off a 34-0 win over the Jets last week, the
49ers were big favorites to beat the Buffalo Bills. They must not like these AFC
East teams very much and they handled the role of 'favorite' just fine, sending
the Bills home with a 45-3 loss.
The Giants were also big favorites and to
make things interesting they spotted the Browns 14 points in the first five minutes.
However, the Giants turned things around and by the end of the game they had a
41-27 win, sinking Cleveland to 0-5. San
Francisco 49ers.
Last year Jim Harbaugh was a first year coach and he took a team coming off a
6-10 record to the NFC Conference Playoffs
where they lost to the Giants in overtime, 20-17. Their biggest strength was in
their defense which ranked 1st against the run and 4th overall in the league.
In their offseason they worked on tuning up their offense which was ranked 26th.
The ground game had no problems, but they needed to improve their receiving corps.
David Akers had set an NFL record for field goals for them but some extra red
zone catches could punch some three pointers into seven.
They picked up Randy
Moss and former Giant Mario Manningham and used their first round draft pick on
A.J Jenkins. The 49ers started the season well handling three games on the road
in four weeks to come away with a 3-1 record. They won their next and the 49ers
now catch the Giants on the second of their three game homestand with Seattle
coming up next on a Thursday night. Jim Harbaugh still can't let go of that last
championship game loss to the Giants. He still claims the refs (the real ones
back then) were too quick to blow their whistles on Ahmad Bradshaw's fumble near
the Giants 20-yard line and that could have turned the game to put them in the
Super Bowl instead. Niners
offense.
It seems strange that no matter how many times Alex Smith
throws the ball, his average number of completions has a limit of about 20 per
game as if there's some kind of extra SF quarterback tax to pay for having more.
That big 45-3 score last week against the Bills was done with 18 completions.
The week before with the score 34-0, playing Jet style football against the Jets
along with backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick, Smith had 12 completions and his
partner none. In their first three games it was 20, 20 and 24. In the playoff
loss to the Giants last year he had 12 and in their regular season win it was
19.
Even after last week with over 300 yards, the 49ers still rank 27th in
the league in passing yards. The addition of Mario Manningham and Randy Moss so
far has bought them just about 22 extra yards per game over last year. Smith's
quarterback rating was dropping each week before hitting it big against the Bills.
So on to the big 49er weapon, the ground game.
After crushing the Jets they
ranked 3rd in rushing, averaging 167 yards a game. After stomping the Bills last
week they upped that to 196 yards to take the lead in the league. Nine different
players carried the ball in the Jets game. Last week there were seven and former
Giant Brandon Jacobs (preseason knee injury), has yet to hit the field. Do they
really need him? One thing they do need is three-time Pro Bowl running back Frank
Gore. He ranks 7th in the NFL with 434 yards, and is just shy by 3 yards of being
number six and with 18 less attempts. Gore's 5.5 yards per carry is better than
all of those above him. By the way, their
third wide receiver is Kyle Williams. He was the special teams player who fumbled
two punts in the Giants win last season. Williams is looking to make amends and
he caught a 43-yard touchdown pass last Sunday.
Niners defense
This
defense is ranked 2nd in the NFL in points allowed and at the very top in stopping
the run. They have not given up a rushing touchdown in their last 12 home games.
Teams average just over 77 yards a game against them, though the Giants hit them
for 93 last time they played. Against the pass they are just off the top in yards
allowed and when you do complete passes against them they average just 5.8 yards
per catch, the lowest in the league.
In that championship game they were all
over Eli Manning with 12 hits and they nailed him for six sacks and that was exceptional.
The 49ers have nine sacks in their five games this season. The Giants have given
up just six to date and their running game is better. It looks like their offensive
line has improved since these two teams have last met but so has the 49er defense.
Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman are tough inside and Aldon Smith is their best
pass rusher with a team-high 4.5 sacks. They have allowed only one 100-yard rusher
in the last 43 games. Overall they are solid with a
good pass rush, top notch linebackers and good coverage in the secondary.
Giants offense.
Last
week Eli Manning connected with Victor Cruz for three touchdowns and passed for
259 yards. His lone interception came when Cruz had the ball popped out of his
hands by a defender. The offensive line also kept Manning from being sacked and
they are doing well in that area. Will Beatty and Sean Locklear in his first year
here have teamed up well. Working without Hakeem Nicks and Ramses Barden, Manning
still dissected the Browns defense using Rueben Randle (six catches for 82 yards)
and Domenik Hixon (five catches for 55 yards). Hakeem Nicks might be back for
this game
Ahmad Bradshaw had 30 carries
last week for 200 yards and 1 touchdown. David Wilson had only 2 carries but made
the most of them running for 44 yards and 1 touchdown. He's gotten reps in practice
and the Giants might be planning to spring him on Sunday. Still it's
going to be hard for them to crack the 49er defense on the ground and if so it
will once again all come back to Eli Manning. Giants
defense.
It's great to hear stories from
the last game about defensive players like Stevie Brown, filling in for Kenny
Phillips, getting an interception and Chase
Blackburn getting another in the endzone, but where are the usual headliners?
You know Jason Pierre-Paul, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck? When are we going to
write about them this year? Hopefully it will be this game. Last year in the playoffs
the Giants nailed Alex Smith for 3 sacks and In the game before that it was 2.
Obviously 3's the charm so let's have that this week.
Smith likes to target
Michael Crabtree and he leads the team with
27 catches. Last year they held Crabtree to 1 catch each game (21 yards, 3 yards),
but tight end Vernon Davis was a killer with his 3 catches each game (40 yards
1 TD, 112 yards 2TDs). Davis leads his team with four touchdowns and linebacker
Jacquian Williams will have to play sharp to keep him in check. Former Giant Mario
Manningham has 19 catches and and he's run the ball twice for a total of 57 yards.
Speaking of running, last week the Giants held the Browns to under 100 yards on
the ground, but they face a different team this week and it's always the same
story playing against the Niners - stop Frank Gore, not an easy task. Alex Smith
is not going to beat you throwing big passes way downfield even if the secondary
is weak. The 49ers are good at winning while playing a real safe game and that's
too big a risk. If the Giants can stop the running game, they can stop these 49ers. Overall.
As we said Smith's quarterback rating was dropping
every week until he hit it big against the Bills, finally connecting for a 30
yard plus pass for the first time this season and had a career high game. Smith
sprained his middle finger in that game, but we haven't heard much more about
that. Anyway it's doubtful the 49ers will try to go with a big passing game against
the Giants when they know they can pound things out on the ground. The Giants
and 49ers are averaging about 30 points a game. The Giants tend to give up about
10 more than the 49ers. The best thing they have going for them is that they tend
to lower or rise up to the level of team they face. Let's hope they can do it
here just as they did in the last go around. NFC
East
The Eagles (3-2) host the Lions (1-3)
in the early Sunday matchup at 1pm. The Cowboys (2-2) are coming off their bye
week to face the Ravens (4-1 ) in Baltimore and play at that same time. Later
at 4:25pm when the Giants are playing, the Redskins (2-2) will be hosting the
Vikings (4-1) in their game. The Eagles and
Redskins are favored to win their games. The Giants and Cowboys are not. From
thirty two to sixteen to six to three to two.
There
are two teams that remain undefeated. There's Houston in the AFC and Atlanta in
the NFC. This week Houston and Atlanta travel to their opponents stadiums and
both are favored to win their games. The Browns are the only remaining team without
a win. 
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Notes.
Giants Chase Blackburn is tied for the team
lead in sacks with Osi Umenyiora (two).
He also is tied for the team lead
in tackles with Antrel Rolle (22). Giants
center David Baas and backup quarterback David Carr were former 49er players. Giants
Eli Manning was the top pick in the 2004 draft. Giants
Eli Manning has surpassed 300 yards passing for the 23rd time in his career.
He also has done it 4 times in post season. 49ers
Alex Smith was the top pick in the 2005 draft. 49ers
Alex Smith surpassed 300 yards passing for only the 3rd time in his career, his
first for a victory.
His previous was in a loss at Philadelphia two years
ago (309 yards). 49ers last week became
the first team in NFL history with 300 yards passing and 300 yards rushing. 49ers
defeated the Jets and Buffalo in their last two games by a combined score of 79-3.
49ers opponents score every time from the red zone, but that's happened just six
times in five games. 49ers will play
only one road game in the next seven weeks (including their bye). 49ers
have gone 18 seasons since they won their fifth Super Bowl. 49ers
Brandon Jacobs scored 56 rushing touchdowns in his seven seasons with the Giants.
Next Games
Oct
21 - Redskins at Giants.
Giants Tickets
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or Sell
Oct 28 - Giants at Cowboys.
Giants Tickets
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