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Giants (4-2) vs Dolphins (0-6)
Last week the Dolphins had a 15-0 lead over the Denver
Broncos with less than 5 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, trying for their
first win of the season over a team with a 1-4 record. Denver quarterback Tim
Tebow went mostly no-huddle and led his team to a touchdown. Denver recovered
the onside kick allowing Tebow to work his magic again and score another touchdown.
Tebow increased his legend by personally rushing the ball over the goal line for
a 2 point conversion to tie the game. In overtime a 52 yard field goal gave Denver
an 18-15 win over the Dolphins and really their disappointed their home crowd
fans.
The
Giants were on a bye last week and had a chance to review all the areas that need
work. In the win against the Bills two weeks ago, they got the running game on
track for a season-high 122 yards. Still, that was against one of the league's
weakest run defense teams. This week they face a winless Dolphin team who can
play the run. Miami
Dolphins.
Franchise quarterback
Dan Marino retired in 1999 and talent aside, his long standing
durability at the position has been missed there ever since. Already this season,
starting quarterback Chad Henne is gone and Matt Moore is making his third start
for the Dolphins against a sack happy Giants team. Many Miami fans have already
thrown in the towel on the year. They are hopeful the team will earn the first
overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and possibly the selection of Stanford quarterback
Andrew Luck to get the team back on track.
Last season only two teams scored
less points per game than the Dolphins and they have a new offensive coordinator,
Brian Daboll. He replaced Dan Henning, who retired but things are no better. The
offense Daboll oversaw the past two years in Cleveland ranked 29th in both total
offense and passing last season. Nothing has gone right lately and
even Mike Nolan’s defense which was ranked 6th in the NFL last year is
playing at a level where they are 23rd, mostly wearing down in the fourth quarter.
Head coach Tony Sparano is not expected to be back next season and may not last
out this one. Dolphins
offense.
There are at least ten teams
that rank worse than Miami in three categories,
passing yards, rushing yards and total yards and yet their superior numbers have
them ranked 30th in points scored per game averaging just 15.
Brandon Marshall is their top receiver along with Brian Hartline, Davone Bess
and a few others. They do make a lot of catches and for lots of yards, but even
with Marshall averaging 14.2 yards per catch,
the second-highest in his career, he has just one touchdown reception and is tied
for the NFL lead with seven dropped passes.
Last
week Denver forced quarterback Matt Moore to fumble on his second possession of
overtime. Denver took over on the Miami 36 and that led to a 52-yard field goal.
Miami running back Reggie Bush has said it, "Right now, this team stinks."
Bush has a chance to make it better because the Giants give up 127 rushing yards
a game, which is 27th in the league. They have been run on an average of 4.5 yards
per rush and they run block better than they provide pass protection. Unfortunately
running back Daniel Thomas won't be able to
assist Bush because of a hamstring injury. Dolphins
defense.
Same as last year, the defense
is the much stronger unit on this team, but unlike a year ago they're allowing
377 yards per game and have forced only four turnovers to date. They know that
the Giants blocking hasn't been good so far for both the running and passing game
and will be eager to get to Eli Manning if they they can choke off the run. Without
that working they're in trouble since starting cornerback Vontae Davis won't be
playing because of a hamstring injury. Still this defense is hungry and they almost
pulled it off last week. They killed Denver's offensive drives throughout the
game, sacking Tim Tebow seven times. Overall their pass defense ranks 21st in
the NFL and has just two defensive interceptions. Giants
offense.
Eli Manning has completed 63.8%
of his passes for 1,778 yards, 11 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions, and he's
done it with a a shaky offensive line and without much of a running game to back
him up. As we mentioned, the Giants were effective running the ball in their last
outing against a very poor run defense. The Giants rank a low 30th in the league
with their average of 90.2 yards per game, and even lower in yards per carry -
3.3 yards. Last year they they finished 6th averaging 137.5 yards a game even
with multiple injuries to the front line.
Another difference has been in the
pass protection for Manning. They gave up 16 all of last season and already 14
to date on the easier side of their schedule. There were none last game against
the Bills and you can't deny that establishing a running attack helped with that
.This group now has six games under their belts and an additional bye week to
practice and review. With Chris Snee returning the starting line will be fully
intact. It's time to show solid improvement against Miami's run defense, which
is stronger than what they handled last, before moving on to the tougher teams
that will follow. Giants
defense.
Going into the bye week they
led the league with 21 sacks, and now they are tied. It's hard to think that Jason
Pierre-Paul, the sack leader on the team, with 30 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks in six
games, will be crowded out of the picture this week. Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora
are working off their injuries and look set to be on the field to round things
out on the unit along with Mathias Kiwanuka, keeping the pass rushing attack fresh
all game long. Corey Webster stood out last week with his two interceptions and
he and Aaron Ross have combined for five interceptions, but otherwise this secondary
can be had at times and for some really big plays. Overall.
Right now the Dolphins are neck and neck with
the Colts and Rams with the worst records in the league. The Rams have scored
56 points so far, less than 10 points a game while giving up 171. They're probably
the worst of this bunch, but the Dolphins would be next, scoring only 90 points
and giving up 146. Quarterback Matt Moore is probably hoping to do what a few
others have against the defense he'll be facing.
Rex Grossman, Sam Bradford and the mixture of Charlie Whitehurst and Tarvaris
Jackson have nailed the Giants for 300 yards passing. Still even with five first
round draft picks on his offensive line, 22 sacks have been given up which is
third-most in the NFL. Things aren't improving
with quarterback Matt Moore taking 25 hits the past two games (8 sacks, 17 quarterback
hits).
This should be a game where the Giants
get to improve on their lousy week after the bye record. Maybe a week where they
tune up before facing real tough second half competition. Maybe a week where David
Carr gets to actually play in a game and mop up for Eli Manning. Somehow that
never seems to happen for the Giants. NFC
East.
On Sunday at 4pm Washington
(3-3) and on a two-game losing streak will be playing at Buffalo (4-2). The
Cowboys (3-3) are playing the Eagles (2-4) in Philadelphia for a Sunday night
game at 8:20pm. The Giants, Eagles and Bills
are favored to win their games. 
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Notes.
Giants Tom Coughlin in his first seven seasons
as head coach, has gotten the team off to a 5-2 start.
In 2008 they started
even better at 6-1. Giants Eli Manning's
quarterback rating of 101.1 is the best of his career. Giants
Jason Pierre-Paul leads the team with 7 1/2 sacks. Giants
Ahmad Bradshaw was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring all 3
touchdowns while running for 104 yards in the win against the Bills. Dolphins
have been outscored in the fourth quarter 49-25 in six games. Dolphins
Wide Receiver coach is former Giant player Ike Hillard. Dolphins
head coach Tony Sparano has put his house up for sale. Dolphins
Matt Moore completed 15 of 20 passes for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns to help the
Carolina Panthers defeat the Giants in the final regular season game in Giants
Stadium..
Next Games
Nov 6 - Giants at New England.
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Nov 13 - Giants at
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