The Resistible Force Meets the Movable Object
Posted: October 3rd, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 65 Comments »“We can’t wait to face those guys.”
We know the Eagles are saying that right now. But so are the Giants.
That’s what happens when a 1-3 team meets an 0-4 team. Both teams look at the opponent as someone to get healthy against. The question becomes which team can play well and turn things around.
Beyond the whole team, this unit is a great matchup of the awful Eagles defense and the woeful Giants offense. If the Eagles can’t stop the Giants, who can they stop? If the Giants can’t move the ball on the Eagles, who can they move it on? Even a philosophical genius like Larry Socrates wouldn’t know how to figure this out.
We know about the struggling Eagles D…last in yards against, 31st in points against.
The Giants offense has been awful in recent weeks. They have 448 yards and 7 points in the last 2 games…combined. Yikes. Check out this summary of the Giants offense so far this year.
Through four games, all losses, these Giants have failed to generate any kind of consistent competence on offense. The problems plague every level and take every possible form. There was the six-turnover game in Dallas, the seven-sack game in Carolina. Sunday in Kansas City, they snapped the ball only eight times in Chiefs territory, and not once in the red zone. They can’t run. They can’t pass. They can’t catch. They can’t block.
Not one Red Zone snap? That is hard to imagine.
It is easy to see the 0-4 Giants and get excited, but teams like that scare me. They are desperate. We know they’ll win one of these weeks. You hope it isn’t this week.
The Giants are a very banged up football team right now. Check out this injury report. C David Baas and RG Chris Snee are expected to miss the game, but David Diehl is projected to play RG. Last week it was James Brewer. The C will be Jim Cordle. The Giants have struggled up front all year. Last year they allowed 20 sacks, the fewest in the league. This year they have allowed 14, one of the highest totals in the league.
Eli Manning is a pocket passer. He needs a pocket. In recent weeks, he hasn’t had one. That has rendered him completely ineffective.
The Eagles must win the battle up front. And they should. Huge opportunity for Fletcher Cox and Trent Cole to kick some butt and get the best of an O-line. I hope to see Cedric Thornton at NT in this game, going against Cordle. Ced has played well this year and Cordle has only one NFL start.
I’m curious how Bill Davis will approach this game. The Giants have been pass-happy this year, averaging only 17.5 run plays per game. They throw the ball 42 times per game. Will Davis go with a standard 3-4 look or will he go with more of a Nickel look? The smart move may be to focus on stopping the run. Take that away and put the game on Eli and the OL. David Wilson hasn’t had a good year, but he is a very talented RB and the kind of player who will make you nervous. He’s got home run potential.
Sunday is going to be great for one team and incredibly frustrating for the other.
_
Helmet to Helmet is finished or no?
No. We were going to record the other day, but Jimmy was sick. I’m hoping we do a show in the next day or 2.
Time to start a new H2H#2 can use special guests such as AC, Oregon Ducker, Saltvelt, etc. sick doesn’t cut it. The show must go on.
Is that what they’re call it these days?
Let’s go Nate and Mychal!!!!
How about the Giants Defense against the Eagles Offense?
Eagles O is good.
Giants D is up and down.
Both are respectable units.
How is the Giants D respectable? They are almost worse in any category than us
Do which one are we, the resistable force or the moveable object? Or both?
The movable object…I think.
I’m hoping this game is like the Osi Umenyiora-Winston Justice game, except that the Eagles get all the sacks on Eli and win. If Cox, Curry, Graham, or Thornton want to break out this year, this game is their best chance.
Here’s my prediction: The Giants’ struggling OL will have no problem with Brandon Boykin or any of the other members of the Eagles DL, because they will be calling the same quick-hitting passes that Peyton used last week. Yet the Eagles will still have their safeties playing 25 yards back to make sure they don’t give up any “big plays.” That means: no long passes, but since the corners will also be playing 10 yards off the line of scrimage, plenty of yards after the catch.
On defense, the Giants’ previously ineffective DL will make easy work of the struggling Eagles OL, especially with all the long pass plays Kelly calls now.
Ultimately, the Giants will find their confidence again after this game, and the Eagles will slowly start to check out for the season.
I hate this prediction, but it is possible.
I hate this prediction also, but it has elements of truth. The only thing is that Chip will introduce some new offensive wrinkles. Maybe they will be effective. And maybe, just maybe, a LB or DL will step-up and make a difference.
Wow, is that painful to read. I think I would have preferred if you had shown up at my house this morning and actually urinated on my circular, oat breakfast cereal.
I’ll be right over.
I’d say this is painful to read…but I had very similar thoughts.
The soft zone combined with no pass rush really, really needs to stop.
I think they need to change the name to “Flaccid Zone.”
Now, now. Not nice. Although useful if urinating on A T G’s breakfast.
First, the Giants outside of slants once in a while to Cruz, do not use a quick-hitting pass attack. Its not an integral part of the offense like it was for all the first four teams we faced.
and if they pass short, it will be to their RBs and TE and none of them are quality pass catchers.
Also there is plenty quick read plays in this offense, the Chiefs and Broncos just made an effort to take them away together with Jackson and then let Cooper and Avant beat us.
That doesn’t mean they can’t make it part of their game plan against us who couldn’t stop such plays if our lives depend on it.
Kevin Gilbride, their OC is more stubborn than AR.
Also the Giants do not have a slot WR like Welker or Royal or a TE like Gates. While Cruz is a very good WR, he is more about the long speed or turning slants into long runs. He rarely runs shallow crosses or similar type routes.
Well, if there is any time for him to adjust its now at 0-4.
Giants fans have been asking him to change for last couple of years 🙂
I expect a big game from Cox this week to make up for his disappearing act last week.
Did you just say disappearing Cox?
A spy at the Giants practice reported that the Giants were working on a play where Wilson takes the handoff from Eli and runs away from the line of scrimmage. The idea behind the play is that when he inevitably fumbles, the Eagles defenders will mistakenly start running the opposite direction with the ball and Victor Cruz can jump on the ball once the Eagles defender drops it to celebrate in the end zone. They even tried playing the salsa music backwards, but no one could tell the difference.
In other news, Broncos are reportedly working on a play where the fullback dangles a raw, bloody pork roast with a bit of pig skin on it. Once Sims takes out half of his teammates in a feeding frenzy, Moreno scampers through the carnage. Listen for Manning to audible, “Omaha, Omaha, shark weak.”
I really have no faith in Bill Davis and this D. Looking over the All-22 coverage over on Birds 24/7 and the stuff Derek Sarley is doing, really makes me wonder what Davis is thinking with some of his concepts. I’m thinking Cruz is going to have a huge game mostly catching the underneath stuff and racking up some YAC. I’m starting to accept that the defense is going to be a HUGE liability for the team. I had expected them to be bad, but I didn’t think they’d be on pace to be historically bad.
On the flip side, I think our offense can get well against the Giants. They’re banged up on the front 4 and they’re just not that intimidating. I’m thinking McCoy is going to have a big game. I hope we can win this one. The past two weeks have been no fun.
Like Jeff McLane tweeted, Andy Reid 4-0, Joe Banner 3-2. I’m glad they don’t have to work with many previous years of Reid/Banner drafts.
Reid also is being helped by being only a coach. He has no additional personnel power in KC (outside of what a normal head coach has) like he had in Philly.
and he have drafted ZERO of his star players.
His first round pick is playing like crap and his 2nd round pick is injured.
Banner drafted Mingo and he looks like he real deal, but pretty much the rest of the roster was assembled by our own Pat Shurmur and Tom Heckert
Yeah, Reid has an excellent starting base for his team. Lots of talent over there in KC.
Still the last coach could do nothing with it.
That tells you more about Romeo Crennel as HC than AR as draft evaluator.
touche!
Yeah, and Banner got his after benching his starting QB and trading away his star player! (Though so far Richardson just looks ordinary.)
His real coup was hiring Ray Horton. I really hope Horton is hired away to be a Head Coach after this year, because that would have been the biggest downside to having him as DC and would make me feel a lot better about missing out on him.
The Browns had talent on defense before Horton got there. But he is better.
I don’t believe in Davis, but we have very little on D that any other teams would be genuinely interested in.
I like xeno’s take on the game. the Giants offense will get infinatly close to the goal life without crossing it. The Eagles defense will never catch up to the tortoise.
How paradoxical… der… 😉
I feel like the offense will need to put up ~35 to win. Zero faith in the D or the DC to be competent.
Our safeties stopped Cruz … Allen named be NFC defensive player of the week… Are headlines will never see.
It’s nice that you think our D is better than their O. Sunday will show different. Eagles D is more of a cure for the Giants O.
One thing for certain — when these two teams meet — throw out the record books. Nothing predictable will happen. Prediction — Giants will put up 28 or more points. Just hope the Eagles O can keep up.
Giants will only score 28 points if some previously unknown player catches a couple with his helmet or some such weird occurrence.
I do expect big games from DJ and Shady. If this offense struggles against this team… oh my … Vick needs to put more than “teen” numbers…
I’m not overly confident about this game by any means, but has anyone actually watched the Giant games? Their O-line is really, really not good. Like ’12 Eagles not good. I understand our current line has been struggling in pass pro, but at least they’re effective at run blocking. The Gmen do not have a running threat. As long as the Eagles can be competent in the RZ and score some points, the Giants will quickly become 1-D. Blitz the crap out of ’em. Enough of the soft zone and cushion. Just bring the heat. Yes, Eli will make some plays. Cruz will probably salsa dance. But this is a team you can force to make mistakes. I think the Eagles can suck just enough less to come out of this thing on top.
The problem is, the Eagles pass rush is not good either. You can’t really fully victimize a bad offensive line if you suck at pressuring the passer.
As for the red zone offense, it’s unlikely to get appreciably better. We have tons of data at this point indicating that this particular collection of skill players is not good at punching the ball in inside
the 20.
Unfortunately this is all true…Yet, I feel like we could win this one in a shoot out! 35-31 Eagles.
I think this is going to be a very good game. Two teams with their backs against the wall, with the loser kissing the season goodbye. Coghlin probably has more at stake than Chip, who is likely being given a long leash in his first year by Lurie. If the Giants don’t win and sytart to look respectable, Tom might soon be without a job. Both teams have looked like crap but there is also talent on both teams. How cool will it be on Monday to have a 2-3 Eagles and 0-5 Giants.
G-men are a team in transition, clearly. They’ve had a pretty good 8-year run.
But the cratering of that team coincides with the loss of talent along the D-line, especially, and the O-line as well.
While it’s easier to find O-lineman, the kind of dominant pass-rushing defensive player accumulated by Giants GMs Ernie Accorsi and Jerry Reese are much harder to find, right?
As for Coughlin’s job, he’ll have it as long as he wants it, within reason.
He’s coached that team to 2 SBs in the past 7 years. Ownership is held by the Mara family — whose approach has historically been the polar opposite of the late Al Davis.
If a change is to occur, at least in the short run, the choice — I’d think — is entirely in the hands of the HC.
I think the last couple of years have showed that Jerry Reese is an overrated GM.
Regarding finding pass rushers. Its not hard to find them if you draft them high all the time and yet their pass rush is still one of the worst in the NFL right now.
Reese surely taking a beating in NYC papers.
But pass rushers are like CBs . . . draft position sometimes doesn’t nearly match production.
Brandon Graham – 13th overall pick. Not elite.
Jerome McDougle – 16th overall pick. Not very good.
Trent Cole – 5th round steal.
Derrick Burgess – 3rd Rd pick who turned dominant in Oakland.
The draft’s a crap-shot except at very few positions, like WR in this era, when the player’s drafted very high (Andre Johnson, Calvin Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Julio Jones, AJ Green). But there’s still risk.
Of course there is steals and busts, but over the whole NFL the best players is in general 1st round picks.
Problem is that GM has also completely neglected the OL, LB. They also have some crap injury luck at CB and safety tho (hey Eagles fans know that feeling).
I agree about Coughlin. Reese probably has a free year; he’ll get another chance, like Andy Reid after 2011.
If the Giants are bad two years in a row, Reese would probably be ousted. Coughlin will get to decide for himself whether to stay or go.
Re: Who’s the Nose
Speaking of Ced Thornton at NT, I’d like to see Fletcher Cox get some time there, too. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of his career.
HOF DL and Villanova product Howie Long played all along the Raiders’ D-line during his career in both the 3-4 and the 4-3.
He was a mismatch for pretty much every lineman he faced. Hence, HOFer.
So as Cox develops (presumably), maybe he’ll get some chances at the nose. With his intrinsic talent and some seasoning, I’d like to think he’ll present a mismatch for any center he runs across.
Just a thought.
Re: Just how bad are the Giants?
For anyone interested in a fair comparison, then:
(a) go to you tube,
(b) type in “This week in Pro Football 1972,”
(c) choose from the playlist any Eagles’ game — except Weeks 6 & 9 (1 point wins against KC and Houston, the Birds’ only wins of the season).
You’ll see carnage far worse than anything from 2012, 1998, or 1985.
Trust “Billy Davis” to come out with some crazy stupid schemes which probably will have Cox and Thornton cover wide receivers and blitz with Boykin and Fletcher!!
Just go buy that Broncos jersey and be happy, sir.
So if I criticize Davis’s defensive calls and strategies (which btw quite a few journalists/bloggers have pointed out) I am to go buy a Broncos jersey?? Huh? Nice going Crack!!
No, I just think some people, possibly you, but usually philly.com commenters, like to complain more than they like to watch the games. Relax, big guy.
If the eagles win, they will turn the season around, if they don’t, things will get ugly.
Eagles 24, giants 31
I actually think the Eagles will win this week, although I’m not so sure about the “turning their season around” part (I could easily see them winning this week and then coming back with a loss to a bad TB team). The key will be how well the Giants can defend the running game. They did a good job against KC last week. If the Eagles can run the ball effectively and stay out of long down and distances, this won’t be that close.
I was “scouting” the Giants last week and I was surprised how well they did against the Chiefs running game. They didn’t do that well against the Panthers the week before. Could the BIrds be more effective like the Panthers were? I say most likely.
I think we need to see them improve from week to week. Yes, they don’t have NFL talent in a lot of places on the field, but can the coaches coach ’em up so that they are respectable on defense and more productive on offense?
It’s hard some times to know where to place the burden of proof: scheme, coaching or talent? It’s a mixture of these and other elements but we (I) like to hold somebody accountable 🙂
Larry Socrates: this must be some film or pop culture reference I’m missing here?
Nope. Just decided to give him a full name.
I think the Giants are even more screwed up than the Eagles are at the moment, but who knows. In a game like this anything could happen.