On Defense:
I fully expect the Giants to start with a mix of short, quick pass plays and the running game using both Tiki and Jacobs. If they have Shockey, this will be easier as Shiancoe is not a great pass catching TE, but they do have Moss, Tyree, Carter, Finn and Tiki himself who can catch the quick outs, screens, slants etc.
The object is to negate the Eagles pressure, keep Eli clean and get him into a groove right away, spread the ball around so the Eagles cannot bring a safety down into the box consistently and to take advantage of our OLB.
I see a repeat of the formation that worked well in the Washington game...Tiki out wide and Jacobs in the backfield on 1st or 2nd down...pass or run? If they have Shockey in on either end of the line, it gets even harder to read for our defense IMO...they could go deep to Burress on one side, go to Tiki on the other, hit Shockey down the middle or run Jacobs in a variety of ways...
Shawn Barber, Dawk, Trot and our DL will be key against these strategies IMO...we must guess right on Tiki and maintain our gap discipline...he can go up the gut, bounce it out wide or cut back...the backside DE and LB must stay home and the DL with Trot must string the stretch and end runs out...if they do not have Shockey or he is gimpy, it should be obvious if he or Shiancoe is in what they will do...they may also go back to the extra OL "big" package and try to just run it down out throats with Jacobs and then play action with Tiki/Burress...
We must force Eli to beat us...we need consistent pressure and must get to him if we blitz...if we do not, they will take shots deep to Moss & Burress, penalties will be called etc. Brown, Hood, Lito and James must play smart.
On Offense:
Balance...their DL has two good DE, but the DT and LB are average IMO...Westy and Bucky should be able to run right up the gut and also control the edge with our OL and their again mediocre safety support...
Start there and get Garcia comfortable...I believe he will be a bit hyped since this is his first playoff game in several years and he understands how much this run means for himself and this team...we need to score early, even if it is a FG, and get the lead...
As long as we maintain the lead, we can stay balanced and mix in our good passing game to add points on...mainly I would stay with whatever is working best until the Giants stop it, but we should definitely take some shots deep or down the middle with LJ, Stallworth and Brown...also I loved the mid-direction plays we did with Westy last game and believe, if we get a lead, we can punish the Giants aggressive pass rush with screens like the Pats did to us in the SB...
The Giants know they need to punish Garcia and will bring Demps and Short like they did last game...Garcia needs to get rid of it and let Westy, Bucky, LJ make them pay...we should also move Garcia around or have planned roll-outs or even running plays for him to keep them off-balance...
On ST:
Field position is HUGGGEEE in this game...Dirk needs to be blocked for well and needs to have a good performance...
Who is going to return punts? Mahe? Westy? We need no mistakes and it would be real nice to have good returns to help our offense...same on kickoffs.
Akers has Detmer back, but the snapper has got to be good this week. I assume they have been practicing like mad this week and I still have full confidence in Akers...I think he just has had less chances this year and had adjusted pretty well to a new group he is working with...
I fully expect the Giants to start with a mix of short, quick pass plays and the running game using both Tiki and Jacobs. If they have Shockey, this will be easier as Shiancoe is not a great pass catching TE, but they do have Moss, Tyree, Carter, Finn and Tiki himself who can catch the quick outs, screens, slants etc.
The object is to negate the Eagles pressure, keep Eli clean and get him into a groove right away, spread the ball around so the Eagles cannot bring a safety down into the box consistently and to take advantage of our OLB.
I see a repeat of the formation that worked well in the Washington game...Tiki out wide and Jacobs in the backfield on 1st or 2nd down...pass or run? If they have Shockey in on either end of the line, it gets even harder to read for our defense IMO...they could go deep to Burress on one side, go to Tiki on the other, hit Shockey down the middle or run Jacobs in a variety of ways...
Shawn Barber, Dawk, Trot and our DL will be key against these strategies IMO...we must guess right on Tiki and maintain our gap discipline...he can go up the gut, bounce it out wide or cut back...the backside DE and LB must stay home and the DL with Trot must string the stretch and end runs out...if they do not have Shockey or he is gimpy, it should be obvious if he or Shiancoe is in what they will do...they may also go back to the extra OL "big" package and try to just run it down out throats with Jacobs and then play action with Tiki/Burress...
We must force Eli to beat us...we need consistent pressure and must get to him if we blitz...if we do not, they will take shots deep to Moss & Burress, penalties will be called etc. Brown, Hood, Lito and James must play smart.
On Offense:
Balance...their DL has two good DE, but the DT and LB are average IMO...Westy and Bucky should be able to run right up the gut and also control the edge with our OL and their again mediocre safety support...
Start there and get Garcia comfortable...I believe he will be a bit hyped since this is his first playoff game in several years and he understands how much this run means for himself and this team...we need to score early, even if it is a FG, and get the lead...
As long as we maintain the lead, we can stay balanced and mix in our good passing game to add points on...mainly I would stay with whatever is working best until the Giants stop it, but we should definitely take some shots deep or down the middle with LJ, Stallworth and Brown...also I loved the mid-direction plays we did with Westy last game and believe, if we get a lead, we can punish the Giants aggressive pass rush with screens like the Pats did to us in the SB...
The Giants know they need to punish Garcia and will bring Demps and Short like they did last game...Garcia needs to get rid of it and let Westy, Bucky, LJ make them pay...we should also move Garcia around or have planned roll-outs or even running plays for him to keep them off-balance...
On ST:
Field position is HUGGGEEE in this game...Dirk needs to be blocked for well and needs to have a good performance...
Who is going to return punts? Mahe? Westy? We need no mistakes and it would be real nice to have good returns to help our offense...same on kickoffs.
Akers has Detmer back, but the snapper has got to be good this week. I assume they have been practicing like mad this week and I still have full confidence in Akers...I think he just has had less chances this year and had adjusted pretty well to a new group he is working with...
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