Giants slam Seattle to improve to 4-0
As the doubters continued to criticize the Giants, they continued to answer back. Doing what they have done since the wild card playoff game last season, the Giants came out on top.
The critics made sure to point out that the Giants weren’t going to be able to pull off a win this week because of the absense of their number one receiver, Plaxico Burress. They made sure to point out that they wouldn’t be able to win because their record in games following the bye weeks in recent history is horrendous. However, the Giants made sure not to listen to any of that.
Domenik Hixon, who was filling in for the suspended Burress, was going to score a touchdown in the first half, predicted FOX analyst and former Giant, Michael Strahan. Strahan was, indeed, correct. Hixon scored a touchdown in the first quarter on a bomb thrown down the field by quarterback Eli Manning. Later in the game, Hixon left the game with a concussion when he was hit helmet-to-helmet.
Brandon Jacobs flattened the Seahawks’ defense, thanks to the offensive line. Jacobs ran nearly 30 yards untouched on multiple occasions, as he ended with 136 yards on the day. Eli Manning had a great day at the helm, and as the game progressed, he did better and better. He threw for 267 yards, and went 19-27, without any interceptions and two touchdowns. This is the best Eli we have ever seen, especially with only one interception thus far (and that was all the way back in week 1). The giants put David Carr in for the fourth quarter to prevent any injury to Eli Manning, since the game was already too far out of reach for Seattle.
This game never seems to go well for the visiting team. The Giants have lost each time they have played Seattle in recent history, while Seattle was crushed this time around when they were the visiting team.
The undefeated Giants will head to Cleveland to take on the Browns next week in a Monday Night match up. The only other undefeated team remaining, the Titans, won on a comeback drive by former Giant Kerry Collins.
Review of Week 1
While several other teams in the NFL are just opening their season today, the New York Giants and Washington Redskins are happy to get three extra days of rest (the Redskins not as happy, of course). At this time, let’s review this week’s turnout against the Washington Redskins.
FINAL: GIANTS 16, REDSKINS 7
Positives:
- Among the positives in the win over the Redskins included the Giants success of moving the ball down the field and picking up points on most of their drives. Jeff Feagles didn’t see much action until the end, and when he did, his punts were fabulous.
- Lawrence Tynes can take his time returning from an injury, because no matter what the age, John Carney has not lost a spring in his kick at all. He launched three field goals, including his longest being a 48-yarder.
- The defense was able to stop the out-of-sync Redskins offense without much difficulty throughout the game. Justin Tuck’s sack on the Redskin offense’s first snap was very impressive. Since it was only week one and the Redskins still did not have a no-huddle offense, the clock burned faster that ever, thankfully for the Giants.
- Eli Manning looked calm and showed no signs of hurrying passes into bad areas. Don’t get me wrong, he did have some erratic throws that should have been intercepted, but if you compare him to last year at this time, you are looking at an entirely new player.
Negatives:
- The first thing on the negatives list has to be that the offense should have been able to turn those field goals into touchdowns. The offense acted much too conservative as soon as they hit field goal range. Luckily for them, their absolutely dominating defense helped them out whenever needed.
- The extra emotion and anger out of linebacker Antonio Pierce and running back Brandon Jacobs needs to take a backseat. Pierce likely will receive a fine not only for his part in a fight that resulted in helmets flying, but a late hit soon after. On the other hand, whenever Jacobs breaks a long run or plows over a running back, he’ll get into the defender’s face after the play to say a few words. Sometimes words turns into pushes, and we all know what’s next. I’m afraid he will cost the Giants a few too many 15-yarders this season.
Burress signs extension with Big Blue
Just hours before the Giants kickoff against the Redskins in the NFL’s season opener, Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress and the Giants have agreed and signed a $30 million 5-year contract that includes $11 million for the first year. The $11 million is quite the substantial raise compared to the $3.25 million he was scheduled to get.
General Manager Jerry Reese expressed his excitement in completing this deal:
"We always remained hopeful that it would get done before the season started. It came down to the last few minutes and we’re happy to get it done so we can move forward in our season. Plax is happy to get the contract done as well."
Finally the cheap Giants front office gives one of their players a contract they wanted. What a surprise. However, I like the timing in this contract. The news will make the Giants fans more fired up for tonight’s game.
Pre-Game report: Giants vs. Redskins
While Giants fans are still celebrating their team’s Super Bowl Title, fans in Washington have been waiting for 2008 since their Wild-Card exit to the Seahawks in early January.
To kickoff the 2008 season, the Redskins will travel to New York to face the defending Super Bowl Champion Giants. While the Giants still have not received the recognition they deserved after proving they were the best team in the 2007 NFL season, the team actually uses it for motivation. It just means they can shock the world (considering nobody believes in them) by having great success all over again. A great example has been shown by NY Giants Blog, explaining that Sports Illustrated has chosen several teams other than the Giants in their NFL preview Magazine. Another example is a poll from NFL.com. It asks what is the biggest story of the week, listing these options: Health of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, Brett Favre’s Jets debut, Aaron Rodger’s Packers debut, or the Super Bowl Champion Giants kicking off their season. What do you think got the least amount of votes? Giants, of course. 9 %, with the Brett Favre option leading.
I am very interested to see how the Giants defensive line with the loss of Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyioira will do. As we all know, Justin Tuck spent a lot of time successfully filling in for Michael Strahan last year, so I have no worries there. Also, I don’t have too much worry with Mathias Kiwanuka filling in for Osi because he knows the position from college and his early days with the Giants. He was born a defensive end, making him a perfect fill-in for Umenyiora. I am curious to see how many times they can get to Jason Campbell, especially with the Giants missing out on the chance to face him at Giants Stadium last season due to his dislocated knee injury. However, he has completely recovered from that injury.
Keep in mind the Giants defense has only six of the starters remaining from last year’s Super Bowl team, but the offense has every single player back. That is amazing. Super Bowl teams that stay together work the best. I fully expect the offense to score at least 28 points in this game, simply because of how many weapons they have. Read on…
Plaxico Burress has been declared %100 percent and is not on the injury report like he was so often last season. It was sore earlier in Training Camp, but it healed verrrry quick. Look for him to have a big game since he can run freely with that ankle. The only worry that faces the Giants is the Redskins will probably double team him as usual, forcing Eli Manning to throw to Amani Toomer, who was very reliable last season. Also look for Brandon Jacobs to fearlessly waste his energy in this game by plowing over the pile. I know you may be thinking, “Why does he want him to waste his energy?” The answer to that is simply because the Giants have strongest set of backup running backs in the NFL with Ahmad Bradshaw, Derrick Ward, and Reuben Droughns. Ward and Bradshaw definitely are talented enough to be starters in the NFL right now.
I’ll have more injury information tomorrow, but for now, the only key injury that I’m going to mention is Jason Taylor of the Redskins. He appears to be a game-time decision, at least according to several sources. For more Giants coverage, check back for updates…
MattTracy.com’s kickoff Giants coverage!
Be sure to stay tuned to MattTracy.com for all your Giants/Redskins opening day coverage leading up to the 7:00 pm kickoff! As kickoff approaches, there will be tons of coverage here, including injury reports, live blogging during the game, predictions of bloggers and writers throughout the NFC East, and more!