Monday night, the Giants passing game
got off to a similar start as it did in week one. Eli Manning was inaccurate,
throwing an interception on the Giants first drive, missing Mario Manningham
wide open along the sideline. Eli would start the game 2-11, unable to find any
rhythm with his receivers. With 2:58 left in the first half and backed up on their
own 14 yard line, the big blue offense embarked on a touchdown scoring drive
that the time seemed as improbable as the Giants retiring Matt Dodge’s number. Eli
hit Manningham for nine yards, found Bradshaw for four yards, hit Nicks on the
right for four, Hixon over the middle for seven on third down, threw a strike
to Manngingham down the sideline for thirty-one and finally finished the drive by
locating Hixon in the endzone for a twenty-yard pass. With one drive, the
Giants had wiped away nearly twenty-seven minutes of inconsistent play.
Finally, Eli looked comfortable with his receivers, firing passes with confidence
to his play makers. After watching the offense march down the field with ease,
one has to wonder, why don’t the Giants run the hurry up offense more often?
Throughout
his career, Eli has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the
last two minutes of the half. Eli became
a Super Bowl legend and MVP by exhibiting command of the Giants offense and
driving them to a game winning touchdown to defeat the undefeated Patriots.
However, the two minute drill that often gets overlooked occurred three weeks
earlier in Dallas. With less than forty seconds left in the half of the
Divisional Round game in Dallas and trailing the Cowboys by a touchdown, Eli
would hit Smith, Boss and eventually Toomer to tie the game going into the third
quarter. Over the last three years, not including the postseason, Eli has
completed nearly 59% of his passes, while throwing twelve touchdowns to only
four interceptions in the last two minutes of the half. While the Giants work to get Eli in his
comfort zone, they need to realize that the hurry up offense is his comfort
zone.
The
strength of the Eagles is in their three superb corner backs, Samuel, Asomugha
and Rodgers-Cromartie. However, the Eagles are susceptible to give up big plays
within their linebackers and safeties. In Bill Barnwell’s week two review for
Grantland, he highlighted how
teams need to attack the Eagles defense:
“When teams do choose to throw the ball against the Eagles,
they can bypass those elite cornerbacks by targeting the tight end. Of the Big
Three, only Asomugha has the size to man up against someone like Tony Gonzalez,
and the Eagles have mostly kept Asomugha outside against wideouts so far. The
Eagles don't have an effective cover linebacker, while starting safeties Jarrad
Page and Kurt Coleman are still question marks in coverage. The future Hall of
Fame tight end simply ate the Eagles up, as he caught seven of the nine passes
thrown to him, producing five first downs and two touchdowns.“
Luckily
for the Giants, Travis Beckum was able to practice all week and should get some
playing time this Sunday in Philadelphia. While the Giants would prefer to use
him in the slot than with his hands on the line, they may be able to exploit
some mis-matches within the Eagles linebackers if they can keep Beckum on the
field. By running the hurry up, the Giants would force the Eagles to stay in
their base 4-3 defense, not allowing them to switch out a linebacker Moise
Fokou for the more talented Rodgers-Cromartie.
The
Giants need to attack the Eagles over the middle of the field. Samuel and
Asomugha may neutralize Nicks and Cruz, the Giants should be able to attack the
Eagles linebackers and safeties. The defense will have its hands full trying to
contain all the weapons the Eagles have to offer, the offense can do their part
by establishing long drives and converting third downs. Sunday afternoon at
Lincoln Financial Field, the Giants best defense may have to be their hurry up offense.
Follow me on Twitter: @MattB_NY_Sports
-MB
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