Studs
LB Ryan Kerrigan. He made a decent number of mistakes, as you would expect from any rookie. But he kept coming hard. He tried to jam the tight end once, lunged and missed. But he quickly recovered, sprinted to the flat and covered the fullback. Kerrigan was beaten off the line by TE Jake Ballard for a catch. A lot of his rushes didn’t produce much; he’s still learning how to best use his hands – saw him try to use them on one rush but he wasn’t close enough for them to make a difference. But here’s a play I liked: Kerrigan pushed down on the tackle as he played a run fake. He got off the tackle, then the fullback came over and tried to block him; Kerrigan bounced off him and kept coming after Eli Manning. His pressure resulted in an intentional grounding. Manning had time, but he would have had more had Kerrigan not kept coming hard. His speed never changes. Like I said, he had tough plays. Saw him react to one play as if it was a bootleg heading his way. Instead, it was a handoff to Ahmad Bradshaw, who went through the wide opening.
Recommended Stories
Oh, yeah, the touchdown. Just an excellent job of playing the cut block; pushed the right tackle down and quickly shot up. Great awareness. On the next play from scrimmage, the fullback tried to cut him and failed. Again, Kerrigan put his hands down on him, kept his head up and …. missed a tackle. OK, he’s not perfect. But he put himself in great position to make another big play. Like I said, he had tough plays. Saw him react to one play as if it was a bootleg heading his way. Instead, it was a handoff to Bradshaw, who went through the wide opening. Kerrigan appears to be getting comfortable with his takeoff from a two-point stance.
NT Chris Neild. As Thom Loverro likes to call him, the Pocono Punisher. Neild only played a handful of snaps, but getting two sacks in a limited time qualifies one as a stud. Yes, his first sack came because he went to the wrong hole, bumping into Kedric Golston. But it worked. And on his other sack he just got past center David Baas with power to the outside. But I liked his play early in the third quarter. He forced his way down the line of scrimmage and helped tackle Brandon Jacobs for a one-yard gain. Another time, he launched into left guard David Diehl’s pads and stood him up.
NT Barry Cofield. There were series when I didn’t think he played well and other times where he was really good. There were times when he was handled by Baas (first series of the game in fact). And when he gets handled, the defense doesn’t play as well. But Cofield played a lot and the guy must be in phenomenal shape because his effectiveness late in the game didn’t diminish. On the fourth down stop, he did not make the final play but his penetration certainly helped. He was off the ball quicker than anyone. On the third down and 1 play before the field goal, Cofield showed his ability as a nose tackle. He penetrated from the other side, sprinted down the line and helped stop Bradshaw. Doubt many nose tackles could run like that.
LB London Fletcher. Saw him miss a couple tackles. Saw him get beat by the tight end down the seam. So I’m thinking: not a stud kind of day. But here’s the thing: Fletcher always makes big plays. He pressured Manning into Neild with a blitz. He was in the hole and made sure Ahmad Bradshaw went nowhere after Reed Doughty tripped him on the third and 1 before the blocked field goal. And I love seeing when he’s not fooled. Manning ran a play-action bootleg to his right. But Fletcher never bit on the fake and the second Manning turned, Fletcher sprinted at him to force a hurried incompletion. On the fourth down stop he beat the guard to the hole and plugged it. Another time, he dove under a pulling guard and lunged at Brandon Jacobs, tackling him by the foot. Honestly, it’s fun to watch Fletcher play.
P Sav Rocca. He put four punts inside the 20-yard line, forcing the Giants to go on long drives. He had no touchbacks, either, and a long of 56 yards. ‘Nuff said.
Dud
SS Reed Doughty. Had several tough plays. But before I go there, Doughty made two excellent plays that helped save the game and they merit mention. On the series following Rex Grossman’s fumble, Doughty made a good open field tackle on the fullback, keeping him shy of the first down by a yard on second down. Then, on third and 1, Doughty came up hard and tripped Bradshaw. He didn’t bring him down immediately, but he caused him to stumble and others pounced on him.
OK, onto the bad stuff. The 68-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks is easy to analyze. Doughty admitted he took his eyes off Nicks after he made his first move. When he turned back, Nicks was gone. On the Bradshaw touchdown, Doughty was fooled. On the snap, he started up. When Manning went to hand off, Doughty started out to his left, anticipating a play-action strike to the receiver. His head even quickly turns left. Then he realizes it’s a handoff and was not quick enough to pinch the hole. Later, he helped allow a long pass to Ballard by overcommitting to the outside receiver (Hakeem Nicks). Doughty said he and Fletcher anticipated Ballard running a different route. But as soon as he committed outside, Manning hit the seam route. Doughty also slipped on another route, biting on an outside fake that left the receiver open on the right seam.
Notes
…Solid games: CB DeAngelo Hall and DE Stephen Bowen. Hall may not have made a big play, but he tackled well and was good in coverage. Bowen had a sack and played off blocks rather well a couple times. It’s still hard to judge free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe. Not sure he’s back up to rhythm yet with all the time he missed. Curious to see where he’s at in a few weeks.
…Wished they had shown a close-up of Manning’s 18-yard pass to Ballard again if only because it appeared there were two holding penalties that were missed. It looked like left tackle Will Beatty had Brian Orakpo in a major neck grab. Yeah, there are times it’s not a hold. This did not appear to be one of those times. It also looked like left guard David Diehl grabbed a fistful of Kedric Golston’s jersey as he fell. By the way, Golston, in limited snaps, played better.
…Rob Jackson applied a pressure in his limited action. He came in for Orakpo in the first quarter and got around Beatty. Jackson uses his hands well.
…Orakpo rushed from a four-point stance in the nickel package on 11 snaps. Now you know.
…With a 14-point lead, the defense stayed aggressive. On New York’s next-to-last possession, they sent extra rushers on three of five snaps. On the first two blitzes, the Giants gained 22 yards (the third time resulted in an incomplete pass). I like the aggressive mindset and it could be they just didn’t want to give Manning any time to go downfield. Troy Aikman questioned this strategy on FOX, saying the Redskins should be worried about potentially giving up a quick score. He wondered if this would hurt the Redskins in another game. We shall see.
…LG David Diehl had a tough day for the Giants. Got beaten more than a few times; Bowen used a big handslap to get past on a sack. Adam Carriker beat him. Neild stood him up.
Here’s the offensive Studs and Duds
