Former Redskins safety Matt Bowen, a columnist for the National Football Post, offers his scouting report on the Giants’ and Patriots’ offenses. On the Giants
“Eli Manning isn’t afraid to take chances. How many times do we see him throw, not into coverage but to a guy who is covered, and he still puts it up there for Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and those guys make plays for him? There’s a confidence level between that receiver group and the quarterback that they feed off on game day. …
“Everyone is starting to see how talented Hakeem Nicks is. He’s a true No. 1 receiver, and he’s great after the catch. He can run those goal-line fades. He’s big. He’s physical. He can create separation down the field. I don’t think Victor Cruz is a stopwatch guy, but he wins early in the route. It doesn’t matter how fast you are; if you win early, you automatically have two or three yards on him. …
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“Teams forget about [Mario] Manningham, and then all of a sudden it seems like when they need a play, he’s involved. The Giants want to get intermediate to deep to move the ball. They want to press the issue offensively, and they can do that because if they want to they can run the ball. They’re tough to prepare for.”
On the Patriots
“I don’t care how many painkillers [Rob Gronkowski] takes. He’s going to be limited. He has a high ankle sprain. That’s a six-week injury. Gronkowski likes to run that deep dig route against the safety. [If he plays], I’m telling my safeties don’t give any ground against him. But if he can’t run, you can undercut those routes. You sit low in your hips, and if he breaks inside you go for the ball. …
“You have to replace Gronkowski somehow. Where does that come from? Does it come from Aaron Hernandez? He’s more of a slot guy. I’ll be interested to see if they use more three-receiver sets. The Patriots will move Wes Welker around until they get the matchup they want. He’ll run the inside smash route. He’s an inside the numbers guy. They find ways to get him the ball.”
“[Tom] Brady will be in shotgun the whole game. He’ll try to increase the tempo and tire that front four out. You keep doing those underneath routes, and that’s where those guys get frustrated and tired. That’s what I would do. It’ll come down to the discipline of the safety, a guy like Antrel Rolle who likes to take risks. All ex-corners think they’re great. If they’re playing safety, they think they can get away with all that stuff, but you pull that against Brady and it’s a touchdown.”
