Giants no longer undefeated following defensive collapse in Big Easy
As expected, both offenses showed up to play today.
Unexpectedly, the top defense in the league slipped through the cracks and self-destructed, leading to a high-powered offensive output by the New Orleans Saints en route to a 48-20 win over the New York Giants. The Giants’ offense generated three scores in the first half, but some unfortunate and questionable penalties by the shaky crew led by referee Ed Hochuli put the Giants in an early hole.
Eli Manning, who grew up just two and a half miles away from the Superdome, struggled with his accuracy and also fumbled, setting back the offense and wearing down his team’s defense while he was off the field. The Giants’ secondary gave Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees plenty of cushion, allowing him to dance around the pocket and fire lasers to his open receivers. Receiver Marques Colston used his height advantage to leap over the Giants’ secondary and snatch passes from Brees, and running back Reggie Bush skipped down the sideline past Giant defenders and into the end zone for a score of his own.
The Giants were really out of luck when it came to officiating. The defense was in position to force New Orleans into a three-and-out when Corey Webster’s feet were tangled up with receiver Marque’s Colston’s, and the referees called pass interference on Webster. The call was clearly the wrong one, and even Colston laughed at the fact that it was ever called. A collection of questionable calls by Hochuli and his crew sent the Giants spiraling downhill fast.
Play-calling was also a bit shaky on the Giants’ side, and I am not sure I can agree with many calls by offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. Gilbride failed to realize that the Giants needed to work their way up the field by means of short passing plays mixed in with the running game, and he instead had Manning firing worthless cannonballs downfield. The absence of running back Ahmad Bradshaw was certainly the wrong decision, and it wasn’t until later in the game when Bradshaw entered the game when the Giants began to have some success in the running game.
Although this is a tough loss for the Giants, they are still sitting very pretty with this being their only loss. Teams never end up undefeated in the end, and the Giants can tell you that from first-hand experience in 2007. What the Giants should take away from this game has to be that the offense produced when they needed to against the Saints’ defense, which everyone expected. The Giants need to fill in the gaps on the defensive side in preparation for next week’s matchup at Giants Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals, and find a way to stop their dangerous offense.
New weekly feature: Game picks
Beginning week nine, I will be choosing winners and losers prior to each NFL game.My decision to hold off on this is largely in part to the fact that the playoff race will be heating up at the end of the season, and games becoming much more important. These picks will also carry onto the postseason, and I will also choose a winner for the Super Bowl.
Once the season is over, I will compile my results and determine how well I did with the decisions. When week nine rolls around, make sure to check MattTracy.com’s picks for the week. It should
Looking back in MattTracy.com’s four year history, 568 posts later
It feels like it was just yesterday, but it has been a bit longer than that.
Thanks to my oldest brother Tim who kicked off this site for me, I was able to start blogging about the Mets and Giants when I was only 14 years old, beginning the Internet’s first Mets and Giants blog. I had always loved to write, so I thought I would try out a website for fun and see how it would turn out. I may not have the longest list of readers, but I have a committed crowd of followers who make their way to the site quite often. I have had my share of great moments with this website, including the time when I attracted over 300 readers when the Giants played in Super Bowl XLII. Regardless of the number of readers, I have been able to make MattTracy.com an enjoyable hobby of mine and an experience that I will never forget.
This website has helped me develop into the aspiring writer I am today, 568 posts later, and it couldn’t have been without the help of my family, teachers, and others who have encouraged me to continue to write about what I love. When I wrote my first post on August 13, 2005, little did I know that this site would spinoff into a resume builder. It helped me land a job as contributing writer of Baseball Youth, as well as Baseball the Magazine and sports clerk at The Daily Star. It certainly contributed to my acceptance into Ithaca College’s Sport Media program, and I hope to continue to be the author of MattTracy.com for years to come.
Now, I would like to give you a brief review of the site by showing some links of posts I have made over the years, with the very first one being my first post on MattTracy.com. You will notice a huge difference in my writing in the four year span. Feel free to click on the descriptions, which will bring you to the desired link location.
1. August 13, 2005 – Mets lose to Dodgers (MattTracy.com’s first post).
2. October 5, 2005 – Mike Piazza’s retirement
3. October 11, 2005 – Manning’s connection with new WR Burress in 2005
4. January 1, 2006 – Clinch NFC East division title
5. April 3, 2006 – Mets win on opening day at Shea Stadium.
6. August 3, 2006 – Mets forced to trade away Nady for Oliver Perez & Roberto Hernandez
7. September 19, 2006 – Mets clinch 2006 NL East title.
8. October 20, 2006- Mets knocked out of playoffs by Cardinals in game 7 of NLCS
10. April 9, 2007 – Mets win 2007 home opener vs. Philadelphia
11. August 21, 2007 – Retired Tiki Barber trashes former team
12. September 4, 2007 – Giants season preview
13. September 6, 2007 – Giants open 2007 season in Dallas
14. September 29, 2007 – Mets beat Marlins after 161 games to force a tie in NL East.
15. December 23, 2007 – Giants clinch playoff berth for 3rd consecutive season.
17. January 13, 2008 – Giants beat Dallas, advance to NFC Championship Game
18. January 21, 2008 – Giants win NFC Championship, advance to Super Bowl XLII
19. January 30, 2008 – Mets acquire Johan Santana from Twins.
20. February 3, 2008 – Giants win Super Bowl XLII by beating undefeated Patriots
22. September 28, 2008 – Closing ceremony of Shea Stadium and my memories of it
23. December 1, 2008 – Distractions don’t stop Giants from winning
24. December 20, 2008 – Media exaggerates Giants’ problems despite holding number 1 seed in NFC
25. December 31, 2008 – 2008 Giants similar to 2000 Giants
26. January 11, 2008 – Giants lose to Eagles in Divisional playoffs
27. February 26, 2009 – Bat boy for second time in three years.
29. April 14, 2009 – Mets play first game in Citi Field
30. June 11, 2009 – My stand on blogs: News is unnecessary
31. October 15, 2009 – Comparing the QB’s: Manning’s stats better than Brees (chart)
Comparing the QB’s: Manning’s stats better than Brees
While Saints QB Drew Brees has been hyped up to be arguably the best quarterback in the game, Giants quarterback Eli Manning has outplayed Brees so far this season — and Manning hasn’t even played more than three quarters in about a month. If Manning did, in fact, take all of the snaps up to this point for the Giants, just imagine what kind of amazing numbers he could have put up. Manning’s stats are slightly better, but the two are very close and it should make for an interesting game to watch this weekend.
| 2009 Statistics | Eli Manning | Drew Brees |
| Touchdowns | 10 | 9 |
| Interceptions | 2 | 2 |
| Passer Rating | 111.7 | 108.4 |
| Passing Yards | 1,212 | 1,031 |
Not-so-questionable Eli Manning keeps Big Blue undefeated
Everyone knew injured Giants quarterback Eli Manning would start against the Raiders, especially considering he is number three among quarterbacks on the active list for consecutive games played. As expected, Eli took the field for the Giants and took care of business early and often against the struggling Oakland Raiders at Giant Stadium this Sunday.
Manning played for the entire first half — and that’s about all his team needed him for. Manning threw two touchdown passes, including a brilliant throw and catch from Manning to wide receiver Mario Manningham. Manning did a great job of spreading the ball around to the entire field. Manning also threw a 41 yard bomb to Steve Smith, who came into the game leading the NFL in catches and yardage. Manning eventually exited the game, as backup David Carr took over. Carr played very well, and even ran into the end zone for his own touchdown.
The Giants didn’t have much trouble staying undefeated and knocking off the Raiders, but Big Blue has a very tough schedule for the remainder of the season. It is statistically the second-most difficult schedule, so it will be interesting to see how the opposing defenses are able to do against the Giants’ dangerous passing game.
This weekend will be a very important test for the Giants when they travel to New Orleans to take on the undefeated Saints, who are coming off of their bye. Will the Giants continue to win? Will the offense keep clicking? Will Manning continue to thrive? We’ll find all of that out at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Also worth mentioning…
- The Giants are 5-0 for the first time since they won Super Bowl XXV.
- Eli Manning continues to hold the 3rd longest starting streak among active quaterbacks.
- Ahmad Bradshaw averaged 10 yards per carry against Oakland.
- The Giants will be playing their fourth road game in five games.
- Jeremy Shockey will face the Giants for the first time since he went to the Saints.