Tag Archives: New York

The Road to Indy: Five Keys to the NFC Championship

  By Chris Speziale | 01/17/2012 - 5:04 pm | Musings
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Vernon Davis is important, but stopping him doesn't make the list of keys to the game

Yesterday, we ran through some important keys to the AFC Championship Game between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots, and today we’ll attempt to break down the NFC title bout between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. Here are five keys to a Giant victory in this Sunday’s NFC Championship game.

Jekyll and Hyde – If I had to pick a single key to this game, it would be this: which Giants running attack shows up on Sunday in San Fran?  The Giants ranked dead last in the NFL in rushing during the regular season, but in the last four games they’re averaging 122 yards, which is almost 45 yards per game higher than their regular season mark. That said, it’ll be an exceptionally difficult task for Bradshaw and Jacobs this weekend as they go up against the most stout run defense in the league.  San Fran allows 77 yards per game on the ground, and last week held New Orleans, who had come into the contest with the sixth ranked run game, to 37 yards out of the backfield.

Pass Rush – It’s rare to find two teams with a similar defensive strength facing each other this late in the season, but both New York and San Francisco have made their money rushing the passer, and both will need to keep up the pace in order to stay ahead on Sunday.  The Giants rank third in sacks, while the 49ers are seventh.  It may be more important for the Niners get to Eli than vice versa.  New York will most likely have to rely on the passing game to get ahead of a San Francisco team that will focus on slowing down Bradshaw and Jacobs out of the backfield.  The more dropbacks for Eli, the more opportunity for an effective San Francisco pass rush to turn the tide.  New York allows a full sack less per game in wins than in losses, so keep Eli upright.

Lost Puppy Face – Take keys one and two…and you get key number three.  If Giant fans end up getting a whole bunch of Eli Manning close-ups with that lost puppy look, they’re in big trouble.  As we’ve already pointed out, the 49ers will attempt to force Eli Manning to throw the ball by controlling the run game.  And lets not forget that this is a quarterback who is less than a season removed from a 25 interception campaign.  Often times his decision making is called into question, and if the San Francisco pass rush can flush Eli from the pocket or force him into throwing the ball before he’s ready, he is prone to turning it over.  In the seven Giant losses this year, Eli owns an 82.3 QB rating and has thrown 12 of his 16 interceptions.  Keeping the ball out of the hands of the San Fran defensive backs will be paramount to a Giant victory.

Wideouts – One of the ways that New York can limit the Eli turnovers will be the play of their wideouts.  Both Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz have been outstanding for the Giants this year, and with the return of Mario Manningham from injury, New York has one of the strongest receiving corps in the league.  Nicks and Cruz are more than capable of making big plays and really controlling a defensive backfield.  Jets fans will surely remember the 99 yard touchdown catch that Cruz made in the second quarter of their Christmas Eve clash.  The grab gave the G-Men a lead they would never relinquish, and the Jets would ultimately miss the playoffs.  Keeping that in mind, it’s also important to note that the Giants #1 and #2 receivers have been guilty of dropping a number of passes this season.  The two have combined for 14 dropped balls, which is a higher number than it might appear.  They both rank in the top ten in that category in the league.

Flagged – Lastly, the 49ers have struggled with penalties this year, and while the home crowd should help keep the mental mistakes to a minimum, the Giants will need to exploit this advantage if they want to make their second trip to the Super Bowl in the last five seasons.  San Fran has committed 113 penalties this season equaling 1014 yards, which is sixth worst in the NFL.  Conversely, the Giants have forced their opponents into 110 penalties on the season which is ninth best in the league.

If the Giants can hit on all five of these keys to victory, it’s ALMOST a sure bet that they’ll be headed to Indy to take on either the Ravens or the Patriots on February 5th.  I do think that these two squads are evenly matched and very balanced.  It’ll be a game that comes down to the wire, and will most likely be low scoring.  In the end, I feel that home field and a possible rain storm moving through the area swing this one to the Niners, who’ll be heading to the Super Bowl looking for their sixth Lombardi Trophy.  Final: 26-19, San Fran

Melo Madness

  By Chris Speziale | 02/23/2011 - 2:55 pm | Musings
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It was written in the stars. Well, it's more like DEMANDED in the stars. Yah, that makes a little more sense.

Well, it finally happened—Carmelo Anthony got traded to the Knicks. And even though this thing has dragged on for months, upon months, upon MONTHS…I’m still extremely intrigued by the whole process. There are three aspects of the trade and its surrounding implications that had me scratching my head.

 

The first issue is the trade itself. The Knicks have been so bad for so long, that a near .500 record had Madison Square Garden in a tizzy. But you need to look at it this way: With that same .500 record they would be out of the playoffs in the West. The Knicks have taken advantage of a very weak Eastern Conference, having won 18 of their 28 games against the bottom dwellers in the East.

 

Now with Melo in the fold, the New York fans are expecting the team to win immediately. And the Knicks are sure to improve, but that improvement aside, they still don’t have the talent or depth to take down one of the East powerhouses, let alone the three they’d need to beat, to make the NBA Finals. What Knick diehards are going to need to come to grips with is that this is still a rebuilding team.

 

New York put all its eggs into the Lebron basket and came out of the sweepstakes with very little to show for it. Now they’ve got some cap space, and they’ve got two fantastic pieces, but as the Celtics (and now the Heat) have proved—it takes three. The general notion in the sporting world is that either Deron Williams or Chris Paul will be joining the team when they hit free agency in 2012, which is all well and good, but it doesn’t lead to winning in the 2010-2011 season. It does, however, lead me to my next point.

 

How is it that we have gotten to the point where players can dictate where and how they get to their next destination? I understand the years of service business, and that players have a right to determine where they want to play, but I’m still confused about how the power to put a team together got taken away from the owners, general managers, and coaches.

Look at what happened in Miami. Look at what ALMOST happened with Chris Paul in New Orleans. And now this with Carmelo. More and more we’re seeing players colluding in back rooms and having secret “summits” to put their own super-teams together. Forgive me if I’m speaking out of turn here, but doesn’t that take ALL the fun out of the off-season? If it’s all predetermined, then what’s the point? My hope is that the new CBA being hammered out by the NBA and the Players Association will address this because it’s truly getting out of hand. If the league isn’t careful they’ll end up with six good teams, in the six good markets, and lousy teams throughout the rest of the country

 

In 2008, the Celtics went out and got Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to team up with Paul Pierce in Boston. The three amigos turned the Celtics around so dramatically that every team in the NBA is now trying to duplicate it. Here’s the difference: the Celtics front office went out and GOT Allen and KG. There was no posturing from Garnett. Allen didn’t come out and say that he was going to refuse a contract extension from Seattle. Boston made a plan, and then they went out and made it happen.

 

Here’s the part where I sound kind of like a hypocrite. The third aspect of this whole ordeal that caught my attention was that Melo did this completely right! Yes, it’s ridiculous that players are setting themselves up with other players to create incredible teams. But at the same time, Carmelo Anthony did right by his previous organization by letting them know that he had no interest in re-signing. Loosing a superstar to free agency can be brutal for an organization. All I need do is remind you of “The Decision” this past summer.

 

Lebron James was absolutely skewered by the media, the fans, and even the players in some cases. And for leaving the Cavaliers the way he did, he had every reason to be. Now I’m not trying to compare Cleveland to Denver—the Rocky Mountain sports fan has had a LOT more to cheer about lately—but imagine a world where Carmelo keeps his mouth shut until the end of the year and then bolts from Denver to the Big Apple. The Nuggets are stuck rebuilding for the next seven years if that’s the case. Instead, this savvy player sits down with his GM and says, “Get whatever you can for me. I’ve appreciated my time here, but I need to move on.” And they did—Denver got a great haul for Carmelo from New York.

 

What bugs me is the guy is getting roasted for it, and I think it was a classy move. Would it have been even classier for him to say that he’d go to wherever the Nuggets front office could get the best deal? Oh, yah. You bet. But that’s what we should be riding him for. Not for giving his former team—a team that drafted him top-five in the first round in 2003—a chance to get pieces back, but for restricting their options.

 

Melo will take the floor for the first time in a Knicks uniform tonight against the Bucks, and the Garden will surely be electric as they usher in a new era of Knicks basketball. It will certainly be interesting to see how quickly their two stars gel. But while the players get it together on the court, don’t let your eyes stray too far away from the fans, the owners and the media. They all play a huge role in this as well.

 

NFL Roundup: The Eli Effect

  By Chris Speziale | 11/09/2009 - 12:07 pm | Musings
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Big news from the NFL in week 9.  In the NFC, Big D used its D to stop the Eagles and their two game win streak and take over the top spot in the East.  New Orleans stayed perfect but started very slowly against the Panthers who need to very seriously look at who they want under center.  Arizona absolutely wrecked the Bears in Chicago behind monster days from Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald.  The Bucs got off the snide and laid a big hit on the reeling Packers.  And in the battle of who cares the Seahawks came from behind to beat the Lions.

The bigger storylines, however, were in the AFC.  The Patriots continued their dominance over the Fins and put the smack down on the wildcat.  The Bengals proved they’re for real against a stumbling Baltimore team that looked in the beginning of the season like it was going to run away with the division.  The Colts barely got by the Texans and remain undefeated going into week ten for the third time this decade.  And the Chargers shocked the Giants in the final minutes and won by a point in the Meadowlands.  Leading up to the San Diego/New York game the media made a huge deal about the draft in 2004. What I’m wondering is if anyone was as appalled about Eli’s refusal to play for San Diego as I was.  You can make an argument five years later that both teams were winners.  Eli led the Giants to their first Superbowl since 1990 in 2007 when they beat the Pats and San Diego ended up with two additional draft picks which turned into perennial pro-bowlers Shawn Merriman and Nate Kaeding.  What stands out to me was the reasoning behind Eli’s refusal.  He simply didn’t want to play in the same conference as his brother.  Eli and his agent crafted that deal to get him out of the AFC because it was Peyton’s turf.  He was the top dog, the Colts were coming off a 12-4 season where big bro threw for over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns.  Eli knowing that he couldn’t compete and fueled by the Indy/San Diego rivalry simply stated that he wouldn’t sign.  He even did an interview AFTER HE WAS DRAFTED saying that he was hoping for a trade.  Now let me get this straight.  You are a highly touted college quarterback, you get picked first overall, you are about to sign a contract that will make you the highest paid rookie in league history, but you won’t sign with the team that drafted you because you don’t want to have to put up numbers against your big brother?  Well I got news for you buddy…it doesn’t matter where you play, you’re a Manning and you’re gonna be compared against other Mannings for the rest of your life!

It’s impossible to say what the league would look like now if Eli had in fact signed with the Chargers and Rivers had ended up with the Giants, but I think you can make a major argument that Rivers would have the ring right now and Eli would be sulking his way through another early playoff exit in San Diego.  Intangibles aside (and I do grasp the importance of leadership), Rivers is the better quarterback.  He has a higher career passer rating, he’s thrown for more yards and fewer picks, and if you get real crazy and start looking at splits Rivers, has him beat there too.  He’s got a higher completion percentage and passer rating in the final two minutes of games and he can make the big throw as evidenced by his 56% completion rate on throws of 20 or more yards.  Put simply, Rivers isn’t winning in San Diego because he has greater competition.  Every year the playoffs go through New England, Indy and Pittsburgh, because these teams are perennial powerhouses.  They have terrific personnel in the front office, they are coached well and their players are seasoned winners.  When Brady and Peyton start to slow in their ripe old age, we are going to be set up for some incredible Ben Roethlisberger/Phillip Rivers match-ups, and Rivers will get his ring. They will be the best two quarterbacks in the AFC, but right now there are just two many good QB’s standing in the way.

When you come back to last night’s game in New Jersey you are left with one thing: leadership.  Eli has always been labeled the leader, while Rivers has been called the distraction, but last night, under pressure and faced with a long field, Rivers crafted a masterful drive, going 80 yards and completing 6 of 8 passes.  He ran the offense through a no huddle two minute drill and threw the winning score to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds left on the clock, leaving Eli no time to get his team into field goal range.  He showed poise, guts, a killer instinct, and I think what is sometimes lost with Rivers: passion.  He gets his team fired up, and yes, he can sometimes run his mouth which makes him a target, but more importantly it takes the pressure off of his teammates.  This is what I think makes him a good leader.  He knows what his team needs and how to get it.   At the end of the day, Rivers was there, with a lightning bolt on his helmet, leading his team to victory.