Week 10: Thoughts after rewatching the Giants game....

1) Justin Smith/Patrick WIllis: Wow. Justin just never gives up. Love the effort. Also love the fact that Willis held the TE behind him without actually holding him. He put his helmet on the side that the TE was trying to run to but NEVER used his hands. Even if Justin doesn't jump...there is nothing there. Willis made SEVERAL game-changing stops in that game. That stop of Manning on third down was fantastic.

2) Rogers: Up and down game but made the plays when they needed to be made. He also isn't dropping those pics like he did in Washington. Extend this guy as soon as possible.

3) Hunter: I think we are about to see a healthy dose of Kendall Hunter in the next few weeks and the reset of the season. I'd love to see Gore put on a show, but we don't need him to carry the ball 20 times now. We need to to be healthy when it matters. Its also a great time to get Kendall (and Dixon for that matter) some great experience...particularly in pass protection.

4) Edwards: I'm kinda concerned about him. Its not that I don't think he's a good player, he just isn't moving very well out there. Its could very well be an issue with his knee, but at times it just looks like he's kinda spinning his wheels. Hopefully that will get better as the season progresses.

5) Crabtree: Another game, another OHHHHHH....so close...... I still see a big game coming for him. Then again. I've been saying that all year...but I just STILL see it coming.

6) Akers: Pro Bowl. Book it.

7) Manning: I know he's not a Niner, but that guy is good. I buy the elite talk now. That TD to Nicks was incredible. Brown never had a chance. He was in perfect position and still couldn't get there.

8) O-Line: Really played well the entire game. Smith was sacked twice, but he really wasn't pressured too much. He had time through most of the game. I was mostly impressed with Staley and Davis who held their own. The one sack on Staley had more to do with Alex stepping right into the defender.

9) Whitner: He can be a liability agqainst the pass...we kinda already knew that. He's not very good covering tall TEs, but he played very well yesterday. He was hitting people all over the field. That also should have been a fumble on the first drive. Its all well and good to say the recievers forward motion stopped....but I watched that thing 6 times and I never once heard a whistle blow.

10) Alex/Gameplan: I love it. Manage this! No, he didn't set the scoreboard on fire, but his lack of huge numbers was NOT because he was shut down. It was because the Giants were moving the ball and killing the clock. Alex didn't get the ball for the second time until there was 5 min left in the second quarter. The pick was not his fault and stopped a drive around the 20. He almost had another TD to Crabtree or Edwards. He played even better than the number indicate. He was hitting guys all day.

I LOVED the game plan. 49ers=running team. Giants=bad against run. The obvious choice is to run the ball. Problem is, Giants know they are bad and also know that Niners are good. The Niners were smart enough to know that this great D-Line wouldn't pin their ears back and go after Smith because they were expecting run. What do you do? You pass. WELL. I love it.

Just 10 things Marvin?! lol

Good job though! And I too was impressed with the way the o-line played in pass protection. Finally, Smith has protection!!!

RE: Kendall Hunter and pass protection. There was no drop off in the protection while the kid was in there. He is doing very well at the toughest part of a rookie RB's job.

7. Manning: Beat our blitz with a perfect throw. Didn't fault T.Brown too much here. He was suppose to have safety help but #30 came in just a little late. Goldson came from way out. Don't think Fangio will dial that up again any time soon.

9. Whitner: Ronnie Lott -esk hit on the Giants running back. Ickey Wood type hit in the SB

10. Alex Smith: Best all around game in his career. With good decision throwing and running.

The fumble no fumble was complete b******t.

I am sick and tired of these refs making one call and then getting together for 30 seconds to come up with some completely different ruling. When he fumbled, two refs ran in and said, no no, he was down. So we are about to challenge what clearly wasn't down by contact and the refs do an about face and say "Oh, ok he wasn't down but we ruled his forward progress was stopped".

The NFL really needs to provide an answer for what is going on here? Almost makes it seem like a fix was in.

Fine post.

The game showed improvement in all areas. We faced a top tier oppent and a well coached team.

Drops and bad breaks happen to both teams and I don't consider them.

We still need an upgrade at WR and one more CB.

Our Dline was getting tired being on the field so much. I think Fangio will find a rotation that can give some rst. Ray Mac seemed a tad off from his injury. Our ILinebackers are the bomb.

Our Special teams are playing excellent.

Alex played his best game and he continues to improve.

The results of excellent coaching.

Good job, Marvin, as always.

Wow, this game was played at a high level by both teams, playoff-level really. A far cry from so many of the desultory performances of the last decade. It just feels so good, as a long-time fan, to see this club earn the R-E-S-P-E-C-T that it now deserves.

Originally posted by Marvin49:
1) Justin Smith/Patrick WIllis: Wow. Justin just never gives up. Love the effort. Also love the fact that Willis held the TE behind him without actually holding him. He put his helmet on the side that the TE was trying to run to but NEVER used his hands. Even if Justin doesn't jump...there is nothing there. Willis made SEVERAL game-changing stops in that game. That stop of Manning on third down was fantastic.

Disagree about the "nothing there." That's what Aikman said, but he was wrong. If you watch the replay from behind the QB (the overhead camera) you can clearly see where Manning is looking and where he wants to throw. The receiver is close to the TE/LB bunch but he's beaten the defender and fading towards the end zone and away from the bunch. There's no one in front of the him and if Manning feathers the pass over the TE, it's a touchdown. Manning was throwing perfect passes all day long and if Smith doesn't block that one, we're going to OT. Game saving play by Justin Smith.

I agree about Patrick Willis though. Great play. He took away the first (TE) option. Great game overall. Willis and Smith are co-MVP's for the week.

8-1

Originally posted by Lifer:

Originally posted by Marvin49:

1) Justin Smith/Patrick WIllis: Wow. Justin just never gives up. Love the effort. Also love the fact that Willis held the TE behind him without actually holding him. He put his helmet on the side that the TE was trying to run to but NEVER used his hands. Even if Justin doesn't jump...there is nothing there. Willis made SEVERAL game-changing stops in that game. That stop of Manning on third down was fantastic.

Disagree about the "nothing there." That's what Aikman said, but he was wrong. If you watch the replay from behind the QB (the overhead camera) you can clearly see where Manning is looking and where he wants to throw. The receiver is close to the TE/LB bunch but he's beaten the defender and fading towards the end zone and away from the bunch. There's no one in front of the him and if Manning feathers the pass over the TE, it's a touchdown. Manning was throwing perfect passes all day long and if Smith doesn't block that one, we're going to OT. Game saving play by Justin Smith.

I agree about Patrick Willis though. Great play. He took away the first (TE) option. Great game overall. Willis and Smith are co-MVP's for the week.

Good eye. I had to rewind that play a few times to see what/where Eli was targeting.

Originally posted by Lifer:

Originally posted by Marvin49:
1) Justin Smith/Patrick WIllis: Wow. Justin just never gives up. Love the effort. Also love the fact that Willis held the TE behind him without actually holding him. He put his helmet on the side that the TE was trying to run to but NEVER used his hands. Even if Justin doesn't jump...there is nothing there. Willis made SEVERAL game-changing stops in that game. That stop of Manning on third down was fantastic.

Disagree about the "nothing there." That's what Aikman said, but he was wrong. If you watch the replay from behind the QB (the overhead camera) you can clearly see where Manning is looking and where he wants to throw. The receiver is close to the TE/LB bunch but he's beaten the defender and fading towards the end zone and away from the bunch. There's no one in front of the him and if Manning feathers the pass over the TE, it's a touchdown. Manning was throwing perfect passes all day long and if Smith doesn't block that one, we're going to OT. Game saving play by Justin Smith.

I agree about Patrick Willis though. Great play. He took away the first (TE) option. Great game overall. Willis and Smith are co-MVP's for the week.

Disagree.

The route was indeed to Manningham, but Willis blew it up.

The TE was running a clearing route to move the LB out of the middle to open a hole for the WR behind him. When Willis held his ground and hit the TE, the hole wasn't there. If the QB trows the ball high, the WR is only a few yards behind him. There was no opening.

I watched the play several times after I heard Deion Sanders talk about it. He's right (for once).

I read on a Giants forum that Justin Smith was interviewed and said that before the play he called out where the ball was going to go (said something like "they always throw in the "B" hole"...insert joke here....). They already knew where Manning was likely to go with the ball. Thats why Willis blew up the TE and Justin jumped.

McDonald was not a factor yesterday.

Neither was Brooks as he kept taking the speed rush to the outside of his man and Manning just took two steps forward and avoided the pressure.

Overall our d-line wasn't getting pressure from their front four and this made the blitzing necessary more than any other game so far. It eventually bit us in the end. Poor decision to bring that safety blitz on an obvious passing down. In my opinion that ws one of the better pass blocking offensive lines we have gone up against.

Originally posted by RayWersching:
In my opinion that ws one of the better pass blocking offensive lines we have gone up against.

I agree. I rarely hear anyone giving the Giants o-line credit, you can complain about our secondary all you want, but Giants o-line kept Eli clean and gave him a lot of time. Fangio tried to blitz, but everyone knows the Mannings have made a living off beating blitzes, it's what they do best.

Originally posted by RayWersching:
McDonald was not a factor yesterday.

Neither was Brooks as he kept taking the speed rush to the outside of his man and Manning just took two steps forward and avoided the pressure.

Overall our d-line wasn't getting pressure from their front four and this made the blitzing necessary more than any other game so far. It eventually bit us in the end. Poor decision to bring that safety blitz on an obvious passing down. In my opinion that ws one of the better pass blocking offensive lines we have gone up against.

Well...disagree again.

The Niners actally played BETTER when they didn't blitz. They weren't getting consistent pressure, but when they blitzed Manning was even better.

Bottom line...give just due when its due. Despite the 2 picks, Manning played very well. There were several balls that he threw that the defensive player had no chance on (the Nicks TD, the Manningham TD, several passes to Manningham on the boundry). Justin Smith also said after the game that he reminded him of his brother because he ketp changing the play at the line and was almost always changing to the CORRECT play. Give the Giants credit...they played very well.

Not sure what you were disagreeing with. I was giving credit to the Giants O-line and none of the front 4 got many QB hits or even 1 sack.