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| Thursdays news.....; Practice "report" | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 21 2005, 09:39 AM (37 Views) | |
| KCGirl | Oct 21 2005, 09:39 AM Post #1 |
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Shaper of Young Minds (aaahhhhhh!)
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Practice Report for Thursday EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Third down has become the first concern of the Giants’ defense as it prepares to take on the high-flying Denver Broncos Sunday in Giants Stadium. Five games into the season, the Giants rank 32nd – that’s last – in the NFL in third-down defense. Their opponents have converted 37 of 72 percent, a 51.4 percent success rate that makes the Giants the only team in the league to give their foes the chance to keep the ball on more than half of their third down tries. “Anytime you’re on defense and you’re giving up a lot of third downs, you’re going to struggle and give up a lot of yards. That’s pretty much the key to playing defense, getting off the field on third down.” - LB Carlos EmmonsThe third-down failures contribute to an unsettling cycle that could prove problematic for the Giants as they attempt to stay in the NFC playoff race. The Giants are 31st in the NFL in total defense (allowing 417.2 yards a game) and pass defense (316.2). Because the defense has had difficulty forcing opposing offense off the field, the Giants’ offense doesn’t get to run as many plays as it prefers. In last week’s 16-13 overtime loss to Dallas, they had just 52 snaps, the third time this season the Giants have run fewer than 55 plays in a game. Because of that, the Giants’ average time of possession is 26:19, which leaves them 30th in the NFL. The Giants’ third-down difficulties were on full display in last week’s 16-13 overtime loss in Dallas. The Cowboys succeeded on nine of 16 conversion opportunities, including all four on their only touchdown drive of the game in the second quarter. As a result, the Giants owned the ball for just 23:01, their lowest time of possession of the season. “There’s definitely a concern,” linebacker Carlos Emmons said. “Anytime you’re on defense and you’re giving up a lot of third downs, you’re going to struggle and give up a lot of yards. That’s pretty much the key to playing defense, getting off the field on third down.” “It’s definitely frustrating,” safety Brent Alexander said. “Sometimes you don’t realize until after the game the impact third down made on the game. You realize how many opportunities you had to create field position for the offense. Looking back on the game – and it’s been like this for the last few weeks – third down was a problem.” What is most upsetting to coach Tom Coughlin is the frequency with which Giants opponents convert third-and-long situations. When opponents face a third-and-10 or longer, they have picked up a first down nine of 28 times, a 32.1 success rate that leaves the Giants ahead of only the Buffalo Bills (33.3). When the opposition needs six to nine yards for a first down, it has picked up the necessary yardage 10 of 19 times (52.6 percent). And when four or five yards are needed on third down, Giants foes have succeeded all 10 times they’ve tried. “That is a real issue that has been there since the beginning of the season, and particularly in the long yardage areas,” Coughlin said of the Giants’ defensive third down problems. “It is amazing to me that people can – with the distance that has to be covered when it is third and 12, third and 13, that we can’t do a better job of defending. It certainly is discussed an awful lot, brought to a lot of people’s attention. It will continue to be. “We (don’t use) the same coverage, we don’t sit there in one picture for the other guys. It is just that we have been vulnerable. The question being on occasion, ‘Is there enough pressure being exerted on the quarterback?’ Sometimes he stands back there for a long time. Under those circumstances it is not good. So I think it is a combination of that – pressure, coverage. But definitely an area which is, if you want to use that word, ‘frustrating,’ that is it.” The players share their coach’s aggravation. “You have to take advantage of those opportunities,” Alexander said. “Third-and-long, when they get seven yards or more, that’s when the frustration kicks in. It’s something we’ve been focusing on. It comes down to making those plays and getting some confidence in those situations.” “Fortunately, we’ve had a lot of third-and-longs,” Emmons said. “Unfortunately, we haven’t stopped anybody from (converting) them. That’s something we have to correct and it’s something we’re constantly striving to get better at. Anytime you have a team third-and-12, third-and-15, as a defense you feel like you’re going to get off the field. When people convert on those, it really takes a lot of the air out of you. It changes momentum and gets things rolling in the other direction. When it’s third-and-long you have to get off the field on defense. And we haven’t been doing that. So it’s definitely something we’re concerned about.” The Giants could have an opportunity to reverse their third-down fortunes this week. Although the Broncos have won five games in a row and employ a dangerous attack with multiple weapons, they are 31st the NFL in converting third downs (21 of 76, 27.6 percent). But the Giants expect to correct the problem internally, without regard for their opponent. “You’d like to win third down,” said defensive end Michael Strahan. “If you don’t, then you line up and play first and second again and hopefully you get back to that situation. … I look at the points. How many points do they score? There have been games where we haven’t given up that many yards, but have given up a lot of points. I think as long as you keep the points down, you give your team a chance to win. Right now, we’re pretty opportunistic as far as turnovers and things like that. It would be great to get the passing yards down. But, right now it’s just not happening, so we’re just going to keep working on it.” “We’re looking forward to turning that around,” Emmons said, “and correcting some things on the field and getting that thing stopped.” Notes • The offense also has third-down issues after that week’s one-for-11 performance in Dallas. Coughlin reiterated today that the team needs to convert more third-down opportunities so it can achieve its goal of offensive balance. The scant possession time last week was a big reason they Giants had only 19 rushing attempts. Denver, will make it difficult for the Giants to get its ground game untracked. The Broncos are fifth in the NFL in rushing defense, allowing only 88.2 yards a game. Three weeks ago, they held the Jacksonville Jaguars to 12 yards on the ground. “This is a very good defense,” Coughlin said. “They’ve played very well. They have literally shut the run down with the exception of two games (Miami ran for 151 yards and Washington for 125). They are giving up 88 yards a game. They do it because they are a fast moving defense that incorporates the safeties in the front and they are a pressure package team. You’ve got to account for everyone, including the safety.” • Everyone practiced but linebacker Barrett Green, who has an ankle injury. He is listed as questionable. So are three other players who did practice despite also having ankle injuries: Emmons, Gibril Wilson and Reggie Torbor. • A scoring change from last week’s game in Dallas has resulted in one less passing attempt for Eli Manning. With 10:01 remaining in the third quarter, the stats crew working the game gave Manning an incompletion on a pass to Jeremy Shockey. But the play was nullified penalty called on Luke Petitgout. The correction means Manning completed 14 of 29 passes in the game and 80 of 152 this season. In addition, the Giants ran 52 plays against the Cowboys, not 53. • Former Giants running back Ron Dayne is Denver’s third running back. He was inactive for one games and did not play in another. In the four games he did see action, Dayne has rushed for 53 yards on 13 carries, including 44 yards against San Diego. Denver coach Mike Shanahan was asked if Dayne will carry the ball against the Giants. “Well, you never know,” Shanahan said. “It all depends on how the other backs are doing. Where I am right now, he’s our third guy. When he has played, it’s because Mike (Anderson) got tired and Ron went in there for the fourth quarter against San Diego. Tatum Bell was hurt and didn’t even practice. So, at that time, Ron was our second back. So, it all depends on how healthy are running backs are and if they get tired or not. But right now, Ron is our third team guy and it all depends on the situation and how much we run the football.” |
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| Rick5 | Oct 21 2005, 07:47 PM Post #2 |
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Dr. Strangeschmuck
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• Former Giants running back Ron Dayne is Denver’s third running back. He was inactive for one games and did not play in another. In the four games he did see action, Dayne has rushed for 53 yards on 13 carries, including 44 yards against San Diego. Denver coach Mike Shanahan was asked if Dayne will carry the ball against the Giants. “Well, you never know,” Shanahan said. “It all depends on how the other backs are doing. Where I am right now, he’s our third guy. When he has played, it’s because Mike (Anderson) got tired and Ron went in there for the fourth quarter against San Diego. Tatum Bell was hurt and didn’t even practice. So, at that time, Ron was our second back. So, it all depends on how healthy are running backs are and if they get tired or not. But right now, Ron is our third team guy and it all depends on the situation and how much we run the football.” Wow - what a waste of what seemed like early in the 2000 season the start of a potentially promising career. |
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| 27Hampton | Oct 23 2005, 12:31 PM Post #3 |
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Hall of Famer
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Anderson and Bell will break their legs and Dayne will put up 150 on us. In the 4th quarter alone. :fyou: |
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| KCGirl | Oct 23 2005, 10:51 PM Post #4 |
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Shaper of Young Minds (aaahhhhhh!)
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No pain, no gain....no Dayne! :P |
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3:20 AM Jul 11