Big Blue Huddle

...has anyone noticed that the more widely recognized Mockateers have entered their horsebleep phase before they publish their best wag during the final week? But then, unless you're a Giants fan, it may not be so obvious to you.

Cheers!

In the past couple of days, Deion Sanders has made it abundantly clear that he does not want his son Shedeur, a QB likely to be a high pick in next year's Draft, to be taken by any team which plays its games in cold weather, November- January in the open air.

That could create an Archie/Eli Manning- opposite type squeeze for Our Heroes should it so develop, or for the Jets should Aarogant Rodgers decide to pack it in. Hmm?

Cheers!

Clickbait or not, I'm surprised that Melvin K Jr. would have the cujones to go there.

Per Ed Valentine:

If they can't or don't want to move up from No. 6 in the 2024 NFL Draft to select a quarterback, would or should the New York Giants reach for someone like Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. strenuously objects to that idea, throwing his full support behind Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.


"Daniel Jones is going to be a better quarterback [than McCarthy]," Kiper said. "Daniel Jones has already shown he can be a winning NFL quarterback, a really good quarterback.

"He needs help ... the Giants get more help, stay healthier, get guys healthy, get it together, maintain some consistency and Daniel Jones is the right man for the job."

With Jones coming off two neck injuries and now rehabbing a torn ACL, as well as having only one year of guaranteed money remaining on his four-year, $160 million contract, there is heavy speculation about the Giants being interested in a quarterback at No. 6, or earlier.

Are you buying what Kiper is selling?

My take is that there are too many ifs re Jones, and no reason to work McCarthy into the proposition.

Cheers!

Of New York Football Giants history.

Summarizing their 98 seasons from 1925 until the present as
717-645-34 (W-L-T)
25-26 Playoffs (W-T)
4-5 Lombardis
4-11 Pre- SB Championships

But not to worry, I'm not going to journey to the Polo Grounds and Red Jerseys. Rather, I wish to call attention to fact that aside from the glory of the too brief Parcells/ Belichick era and couple of Coughlin/ Eli stunners, the Giants have not been a "winning" franchise for much of the past 50 years and certainly not in 9 of its last 11 seasons whether with McAdoo, Shurmur, and Judge and, perhaps, we might fear also with Daboll.

With a few hardly consistent exceptions- if any- the problem I have with Our Heroes is my so often lack of confidence in their competitiveness year after year.

Cheers!

As suggested by Bleacher Report (B/R)

Only the Jets and Giants are capable of playing the terrible/hilarious game they played yesterday.
To (try to) sum up the 13-10 win for the Jets:

➤ There were more punts (24) than points (23). The 24 punts were most since 2003.
➤ There were 15 punts and 0 third-down conversions in the first half
➤ The Giants had -9 pass yards, least since 2000
The over/under was only 35 points. It cleared by 12 ... with overtime.

Ugh! Ugh! Ugly!

I debated beginning this thread, a rarity for me in any case, by saying "As usual" I figured there was no point in stating the obvious. With more than two-thirds of the season yet to be played it is simply too soon to indulge our biases and personal conceits by second-guessing the front office, coaches and/or players.

That's not to suggest that we shouldn't be surprised and disappointed and wondering why. What I am suggesting, however, is that the central issue is the same as it was before the season began which is whether or not Daniel Jones, not can be or will be, but is the Giants Quarterback of the future. And what does that mean? It means capable of winning a Lombardi whether likely or not as was so with Eli whose career Regular Season numbers have been described, arguably and I think unfairly, as "profoundly mediocre"

Quite unfortunately, a fair and proper determination re Jones cannot and should not be made under current circumstances which involves having had and still having to play behind the league's worst Oline (30 sacks, 100 pressures in 5 games). That's not just inadequate, it is totally unacceptable given the absence of Thomas and Schmitz not to mention Barkley for who knows when.

Thus, unless and until as the season progresses, there is significant improvement in that one regard, we won't have had just a losing season but a wasted season going forward. An unhappy outcome for sure and more than just unimagined, unexpected, and unfortunate for Schoen and Daboll.

Cheers! or better yet, À votre santé   

It would be wrong for anyone here to conclude that my well-known and longstanding criticism of "prediction-making" dates back to Ancient Greece when it is even more logically a reflection of my long lifetime as a Giants fan.

It has been a franchise which in the last 75 plus years, except for a mere 5 Championships and a paucity of Playoff appearances, has managed to avoid mediocrity by otherwise stinking.
 
Although what we have witnessed through the first 4 games this season is shocking in its dimension, it is much less so from a historic perspective as disheartening as that may be for all concerned.

Frankly, there is no amount of handwringing, bitching and moaning, or blame gaming, or anything else we might say about it that can or will change that fact going forward. Thus, in terms of both Ancient Greek and present day BBH philosophy I am both Cynic and Stoic.

Cheers?

I suppose I shouldn't say so here, but I am pleased by it.

Cheers!

Their win/loss record was surprisingly as exactly as I predicted.
They played hard and were in most games this season which pleased me.
I am pleasantly satisfied by both the performance of and relationship to the players to first time HC Joe Judge.
I think that Gettlemen has done done a decent enough job in areas of his influence and should remain GM for at least another year.
I am close to sold on Daniel Jones as the long time Eli successor who may yet prove to be even better.
The immediate re-signing of Pat Graham was a no brainer.
I think Jason Garrett deserves more time with Jones and with an improved receiver corps.
I continue to have hope but definite reservations about Barkley.
I have little enthusiasm about this season (indeed football in general) and couldn't care less as to what happens in the playoffs at any level.

I am trying to generate enough enthusiasm to engage in the silly season which after year's of study and analyses I have come to recognize as 95 percent subjective.

I'll refrain from non-football comment except to wish you all a Happy New Year, or Four or Forty.

Cheers!

The Gifford family released a statement that read, in part: "We rejoice in the extraordinary life he was privileged to live, and we feel grateful and blessed to have been loved by such an amazing human being. We ask that our privacy be respected at this difficult time and we thank you for your prayers."

He was 84, was and always will be my favorite Giants player.  Requiescat in Pace.

For those who would like to discuss the game without turning it into their own personal bashing thread.

When Tom Coughlin introduced Steve Spagnulo as the Giants new Defensive Coordinator, a year ago, he made particular mention of his familiarity with the Fire Zone philosophy. He didn't say Fire Zone blitz, even though he could expect it to be inferred. What he was referring to was more than scheme, it was a mindset which recognizes that pressure on the opposing Quarterback has become essential to successful pass defense, and with it to overall success on defense.

But what does Fire Zone mean in more specific and practical terms; how does it work? The first element of the Fire Zone is to rush more defensive players than the offense has blockers to account for them. It can involve both numbers and location. Almost always, it involves rushing more than four defensive players which means at least five whether playing a 4-3 or 3-4 front. And that constitutes a blitz.

However, that's not all which is involved. Its essence is to blitz unpredictably with linebackers, defensive backs and combinations of both while keeping the Secondary from being undermanned and exposed by dropping one or more Dlinemen into zone pass coverage.

Dropping linemen into zone pass coverage often mean zone coverage behind them, but not always. There may still be man-coverage, and even a double on the opponents best receiver. It does seem. however, that the Giants most often play a three deep zone behind their blitzes which they employ on average about 12-15 times a game.

Whatever shell is played behind the blitz, it is important that the rushers get at least enough pressure to hurry the QB, and that those who aren't rushing clog the passing lanes, and try to identify the hot receiver. 

So, we have blitz (rushing five or more players) and zone blitz ( Dlinemen dropping into coverage), where then does the term, Fire Zone come in? Although not precisely defined, it is considered to mean creating a fire zone or clear path for a blitzer to the QB by overloading one side of a blocking scheme. That may be accomplished not only by attacking with a second blitzer, but also by stunting and looping Dlineman so that they don't rush straight ahead from their original position but overload one side of the offensive protection.

While strictly speaking the term, Fire Zone means blitzing and a propensity to blitz- not all the time, but at almost any time, in almost any situation- certain of its fundamental elements have been employed by the Giants without actually blitzing. For example, it's not uncommon when the Giants are playing their Four Aces package to see them stunt or loop Dlineman while dropping one into coverage and adding a Linebacker to the rush often through a gap vacated by a Dlineman.  Only four rushers, but with a look that can be as confusing to the QB as if there were more. Any extra fraction of a second he takes to figure out that it's only four is to the defense's advantage.

I suppose we could sum it up by saying that the Fire Zone philosophy is to aggressively apply pass rush pressure on the opposing Quarterback by employing extra rushers from any and all angles at any time with the conviction that the more a quarterback is attacked, the more are the chances he is going to be hit, and the more he is hit, the more innacurate he'll become.

How effective were they in attacking?  How about a season with 53 sacks, 61 knockdowns, and 45 hurries. That doesn't include what they did in postseason including the Super Bowl when they sacked and hit Brady a combined 23 times. Philosophically sound it would seem.

Cheers!