Big Blue Huddle

I echo your sentiments, folks. They could be forgiven for a letdown after a 5,900+ mile road trip. Last year, you could penciltjis type of game a loss. This year? For now, not the case.

Beating Carolina is like a four point difference in the standings.

Eight wins in the first 10. We couldn't ask for much more.

Peace!

I wanted to share something different and wanted to query your thoughts on possibly implementing this for the NFL.

The Australian Football League (AFL) will be carrying out its annual draft in a few weeks. Their league has a discretionary rule which allows the league's governing body to issue additional first round draft picks to teams who have performed the worst for multiple years in succession. In other words, if you end up at the bottom of the standings for two, maybe three years in a row, the league has the power to issue the struggling club additional picks in order to try and help them improve. Their logic being that they want all their teams to be competitive and, if a team is far behind its competition, it creates an imbalance based on scheduling. As it stands now, the league has 18 clubs who play 23 rounds (i.e. games) so there's an imbalance if one team plays the bottom-feeder twice in the season versus another team who might play them only once.

If the NFL had a team which was a perennial bottom-feeder, how would a similar rule to the AFL play out in the NFL by giving that team additional #1 draft picks. Would that create greater incentive to tank games? For the record, the AFL teams absolutely despise the rule and would rather let those teams suffer until their management properly learns how to build a team by selecting the right players and having the right coaches in place to develop them.

Thoughts?

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on November 02, 2023, 06:11:49 PMAs I explained in my post, I cannot, and never do, root for the Giants to do anything but win when I watch the games. I have never rooted for them to lose once in my life. I want them to win on game day, and when they don't, it impacts me every time.

However, when I reflect on the situation the team is in currently and this specific draft and the stakes it may have have on our franchise over the long term, it is my personal opinion that we are better off with a high pick and a really bad record than something like the 12th pick and a 7-10 record. For me, it has absolutely nothing to do with the entertainment value of draft night and how many minutes I will watch them being on the clock. That part is irrelevant for me. I just care much more about the 5-10 year forward of this team than I do about whether we finish 4-13 or 6-11. Either way, 2023 will go down as a total failure in my book. Since failing hurts, if I have to endure that pain (yet again), I want as much compensation as possible for that. The compensation for being terrible is your draft position.

In 1980, when the Giants played the Redskins at RFK in the next to last game of the season, they were running neck and neck with the Skins. They took the lead in the 4th quarter, 13-10, but couldn't hold on as Theismann tossed the winner to former Giant, Bobby Hammond, for the winner. Had the Giants won that game, would history have been different as the Giants may not have been able to draft Lawrence Taylor.

In 2003, the Giants had the Cowboys MNF game all but wrapped up. Parcells' return as the villain would end up in the losing column. Then, a young Matt Bryant knocks the kickoff out of bounds. That one kick, which enabled Dallas to tie and, eventually win the game in OT, was a stunner; however, it may very well have been the play which put Ernie Accorsi in the poker game for Eli Manning in the 2004 draft. Or, you can use Brian Westbrook's punt return in the Eagles' win at Giants Stadium ... take your pick.

Those are two innocent games; two Giant losses which, at the time, nobody could have calculated their historical worth. But those may have very well been two of the most significant losses in Giants history which precipitated fate-changing selections in their respective drafts the following year.

It's the finest of fine lines between wanting your team to win at all costs versus, well, a lotto ticket for a player who will change the course of your fate going forward.

How do you REALLY feel?

Peace!

Quote from: Dumpster Dan on November 02, 2023, 07:10:30 PMYes he was


Dumpster Dan

Outstanding! Thank you, kind sir!

Well, it's Thursday. Any word from my Polish brother getting resigned? Beyond maddening if he doesn't come back!

Peace!

Quote from: MightyGiants on November 02, 2023, 06:46:44 PMFrom Lawrence Tynes:

Need to settle down on the blame game here with Gano and the Giants coaches, trainers, etc. This is the slippery slope when guys have to play to keep their jobs because they don't have fully guaranteed contracts.

This is how this would have went down last week.

He kicked in practice, said he felt fine.

Kicked in pre game, said he felt fine.

In Game: Made one FG, missed one FG, made one PAT, missed one FG and hit 2 TB's out of 3 kickoffs.

Pro Players push themselves to the limit to keep their jobs, they are wired different. Once Graham saw his performance affecting the team he had to speak up.

Hope Graham has a successful surgery and comes back as the All-Pro kicker he is. 🙏🏻 #NYGiants

https://x.com/lt4kicks/status/1720206429594759359?s=46&t=1vcQIN8GqF5J2oLdxEVEJQ

Spot on.

Remember, this guy is an All Pro and holds himself to a ridiculously high standard above your average, run of the mill, NFL kicker (if that term is appropriate, which all 32 would tell me it isn't).

He did the right thing by electing to go on IR and have the surgery now so he'll be ready for next season. That's about all he can do and it is unfortunate that it came to that in the first place. In my opinion, it is no different than me going in, this past May, for a total knee replacement (NOTE: my planting leg). Six months on, I completed all my rehab, and I'm going at the world with this thing; albeit, limited than my original knee because of its mechanical limits. Let's hope Gano doesn't have to deal with any of that.

Peace!

One other thing to keep in mind is that the Cardinals are one of the original NFL teams (NOTE: they originate back to Chicago's Morgan Athletic Club in 1898) and the Bidwell family has owned the Cardinals dating back to 1932. So, I would be willing to offer up that the old guard NFL franchises (i.e. Chicago, Green Bay, the Giants, Detroit) might be hesitant to jettison Bidwell unless there was no other recourse.

But, in today's big business world of Corporate Ethics and Compliance, even the President and CEO need to be careful since the spotlight is often on them and what happens regarding their business entity is generally a direct reflection on them.

But, this is the NFL and Roger Goodell is the current ringleader. What that means is everything you have witnessed on his watch is likely to tell the story about how this issue will be handled. If it doesn't break squelch, as far as NFL profits are concerned, it is quite probable that very little will be done about it apart from, perhaps, an undisclosed settlement to make it go away. But we shall see.

Peace!

If I have to invest my time to watch or hope for my team to lose, I'd rather turn off the set altogether and invest that time in my family which, at the very least, is time well invested.

No. The Giants will continue to struggle the rest of the way. But I want to see them fight hard against teams which take them for granted. Those are the games I want to see them smack their opponent around and send them a message. If it is Dallas or Philly, even more so.

Do you really want a repeat of the second half of 2021? Even as bad as that was, I would continue to stand by their side. Because when you've been through the hard times, you realize how extra special the good times really are. So good, in fact, that it's worth the pain and frustration of going through the tough times.

Keep the Giant faith.

Peace!

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on November 02, 2023, 05:08:37 PMI wish the Giants had brought in another kicker in the middle of last week to at least allow for the option of Gano making a game-time decision he wasn't going to be able to play. I realize that I'm saying that with the benefit of hindsight, but to not have had a plan B seems like an unforced error given the significance of the injury. I know everyone is blaming this loss on Daboll and wants to fire him now etc, but if Gano makes that 35 yarder the we win that game, and nobody would be criticizing how Daboll chose to manage it. Not to mention the other FG (albeit that one was a lot tougher and plenty of kickers might have missed that one in those conditions). I have to think if Bullock is our kicker last week and everything else plays out the same way, we're 3-5 right now heading to Vegas play the hapless Raiders.

Quote from: DaveBrown74 on November 02, 2023, 05:08:37 PMI wish the Giants had brought in another kicker in the middle of last week to at least allow for the option of Gano making a game-time decision he wasn't going to be able to play. I realize that I'm saying that with the benefit of hindsight, but to not have had a plan B seems like an unforced error given the significance of the injury. I know everyone is blaming this loss on Daboll and wants to fire him now etc, but if Gano makes that 35 yarder the we win that game, and nobody would be criticizing how Daboll chose to manage it. Not to mention the other FG (albeit that one was a lot tougher and plenty of kickers might have missed that one in those conditions). I have to think if Bullock is our kicker last week and everything else plays out the same way, we're 3-5 right now heading to Vegas play the hapless Raiders.

I completely agree with you. A knee issue on a planting leg completely takes away your ability to fully swing your body's core and kicking leg into the ball which is what we witnessed from Gano this past weekend. You just can't muscle it because you compromise your consistency in your leg swing.

It is better he have the surgery now in order to give himself the best chance to return as close to 100% next season. Not sure what procedure he is having performed, but I wish him well in that it is successful and that he is in rehabilitation very soon.

Peace!

So, just to be clear, there are painful losses, such as the ones which mean something that the Giants might be winning but end up losing in shocking style (e.g. 1989 Divisional Playoff vs. Rams, 1988 Week #2 vs. 49ers, 1988 Week #16 vs. Jets). Then, you have "painful losses," like going to the dentist to have a root canal without novacaine. Last weekend's game falls under that category. There haven't been too many, thank goodness, but here are some I can remember that were pretty bad:

1977 Week #14: Chicago Bears vs. Giants - the icy slushfest to close the season, the Bears needed to win to get in the playoffs and Walter Payton was within reach of Jim Brown's all time season rushing record. The Giants' D buried Walter who never got on track. Patterson Plank Joe zipped the ball all day to his receivers who dropped nearly everything, while Csonka ran like a bull to a 100 yard game. A 9-9 OT game went down to the final seconds before the Bears' Bob Thomas kicked the winner to send Chicago to the post-season, 12-9.

1983 Week #14: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Giants - a dreary, dismal day in the rematch following the infamous tie between the team's on Monday night. Scott Brunner's last career start for the Giants was ugly as he threw four (4) interceptions and barely threw for 100 yards on 35 attempts. The Giants started the game with two FGs from the Shiekh for a tenuous 6-0 before Neil Lomax found Roy Green for the winning score before the end of the first half. The game stayed 7-6 Cards until midway in the 4th quarter before the Cards' kicker, Neil O'Donoghue chipped in the final points to mercifully put the game away, 10-6.

1987 Week #6 (Game #5): Giants at Buffalo Bills - this is my vote for the ugliest Giant game of all time. Yes, even worse than last week's Jets' debacle. The strike was going to end, and the regular players would be back the following week, but one final round with the replacement players loomed. It would be two of the worst replacement teams put together, the Giants and Bills, with the champion Giants 0-4 and desperate for a win. So desperate, in fact, that Jeff Rutledge, Adrian White, and LT all crossed the picket line to play in the game to try and get the Giants their first win. It would be trying times for LT who had scabs grabbing his ankles, taking cheap shots at him and doing whatever they could to stop him. Still, he managed a pair of sacks. Rutledge couldn't do anything, except throw two picks. But the Bills were the ones with real turnover problems. Their QB, Brian McClure, was worse in throwing three picks, the Bills lost four fumbles for a total of seven turnovers. In spite all of this, the game remained 0-0 halfway into the 4th quarter. Finally, the Giants scored when George "Bend it like Beckham" Benyola squeezed his first kick through the uprights for the first points on the board. Meanwhile, Bills' kicker Todd Schlopy was having all kinds of problems kicking straight in the Western New York State winds. Yet, he tied the game with less than 2:00 left in regulation. So, Rutledge, with all his experience in the two-minute drill, masterfully marches the Giants into FG position with only seconds left on the clock. Out comes Benyola who then proceeds to, you guessed it, bend it like that famous international futbol star. So, it's off to overtime and a comedy of field goal kicking bufoonery between Benyola and Schlopy. But somehow, some way, the Bills kicker finds himself attempting a FG in the final seconds of overtime and, as a blind squirrel finds the acorn, so too does Schlopy find a path, straight and true, between the uprights, as the crowd of 15,000 goes insane that their beleaguered kicker had just beaten the reigning champions. Thus, the completion of the the worst of the absolute worst game in Giants' history as the once-proud champions are slapped from the penthouse back down to the outhouse at 0-5.

Try and beat that one.

Peace!

You would think the Rangers will need a game or two adjust after that huge road trip, Jaime. I remember last season's Western Canadian trip, which they did a good job on, but came home flat for like a week or so. It's a good observation and against a tough Divisional rivals in Carolina you'd want to see them hang tough and put some points between them and the division contenders.

But what a road trip! The papers are celebrating it and deservedly so.

The Canes at home on Thursday!

Peace!

They did it! Last seconds of OT, the Z man one times his shot past Hellebuyck for the winner, 3-2, to clean sweep the Great Northwestern Canadian Road Trip.

This was a game they would have lost, last year. They kept their cool all game, never panicked when they went down 2-1, and found a way to tie the game in the third and send it to OT.

The Jets turned the heat up in OT while on the power play. Plenty of shots yet Igor refused to let them score.

The Jets will be muttering among themselves and rightly so. Retribution from Hellebuyck's play last year was sweet as it was for Blake Wheeler.

Peace!

Looks like they have plans to pick up Olszewski later this week.

While he may have been run out of Pittsburgh for fumbling in the past, he most definitely looked like an experienced punt returner who knew how to position himself before making the catch, was confident in catching the ball, and looked to protect the ball as he took off on his returns. If he can play them all like he did yesterday, then I have no problem keeping him back there for the rest of the season.

Hopefully he'll be back next weekend.

Peace!

Not since Randy Dean ran the option was it as bad as yesterday!

Peace!

Quote from: Ed Vette on October 29, 2023, 06:55:29 PMThe game wasn't over and on the course for a win when I started the thread.

Hence my pandemonium posts. You cannot make these things up, sometimes.

If you lived the 1978 season, then this is about on par for the course.

Even I got suckered in that I wrote the game in for a win and Thibs the Defensive Player of the Week. I sat in the frozen stadium, in December 1978, when the plane flew over of the stadium, "15 Years of Lousy Football, We've Had Enough" banner attached to its rear. If that guy is still alive, he may be dusting that old banner off in preparation for deployment the next home game.

The booth announcers were right. That game felt like the old days.

Peace!