QUOTE: “The thing about performance, even if it’s only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities.” -- Sydney Smith
After eating all day long when the last game of the day started, I was finally focused and able to concentrate on the best game of the day, the Giants and Broncos. These teams’ 2009 seasons had been following similar paths, starting with winning streaks early, then prolonged losing streaks. The winner on Thursday night was going to be alive for the playoffs, and the loser was going to be wondering what happened to the season.
APMarshall had a big night for the Broncos on Thanksgiving.
The Broncos are alive and seemingly well, and the Giants look like they’ve been left for dead. A team I thought had such hope and promise, in large part due to the talent level in both its offensive and defensive lines, has not been dominating. Both of those areas have not been strong enough to overcome the Giants’ other weaknesses.
Last night, they looked slow on both sides of the ball. Specifically, they weren’t able to deal with the speed of the Broncos defense. Their offensive line was not able to keep Eli Manning clean in the pocket, forcing him to move and slide, and he was sacked three times and hit too many other times. Their offense was stalled all night. Meanwhile, the Broncos’ offense controlled the line of scrimmage and was able to set the tempo. The Giants played hard and with a sense of urgency, but they didn’t play well, which forces them to ask the fundamental question: Is their team good enough?
From my viewpoint, the Giants are too slow on defense, especially at linebacker. They lack explosive players and seem unable to shut down the extra yards. They’re not fast or quick to the ball, and the holes never seem to close down fast enough, nor are they able to explode on the ball carrier and force turnovers. This has been the G-Men’s problem all season, and each week it becomes more relevant. They just don’t seem to be able to defend the horizontal width of the field because of their lack of speed within the structure of their defense.
APJacobs was ineffective against a tough Broncos defense.
Then their offensive line is not nearly as dominating as it’s been in the past, which prevents them from being explosive on offense or able to consistently execute on long drives. Just because they have the same five players on the offensive line each week, it doesn’t mean they’re all playing to the same level as they have in the past. They just don’t look as effective as they once did. Whether it’s because they’re injured or have gotten old, they still are not as productive.
The Broncos, meanwhile, played like they did in the first six weeks. They ran the ball, they managed the game well and they created problems with their blitz scheme. They were the better team all night long, and if the Broncos can play at this level for the rest of the season, they’ll make the playoffs.
The playoffs for the Giants are another matter. They just seem to have too many areas in which they’re not playing well, and their liabilities on defense are being exploited every week.
Hope you have a great day shopping -- and enjoy the time off.
Follow me on Twitter: michaelombardi
To read more about Denver's big win, check out this article from Bleacher Report.
I think the word is out ,but Kevin Killdrive has not recived the memo. You cannot run the ball east & west , Its not going to happen , between the tackles with BJ only. When you trying to maintain a lead and you get the ball back YOU MUST BE AGGRESSIVE teams are manning the box with eight guys are you blind.
I think Mike's absolutely right about Denver. They looked like there old selves, mainly becuase they ran the ball well, and blitzed more often. Doom was great, as was Knowshon. The sky is the limit for this team, but as a Broncos fan, I don't think we should expect a deep playoff run this year, but I truly believe this is a playoff team
I saw a bunch of that game and there were holes there.
Brandon Jacobs for whatever reason did not run up inside, he kept trying to run east/west, which, as was mentioned above, is not his forte.
But there were more holes available than it appeared from the results.
They miss Bradshaw.
I saw a bunch of that game and there were holes there.
Brandon Jacobs for whatever reason did not run up inside, he kept trying to run east/west, which, as was mentioned above, is not his forte.
But there were more holes available than it appeared from the results.
They miss Bradshaw.
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Nov 27, 2009
11:02 AM
I think that Bradshaw's speed and decisiveness helps mask some of the subpar play of the offensive line and that the Jints need to make sure he's as involved as possible when he gets healthy. Also, I believe that the talent level on the o-line is starting to fall. They've had an excellent run the last 3 years or so, but I think that the days of outright domination by the o-line are over.
As far as the defense, the lack of pressure and help by the d-line really makes the poor LB play stand out. The Giants defense was not able to get enough stops for 2 yds or less. I'd love to pin the issues on the new D-coordinator, but unfortunately it looks like the talent level on this team is starting to fall.