Giant Struggles

     The New York Giants have hit their mid-season slump. Once a year the Giants loose a stretch of games that leave the fans wondering. This is becoming a predictable event for the Giants. Every year they seem to start off strong. Come game 6 or 7 they tend to cool off. Then the burden falls on the Giants head coach, Tom Coughlin. Coughlin is currently the oldest coach in the NFL. He always seems to be able to do or say the right thing in order to refocus the team. This trend started in 2008. The Giants, once again, started of the season hot and, once again, hit a 3 or 4 game slide. Tom Coughlin lit a fire under the team as they went on to take down the undefeated New England Patriots in the Superbowl that year. My point being, the Giants have nothing to worry about, as long as they get their act together.
     Chris Berman, of ESPN, stated that the Giants main concern for the rest of the season is to stay injury free. So far this season the Giants defense, specifically their secondary, has sustained a number of injuries. Although these players are expected to return at some point this season, the Giants have been struggling to fill these positions affectively. Chris Berman also gave Tom Coughlin a great deal of credit, stating his ability to motivate his players. Coughlin know how to connect with his players making them want to leave it all out on the field. I believe the Giants will have no problem making it to the playoffs for two reasons. One, they have a bye this week, which will allow the team to rest and recuperate. Two, their next game is agains the Green Bay Packers. That might sound like a challenge, but the Giants have a tendency to play to the level of their opponent. With two weeks to prepare, I think the Giants will have no problem taking down Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers.

The Lakers Slow Start

     The Los Angles Lakers are an elite team in the NBA. However, they just lost their Hall of Fame head coach Phil Jackson. Phil ran a very unique, one of a kind offense. He is credited for patenting the triangle offense. The triangle offense requires a scoring guard, which they have in Kobe Bryant, and two  big men, which they have now have in Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. Unfortunately, the Lakers new coach Mike Brown does not believe in the triangle offense and I believe that is whats hurting them the most. The Lakers have all of the pieces to be the best team in the league, but without the correct game plan it is impossible to be successful. Granted these guys are still new to playing together, but this is the Lakers worst start in the Kobe Bryant era.
     According to Steven A. Smith the team is just learning how to play with one another defensively. Steven A. gave Mike Brown a lot of credit when it comes to his defensive game plan, but he said that Mike Brown's offense is asking these new players to step out of their comfort zone and try do do things that they are not capable of. Steven A. firmly believes that the Lakers success sits with Mike Brown. He has three perennial all-stars to work with. He needs to get it together.

QB Struggles

    Around The Horn made the comparison between Cam Newton and Vince Young stating their second season struggles were all too similar. Yes they are two African American quarterbacks who won national championships, but I do not think they are all that similar. Vince Young always looked to run first, pass second. Cam Newton has shown much more maturity that Vince Young ever did this early in his career. Cam not has the ability to drop back and be a pocket passer. Vince Young fazed out of the NFL because he was never comfortable in the pocket. 

    Another aspect that often goes overlooked is the fact that in the NFL anything can happen. Take a look at Green Bay right now. They have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, hands down, and they can't buy a win right now. They have been getting so unlucky. I believe this relates to Cam Newton because he has a tremendous work ethic, but you can't do anything to change your luck. 

    Yes, Cam is young, but I think the offensive coordinator also needs to take some of the heat for their record right now. Bomani Jones states that the Carolina's offensive coordinator does not like to call a lot of running plays for the actual running backs. Instead he likes to call an abundance of designed quarterback runs. I agree with this statement completely. I tend to think the designed QB run doesn't work in the NFL. The same goes for the option. There needs to be a balance between the pass and the run. You can't put all the pressure on Cam to get yards through the air if you have no running game. It just doesn't work. He is not a pocket passer to begin with. I think Carolina needs to step up and sign a big name running back to take some of the pressure off Cam. 

Around The Horn

     J.A. Adande made a great point the other day on Around The Horn by saying the Giants haven't been playing up to their potential. I believe this is an extremely accurate statement. The New York Giants have a great deal of injuries to deal with. J.A. believes that the Giants will be able to battle back this week against the Panthers. Woody Paige also sided with the Giants on this argument of whether the Giants will be able to perform against the Panthers. Woody touched on Eli and his great impact on the game when he plays well. He also mentioned how the Panthers are just trying to prove themselves.
     Eli Manning is the best fourth quarter player in the NFL. Eli had the most fourth quarter come-backs last year. The Giants were trailing all game to Tampa Bay and Eli threw 3 interceptions in the process. These interceptions were overshadowed by Eli's 510 passing yards and his dramatic fourth quarter comeback. He certainly redeemed himself for his performance last week against the Cowboys.
     Inorder for the Giants to win this week against the Panthers, the Giants will have to have a good performance from the Giants defense. The Giants defense has a lot to prove this week. They have been allowing way too many yards threw the air and on the ground. I think they will come out fired up this week. Eli can't do it all.

Around The Horn, Giants vs. Cowboys

    Yesterday (September 6), on Around The Horn, J.A. Adande gave the Cowboys credit for their win over the New York Giants. Adande went on to say how big the win was for the Cowboys and Tony Romo especially. I personally disagree with this opinion. Tony Romo has never won a Superbowl. I personally don't think he has what it takes. Adande believes that this is going to be the start of the Cowboys run to the playoffs. That is simply not the case. I see the Cowboys being a seven win team at best.
   The conversation then moved from what does this mean for the Cowboys, to what does this mean for the Giants. Michael Smith said that the Giants should panic. He also questioned their standards and expectations for the season. I personally don't think you rule a team out just by looking at one game. Yes it was a tough loss, but the Giants have a great core of tough guys that I believe have what it takes to battle back next week against Tampa Bay.