newjerseynewsroom.com

BY SAM HITCHCOCK

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

In their Week 6 statement victory, the New York Giants stamped their “Super Bowl contender” card by shellacking the San Francisco 49ers (their opponent from last year’s NFC Championship game) 26-3, proving once again that when motivated they are pretty darn good.

When head coach Tom Coughlin retires, he will go down as one of sports’ all-time greatest motivators. People love to flatter Alabama coach Nick Saban and Niners coach Jim Harbaugh for their ability to rally their teams, but Saban could not cut it in the professional ranks, and Harbaugh (while young) has no rings and just got his butt kicked by Coughlin’s team.

Despite the three coaches all being austere and laconic with the media, Coughlin seems to be the one who receives the smallest spotlight. But similarly to Bill Belichick, Coughlin appears to relish the disconnect the media feels with him.

The team that “nobody picks to win/nobody believes in,” as Coughlin loves to publicly state during press conferences, sits atop the NFC East perch with a 4-2 record. They won three games against teams who collectively have posted a 4-9 record in games that do not include their matchup with the Giants, but established legitimacy in their victory over their formidable foes from the City by the Bay.

Yet the two losses the Giants have suffered were important, since both were against divisional opponents (Philadelphia and Dallas), and with the frisky Washington Redskins coming to MetLife Stadium Sunday, they find themselves in a crucial divisional matchup.

HOW DID THE GIANTS STOMP THE NINERS?

The Giants went through, around, and over the 49ers in last Sunday’s victory, while allowing them to do none of the aforementioned. In last year’s title game, the Giants and Niners put forth one of the most physical head-to-head performances in recent memory.

However, last week, quarterback Eli Manning was bereft of any defensive punishment, with the G-men’s offensive line not allowing a single sack. San Fran has one of the league’s most lethal pass-rushing defenses, and the Giants’ front five, utilizing David Diehl as their utility sixth o-lineman, absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage.

On the ground, running back Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for 116 yards on 27 carries, and put an end to the Niners’ streak (22 straight games) of preventing 100-yard rushers. The Giants’ big men in the trenches also showed their conditioning when it mattered, as they helped orchestrate a 7:10-minute, 13-play drive in the fourth quarter utilizing Bradshaw to run down the clock.

But going back to the first half, Eli Manning set an aggressive tone by testing the Niners’ secondary. He threw for 176 yards and a touchdown in the first two quarters, and showed pinpoint accuracy, with his timing and touch consistently perfect. Manning was methodical, spreading the ball around to Domenix Hixon, Victor Cruz, and Hakeem Nicks as the Giants moved the ball with a quick tempo (Hixon had all of his four receptions in the second quarter).

In the second half, the prior aerial assault allowed them to utilize nickel runs. This means they would set up in their conventional spread offense (3 WRs, 1 TE, 1 RB), and try to run the ball away from the defensive line pressure. Coach Coughlin was able to do this extremely effectively by placing Cruz, who was covered by cornerback Carlos Rogers, out wide instead of in the slot.

In nickel runs, the key element is to deceive the defense into thinking you are passing, so the Giants had to rely heavily on their offensive line to control the point of attack because Bradshaw had no lead blocker. The offensive line played more physically than their counterparts all day, allowing Bradshaw the room to run capably. (Fun Fact: NFL.com sports writer Mike Lombardi believes that nickel runs are what NFL team’s offenses will use to exploit defenses more and more frequently going forward.)

Defensively, the Giants’ pass rush reemerged from the abyss, and delivered a prolific performance. The Niners’ offensive line capitulated six sacks to the Giants’ defensive line, and Mathias Kiwanuka was used more as a defensive end than as a linebacker in comparison to previous games.

According to ProFootballFocus.com, Justin Tuck boasted an impressive one hit and six hurries, doubling his total of six QB disruptions accrued in his five previous games. Jason Pierre-Paul continued his dominance as the NFC’s premier defensive end, blowing up Alex Smith’s protection for two sacks. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph was able to make a big impact too (at right guard Alex Boone’s expense), as he contributed two hurries and one sack and helped bring the enormous amount of pressure that forced Alex Smith to uncharacteristically concede three interceptions.

The pocket collapsing and discomfort that Smith felt led to the Giants dominating the 49ers in the turnover margin 3-0. The 49ers never once made it into the red zone, and Smith had much more success passing to Giants’ cornerback Antrel Rolle in the second half than to any of his receivers. When San Francisco falls behind, they struggle mightily to rally back, and their signal-caller’s three interceptions on downfield throws highlight that. The Giants’ secondary neutralized tight end Vernon Davis and, without his favorite target, Smith was disoriented.

Finally, the 49ers’ offensive line got manhandled, and ball-carriers Frank Gore (who finished with a paltry 36 yards) and Kendall Hunter were held to minimal impact. The 49ers pound the ball to dominate time of possession and set up the pass, but without a fully functioning running game, their offense relied too heavily on their receivers getting separation and Smith delivering the ball to them.

THIS WEEK:

The Giants just beat a much better team than their upcoming opponent, so conventional wisdom might suggest this week would be an easy win. This is not necessarily the case, as Washington Redskins’ quarterback Robert Griffin III has shown the ability to singlehandedly dominate games, a talent which is unbelievable given that there are 21 other men on the field.

When the Redskins lost left defensive end Adam Carriker and outsider linebacker Brian Orakpo for the season, everyone assumed you could stick a fork in Washington. But the Redskins have rallied, and while RGIII has shown to be a bona-fide star on offense, outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan appears to be the real deal playmaker on defense.