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Hey, Hey, everybody! Welcome back Giants Roundtable Week 8.

The New York Giants haven’t faired too well the past couple of weeks facing two dyanic passing offenses. The Giants have also bogged down on offense which worries me more because there is not help on the way. The defense eagerly awaits the return of three of their five missing starters in next year’s rotation (Alford, Canty, Phillips, Ross, Boley). Which has really hurt the team’s depth and productivity this season.

Robbins and Coefield are coming off major leg surgeries and needed the depth to stay fresh and effective, but they are getting overworked and it’s starting to show on this very talented when healthy defense.

This week is a pivotal game as the Giants battle the over-rated Eagles for first place in the N.F.C. East.

The Eagles, like the Giants, have injury problems as well, but even when healthy are not as talented as the New York Giants.

The Eagles missing their Hall of Fame caliber defensive coordinator, Hall of Fame caliber Safety, and a few of their linebackers, most notably Bradley Stewart are also a shell of the defense they once were as they are letting terrible teams be competitive with them.

The Eagles also despite getting the ‘amazing’ Jason Peters are struggling mightly up front has been sacked 12 times in the past three weeks playing three of the worst pass rushing defenses in the N.F.L. in Tampa Bay (3), the Raiders (6), and Washington (3).

They lost to the Raiders, and didnt’ look great vs the Washington Redskins on Monday with the excpetion of one player: DeSean Jackson.

And that’s where the panel will start the discussion. (Mark, Andrew, and Fuchs)

Who would you rather have DeSean Jackon or Steve Smith? Nicks or Maclin?
 
Nicks has been more consistent than Maclin and I like his size – I go with Nicks straight up. Now… Desean Jackson is a bona fide playmaker – I would love to have him on my team. Its a touch comparison, because I’m glad the coaches have decided to use their token rookie Hakeem Nicks this year right away like the Eagles did with Jackson last year. See what I’m saying here? You can’t exactly compare Steve Smith to Jackson, because they are different players that do different things for different offenses. I would never unload Smith for anyone — he is Eli’s go to guy after all. So I guess I’ll keep what the Giants have all the way even though I recognize the skills the Eagles have going for them.

would definetly stick with Smith and Nicks for sure.  I feel that by the end of the year this will be the starting tandem for the Giants.  Smith is conisistent and Nicks seem to be catching on pretty quickly and has been fun to watch so far. 

Tough one. I’d rather have Steve Smith, because while Jackson is fun to watch, Smith will get you the yards you need. Toss up between Nicks and Maclin, but give me Nicks, just because I think he has the ability to not only to make the big plays, but to convert on third downs.

These teams have very young explosive offensive talent. It’s sick really. The Giants have Smith, Manningham, Nicks, Barden, Domenik Hixon, Beckum, Bradshaw, Andre Brown,  and Kevin Boss. Only Hixon was drafted prior to 2007.

The Eagles on the other hand have DeSean Jackson, Jeremey Maclin, Cornelius Ingram, Brent Celek, and LeSean McCoy drafted from 2007 or on.

As for moving forward Jackson and Smith are hard to compare because Smith is a move the chains player while Jackson is a Big Time player. (Big time) who can also return punts effectively. DeSean Jackson has made big plays for two years in a row now.  Neither team would trade either guy.

As for Nicks and Maclin I think the Giants might have actually got the better end of this deal as Nicks has shown that he can make big plays, has better hands than Maclin and isn’t afraid to go over the middle.

Nicks is averaging 19.7 yards per carry opposed to Maclin’s 13.7 yards per carry. Nicks is also, I believe a better blocker. Maclin has one less catch despite starting in 5 games and playing in 6 while Nicks has started none and played in none, the Eagles also tend to throw the ball more than the Giants.

Speaking of passing games I asked Fuchs:

For the third week in a row the Giants are playing a team that loves to air it out, is this a problem?

 Eli has thrown 4 Interceptions the past two games. The Eagles had 11 heading into Monday’s game with the Redskins can Eli get back to avoiding turnovers.
 
I hope he decides to make that a priority this week. Minimizing turnovers and making smart concise plays is what won the superbowl and the bulk of the close games last year to good teams. High flying aerial football is not the Giants way — and I understand the desire to become a complete team but I think Eli has been too liberal with the 3rd and short deep ball for example when a run up the gut to pick up that short yardage would have done the trick. If Eli can revisit his past success and realize its all about high percentage passes (short ones) and running the football then the Giants well be better off when a surprise deep ball makes an appearance.

I don’t want to be the one to say this, but part of the problem is that the Giants aren’t doing an exeptional job blocking up front. Rich Suebert is not playing his best football and is getting beat hard inside. The Giants have to protect Eli better to let those long plays work, and they also have to stop running so many deep plays and control the clock more.

Speaking of the offensive line’s play.

  Brian Westrbook has 314 total yards heading into Monday night’s game with Washington…is he still the Eagles biggest threat? He is when he plays the Giants — but since he’ll likely not play this game it’s one less thing we have to worry about. Of course then it’s one more excuse the Eagles fans have to explain away a Giants win this weekend, too.

On paper I would agree with that but in practice I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Eagles find a way to shut down the Giants rushing attack. Last year’s playoff game they created the illusion that they shut down the rusing attack when Brandon Jacobs actually was running all over them. I think what the Giants need to do is have a pulse this game — recognize if Jacobs is pounding away then they should leave him in. And if Bradshaw is having a good game while Jacobs isn’t  -  don’t be affraid to adjust accordingly. Often I think the Giants get too scheduled and business like and they can’t make game time decisions properly, when they do its out of pure desperation and never works. This game I look for a nice balance of running and passing with the Giants focus intent on moving the ball down the field and controlling the game. The scores will come if they do that.