Welp three very bad loses in a row to three teams that have their biggest assets in the passing game. Enter another team who have big, fast wide receivers even good secondaries have a tough time covering.

How will this play out for the Giants?

 

We’ll see. One thing is certain C.C. Clown has lost his starting job as Safety. Thank God. Is that enough?

The other good thing is Finally Michael Boley and Chris Canty (our 25 million and 42 million dollar investments) are poised to play a whole game!

Will this be enough to turn around the team?

This game is important. Let’s hope so.

Introducing the roundtable this week I have with me Fuchs, and Mark. Andrew is so embarassed with the Giants play he left the country and is unable to participate this week. Well he did leave the country, but it was unreleated.

I started off with a question about the secondaries ineptness over the past few weekends.

Who has more receiving yards Gates or Jackson? Will both get over a 100?
  I have to say Gates, just because Boley is out. Gates will get over 100. Jackson will be close, but both are capable of doing great damage. 

With Antonio Pierce in the middle of the field and the spotty play of the safeties I would say that Gates has a better chance to gain over 100 yards on Sunday

If past performance is an indicator of future success you’d have to seriously consider both. But if we’re going with one, I’ll say Jackson. Gates is hurt, hopefully enough to slow him down, and the Giants refuse to shadow opposing number one’s with Corey Webster so Jackson will find some weakness this weekend.

Who would you rather have Eli manning or Philip Rivers?
  For stats, Rivers. For wins, Manning. Rivers is probably a better QB, but Manning has the “it” factor that Rivers doesn’t.

I am a Giants fan through thick and thin, I am sticking to my guns, Manning.  Personally I believe that Manning’s foot is bothering him more then he is admitting and that is leading to some off throws along with some poor decision making. 

I’ve said this before, but this is how I see the QB class of 2004. All three teams are happy with their quarterbacks and all three I think would not trade any one of them for a different one. In Pittsburgh Big Ben reflects the Pittsburgh mentality of Blue-Collar type player. In San Diego Rivers brings the fiery passion the San Diego needs because they are such a laid back town. And Eli handles all the scrutiny of New York and WINS above all else.

Could Rivers or Big Ben do well in New York? Maybe.

Has Eli? Yes. He’s not a stat monster, but I’ll take Eli. Who generally raises his game when the game is the biggest. A great quality to have.

the next question I had was about San Diego’s running game.

Does L.T. Scare you at all?
  No, and that’s something I never thought I would write. He’s not the same. He’s older. He’s a bit slower. I would like him on my team, but I’m not scared of him.

 Agreed. L.T. is a shadow of what he once use to be. He’s not even a great goal-line back which he use to be unstoppable in goal to goal situations. No longer. Sproles might give the Giants fits out of the backfield, but I don’t forsee psuedo L.T. being a problem.

With the SD running game covered I asked Mark about the Giants running game.

is Jacobs going to have a big game against this below average run defense (27th in the league)
Jacobs seems pretty fired up this week and was running with some purpose last week.  I think he puts it all together on Sunday and has a great game.  Statistically the Chargers are giving up lots of rushing yards so this should favor the Giants.

He’s been playing much better as of late, I think this will be another solid week. The San Diego defense in the middle is porous already, but also beat up as their reserve NT (the one replacing Jamal Williams) may be out as well as their starting ILB, former Cowboy Kevin Burnett. Hopefully the Giants can get a nice push in the middle and do some damage this week on the ground. The Giants are obviously a better team when they run well.

Is this the game the Giants finally control the clock? The Chargers are only getting 28:29 minutes Time of Possession a game and opponets have 134 first down compared to there 132
  It could be, and it starts with a strong run game. If the Giants can get that going, then we can hold the ball for a long time. 

I think this is the biggest issue of the week. Will the Giants FINALLY return to their roots or continue to toil in obscurity? We’ll see this weekend.

I hadn’t checked the weather forecast  for the week So I asked Mark:

Can Rivers move the ball in the cold conditions of the Meadowlands?
Unfortunately the weather on Sunday is forecasted around 60 so it shouldn’t affect the Chargers and Rivers too much. 

I would like the game to be 20 degrees, cold, rainy and windy because I question San Diego’s toughness. But alas, no break in the weather.
 
What’s the X-factor in this game for the Giants?
I see two factors, can the defense get back on track and can Manning not make the crucial errors and give the Chargers a short field/more opportunities to score.

I’d also like to see Mario Manningham catch the ball this weekend. I think avoiding big plays on defense and terrible plays on offense is the key to this game. Play smart. It’s really that simple.

The Giants were great last year because they had thirteen turnovers ALL Season, This year they already have 14. The Chargers leading sack artist is of course…Shaun Phillips. Is Shawne Merriman to worry about in this game? 
 Like LT, I don’t worry about him. The knee surgeries seem to have affected Merriman. He doesn’t have that burst. I’m more worried about Phillips and Larry English. 

What happened to Merriman? is he too busy choking out (alledgedly) his girlfriends to focus on football? I’m not sure. Whatever happened he’s a shell of the player he once was. Maybe he’s still capable of having a big game, but he hasn’t shown it this year. I think the problem is obviously that he’s coming off a major surgery, which usually takes more than year to get back to where they were before.

Last week there was a lot of chatter from the Giants wide recievers about how they would take advantage of the aggressive Eagles play (that didnt happen).

The Chargers also have agressive cornerbacks.

Can the Giants Wide receivers take advantage of the aggressive Antonio Cromarite?
I still feel that it all depends on Manning.  If he makes accurate throws the receivers should have a great afternoon.  If he is off target, rushing his throws or off with his timing it could be another long afternoon for Giants fans.   

I hope we don’t even try that often to be honest. Let’s pound the ball and see where it comes from there. No more third and 2 50 yard passes that don’t connect down the field.

Another big key to the game is getting pressure on the QB. The secondary can’t cover so you hope that the Giants can at least hit the QB to keep him from completing 50 yard passes all over the field.

can Giants get a sack this game?
That is a great question.  The Giants have been saying that they have had a great week of practice, they are loose and joking around and they have hopefully fixed the communication issues.  Hopefully Canty and Boley will be back on the field and with the addition of them I do think the Giants will at least register one sack.

Who knows. One of the biggest problems on the team is the lack of interior push at the defensive tackles position. Of course the lack of speed in the back seven doesn’t help.

This is THE key to the game. Stopping big plays. Play good defense.

Final Prediction of the game?
 Again, not liking this matchup. Wouldn’t blame the Giants for looking ahead to the bye week. With the way they are struggling, it could be brutal. Final score: Chargers 23, Giants 10

Unfortunately the weather looks warm this Sunday but I still believe the Giants will turn this ship around and win 21-14

I’m going to have to see it to believe it. I hear the Giants talk about wanting to “correct the easy fixes” but that’s lasted a month now. Do it. Stop saying you’ll do it.

Chargers 31 Giants 20.

Prove me wrong, boys.

Have a nice day, everyone.

Leave your thoughts. Let us know what YOU think is the key to this game.

Jesse