Good Behavior Starts At Home

Good Behavior Starts At Home
By Jon Wagner Sr. Writer at Large Football Reporters Online

Recently, the New York Giants have been bad.

No, they haven’t been well-behaved at all over the past four weeks.

They’ve been undisciplined and careless, mistake-prone and unfocused.

They’ve been so bad, that in the span of just one month, they’ve gone from a 5-0 member of the NFL elite to a mediocre, middle-of-the-pack, 5-4.

And, now they’re being punished for their actions.

A very tough schedule lies ahead for them, and they’ll have to work extra hard and do nearly everything the right way, just to get back to being what most had previously expected of them.

But, they’re on their bye week, so they have plenty of time to think about what they’ve done, and how to do much better going forward.

When you’re away from home, sometimes you forget certain lessons, and it’s easy to go astray.

That’s why, if you’re a Giants fan, you’ll have to excuse the two bad road losses, by 21 points to the Saints, and by 23 points to the Eagles.

After all, the Giants weren’t going to win those games anyway. So, why fret about them? It’s the NFL, it happens, especially in tough places to play, like New Orleans and Philadelphia.

Even with those two defeats, New York still has a winning 3-2 road record, which included at one point, three straight road wins and a victory over now first-place Dallas.

However, at home, we should all know better. At home, it’s easier to remember and follow valuable lessons of how we’re supposed to act.

Yes, at home, we should all definitely be on our best behavior.

And, so should the Giants.

But, during their current four-game losing streak, they certainly haven’t.

It’s the home losses aided by some very sloppy play, and misguided moves by the Giants’ coaching staff, which have really hurt the Giants more than anything so far this season.

The Giants let two very winnable games, each very much there for the taking in the fourth quarter, against teams visiting all the way from the west, slip away all because they acted poorly at home.

Against Arizona, the Giants outgained the Cardinals at home by 39 yards. Okay, not much, but they did win the battle both through the air (albeit by just four yards) and a little more significantly on the ground (by 35 yards). And, they controlled the time of possession, again not by a lot (by a mere 32 seconds), but it was still in their favor. When a football team does those things at home, it should win.

But, not when they’re not careful. Not sticking with the running game when they should have at times, and at others, poor execution early in several different series which repeatedly set up third-and-longs. Add seven penalties, two fumbles (one lost), and three interceptions, including a final one fairly deep in Arizona territory, trailing by just a touchdown with 68 seconds left, and it all cost the Giants a home win they should have had.

In their latest loss, the Giants outgained San Diego 304-226 yards (116-34 rushing), while holding the ball for over fifteen minutes more (37:47 to 22:13) than the Chargers. And, the Giants were even a little more disciplined at least when it came to hanging on to the ball, winning the turnover battle, 2-1. Again, when you accomplish all of those things in a game, particularly on your home field, you should come away with a victory.

Again though, a lack of focus and attention to detail led to another heartbreaking home loss. Nine penalties totaling 104 yards, 84 more yards than the 20 yards the Chargers (who committed only three penalties) were penalized more than wiped out the 82-yard rushing advantage the Giants held. And, no penalty was worse than the 10-yard holding call on right guard Chris Snee immediately after the Giants took over after an interception at the San Diego 4-yard line with a three-point lead and just 3:14 left in the game. Include the coaching staff in the blame for the bonehead miscues as well, for not going for the win and playing things much too conservatively, settling for a field goal after Snee drew the flag, only to lose on a Charger touchdown in the final half-minute.

If the Giants would have taken care of business in those two home games, their whole season would look drastically different today.

In lieu of their current four-game slide, the Giants would have simply split their past four games.

Rather than an uninspiring 2-2 home record in 2009, the Giants would be a perfect 4-0 at the Meadowlands.

Instead of third place in the NFC East, the Giants would be in first place.

And, in place of a 5-4 record and great playoff uncertainty, the Giants would be 7-2 and thinking about making a push for a home playoff game.

Perhaps it was to be expected given the Giants’ recent history. This is nevertheless, virtually the same team that went only 3-5 at home while winning eleven straight games away from Giants Stadium during their Super Bowl winning year just two seasons ago, and it’s the same team that earned the top seed and home field throughout last year’s playoffs, only to lose their lone postseason game -- where else -- at home last year.

As bleak as things seem right now for the Giants, knowing that no team which has gone through a four-game losing streak in a season has ever made a Super Bowl, it could be much worse.

The current wild-card picture reveals that Atlanta and Philadelphia, each 5-3 and just one-half game ahead of the Giants, are the only other non-division leaders besides New York with winning records in the NFC. And, the Giants play both of those teams at home, in addition to getting a home date with Dallas, which the Giants trail by 1½ games for the NFC East division lead.

Righting themselves at home can still solve a lot of problems for the Giants’ season even if they falter badly once or twice more on the road.

As tough as the overall remaining schedule is for New York in its final seven regular season games of 2009, even if the Giants have a road game or two as bad they had in New Orleans and Philadelphia, they can still achieve the goals they set out with when they were 5-0.

If the Giants can finally play a lot more crisp and sound football at home, as they should, with a bad Washington team left on the road, Big Blue could still realistically achieve a 10-6, or perhaps an 11-5 record, if they could also steal just one of the tougher games left on the road. There’s also the possibility that a normally tough road game at Minnesota may mean nothing to the Vikings in the final week of the season, which would make that road game a lot more winnable than it looks today. Those types of scenarios could very much have the Giants acting as the dangerous playoff team in January which most expected to see a lot more before New York’s current four-game losing streak.

To do that though, the Giants have to refrain from the types of costly mistakes which they should never make on a consistent basis, especially at Giants Stadium.

Thus, for the rest of their season, the Giants must remember that good behavior always starts at home.

Chargers Shock Conservative Giants In Final Minute

Chargers Shock Conservative Giants In Final Minute
By Jon Wagner Sr. Writer at Large Football Reporters online

On a day when he moved into third place on the all-time New York Giants’ list for completions, Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning was ironically beaten by the quarterback who was involved in the trade that brought Manning to New York in the first place.

More than five years after being traded for Manning, San Diego quarterback Phillip Rivers, who was a Giant for all of about 45 minutes on Draft Day in 2004, directed a final minute, game-winning, 80-yard touchdown drive to beat the Giants, 21-20, at the Meadowlands on Sunday, in the first meeting between Manning and Rivers since their trade.

In their first trip back to the Meadowlands to play the Giants since December 23, 1995 (a 27-17 San Diego victory), the Chargers brought the nice San Diego weather with them on an uncharacteristically warm November day in New Jersey, and their recent stretch of hot play as well.

For at least one day, San Diego could definitely feel like they got the better of the deal, even though most football followers, even among those who either cover or root for the Giants, have ranked Rivers as slightly better than Manning to this point in their careers.

Entering Sunday’s showdown, Rivers’ had a better quarterback rating (93.4 to 77.1), completion percentage (61.9 percent to 56.1 percent), yards-per-game average (215.8 ypg to 203.4 ypg), and touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio (89:40 to 111:82).

However, most who feel that Rivers has been the more accomplished of the two passers, also agree that the Giants have had the biggest leg -- or with a quarterback comparison, the biggest arm –- up on the trade since Manning leads in the one statistical category which matters most: one Super Bowl victory (including a Super Bowl MVP) to no Super Bowls reached yet for Rivers.

On Sunday, the results were remarkably similar between the two quarterbacks who will always be associated with each other throughout the rest of their careers and whatever future legacies they leave behind.

Throwing for 215 yards on 33 attempts, Manning completed 25 passes, increasing his career total to 1,441, moving him past one former Giant (Charlie Conerly, 1,418 completions) and just six completions behind another -- Kerry Collins, who ranks second on the Giants' career completion list.

Rivers meanwhile, was about the same, going 24 for 36, for 209 yards.

Where they differed was that Manning did not turn the ball over, while Rivers threw two interceptions, but while Manning tossed a pair of touchdowns, Rivers threw touchdown passes on all three of San Diego’s scores.

In terms of just one game on Sunday, Rivers ultimately had the last laugh, and more importantly for both teams, the Chargers (5-3) and Giants are now going in opposite directions, with San Diego winning their past three games after a mediocre and inconsistent 2-3 start, while New York lost its fourth consecutive game after looking like an elite NFL team at 5-0. The Giants have already matched the total number of losses they had in 2008.
Perhaps expecting a Manning-Rivers back-and-forth shootout, the 78,774 fans in attendance witnessed a scoreless game after one quarter.

The Giants had a chance to strike early, but came away with no points after driving 68 yards on eleven plays, in 7:23, on the game’s opening possession, after holder Jeff Feagles couldn’t get a snap down on a 38-yard field goal attempt.
That play would come back to haunt the Giants in the one-point loss, and appropriately, Feagles’ fumble on the play was recovered by Chargers’ linebacker Shawne Merriman, who despite being suspended by the NFL for abusing steroids in 2006, is a three-time pro bowl selection after being selected by San Diego in the first round of the 2005 NFL draft using a draft pick that the Chargers acquired when they traded Rivers for Manning.
On the final play of the first quarter, Rivers threw just before pressure from the back side, from Giants’ linebacker Michael Boley (who returned from injury), and from defensive end Osi Umenyiora and linebacker Antonio Pierce, both up the middle, got to him, to complete a key 3rd-and-10 pass to tight end Antonio Gates (game-high 67 yards on 5 receptions) for a 19-yard play to the Giants’ 10-yard line.
That set up a Rivers 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who caused Giants starting left cornerback Corey Webster problems on several occasions during the game. Jackson’s catch gave the Chargers a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
But, Manning went a perfect 9-for-9 to march the Giants right back on their longest drive (in terms of time) in over sixteen years, taking New York 79 yards on 16 plays in 10:35, to tie the game, 7-7, on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 4:20 left in the first half, to wide receiver Steve Smith, who led the Giants with eight catches for 57 yards.
The game remained tied until late in the third quarter, when Rivers took advantage of another short punt by Feagles, something which has seriously plagued the Giants while facing good opposing quarterbacks during their current losing streak.
After a 31-yard punt by Feagles, Rivers drove the Chargers 51 yards in on six plays in 3:03, to give his team a 14-7 lead on a 2-yard touchdown toss to tight end Kris Wilson, with 3:51 left in the third quarter. Webster helped set up the score, being called for pass interference in the end zone against Jackson, on a 29-yard heave by Rivers, who was hit as he threw.
Manning again responded though, taking the Giants 70 yards on 10 plays in 4:42, to set up a 38-yard field goal by kicker Lawrence Tynes, to cut the Chargers’ lead to 14-10 with 14:09 left in the game.
Then, after the Giants’ defense forced its only three-and-out of the game, New York got great field position at the San Diego 39-yard line after a 13-yard punt return by Domenik Hixon.
The Giants needed only six plays from there, to take a 17-14 lead with 8:58 remaining in the game, on an 8-yard Manning touchdown pass into the far left corner of the end zone to tight end Kevin Boss.
The defining moment of the game -- and depending on how things plays out over the next several weeks, maybe of the season -- then came for the Giants after both teams traded punts.
Taking over at the San Diego 21-yard line after a Feagles’ 46-yard punt out of bounds, Rivers, on first down, threw over the middle and was intercepted by cornerback Terrell Thomas at the Chargers’ 37-yard line. Thomas returned the ball 33 yards to the San Diego four-yard line, with just 3:14 left in the game.
If the Giants score there, as they should have, they likely win the game and have a much different outlook on their season right now.
Instead, New York went into ultra conservative mode, rather than attacking to try to win the game, partly because of a holding penalty on right guard Chris Snee which immediately pushed the ball back to the 14-yard line.
Manning then completed to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks for no gain. On second down, running back Brandon Jacobs ran up the middle for five yards to the Chargers’ 9-yard line. And, on 3rd-and-goal, the Giants again ran the same play, Jacobs for five yards up the middle, to the San Diego four-yard line.
All that did was set up a Tynes 22-yard field goal to put the Giants ahead 20-14, with 2:07 left in the game, giving a good quarterback like Rivers plenty of time to send New York to yet another defeat.
And that’s exactly what Rivers did, completing six of eight passes, taking the Chargers 80 yards to win the game. The game-winning drive was capped on the second touchdown catch by Jackson, this time on an 18-yard pass from Rivers with just 21 seconds left in the game.
On the play, Webster was again beaten by Jackson, but mostly because he never received help that should have been there. Cornerback Bruce Johnson was locked in on Gates, who running an inside route, and he never made a break to his left in time to give help to Webster who was watching Jackson run the outside fade route toward the far right corner of the end zone.

Rivers is simply too good for that without enough pressure on him, nor the help from Johnson on Jackson, Rivers easily went over the top of Webster leading Jackson for the game-winning score.

Ultimately, the Giants never got enough pressure on Rivers for most of the game, hitting him only five times, and because of that, their whole season is now under pressure.

Fittingly, it was Merriman who sacked Manning to end the game, preventing the Giants from getting off one last play from their own 29-yard line.

After the game, Rivers described his long-awaited initial meeting with Manning and the Giants, who are less than two years removed from a Super Bowl title as “A big emotional win.”

He added, “The link between me and Eli Is always going to be there. So yeah, it’s a little special. Any time you play against a team that won the Super Bowl, it’s fun. [The trade] didn’t weigh into my mind and my thinking, but I bet it was there.”

The same can be said for Manning and the Giants, who heading into their bye week on a four-game losing streak, have much greater concerns on their own minds, with their season slipping away.