Some quick Giants/Bears thoughts

<Current Mood: Not hungry anymore>

So,

I haven’t yet had the chance to analyze any of the other NFL games besides Giants-Bears from this past week so I’ll give you some of my thoughts on those two teams from both a real and fake football perspective.

-If you want to blow your FAAB dollars on Brandon Jacobs this week, then knock yourself out by all means. But know that he wasn’t practicing with the team this morning and did his damage against a Chicago defensive line that lost its top two defensive tackles to torn ACLs. I’ve seen this movie before and refuse to be sucked in by the allure of one good game that people will remember because it was the only game they saw on Thursday night.

Bold Prediction: Jacobs proceeds to throttle the Vikings for 243 yards and two TDs next Monday night while adding three catches for 56 yards and a TD through the air as well as a passing TD to Bear Pascoe on a trick play. He also will rescue seven babies from a burning building in Bosnia an hour before kickoff.

-I didn’t fall for the Alshon Jeffery trap last week as I benched him in one fantasy league and was forced to start him in another when news of Calvin Johnson being inactive broke. I’ll give you one guess as to which match-up I won and which one I would’ve won had I started Jeffery over Demaryius Thomas, my lowest scoring WR that week.  

This week, I fell for it hard. And why wouldn’t I? I’ve been following the Giants my whole life and started every Bears player I owned in every league against their atrocious secondary. Unfortunately, Alshon was overthrown twice on deep bombs, dropped another key pass, and only netted 5.2 PPR points, most of which came on a 15-yard end around.

I’m still convinced that playing him was the right call, as was inserting Hakeem Nicks into all possible lineups when the news broke that Peanut Tillman would be inactive. But from watching him play in college, I know Alshon will struggle with consistency. This happened to be one of those games where the ball didn’t bounce his way.

-Speaking of Nicks, I’m afraid I may have to find a new jersey soon as I feel that a trade is inevitable. Whether I like it or not (hint: I don’t), Reuben Randle and the Giants’ 0-6 record have made Hakeem expendable and there’s no way they’re going to pay him the Mike Wallace type of money that he’ll surely be looking for as a first round pick and Super Bowl winner.

Not to say I’m not a fan of Randle because I think he’s been fantastic. I’m more of a Hakeem fan and have been since his UNC days. I personally hope that they don’t trade him within the next 15 days, but am fully preparing myself mentally for it to happen. All I know is somebody could potentially get a huge steal.

And if they trade Nicks and he blows up elsewhere, we may have to start thinking about the evaluation process of the Giants organization and whether or not there’s a serious problem with it.

Consider the fact that before New York traded for Jon Beason, he had lost his starting job in Carolina to Chase Blackburn. Yes, THAT Chase Blackburn. The one that the Giants let walk away in free agency. And this was after Beason lost his job to Luke Kuechly last year. The only way New York doesn’t look like assholes for this trade is if Beason rediscovers the form that made him a first round pick in 2007.

-Before this becomes a full-fledged Giants rant, I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about this Marc Trestman offense that has Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennett, and Alshon arguably playing as close to their full potential as they ever have.

-What is it with the Giants and trading for first round busts at the linebacker position? First Keith Rivers and now Beason. One of these trades has to pan out right?

-On the subject of Beason. While it was good to see him play as well as he did against the run on Thursday night, much to the chagrin of the team in my most important fantasy league that started Forte, his acquisition doesn’t fix the biggest problem that the Giants have had on defense for the last ten-plus years.

They. Have. Zero. Linebackers. That. Can. Defend. The. Pass.

If I can offer one piece of actually reasonable fantasy advice, it’s to start every tight end you can against the Giants. Bennett didn’t have a fantastic game on Thursday night but that’s likely more-so a product of playing on three days of rest and he still recorded six catches for 68 yards. The only team they’ve played besides the Bears that didn’t see a tight end score a touchdown against them was Carolina. And Greg Olsen still put up four catches for 54 yards in that game.

How can I, as a Giants fan, see that this has easily been their biggest problem on defense over at least the last decade while no one on the coaching staff can figure that out? Why do they refuse to fix this?

-Speaking of coordinators, Perry Fewell does need to go. But if they fire him before Kevin Killdrive Gilbride, I may figuratively blow my brains out. If they don’t at least fire this jackoff at the end of the season, I may literally shit in my trousers.

For years, Giants fans have had to suffer through the kind of play-calling that gets people fired yet this guy is still employed. And, for years, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen to me that this guy needs to go. Yet the team is now 0-6 and they’re not going to hold any of the coaching staff accountable? Because some of them, like Gilbride, happened to be employed when they won their last two Super Bowls?

David Wilson is arguably the most talented pure athlete that Gilbride has ever had to work with at the running back position. The fact that he wasn’t able to get the most out of Wilson’s talents before he suffered this potentially season-ending neck injury should be IMMEDIATE grounds for termination. I’d say I’m done with this guy’s incompetence but I’ve been dealing with it for long enough to say that I’ve been done with it for years.

- I’ve never had more people start up conversations with me, whether I knew them or not, over the past six weeks because I walked into a room wearing my Giants sweatshirt. Is this what life is like when your team is this shitty? I must say I’m not a fan of this.

And if you are someone I don’t know and happen to see me walk into a room wearing my Giants sweatshirt, I have some words for you: NO, I don’t know why we’re so bad. NO, I don’t know what we can do to fix it. And NO, I’m not embarrassed to be wearing my colors and representing my favorite sports team.

I know this turned into more of a Giants rant, but it’s been a while since I’ve had a decent rant so you all have to sit there and take it. 

And, if you're lucky, I'll give you my thoughts on some NFL teams and situations outside of the greater NY area. No promises though. 

Deuces,

-Ray-