Smoot Lays the Smack Down (Giants at Redskins)

Yeah, Armstrong dropped two catches but kind of made up for it with that sick diving catch where he barely missed the endzone.

The only reason I bring up the OL play was because there were some plays where Grossman was getting plastered and I actually felt bad for the guy. Great win though, as I said somewhere else, we were neck and neck with the Giants the whole game and dominated them in the second half.

People are going to bring up how depleted the Giants team was ... mofos, look at the redskins, half our team are new players from our RB, C, DT(2), DE ... and the list goes on. Lots to be positive about today.

I'm sure people will bring this up, but what they forget is that our team couldn't beat the teams we were supposed to beat. I do hope that we do well against good teams, but also I want to continue to see us do well against inferior teams and not play down to the level of our competition.

I thought our protection issues were exacerbated by poor recognition a lot. Either by Rex or the line there seemed to be ample opportunity to diagnose and react to the pressure. Most of their pressure was artificially generated via overload it seemed. A couple times Rex just needed to see it and get rid of the ball faster. I have to think the ability to do so will come with more time on the field in the scheme.

Yeah, I thought they would bring in another RB and give HT a break. They need to mix it up with HT and give the opposition new looks with more options with running plays and putting in the guy that might best run that specific play. The days of the feature back are slowly slipping away into history.

Yeah, Armstrong dropped two catches but kind of made up for it with that sick diving catch where he barely missed the endzone.

The only reason I bring up the OL play was because there were some plays where Grossman was getting plastered and I actually felt bad for the guy. Great win though, as I said somewhere else, we were neck and neck with the Giants the whole game and dominated them in the second half.

People are going to bring up how depleted the Giants team was ... mofos, look at the redskins, half our team are new players from our RB, C, DT(2), DE ... and the list goes on. Lots to be positive about today.

[Applause] This win shouldn't be downplayed one bit.

I thought our protection issues were exacerbated by poor recognition a lot. Either by Rex or the line there seemed to be ample opportunity to diagnose and react to the pressure. Most of their pressure was artificially generated via overload it seemed. A couple times Rex just needed to see it and get rid of the ball faster. I have to think the ability to do so will come with more time on the field in the scheme.

But that's true of any OL/QB ... Rex looked a lot worse on some plays because of the OL play and the fumble was 20% Rex's fault and 80% the OL's fault. Hell, one play, I saw Pierre Paul run by Williams where Williams just fell down. That has got to be fixed.

Over the long haul we are not going to get it done unless the running game improves dramatically. Counting on Rex or Beck to win the game through the air every week is a recipe for disappointment.

The defensive backfield needs to improve its communication and cohesion.

Bowen needs to raise the intensity of his pass rush.

Everyone on the offensive line had their moments of suck, as SmootSmack indicated. But T.Williams prefaced a sucky game today with a sucky preseason - it wasn't just one game. And we didn't draft him at #4 overall to make excuses regarding Pierre-Paul's abilities. Everyone on the o-line needs to raise their level of play but especially Trent.

Still, we're in first place and have broken the Giants hex at least temporarily. It was a good day.

Too happy right now to diagnose our issues. Obviously there are some things to work on, but I'm just gonna enjoy this one for now.

Hightower played as well as he could have, considering our O-Line got pushed back almost every run play; add on that the Giants stacked 8 men in the box, meant they had some respect for Hightower and the run game. Almost every stretch play our O-Line got pushed back into Hightower. That's not his fault. His 3 yard average is a reflection of our mediocre O-Line play. NOT Hightower. We've seen what he can do when the O-Line opens holes. Everyone has touched on the poor O-line play and that needs to be addressed, but the stretch play did set up the bootleg and play action pass which was key in the win.

Running game had it's moments today but it still needs a little maturation time to me. That stretch zone is really a major coordination nightmare. Last year we didn't have the skill-sets to even really have a chance for it to work. Now we do have mor athletic guys but it may take some time for it to mesh up. Giants filled pretty well all day on gaps. Generally I expect NY to have a pretty good run defense this year.

Hightower played as well as he could have, considering our O-Line got pushed back almost every run play; add on that Giants stacked 8 men in the box, meant they had some respect for Hightower and the run game. Almost every stretch play our O-Line got pushed back into Hightower. That's not his fault. His 3 yard average is a reflection of our mediocre O-Line play. NOT Hightower. We've seen what he can do when the O-Line opens holes. Everyone has touched on the poor O-line play and that needs to be addressed, but the stretch play did set up the bootleg and play action pass which was key in the win.

Totally...what is more disheartening is that this is our starting OL against effectively their backups due to their not having Tuck and Osi. Let's hope they can tighten that up and get better next week.