ESPN Story About Giants... Has Lesson For Cowboys

[lspain1]

With the exception of the Indianapolis Colts, no team seemed to be more disappointed with its finish to the 2005 season than the New York Giants. Their disastrous playoff loss to Carolina was not only unexpected but it also appeared to create some dissension within the locker room.

Team leader Tiki Barber openly questioned head coach Tom Coughlin's game plan versus Carolina and his apparent inability to make adjustments during the game. The two have since patched things up, but Barber's comments were not that far out of line. Carolina had a masterful game plan -- especially on defense. The Panthers went after quarterback Eli Manning all day with a variety of in-line stunts. The Giants' offensive line used a man-blocking scheme and simply could not deal with Carolina's loops and twists. They never switched to a zone-blocking concept, and that may have incited Barber to make those comments.

Whatever caused their demise against Carolina, the Giants were a frustrated team in the immediate aftermath. However, time has healed a lot of these wounds and the Giants have quietly put together a very productive offseason.

LINK


This article is the "outside" teaser for an insider article on the Giants. The Cowboys twist to the story is that our O-Line must face the same kind of attack from defenses. It's an important message because the G-Men O-Line was considered one of the better ones last year.

 

[CrazyCowboy]

The Giants should have won that game.....

 

[Pokes28]

Sorry, but the Giants O-Line wasn't in the top half of the league last year and I doubt they will be this year. Yes Tiki ran well behind it, but it isn't like he requires the blocking to be better than marginal to give him an opening.

David Harrell - Pokes
dwh

 

[TonyS]

My impression of the O-line is that you just can't change your scheme (man-to-man -> zone) in the middle of the game unless you practice both schemes. Do NFL teams practice both schemes?

I thought they were two totally different philosophies with different skillsets and certain players could play them and certain players couldn't.

In the case of the Giants or our Boys, the thing to do would be go into more Max protect by keeping the back and a TE in to block, than switch the scheme and go to zone blocking. This article makes it sound like an O-line can just change their whole scheme mid-game, which I don't think most O-lines can do.

Anyone with more in-depth knowledge of offensive line issues can shed some light on this for me.

 

[ravidubey]

The Giant's OL was decimated by injuries before that game.

 

[Alexander]

Do NFL teams practice both schemes?

We switched up at times last year to accomodate Larry Allen, who was not effective as a zone blocker. That was one of the criticisms of Sparano because we first didn't settle on one and second we usually had a player or two that didn't fit. Now that Allen is gone, both guards (Rivera and Kosier) will be better suited for our scheme. A weakened Rivera was a bad fit last year. Float him and he will be more effective.

As far as this being a lesson, we will be a zone blocking team this year, so the stunts and so on won't be as worrisome IMO.

 

[RiggoForever]

Great coaches are able to make these kind of adjustments in important games. Its why I will take Gibbs or Parcells over Reid and Coughlin in any postseason game....


"Sixteen years later, former Commanders center and original Hog Jeff Bostic still remembers one of Joe Gibbs's finest coaching moments. It occurred in the heat of one of the most significant victories in Commanders history.

The date was Jan. 31, 1988, at San Diego's Jack Murphy Stadium. It was Super Bowl XXII, and the Denver Broncos had stunned the Commanders by jumping to an early 10-0 lead. Most surprising, though, was the Broncos' abandonment of the standard four-linemen, three-linebacker, 4-3 defense they had employed all season in favor of a three-lineman, four-linebacker 3-4 look that had confused the Commanders' offense, particularly the Hogs on the offensive line.

"This was after our first couple of possessions," Bostic said. "Coach Gibbs almost never came back to our offensive line meetings when we were on the bench. This time he did. He says, 'What are they doing to you up front?' We tell him what's going on. He puts his finger up to his face like he always does when he's thinking deep and he says, 'Okay, we're gonna zone block the defensive ends and we're gonna let the nose tackle stunt wherever he wants to go. We'll come back at 'em and run our counter plays and bottle them up inside.'

"But on the first play, instead of running the ball, we give 'em a look, and we run a hitch pattern instead, and Ricky Sanders catches it for an 80-yard touchdown. Eighteen plays later, and that's all it was, we've basically won the Super Bowl at the half. We're up 35-10, Tim Smith is going crazy running the ball and we score 35 points in the second quarter and we're doing whatever we want to do.

"They had no idea how to stop us," Bostic continued. "Joe figured out how to block 'em, and they never had a chance. That's a Joe Gibbs adjustment in a nutshell."

More than anything over that era, Gibbs demonstrated an uncanny ability to change or ditch whatever wasn't working in a game plan -- either on the sidelines or during halftime. Virtually every coach in the NFL can make adjustments, but as former tackle Joe Jacoby said, "Most of them can't really pinpoint it to a specific play or time in a game when you know it's going to break things open. Joe just had that knack."

 

[Holloway805]

Thank God. I was dying to here AGAIN what a genius Gibbs is.

 

[theebs]

Thank God. I was dying to here AGAIN what a genius Gibbs is.

I have come to the conclusion that the discussions on this forum could be
Types of Grass
Color of cement
Shapes of street signs

and there would be a Commanders fan who would chime in and say ya know Gibbs is much better than parcells, coughlin or reid or anyone really I mean look what hes done. He is much better.

Trolls are boring.

Ya know what I would like to see, gibbs build a team from the ground up after a horrible season like 1-15, 3-13 or 2-14. I would like to see him do that before he gets declared the greatest anything. Good coach, absolutely the greatest....Dont know about that....


but again glad to see us all getting set straight about his greatness. I hope he gets to face alex smith, Ryan fitzpatrick, kyle orton, mike mcmahon a mcnabb, westbrook, fraley less eagles team again this year. Also there Lloyd owns henry deal is a good one until you turn it around on them and inform them that Witten abused archuletta last year one on one in the corner for a touchdown! I am sure that doesnt matter though!! LOL.

Anyway what is this thread about again?

 

[Yakuza Rich]

This article is the "outside" teaser for an insider article on the Giants. The Cowboys twist to the story is that our O-Line must face the same kind of attack from defenses. It's an important message because the G-Men O-Line was considered one of the better ones last year.

Dallas was stunted and slanted to death all last year as well. They should also mention that the G-Men ran the second fewest % of 2 TE sets whereas Dallas may wind up running the highest % of 2 TE sets this season.


Rich............

 

[RiggoForever]

I have come to the conclusion that the discussions on this forum could be
Types of Grass
Color of cement
Shapes of street signs

and there would be a Commanders fan who would chime in and say ya know Gibbs is much better than parcells, coughlin or reid or anyone really I mean look what hes done. He is much better.

Trolls are boring.

Ya know what I would like to see, gibbs build a team from the ground up after a horrible season like 1-15, 3-13 or 2-14. I would like to see him do that before he gets declared the greatest anything. Good coach, absolutely the greatest....Dont know about that....


but again glad to see us all getting set straight about his greatness. I hope he gets to face alex smith, Ryan fitzpatrick, kyle orton, mike mcmahon a mcnabb, westbrook, fraley less eagles team again this year. Also there Lloyd owns henry deal is a good one until you turn it around on them and inform them that Witten abused archuletta last year one on one in the corner for a touchdown! I am sure that doesnt matter though!! LOL.

Anyway what is this thread about again?

I never said he was better then Parcells and I don't consider myself a troll...just proud to be a Skins fan.

I never proclaimed him the greatest coach either, but making the distinction between him and Coughlin.

 

[Alexander]

I have come to the conclusion that the discussions on this forum could be
Types of Grass
Color of cement
Shapes of street signs

and there would be a Commanders fan who would chime in and say ya know Gibbs is much better than parcells, coughlin or reid or anyone really I mean look what hes done. He is much better.

Trolls are boring.

Ya know what I would like to see, gibbs build a team from the ground up after a horrible season like 1-15, 3-13 or 2-14. I would like to see him do that before he gets declared the greatest anything. Good coach, absolutely the greatest....Dont know about that....


but again glad to see us all getting set straight about his greatness. I hope he gets to face alex smith, Ryan fitzpatrick, kyle orton, mike mcmahon a mcnabb, westbrook, fraley less eagles team again this year. Also there Lloyd owns henry deal is a good one until you turn it around on them and inform them that Witten abused archuletta last year one on one in the corner for a touchdown! I am sure that doesnt matter though!! LOL.

Anyway what is this thread about again?

What's funny is that when Gibbs couldn't buy a clue in 2004, you didn't hear as much bluster. It's just like how two victories against us miraculously erases years of domination.

That's what homers and trolls do. They don't think, nor can they be objective. They just irritate. And in the case of this board because it is allowed, multiply.

 

[stilltheguru]

yo i hate the skins as much as anybody on this board but the dude did not say he was better than parcells and he is actually a decent poster on this board.


i guess not all skins fans are horrible.

 

[RiggoForever]

What's funny is that when Gibbs couldn't buy a clue in 2004, you didn't hear as much bluster. It's just like how two victories against us miraculously erases years of domination.

That's what homers and trolls do. They don't think, nor can they be objective. They just irritate. And in the case of this board because it is allowed, multiply.

Allright if you want me to delete the damn post I will. But there is no edit button there anymore...if its that inappropriate some mod please delete it.

 

[arglebargle]

What's funny is that when Gibbs couldn't buy a clue in 2004, you didn't hear as much bluster. It's just like how two victories against us miraculously erases years of domination.

That's what homers and trolls do. They don't think, nor can they be objective. They just irritate. And in the case of this board because it is allowed, multiply.

Actually, the two victories over the Cowboys does cancel the years of domination. Just like the Cowboys three victories over the Eagles....

We just have to start over and get another 12 or so in a row.....

 

[Alexander]

Just like the Cowboys three victories over the Eagles....

Sorry, I wouldn't boogie on over to an Eagles board and start talk of owning them given their recent history against us prior to Coach Parcells' arrival. That's just me. The truth is there. The facts are always there. I don't need to crow about my team's recent victories to try and secure some kind of juvenile temporary bragging rights that somehow extends past the games themselves.

 

[superpunk]

Sorry, I wouldn't boogie on over to an Eagles board and start talk of owning them given their recent history against us prior to Coach Parcells' arrival. That's just me. The truth is there. The facts are always there. I don't need to crow about my team's recent victories to try and secure some kind of juvenile temporary bragging rights that somehow extends past the games themselves.

It's an interesting dynamic, isn't it? You see almost no Cowboys fans jocking our sweep over the Eagles, even on all-NFL boards, because we know and respect the fact that they spanked the crap out of us for years.

Skins fans win two and all of a sudden get amnesia. You rarely see one fan say to another, "pipe down, they owned us for years. Let's make this thing consistently competitive again before talking stuff." It's all rah-rah, Gibbs is lord. Blech.

 

[theogt]

It's an interesting dynamic, isn't it? You see almost no Cowboys fans jocking our sweep over the Eagles, even on all-NFL boards, because we know and respect the fact that they spanked the crap out of us for years.

Skins fans win two and all of a sudden get amnesia. You rarely see one fan say to another, "pipe down, they owned us for years. Let's make this thing consistently competitive again before talking stuff." It's all rah-rah, Gibbs is lord. Blech.

I believe the word is "owned".

 

[superpunk]

I believe the word is "owned".

The word is - it annoys the crap out of me. Because, in any argument, they appear to think the answer is "sweep." As if a one year anomaly somehow has ANYTHING to do with this upcoming season. If you want to be realistic, it has every bit as much relevance as us dominating them for the previous 7. None.

 

[Alexander]

The word is - it annoys the crap out of me. Because, in any argument, they appear to think the answer is "sweep." As if a one year anomaly somehow has ANYTHING to do with this upcoming season. If you want to be realistic, it has every bit as much relevance as us dominating them for the previous 7. None.

It even happened after the Dave Campo bowl.

"WE'RE BACK BABBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEE!!!"