Staxxxx
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Earlier this week I posted my "Inside The Box" review in which I focused on the play of LBs and DL in pass rush and run defense. I basically disregard any coverage by those players. In that review I noted that in an effort to get something posted I was basing my review primarily off the first half play as I had only been through the second half a couple of times at that time. I also stated that I'd post a followup when I got through the rest of the film if my opinions changed at all. Surprisingly after going through the entire game multiple times again my opinions really haven't changed that much but I do have a few thing to add so here's part two. Sorry guys, no pictures this time, I just ran out of time.
In a response to a question in my first review I mentioned that I hadn't charted any plays and that I thought that was a mistake. Well this time through I did chart but I'm not going to post my charts as so much of what I charted is subjective and quite honestly I'm not sure what it really means as this is the first time I've done this and have no base of comparison. I will however mention the few things that stood out to me in my charting but take it all with a grain of salt.
First of let me start by saying that in my opinion the front 7 as a whole played an outstanding game. In part 1 of my review I named Jason Hatcher as my player of the game and I'll stand by that but it was much closer than I initially thought. As I mentioned before I think the Giants game plan was to use play action to take advantage of our aggressive secondary play. What I didn't mention was that I think part 1b of their game plan was to neutralize Ware by motioning a tight end to his side to get him to drop into coverage, using that tight end as an extra blocker against him, and running a lot of play action in his direction to slow him down. The Giants knew that if they didn't slow down Ware's rush they wouldn't be able to take shots down the field against our corners. The Giants also used a lot of formations both passing and running with an extra lineman or tight end or both. Clearly they were concerned about Ware.
Jason Hatcher
The reason Hatcher is my player of the game is because I think he blew that plan to pieces. Jason Hatcher played most of the early part of the game in the Giants backfield stuffing the run and pressuring Eli. It was his play that forced the Giants to abandon their game plan early and go to a quick pass game. On the first 5 passing plays the Giants ran I have Ware dropping into coverage 3 times when the Giants motioned Bennett to Wares side right before the snap. On two of those plays I have Hatcher down for QB hits. Jason was relentless in that game, there were a few stretches where he briefly disappeared overall he consistently made plays throughout the game.
Overall I charted Hatcher at 6 pressures, 2 hits, 1 sack, and dropping into coverage 1 time in 30 plays. 3 pluses, 1 minus, and one hilarious Bennett throw down in 14 run play opportunities. 11 of his pass play opportunities occurred during the last Giants drive of the game where the Cowboys were primarily running a prevent defense and only rushing 3 or 4. On most of those plays he was double teamed. In that final drive he did have one pressure.
Lissemore I have Lissemore as participating in 26 plays with 4 pluses and 1 minus play. When I watch Lissemore I see a player who plays with more athleticism than most big men but still lacks the strength to over come poor technique. Lissemore makes some athletic plays but I think he also lets his athleticism put him in bad positions. Typically when he made a bad play it was when he tried to run around a blocker and let himself be put into a position to be blocked right out of the play. I look forward to watching Lissemore's progress this year.
Brent
The second time through the film I think I did a better job of recognizing just how good of a job Brent did. I have Brent down for 4 plus plays in 13 first half plays and 19 total for the game. I'd have to go through all my notes again to confirm but off of the top of my head I can't recall one play where the Giants moved him off the LOS our out of a hole all game. Granted he only had 19 plays but my overall impression is that he played quicker than I thought, has more than enough strength to hold the point of attack, and has the ability to push the pocket when double teamed. He drew a double team on almost every play he was in. Again this is just based off of one game but I think the space eating NT so many are clamoring for is already on our roster.
Spears and Coleman It's hard to tell which one is in if the camera doesn't get a shot of the numbers. I have Spears at 3 plus and 1 minus in 16 plays and Coleman at 6 plus and 2 minus in 23 plays although I likely credited some incorrectly here. I think these guys really play the same game although I think Coleman is a little stronger and Spears is a little quicker. Between the two of them they did play a good game. They both do a good holding the point of attack. Both primarily play on run downs.
Ware
In my first review I said that Ware had a great game and that assessment still stands. The Giants were obviously worried about Ware coming in to this game and they left with the same worries. I have ware down for 2 sacks and 5 pressures in 27 pass rushes but the Giants ran a lot of games at Ware. Ware's greatest asset is his explosion at the snap and the played a lot of games which were intended to nullify that. They would motion Bennett to his side on a lot of pass plays early in the game and he would have to determine whether or not Bennett was going out on a route or staying in to block and whether or not he had to cover him or rush. When he's responsibilities were such that he had to make those reads he couldn't explode off the ball. That also ran a lot of play action toward him to freeze him. Ware was also outstanding in the run game. Bennett might be one of the better pass blockers in the league no on that night. He couldn't block Ware or Spencer . If you take away that 33 yard draw against a prevent D at the end of the game I think the Giants had somewhere around 50 yards rushing on then night.
Spencer
Spencer is one of two players who I don't think played as well as I thought on my initial review. Don't get me wrong I think Spencer had a plus game but some of the activity I attributed to him in the run game the first time through I credited to Coleman and Spears on the second pass. In 54 plays I have Spencer at 8 plus plays and 2 negatives. In 35 pass plays I have him rushing on 19 and droppping on 16. On his 19 rushes I have him down for 4 pressures and on his 16 run plays I have him down for 4 pluses and 2 minuses. One thing I will mention is that when he has a TE over him he usually has a read on the TE before he can rush and as he is the SOLB he usually has a TE over him. Those couple of a tenths of a second can make or break a pass rush. It's hard to judge Spencer when you know the guy you are comparing him to is th best in the NFL at what he does. No comparison to Ware will ever be a fair comparison for Spencer and even if they were Ware will still be a far superior pass rusher, but then again who would? I think Ware has raised the bar so high for a lot of fans that Spencer doesn't get nearly as much credit as he should.
When I watched this tape I didn't see all of the "advantages" of playing opposite Ware that I always hear about. Spencer doesn't get steady one on one matchups on the TE, as a matter of fact I think he might have been chipped more than Ware was in this game. But there was one advantage I did see that I haven't seen mentioned before and that is that when they roll the pocket they do it away from Ware and toward Spencer. A couple of his pressures came on just that in this game too. I only mention this because with the Wilson's speed and lack of height I think Seattle might do a lot of this and am anxious to see how Spencer does. Spencer was solid against the run, had some pressure, and just like Ware didn't sweat Bennett's run blocking a bit.
Bruce Carter
The other guy that I didn't think played as well my second trip through the tape. Over all I had him at 2 pluses an 3 minuses on 31 plays. The only guy in this review with more negatives than positive. Overall I didn't think he played bad and still think he's and improvement over last year. And remember I don't grade a plus or minus for pass coverage in my review which is a strength of his. So if I had to guess I'd guess that overall he graded out positive. As far as what I did grade I think he doesn't play nearly as fast as those around him, I thought he ran him self out of some plays by trying to run around some blocks instead of taking them on and shedding them and his angles need work. Thought his tackling was solid and he did a good job of diagnosing the plays. Thought he also played a little better at the LOS when they lined up there than Lee did.
Sean Lee
Saving the best for Last. Sean Lee is a stud!!! I just love watching him play. If you want to know what "Football Speed" means throw in a tape of Lee and give it a watch. He goes from zero to full speed in about 2 steps and then doesn't slow down until the play is over. On that 33 yard run by Bradshaw it wasn't a DB that chased him down it was Lee. There was another pass play where Lee blitzed and was about 2 yards behind the LOS when Manning got the pass off. Lee tackled the receiver for about an 8 yard gain. He went from pass rusher reversed direction and 2 steps later was a full speed going the other direction. I can't count how many times I watched him run right by Carter on runs to Carter's side. Lee has tremendous instincts, I don't think you can teach the way he uses his hands to shed a guy at full speed without breaking stride or the play where he is sprinting to the hole and at the last second goes to his knees to slide under a blocker and into the hole. He never gets blocked standing straight up when he runs into a blocker he leans into him keeping his feet away and uses his hands to just slide off. Lee was all over the field making plays. I can't count the number or time I rewound a play just to make sure he did what I thought he did. If week 1 was any kind of indication of what we can expect out of Lee then it's going to be a good season for this defense.
I haven't seen a Linebacker play with such controlled "reckless abandon" since Ray Lewis was a pup. Now I'm not saying he's Ray Lewis. Yet.
In a response to a question in my first review I mentioned that I hadn't charted any plays and that I thought that was a mistake. Well this time through I did chart but I'm not going to post my charts as so much of what I charted is subjective and quite honestly I'm not sure what it really means as this is the first time I've done this and have no base of comparison. I will however mention the few things that stood out to me in my charting but take it all with a grain of salt.
First of let me start by saying that in my opinion the front 7 as a whole played an outstanding game. In part 1 of my review I named Jason Hatcher as my player of the game and I'll stand by that but it was much closer than I initially thought. As I mentioned before I think the Giants game plan was to use play action to take advantage of our aggressive secondary play. What I didn't mention was that I think part 1b of their game plan was to neutralize Ware by motioning a tight end to his side to get him to drop into coverage, using that tight end as an extra blocker against him, and running a lot of play action in his direction to slow him down. The Giants knew that if they didn't slow down Ware's rush they wouldn't be able to take shots down the field against our corners. The Giants also used a lot of formations both passing and running with an extra lineman or tight end or both. Clearly they were concerned about Ware.
Jason Hatcher
The reason Hatcher is my player of the game is because I think he blew that plan to pieces. Jason Hatcher played most of the early part of the game in the Giants backfield stuffing the run and pressuring Eli. It was his play that forced the Giants to abandon their game plan early and go to a quick pass game. On the first 5 passing plays the Giants ran I have Ware dropping into coverage 3 times when the Giants motioned Bennett to Wares side right before the snap. On two of those plays I have Hatcher down for QB hits. Jason was relentless in that game, there were a few stretches where he briefly disappeared overall he consistently made plays throughout the game.
Overall I charted Hatcher at 6 pressures, 2 hits, 1 sack, and dropping into coverage 1 time in 30 plays. 3 pluses, 1 minus, and one hilarious Bennett throw down in 14 run play opportunities. 11 of his pass play opportunities occurred during the last Giants drive of the game where the Cowboys were primarily running a prevent defense and only rushing 3 or 4. On most of those plays he was double teamed. In that final drive he did have one pressure.
Lissemore I have Lissemore as participating in 26 plays with 4 pluses and 1 minus play. When I watch Lissemore I see a player who plays with more athleticism than most big men but still lacks the strength to over come poor technique. Lissemore makes some athletic plays but I think he also lets his athleticism put him in bad positions. Typically when he made a bad play it was when he tried to run around a blocker and let himself be put into a position to be blocked right out of the play. I look forward to watching Lissemore's progress this year.
Brent
The second time through the film I think I did a better job of recognizing just how good of a job Brent did. I have Brent down for 4 plus plays in 13 first half plays and 19 total for the game. I'd have to go through all my notes again to confirm but off of the top of my head I can't recall one play where the Giants moved him off the LOS our out of a hole all game. Granted he only had 19 plays but my overall impression is that he played quicker than I thought, has more than enough strength to hold the point of attack, and has the ability to push the pocket when double teamed. He drew a double team on almost every play he was in. Again this is just based off of one game but I think the space eating NT so many are clamoring for is already on our roster.
Spears and Coleman It's hard to tell which one is in if the camera doesn't get a shot of the numbers. I have Spears at 3 plus and 1 minus in 16 plays and Coleman at 6 plus and 2 minus in 23 plays although I likely credited some incorrectly here. I think these guys really play the same game although I think Coleman is a little stronger and Spears is a little quicker. Between the two of them they did play a good game. They both do a good holding the point of attack. Both primarily play on run downs.
Ware
In my first review I said that Ware had a great game and that assessment still stands. The Giants were obviously worried about Ware coming in to this game and they left with the same worries. I have ware down for 2 sacks and 5 pressures in 27 pass rushes but the Giants ran a lot of games at Ware. Ware's greatest asset is his explosion at the snap and the played a lot of games which were intended to nullify that. They would motion Bennett to his side on a lot of pass plays early in the game and he would have to determine whether or not Bennett was going out on a route or staying in to block and whether or not he had to cover him or rush. When he's responsibilities were such that he had to make those reads he couldn't explode off the ball. That also ran a lot of play action toward him to freeze him. Ware was also outstanding in the run game. Bennett might be one of the better pass blockers in the league no on that night. He couldn't block Ware or Spencer . If you take away that 33 yard draw against a prevent D at the end of the game I think the Giants had somewhere around 50 yards rushing on then night.
Spencer
Spencer is one of two players who I don't think played as well as I thought on my initial review. Don't get me wrong I think Spencer had a plus game but some of the activity I attributed to him in the run game the first time through I credited to Coleman and Spears on the second pass. In 54 plays I have Spencer at 8 plus plays and 2 negatives. In 35 pass plays I have him rushing on 19 and droppping on 16. On his 19 rushes I have him down for 4 pressures and on his 16 run plays I have him down for 4 pluses and 2 minuses. One thing I will mention is that when he has a TE over him he usually has a read on the TE before he can rush and as he is the SOLB he usually has a TE over him. Those couple of a tenths of a second can make or break a pass rush. It's hard to judge Spencer when you know the guy you are comparing him to is th best in the NFL at what he does. No comparison to Ware will ever be a fair comparison for Spencer and even if they were Ware will still be a far superior pass rusher, but then again who would? I think Ware has raised the bar so high for a lot of fans that Spencer doesn't get nearly as much credit as he should.
When I watched this tape I didn't see all of the "advantages" of playing opposite Ware that I always hear about. Spencer doesn't get steady one on one matchups on the TE, as a matter of fact I think he might have been chipped more than Ware was in this game. But there was one advantage I did see that I haven't seen mentioned before and that is that when they roll the pocket they do it away from Ware and toward Spencer. A couple of his pressures came on just that in this game too. I only mention this because with the Wilson's speed and lack of height I think Seattle might do a lot of this and am anxious to see how Spencer does. Spencer was solid against the run, had some pressure, and just like Ware didn't sweat Bennett's run blocking a bit.
Bruce Carter
The other guy that I didn't think played as well my second trip through the tape. Over all I had him at 2 pluses an 3 minuses on 31 plays. The only guy in this review with more negatives than positive. Overall I didn't think he played bad and still think he's and improvement over last year. And remember I don't grade a plus or minus for pass coverage in my review which is a strength of his. So if I had to guess I'd guess that overall he graded out positive. As far as what I did grade I think he doesn't play nearly as fast as those around him, I thought he ran him self out of some plays by trying to run around some blocks instead of taking them on and shedding them and his angles need work. Thought his tackling was solid and he did a good job of diagnosing the plays. Thought he also played a little better at the LOS when they lined up there than Lee did.
Sean Lee
Saving the best for Last. Sean Lee is a stud!!! I just love watching him play. If you want to know what "Football Speed" means throw in a tape of Lee and give it a watch. He goes from zero to full speed in about 2 steps and then doesn't slow down until the play is over. On that 33 yard run by Bradshaw it wasn't a DB that chased him down it was Lee. There was another pass play where Lee blitzed and was about 2 yards behind the LOS when Manning got the pass off. Lee tackled the receiver for about an 8 yard gain. He went from pass rusher reversed direction and 2 steps later was a full speed going the other direction. I can't count how many times I watched him run right by Carter on runs to Carter's side. Lee has tremendous instincts, I don't think you can teach the way he uses his hands to shed a guy at full speed without breaking stride or the play where he is sprinting to the hole and at the last second goes to his knees to slide under a blocker and into the hole. He never gets blocked standing straight up when he runs into a blocker he leans into him keeping his feet away and uses his hands to just slide off. Lee was all over the field making plays. I can't count the number or time I rewound a play just to make sure he did what I thought he did. If week 1 was any kind of indication of what we can expect out of Lee then it's going to be a good season for this defense.
I haven't seen a Linebacker play with such controlled "reckless abandon" since Ray Lewis was a pup. Now I'm not saying he's Ray Lewis. Yet.
I hope you are able to give out such good grades in our subsequent games. 
