Michael Boley

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Cruz, Wilson, & Karma make for a bad night at Met Strife Stadium

Posted by fantasyfurnace on September 6, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

There’s a joke going around Twitterland that WR stud Victor Cruz saw the Giant’s team physician after the game on Wednesday night who told him he had a very high immune system and that if it didn’t change it would mean that he wouldn’t catch anything!

WR #80 Victor Cruz had three drop passes and two penalties in a game he’d like to forget. Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

I don’t have the statistics right in front of me but if I were to venture a guess, I would say that Cruz had three drops in all of last season; and I would be close. Did his three drops on opening night in E. Rutherford, N.J. cost the N.Y. Giants the game? No. They only lost by a touchdown. But they were costly nonetheless.

What could have been more costly over the course of the game was rookie David Wilson’s 1st quarter fumble. Wilson, who electrified the crowds and Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbright in the pre-season, never lined up in the backfield again after his blunder causing the G-Men to go exclusively with Ahmad Bradshaw the rest of the game. He ended up fighting for every inch of the 76 yards he did manage to roll up.

Even the Karma wasn’t very good. The Cowboys didn’t play a ‘great’ game ; the Giants played a worse one. Dallas was called for double-digit penalties (13), was devoid of a running game the entire the first half, and had a Romo pass intercepted by LB Michael Boley for a 52 yard return.

#85 Dallas Cowboys WR Kevin Ogletree scores on one of his two touchdowns vs the Giants. Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Queens native WR Kevin Ogletree, perhaps the Victor Cruz of the 2012 season, caught 8 passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. Not Austin Miles, not Dez Bryant, not Jason Witten; none of them. In his first three seasons, Ogletree had caught just 25 passes and had zero touchdowns…Can you spell K-A-R-M-A? If you can’t, I can tell you that the Cowboys had plenty of it on the field on Wednesday night vs the Giants- their first Wednesday night game since they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 14-12 on Oct. 3rd, 1934.

And then there was the Giants depleted secondary; no Thomas, no Prince, and even replacement Michael Coe went down with a hamstring injury during the game. An ineffective 4th stringer forced the Giants staff to look through the stands for a healthy concessions staffer to help out, but the beer sales were too brisk for the guy to suit up!

Give credit to the ‘Boys (hard as that might be to do for some fans of Big Blue), but they seemed to want this game more than the defending Super Bowl Champions. That was clear. It was also clear that Kevin Ogletree is fast becoming Tony Romo’s favorite target. Until, of course, he plays a team with a healthy secondary.We’ll see…

Meantime, given the Giants’ second half schedule, one of the worst in memory, they need to focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-a game that already can be classified as the obligatory “must win”. The Bucs come in to Met Life Stadium on Sunday September 16th which will give Victor Cruz about 10 days to fix his immune system…

NFC Championship Prediction

Posted by fantasyfurnace on January 21, 2012
Posted in: NFL. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

We were ‘money’ once again last week as we went 3-1 for the second week of playoffs. Here are our picks for this Sunday’s NFC  conference championship game…

Giants over 49ERS- Funny how when the season began, following all the sexy additions made by the Philadelphia Eagles, that they were considered a ‘Dream Team’. It’s now the third week of January and we’re going into the last round of the playoffs; just 60 minutes away from the Super Bowl, and the N.Y. Football Giants have been more of a ‘Dream Team’ while the Eagles were more of a ‘Scheme Team’. Ironic…

First of all, this weekend all Giants fans ought to be very proud of their team. Mainly for the way they have turned it up a notch over their past four games in particular with wins over the Jets, Cowboys, Falcons, and the Packers. Suffice it to say, ‘Big Mo’ is totally on their side. And usually the team that’s the hottest going into the playoffs (think Green Bay last year), fares the best.

For San Francisco, kudos to Niner’s General Manager Trent Baalke for helping to turn around a franchise that hadn’t been to a playoff game in over a decade. From his signing of Jim Harbaugh who was coaching at Stanford, to 1st round pass rusher Aldon Smith who recorded 14 sacks this year, one less than the rookie record for sacks. From his decision to bring Alex Smith back for a one year deal to his signing of veteran kicker specialist David Akers. All the Baalke moves under Harbough’s coaching had transformed a 6-10 team of a year ago into a 13-3 team just one game away from the Super Bowl.

Even with the vast improvements to the club, the 49ers with all their talent simply do not have the depth of weapons that the Giants posses.  “There’s Davis and Gore and not much more.” WR Michael Crabtree, their WR1 has compiled 874 yards on the season and 4 TD’s. His problem is he has always had a case of the ‘dropsies’ and it doesn’t get any better further down the depth chart; WR Kyle Williams 241-3 and Ted Ginn Jr. 220-0. Compare these wideouts to the Giants core of Nicks 1192-7, Cruz 1556-9, and Manningham 523-4 and there really is no comparison.

WR Michael Crabtree had three dropped passes vs the Saints last week (in 'perfect' weather) and loses one here vs the Raiders earlier this season. Photo: raidernationstation.com

Ah, but they have RB Frank Gore you say… Well his numbers are good; 1211 yards-8 TD’s. However, when compared to the combined 1220-16 that ‘Thunder & Lightning’, Bradshaw & Jacobs put up then Gore’s numbers are not as impressive. That leaves TE Vernon “I’m planning a post playoff game party” Davis who tallied 792 yards & 6 TD’s. Nice, but when you total TE Jake Ballard and Travis Beckham’s numbers they’re almost in line with Davis’; 700yards & 5 TD’s.

Which brings us to Alex Smith vs Eli Manning. Smith, while being an efficient quarterback this season and one not prone to turnovers (just 5 interceptions), finished the year passing for 3144 yards and 17 TD’s. Eli, a more clutch QB, having more come from behind 4th quarter victories this year than in most of Alex Smith’s career, finished the season with an amazing 4933 yards and 29 TD’s. Clearly the edge at quarterback, as well as total offense has to go to the Giants.

IT will be Eli Manning vs Alex Smith tomorrow in the NFC Championship game. Weather will not keep Eli from coming through in the clutch. Photo: CBS NY image

Defensively, the Niners are in the top three in the league but they still gave up 32 points last week to the Saints and 27 to the St. Louis Rams in the last game of the regular season; a game they almost lost. The Giants have given up 20 points-in their last TWO games combined! And the last one was to one of the most prolific scoring teams in the NFL; the Green Bay Packers. And just 14 apiece to the Jets and the Cowboys before that. That’s an average of just 12 points a game in their last four!

The Niners don’t have the pass rushing type of personnel like Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul. Where they do match up very well is with their linebacking core. They can get off the block as quickly as anyone in the league and, like the Giants, are a relentless, hard-hitting group.

So why did the Giants lose to the 49ers back in November? Simply put, they played the game without Ahmad Bradshaw, lost Aaron Ross near halftime, and were without standout Linebacker Michael Boley for half the game. In fact, when Boley got injured, S.F. scored 14 points in a span of just 61 seconds! And the Giants still could have tied the game with just 30 seconds left if not for a pass intended for a wide open Vuctor Cruz in the endzone been batted down.

Tomorrow, whether it rains or sleets, or hails, or snows, the Giants will win this game. Remember, if you are going to factor in the weather conditions, San Francisco has to play in the same conditions as the Giants. And it will be harder to tackle the elite receiving core of the Giants as they know where they’re going to run- the Niners defense doesn’t. And when you’re forced to make cuts as a back, that’s when you lose your footing the most. We’re hoping for a great game and one that’s officiated fairly…

Game-Set-Match-Big Blue!

This is the Trophy the Giants and the Niners will be playing for on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Photo: sbnation.com

The Giants will WIN!! if……

Posted by fantasyfurnace on January 6, 2012
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Although no pushover, the Falcons CAN be Beaten…

N.Y. Giants will play host to the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images

1. Home field ‘dis-advantage?’

 The good news is that the Giants are in the playoffs. The bad news is that they’re playing at home. We all know about their ‘Perfect Post-Season’ in 2007 when they won every playoff game on the road (including, of course, the Super Bowl). However, they got knocked out of the post season, AT HOME, in 2005 and 2008. So the first thing the G-Men have to do is win a playoff game at home.

2. “Run Forest, Run…”

It’s not a secret that the Giants finished the regular season dead last in rushing yards per game at 89.2. What you might not realize is that they have stepped it up a notch, averaging a more competitive 105.5 ypg in their last four games. They will need to continue that trend in this contest otherwise Eli will be seeing nothing but 3rd and longs all day. No easy task either as the Falcons are sixth in the league at stopping the run.

3. Get to Ryan! (ehhh no… not Rex!!)

The Giants front four; Unmenyiora, Pierre-Paul, Tuck, and Canty need to pressure Matt Ryan who has not been the easiest quarterback to sack in the league. (13 times in his last 13 games). He throws quick passes, usually from inside the pocket, to a plethora of talented recievers that include Roddy White, rookie stud Julio Jones, (touted by the Furnace prior to the regular season), and 13 year veteran TE Tony Gonzalez.

Pierre Paul has been a beast with his 16.5 sacks on the year earning him a trip to the Pro-Bowl. Umenyiora, out for a total of seven weeks with assorted injuries, has 9 sacks in 9 games. The Giants have one of the most formidable pass rushing defenses in the post season this year and need to continue building on the 11 sacks (5 on Sanchez-6 on Romo) they’ve collected over their last two games.

4. Boley on Gonzo-

Everyone knows the kind of year that WR Roddy White has had given that he holds the league record for receptions at 100, but very quietly, in his 13th season, TE Tony Gonzalez has amassed 80receptions (and 7 TD’s) and continues to be a key offensive threat with his 8-12 yard pickups through dinks and dunks from Ryan. Michael Boley, the ex-Falcon, will have the unenviable task of keeping his catches to a minimum and needs to do so effectively to keep Ryan from over-using the veteran weapon.

5. Stopping the ‘Turner Express’…

Although the Giants have not been the most adept team at stopping the run in the league, when it’s counted- they have. They showed what they can do against Shonn Greene and last week vs Felix Jones, although combined they don’t posess Turner’s talent. They will have to TRY and turn in the same performance against Michael Turner and his 11 touchdowns in the regular season. Cannot over-emphasize the importance of slowing him down. He won’t be stopped but he also cannot have his way this Sunday.

6. Those darn intangibles…

The obvious and most important intangible is the ‘home crowd’; a crowd with the same kind of enthusiam and passion as the one last week vs Dallas; a game by the way that was the most watched in Sunday Night Football’s history. The fans need to be the ’12th man’ in this game which will hopefully impede Ryan’s ability to audible sucessfully as well as increase the liklihood of false start penalties.

The Falcons have not won a Playoff game since 2004. Matt Ryan is 0-2 and has three touchdowns and four interceptions on his post season resume, a decidedly huge edge for Eli Manning.

The Giants are coming into this game on a roll, having won three of their last four games;  big wins when they counted. Clearly, a key to the win would be to keep turnovers and penalties out of the game.

The final, and most subtle intangible will be the team not “winning one for the Gipper”, but continuing to win and advance for Osi. The great and popular defensive stallworth, Osi Umenyiora will be hanging them up after this season and nothing would make him or the Giants happier than to go as deep into the playoffs as possible.

Final score prediction: Giants 31-23 over the Falcons.

The N.Y. Giants should have no problem counting on the 'Big Blue' faithful to spur them on to a win over the Falcons. Photo: giantsfootballblog.com