Giants Game Recap, Analysis of Three Key Defensive Stops (Plus, what you didn't notice about how Quintin Mikell helped win the game)

Kudos to Andy Reid, Jim Johnson, et. al. for a great game plan. I liked the early commitment to the run, which I do believe helped keep the Giants defense honest later in the game even as pass-happy Andy took over. I’m surprised we were able to be so successful without an early lead, but I do think that Samuel’s INT helped keep a lot of pressure off the defense (and thankfully Andy called a QB sneak). Also, the lengthy 3rd quarter drives by the Eagles, even though the first resulted in a field goal, kept the Eagles D and Brandon Jacobs off the field, so that the defense was fresh when they needed big stops in the 4th quarter. The Eagles obviously won this game with defense, but they also won because Donovan McNabb outplayed Eli (who missed more than a few wide open receivers in the first half), and like the Donovan of old, he did it when they needed it most with some big plays with his legs in the Eagles’ time-consuming field goal drive early in the third quarter, in which McNabb extended his time on big 3rd and 20 and 3rd and 10 passes to Avant and Buck. That said, my blog post is going to concentrate on D. While a few Eagle defenses have held opponents to fewer points, in the Super Bowl era, only the 1991 Buddy Ryan-constructed, Rich Kotite-coached, Jim McMahon-quarterbacked 10-6 team that missed the playoffs held opponents to fewer yards than this year’s team. While Jim Johnson’s defenses have so long been praised for "bending but not breaking", allowing field goals but not touchdowns, it sure does help the offense that this defense doesn’t bend so much, and gets off the field. Furthermore, this defense since Thanksgiving has neither bent nor broke, as evidenced by the paltry 10.8 points opponents have scored against the Eagles in the last six games (not to mention the points the D has set up with 12 takeaways in those games). Instead of reiterating whatever has been said in the Inky, the Daily News, or by Ray Didinger, I’m going to use this post to break down a couple big stops.

Anatomy of a Stop, #1
The Setting: Giants start the game with great momentum after Bradshaw’s 65 yd return of the opening kickoff. The Giants then convert a 4th and 2 at the Eagles 27 and then follow that up one play later with a pass to tight end Darcy Johnson that sets up the Giants with a first and 10 from the 11, with under 3 minutes played.

1st and 10 from the 11: Giants run Brandon Jacobs off tackle to the right. Brian Dawkins stops him for two-yard gain. Like all good run stops, this play was made by the line and linebackers holding the point of attack. No Giants blocker had an opportunity to block two Eagles. Blitzing linebackers Bradley and Jordan tied up the middle of the Giant’s line and eliminated any possible cutback and Chris Gocong did a nice job of taking on Giants Right Tackle Kareem MacKenzie. Quintin Mikell then flew in from around the tackle and did a great job of taking out fullback Madison Hedgecock (This, incidentally, would be a trend throughout the game). Dawkins read the play correctly, immediately started flowing left from the opposite hash mark, and by the time Jacobs reached the only available hole, Dawkins filled it and wrapped him up.

2nd and 8 from the 9: Giants attempt to run Jacobs behind the right guard, dropped for no gain. Mike Patterson just pushes the center of the Giants line back. There is basically nowhere to go for Jacobs. Victor Abiamiri (long-touted as a way to shore up our run defense from the DE position) makes a great play pushing back his blocker to help collapse Jacobs’s running lanes and then disengaging to make the tackle. Like on the last play Mikell came into the backfield with impressive speed to take Hedgecock out of the play.

3rd and 8 from the 9: Giants pass in the flat to Derrick Ward, stopped by Stewart Bradley for a five yard gain. This play was really all Bradley. The route combination on the left side for the Giants was designed to clear the defensive backs out with two end zone routes (which the DBs covered well) behind Bradley and potentially pick him with Toomer’s route (which just missed doing so) and then challenge Bradley to cover Ward one on one. Bradley read the route correctly from the very beginning and speedily covered hash mark to sideline in the nick of time to wrap up Ward a little shy of the first down. An assist goes out to Trent Cole whose bull rush may have slightly rushed Eli’s decision, although the throw was pretty good. Still, on film it looks like a crossing Steve Smith might have had a better chance of eluding a Dawkins tackle than Ward did that of Bradley, but manning lacked the time to look back to the center of the field.
From the five yard line, the Giants were forced to settle for a field goal with 9:59 to go in the first quarter.

Anatomy of a Stop, #2
Setting: Eli throws his best pass of the day on a 3rd and 5 from the Giants 36 to Domenik Hixon on the Eagles 30. The Giants then have to call a time out with the playclock winding down. On 1st and 10, Eli makes a lousy throw to Hixon in the flat, after a play fake that leaves him with plenty of time to throw but strong coverage leaving him nowhere else to throw the ball.

2nd and 10 from the Eagles 30, 5:16 to go in the 3rd Quarter, Eagles 13 Giants 11:
Giants have single back and two tight ends, Eagles lined up in base personnel and Giants call a run to Jacobs again off right tackle (strong side) and pull a guard from the left to block for Jacobs. The Eagles linemen all get a good jump off the ball and get their bodies moving laterally in the direction of the play. Quintin Mikell, lined up in the box, comes up and engages the pulling left guard to seal the edge. Chris Gocong makes a great play to get off a block by OT Kareem MacKenizie and then pushes TE Kevin Boss and Stewart Bradley (with whom Boss is now engaged) out of the way so Gocong can pull down Jacobs after only a one yard gain.

3rd and 9 from the Eagles 29:
Giants in splitbacks, three wide. Eagles lined up in the nickel, with a three man line and with Bradley, Clemons, and Jordan at linebacker. Pre-snap, Clemons lines up directly over center and Akeem Jordan crawls down to Darren Howard’s (at left DE) outside shoulder. As the ball is being snapped, Mikell begins to sprint downhill on the same side. Each member of the Eagles line (plus Clemons) slants leftward, and RDE Trent Cole peels off into coverage. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw (to Eli’s right) picks up Jordan on the blitz and Mikell comes free flushing Eli to his left. Forced, to unload the ball quickly he finds Ward coming out of the left side (the direction Eli is rolling) of the Giants backfield. Trent Cole, who had rolled into coverage came across and dragged down Ward at the 27 before he could secure possession of the football. The Giants were forced to attempt a 47 yard John Carney field goal, which went short and to the left with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter, giving the Giants no points to show for Eli’s beautiful play action pass earlier in the drive and leaving the Eagles great field position, which would ultimately lead to a Brent Celek touchdown, giving the Eagles a 20-11 lead on the opening play of the final quarter.

Anatomy of a Stop, #3
Setting: Score is 20-11 when the Giants start on their own 10 with just over 10 minutes to go. Derrick Ward has two long runs and a third for a first down to set up the Giants with first and 10 from their own 38. On first down, Manning finds Toomer on a crossing route for seven yards.

2nd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants lined up three wide, single back, eagles in the nickel. Giants run Jacobs up the middle and the Eagles line (Parker, Bunkley, Patterson, Cole) totally bottles up the play forcing Jacobs to bounce it out to the outside shoulder of the left tackle. The line play gives Dawkins plenty of time to come down from about ten yards deep and wrap up Jacobs for a minimal gain.

3rd and 3 from the Giants 45: Giants direct snap to Ward. The defense reads it correctly and stretches out towards the sideline. The Giants blocking scheme seems to get confused by the fact that the Eagles have lined up Trent Cole as a joker directly over Juqua Parker’s left shoulder. Parker makes a nice spin to avoid Giants OT MacKenzie, who seems to have misread his assignment and focused on Bunkley. Parker was then left blocked only by diminutive receiver Domenik Hixon, whom Parker easily dispatched and then brought down the ball carrier for a one yard gain. Cole, incidentally does a great job of blowing up a pulling guard and getting to the ball—he prob. would have made the play if Parker hadn’t.

4th and 2 from the Giants 46: This of course was one of the absolute key plays of the game, snapping with only 6:36 left on the game clock. The Giants decided to stop being cute and lined up in an I-formation and gave the rock to Jacobs. As in other key stops, Quintin Mikell knifed through to engage Hedgecock and take him out of the play, burning by Steve Smith’s weak attempt at chipping Mikell. The Eagles knew what was coming, and they got incredible push from their front four, with Bunkley leading the way. Bunkley’s feet could not be moved further than a half-yard beyond the line of scrimmage. Also, the linebackers came with great force, helping to keep the Giants from pushing the pile forward—on the replay you can see Akeem Jordan and Bradley helping Bunkley maintain his place clogging the middle.

If the Eagle D, especially the line, can play like it did on these series, we’ll have a lot to be excited about next week at Arizona. A brief entry on that game will follow later this week. Through breaking down these plays, it becomes clear that the play, and versatiliy, of the line was key to the Eagles victory. Equally important was the improvement in the lateral movement of the linebackers on both run and pass plays. One key strategy was the use of Mikell repeatedly to take out the opposing fullback on running plays. It will be interesting to see if they use him this way again against another strong run-blocker in Tyrelle Smith.