Saturday, August 11, 2007

NFL Preview: Giants and Packers

New York Giants

Cheers: The Giants have an Offensive Line that can block pretty well. Even though Luke Pettigout went elsewhere in the offseason, their interior line makes up for the loss. Plaxico Burress was a pretty big playmaker this year, and if he can hang onto the ball, he can be even better. Their front seven is deep, with out without Strahan. They have a bunch of guys that can get to the QB, including end Osi Umenyiora a couple of quick tackles, and Mathias Kiwanuka, who may be playing end or LB this year.

Jeers: Tiki Barber retired, and now it’s up to Eli Manning to lead the offense. He had a tough time playing consistently with one of the best backs in football, so I’m not sure what he’s going to do without him. Brandon Jacobs will wear down if he has to carry a full load, and Reuben Droughns doesn’t help matters. Their secondary is still subpar, and that can really bring down their defense at times. Tom Coughlin is still their coach, and he’s still likely to screw things up.

On second thought… they took a step backwards from last year’s marginal playoff team. For some reason, these guys can’t close out a season after a hot start. Their offense is significantly worse, and their defense isn’t any better than last year. Tiki Barber was a huge part of that team, and they’re going to miss him dearly this season.

New guy that won’t meet expectations: Reuben Droughns. If you’re the Giants and you were determined to get another back to help out Jacobs, Droughns might be the one that makes the least sense. He’s not fast so he doesn’t really compliment Jacobs at all. He doesn’t represent a significant upgrade either. It’s like they added a guy for the sake of adding him, regardless if he’s actually good or not. He’ll be mediocre just like he was in Cleveland, and that’s if he even gets carries.

New guy who will meet expectations: Aaron Ross. It’s easy to say their first round pick will play well, but he’s going to get immediate playing time. In the weak Giants’ secondary, particularly at corner, he’ll start right away and have the opportunity to match up against some big play receivers in the NFC East. He was a very good corner at Texas, and his ability should translate well to the NFL.

Green Bay Packers:

Cheers: They have a few good defensive players, and if some others step up, it might be tough moving the ball against them. They have a strong secondary featuring one of the better corner duos in the league, and an underrated young safety in Nick Collins. With Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk leading the Linebackers, they have a pretty good unit there too. The wild card is the play they get from the tackles; they need to get better this year to help out the defense.

Jeers: They don’t have a running game. They let Ahman Green walk without a sufficient replacement to fill the void. They have two good receivers in Driver and Jennings, but Favre has to completely collapse more than he already has at some point, right? Their defense should be pretty good, but it won’t be good enough to cover for an offense that’ll have problems putting points up on the board.

On second thought… Clark Harris is white. The Packers are a mediocre team, up and down their roster. The Driver injury is a bit of a concern because they don’t have much depth behind him and Jennings, but he should be fine. The defense is average with the potential to be pretty good, but without a running game, they don’t have much of a chance.

New guy who won’t meet expectations: Brandon Jackson. I think they reached for him, and I don’t think he’s going to play well in their poor RB by committee. The Packers had a ton of draft picks and they did very little with them.

New guy who will meet expectations: For lack of a better player, Mason Crosby. He’ll win the kicker job and do an okay job for them. What a bad offseason.

I should get another one of those up later.

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