The Giants lost to the Eagles 27-17 in a sloppy game marred with dueling turnovers. What I found interesting was the brilliant defensive plan that the Giants employed to control the seemingly uncontrollable Michael Vick.
Many times during the game the Giants blitzed several players into the gaps between the gaurds. This in of itself is not an unusual strategy against a normal QB. But conventional wisdom says that for a QB like Vick, you keep him in the pocket and rush the outside. Rushing guys up the middle normally would just allow him to run to either side and hilarity would then ensue.
Where the Giants differed in this was that they were rushing six guys on most plays, but having the ends rush directly upfield with no attempt to loop around. This had the effect of creating a"picket line" that the 6'0 Vick had to throw over. Vick was slowed down by this but continued to play well; showing a considerable amount of maturity in what could be a season in which he earns a Comeback Player of the Year award as well as the MVP. Apparently prison makes a man patient.
The Giants turned the ball over multiple times, some forced by good Eagles defense - some entirely unforced and frankly a bit buffoonish.
As this game fades into history, what may remain is the blueprint that may allow other teams to slow Vick down.
We will see what adjustments Andy Reid and his staff come up with.
Blue Sunday Colts blog - Observations and thoughts about the Indianapolis Colts and the NFL in general - with a focus on the details.
Giants had nothing to do with all those dropped passes into the end zone. No dropped pass, no blocked FG. It was fun seeing Eagles beat the Giants top rated defense, though.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that the Giants are the team lately that seemed to have anything close to a viable plan to keep Vick from going crazy.
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