OK, Eli Manning not getting rid of that fourth-down pass was bad, but the drop by Plaxico Burress was worse. He caught the ball and simply didn't control it when he made contact with the ground. If he holds onto the ball, the Giants could've taken two shots at the end zone. And how bad has Al Harris been in the first half?
He's just getting overpowered off the line of scrimmage, and then ends up chasing Burress from behind. One other first half note: Packers right tackle Mark Tauscher has made Michael Strahan invisible.
The oddly shaped Tauscher is getting in the first shot at the line of scrimmage and then doing a great job of anchoring. Strahan is so frustrated that he's not even attempting a bull-rush at this point. I think that's the most underrated part of this Packers team: Those two offensive tackles. (update: I accidentally called the Packers' OTs "overrated" earlier. Obviously meant underrated. Thanks for pointing it out).
Favre struggled out of the gates, but it wasn't really because of the pass rush. He just wasn't throwing the ball downfield. When he hit Driver on the 90-yard play, it started to open things up. I need to take a peek at the stats, but I don't think Ryan Grant has done any damage.
The biggest thing is that the Giants have stalled in the red zone after putting up a lot of yards. OK, I'm headed to find some bratwurst. Talk amongst yourselves for a few moments.
And know that I'm reading your comments as time permits, so continue to only say nice things. My keys to the second half:
- Tom Coughlin finding something to protect his head. I've never seen him this red-faced. It's actually tough to watch.
- Providing Al Harris with some help against Plaxico Burress. Right now, that's a complete mismatch.
- The Giants shouldn't ask Corey Webster to play press coverage on Greg Jennings or Donald Driver. They'll both destroy him.
- I think Kevin Boss could give the Packers some trouble if Eli Manning would look for him. I'm pretty sure the Pack defense allowed five 100-yard games by tight ends in the first half of the season.
- It's negative 3 degrees right now.
