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NY Football Giants Defensive Coordinator Bill Sheridan has been fired!

Rumblings of Sheridan's possible demise have circulated since week 8 of this 2009 NFL Season after poor performances versus tougher opposition like the Saints, Eagles and Cardinals.

New York lacked passion and seemed very unorganized on the defensive side. A team that  has always been known for their tough defense gave up a ton of points against several teams including two horrible performances versus NFC East rival the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Giants could not muster up any pressure all season long, Osi Umenyiora was a huge disappointment this year and was even benched towards the end of the season. Key injuries to Kenny Phillips, Alford and Pierce along with Canty and Aaron Ross being hurt most of the year did not help the cause but the team just never looked prepared.

It was an over all failure, you can't just blame the secondary for giving up huge plays, you also have to blame the defensive line who gave opposing quarterbacks all day to throw the ball and pick apart an already decimated, weak and confused secondary.

The departure of Steve Spagnuolo turned out to be bigger than most anticipated. Spags brought innovative schemes and alignments that confused offensive lines. He knew when to call a blitz and when to fake one, you can't pick up that type of intuition by reading a play book.

Bill Sheridan needs time to develop as a Defensive Coordinator, hopefully he will get a chance to learn and get a feel for the position with another team. The Giants have a good enough team to compete for a Superbowl next year, we need a coordinator who is ready now to take a talented defense to the level we got used to under Steve Spagnolo.

Carlos Caicedo
GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009

The NY Giants get a needed win against NFC East rivals the Dallas Cowboys 31-24 in week 13.

New York played their most complete game in weeks versus Dallas. The defense played hard, they stopped the Cowboys running attack which few teams have been able to do. Tony Romo was under constant pressure which led to a few bad throws in very important situations during the game. The pressure also took away the deep ball to Miles Austin. Romo however did not play poorly he completed 41 passes, 14 of those to his favorite target Jason Witten.

The Giants also excelled on special teams where Domenik Hixon scored a 79 yard touchdown on a punt return. The offense made a few mistakes which included an Eli Manning interception and a drop in the end zone by Steve Smith but all in all they played a good game. Brandon Jacobs only had 39 yards rushing but he was running harder than in previous games which was great to see. He also had a rare catch which he turned into a 74 yard touchdown.

Big Blue is now 7-5 and only a game behind Dallas and are back in the playoff hunt in a huge way. The Gmen pretty much control their own destiny, they have key match-ups versus division rivals, next week against the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Washington Redskins after that. The Cowboys have a very tough schedule ahead which will provide an opportunity for New York to get back in and fight for the division with the boys and Philly.

This was a great win for the NY Football Giants, hopefully they can build some confidence and momentum in upcoming weeks and carry that to the playoffs.

Carlos Caicedo
GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009

The NY Giants season may be over. They shoot themselves in the foot by giving away a football game which was practically won vs. the San Diego Chargers in week 9.

They start the game with a good drive but like in previous weeks mistakes and mental lapses lead New York to a field goal attempt which they fail to convert. It's almost comical but for fans it hurts so much to watch this team just self destruct week after week.

The defense played much better than in past weeks, you could see the front four truly pushing and fighting in the trenches to try and apply pressure on Phillip Rivers.

The game goes into the 4th quarter with the Giants down 14-7. The defense stepped up in a huge way in this quarter, Justin Tuck was a beast and after a field goal and a touchdown Big Blue is up 17-14. It even gets better when Terrell Thomas intercepts a pass from Rivers and runs it back to the 4 yard line. The game at this point seems out of reach if New York scores a touchdown but the question loomed, could the G-Men put this game away or would they lack the killer instinct which has plagued them in the past?

The next set of play calls by Kevin Gilbride were horrendous to say the least. They run Brandon Jacobs who is still running like a ballerina, he rushes to the right and runs into his own offensive linemen who in turn holds the defender in order to open a hole for the big back. The penalty costs New York 10 yards of field position and my head starts spinning knowing that the G-Men may actually find a way to mess this up. The second down play gets us no where. Now it is 3rd down and we are in the red zone. You would think that Gilbride would take a shot at the end zone to put this game out of reach but instead he calls Brandon Jacobs number and the one time bruising back runs and gets stopped short of scoring. This call is absolutely ridiculous even if Phil Simms claims to understand the play call during the CBS broadcast. Why would you not take a shot at the end zone? Why wouldn't you try to do everything possible to win the game? The Giants settle for another field goal in the red zone and now lead 20-14 with 2 minutes to go.

The defense who had played so hard and applied so much pressure ran out of gas and Rivers exploited the secondary with short, crisp passes to his wide receivers. Corey Webster was outmatched all game long by Vincent Jackson and on the last Charger offensive play Rivers throws a ball to the corner of the end zone to a wide open Jackson for the winning touchdown. The San Diego Chargers drove the ball on the Giants defense with one timeout left and only 2 minutes on the clock to break our hearts! This was a MUST WIN game, the players played like it especially in the 4th quarter but the coaching staff did not.

Tom Coughlin and/or Kevin Gilbride displayed zero confidence in Eli Manning on that last 3rd down play where we could have sealed the game. New York is a team that is coming off 3 straight losses and has a chance to win a game by being aggressive instead they call a safe play which results in a field goal which leaves the Giants in a position to lose the game by 1 point. This has to be the most frustrating game I have watched all year.

Every week the NY Giants find a new way to lose a game, this week the players came ready to play and gave it all they had but the coaching staff let us down. The season seems like a lost cause at this point in time, even Tom Coughlin said we had to win this game and play as if it were a playoff game. Great way to show confidence in the players and Eli Manning by calling that "safe" 3rd down play in the red zone. Where is the killer instinct needed to be a Champion?

Carlos Caicedo
GiantsKickoff.com - Copyright 2009