It’s showtime for two Giants

By Andy Targovnik  |   Thursday, November 09, 2006  |  Comments( 3 )

New York Giants
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This Sunday night in front of a national television audience, the New York Giants will play their biggest regular-season game of the Tom Coughlin era against the NFC conference-leading Chicago Bears.

Unfortunately for the Giants, they're decimated by injuries. With Amani Toomer out for the year, Michael Strahan out at least two weeks and Osi Umenyiora doubtful, the Giants will turn to an underachieving wide receiver and a promising rookie defensive end to deliver big.

Maybe Toomer wasn't what he used to be, but he was still the most sure-handed receiver and best route runner the Giants had. Tim Carter, the 46th overall pick in the 2002 draft, will try to fill Toomer's shoes. Carter has showed flashes of promise, but has spent much of his 4½-year career hampered by injuries. He's also had some problems holding onto the ball.

Earlier in the year, in games against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, Carter showed some signs of life when he caught seven passes for 87 yards and a touchdown. But just as fantasy football players flocked to the waiver wire and claimed him, he went back to his old ways, having caught only three passes in the last four games.

Against a Bears team that loves to play the Cover 2 defense, he should get plenty of opportunities. The Cover 2 puts a lot of pressure on the opposing quarterback but usually provides plenty of single coverage on opposing receivers. Because Plaxico Burress (even though he's questionable, my guess is he'll play) and Jeremy Shockey should see any double coverage that the Bears throw at the Giants, Carter should get plenty of balls thrown his way.

On defense, it's never a good time to lose two All-Pro defensive ends. But this week, the timing is especially bad. When Rex Grossman has been given time to throw, he's been lethal; when he's been pressured, he's thrown completions, too - but to the opposing team.

The Giants haven't blitzed much this season and generally rely on a four- or five-man rush. So pressure from the line is imperative. Enter rookie Mathias Kiwanuka. When the Giants selected him in the first round in this year's NFL draft, many New York fans didn't see the need to draft a player who played a position that the Giants were already loaded at.

Kiwanuka started the last two games in place of Umenyiora and played well, recording a sack in each game. But those contests were against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Houston Texans, two of the easiest opponents the Giants will face this season.

This Sunday, though, the stakes are much higher. The winner not only takes a step closer to securing home field for the playoffs, but will get a huge psychological edge. And two Giants, in different places in their respective careers, have their chance to shine - when it counts.

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CommentsComments: 3  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
eli manning		09:40 AM
11/11/2006
id like to see the giants use a formation used by the saints where Barber and Jacobs at the same time...jacobs at fullback and ...
No.2
JayCee		11:21 AM
11/14/2006
Let's see - You forgot to mention that Tim Carter's "old ways" depend on - get this - a quarterback that can throw him the ball! ...
No.3
Run-route-wide-open		05:10 AM
11/20/2006
QB Eli Manning requires at least 4.5 sec to find everyone he can throw to, or he just picks one person and defenses watch and ...
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