http://www.newsday.com/sports/footba...2183494.column

Jaws keeps critical eye on Giants, Pats

Neil Best
January 27, 2008


It's a good thing the Super Bowl is only a week away. I believe the cafeteria ladies at NFL Films are starting to pick up on my tendencies.

Duty calls, though, so I schlepped here again three days after Valiant Tynes Day to watch tape with Ron Jaworski - this time with an eye on the biggest task yet for the Giants.

Can they beat the Patriots? Jaworski was not ready to make his official prediction, but he seemed to be leaning heavily toward New England.

The tape offered hints in both directions.

Our session focused primarily on the Giants' defense - which is charged with stopping the most prolific offense in NFL history - as it performed in frozen Green Bay.

Good news for Big Blue: Jaworski raved about the line, from Michael Strahan's disruptive rushes to the unsung tackles to how everyone remains on his feet against the run, helping maintain the "gap integrity" that was crucial to stopping Ryan Grant.

"Much like Dallas, they kicked the -- out of them up front," Jaworski said.

Then he aimed his pointer at Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora on a passing down.

"Their quickness presents problems for [Logan] Mankins and Matt Light," he said. "These two guys are a big key to the defense."

Jaworski noted a line stunt the two executed that freed Umenyiora to get in Brett Favre's face.

Bad news for Big Blue: There is clear vulnerability in the secondary, especially at safety and particularly in the person of James Butler, who looked painfully slow on several plays.

"These guys have big stars on them," Jaworski said of Butler and Gibril Wilson.

Butler was a central figure in several big plays. On Favre's TD pass to Donald Lee, it appeared he bit on a run fake and had no chance to recover when Lee ran past him.

Earlier, Butler failed to back up Corey Webster on the play that turned into a 90-yard touchdown pass from Favre to Donald Driver. But it appeared that primarily was the fault of Antonio Pierce.

The linebacker reacted to Favre's fakes, letting Lee run free. Butler came over to help, leaving the right sideline open for Driver. Butler gave chase but showed a severe lack of speed.

Jaworski was stunned by how often Steve Spagnuolo deployed press coverage, especially with two of his cornerbacks banged up. He said it is inconceivable the Giants will be so bold against the Pats.

"They are not pressing the Patriots; write that down," he said. "[Wes] Welker will catch 25 balls if they play this way."

On the other hand, he does not expect anything like the Jaguars' conservative approach, which Tom Brady patiently tore to shreds.

The Giants will take some chances, probably a good idea against a quarterback who is 9-for-9 for 91 yards and two TDs in the playoffs when the opponent rushes three defenders.

Jaworski expects as much: "Spags is crazy, man!" he said.

(Against Favre, the Giants blitzed on 13 of 35 dropbacks, and on those plays Favre was 6-for-13 for 43 yards with two interceptions for a 14.7 rating.)

The big question is whether Brady's hush-hush ankle injury will affect his mobility.

Before watching the Giants, Jaworski reviewed the AFC title game with ESPN's Sal Paolantonio to find out when the injury occurred. They settled on a third-quarter sack on which Brady got sandwiched and his leg bent awkwardly.

On offense, the Giants struggled against blitzes last weekend. After going 14-for-15 against pressure in his first two playoff games, Manning was 5-for-14 for 49 yards against an unusually heavy dose of blitzes by the Packers, according to stats compiled by the "State Farm NFL Matchup" staff.

The Giants produced enough, though, thanks in large part to Plaxico Burress. Jaworski had said a key would be how the Giants handled the Packers' press, bump-and-run coverage. Burress responded by badly outplaying Al Harris.

"I thought that he was absolutely phenomenal," Jaworski said. "He was very calm, he had a plan, he changed his moves at the line of scrimmage, he did a great job of setting up Al Harris."

Jaworski had studied the Dec. 29 Patriots-Giants game the day before and saw a Giants offense ready and able to compete. Manning was 11-for-16 for 133 yards and a TD against the blitz in that game.

"The Patriots didn't stop him," Jaworski said. "They pretty much went up and down the field."

Paolantonio, host of "Matchup," tweaked Jaworski for an opinion he (and others) expressed before that game. "Aren't you glad Coughlin rested his starters against the Patriots?" Paolantonio said.

Said Jaworski: "I admit my error. Coughlin knows his team better than I do."