The worst NFL playoff team ever?

nosuzieno · 01-04-2007, 12:38 PM

Nice article!

Quote:

By Stephen Nover
Wed, Jan 3, 2007

Stephen Nover is Covers.com`s senior NFL analyst and a handicapper with Covers Experts.

It does sound tempting at first: Getting a whole +7 with the New York Giants against their division rival, Philadelphia.

It’s not like the Eagles, after all, are some great team. The more I look at it, though, the less interested I become in taking the Giants.

We’re talking about a team that has the lowest-ranked defense (25th) of any of the playoff squads with the worst pass defense (28th). New York has won exactly twice in the last two months. Those victories were against non-playoff teams, Carolina and Washington.

Heck, the Giants nearly blew a 20-point third-quarter lead to the Redskins in their final regular season game. The Giants were bailed out by one man and one man only – Tiki Barber.

In their last eight games, the Giants have allowed an average of 27 points per game. They can’t rush the passer, don’t stop the run very well and just lost starting cornerback Corey Webster for the season.

In the 36 years since Wild Card entries were added to the playoffs, only two 8-8 teams have managed to win in the playoffs.

But the biggest reason why I want no part of the Giants is simply that I don’t trust them. Too many of their players despise Coach Tom Coughlin.

“Philadelphia has a great chemistry,” professional sports bettor Dave Malinsky said. “The Eagles are maximizing everything they have. You get the feeling some of the Giants would prefer to lose and get Coughlin fired rather than win and have to come back and play for him.

“The Giants are just not playing with a lot of heart, intensity and emotion.”

Michael Strahan and Jeremy Shockey seem like the only Giants with any fire. Strahan is out and Shockey can’t practice because of a bum ankle. Barber is retiring. He also hasn’t had much luck against the Eagles this season and was held to 126 yards rushing on 40 carries, a 3.1 average.

Look, I haven’t been a fan of Jeff Garcia since he started going downhill with San Francisco in 2003, but how can Garcia, Brian Westbrook and the Eagles not pile up huge chunks of offense on a New York defense that surrendered close to 400 yards to the Redskins last week? The Giants have not held any of their last eight opponents under 20 points.

So it’s going to be up to the Giants offense. Good luck with that. The Eagles have clamped down on the run, holding their last three foes to an average of 110 yards on the ground. Even Bill Maas could figure out the Eagles are going to load the box and key on Barber while daring Eli Manning to beat them.

Manning has also yet to prove he can be effective in cold weather. He has completed 54 percent of his passes the last 12 games after hitting 67 percent the first four games.

The good news for the Giants was that before the Redskins game, Coughlin took play-calling responsibilities away from offensive coordinator John Hufnagel. The bad news was Coughlin thrust those play-calling duties on Kevin Gilbride. What, Dan Henning wasn’t available?

Gilbride did what any sane person would do in similar circumstances – he ordered Manning to hand the ball off over and over again to Barber, who responded with a career-best 234 yards rushing.

That’s not going to work against the Eagles on the road. Andy Reid may be overweight, but he’s not stupid.

If the Giants can’t beat the Eagles physically, they sure aren’t going to beat them mentally. Not with their back-biting, poisonous clubhouse. Want to see something scary? Look at New York’s recent playoff history:

2005 – Shut out, 23-0, at home in the first round of the playoffs by Carolina.

2002 – Lost in the first round of the playoffs to San Francisco, 39-38, by blowing a 38-14 third-quarter lead.

2000 – Lost 34-7 to Baltimore in the Super Bowl while establishing themselves as perhaps the worst team ever to reach a Super Bowl.

Now if the Giants get buried by the Eagles, they can also claim to be the worst team ever to make the playoffs.

Mr Nuts · 01-04-2007, 12:48 PM

I agree 100%
Giants are terrible.

Art Vandeleigh · 01-04-2007, 01:18 PM

Jeff Garcia is on the ride of his pro life, but he's good for at least one interception of a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage, and one fumble when he's dancing around outside of the pocket on one of his roll-outs and then getting the ball swatted from him after being blindsided. If the Eagles can survive his inevitable turnovers they will cover, but it's far from automatic, no matter how lousy Giants are.

nosuzieno · 01-04-2007, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Vandeleigh

Jeff Garcia is on the ride of his pro life, but he's good for at least one interception of a ball tipped at the line of scrimmage, and one fumble when he's dancing around outside of the pocket on one of his roll-outs and then getting the ball swatted from him after being blindsided. If the Eagles can survive his inevitable turnovers they will cover, but it's far from automatic, no matter how lousy Giants are.

I'll call your tipped ball and fumble with 2 Eli picks

I agree nothing automatic but I teased Philly with Indy to start off the playoff season...

Hoja Verdes · 01-04-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosuzieno

I'll call your tipped ball and fumble with 2 Eli picks

I agree nothing automatic but I teased Philly with Indy to start off the playoff season...

that's a death wish.

VegasDave · 01-04-2007, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoja Verdes

that's a death wish.

No way, people are overplaying the Larry Johnson matchup (not saying it isn't a big deal, but still)... Indy will take care of business.

nosuzieno · 01-04-2007, 05:20 PM

I figured if the Browns and Dolphins at home could beat KC whose only SU road victories came at AZ, ST L, and Oak, I'd have a fighting chance with 8-0 home Indy...

Razz · 01-04-2007, 05:55 PM

The Seahawks are the worst division winner ever.

babaoriley · 01-04-2007, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nosuzieno

I figured if the Browns and Dolphins at home could beat KC whose only SU road victories came at AZ, ST L, and Oak, I'd have a fighting chance with 8-0 home Indy...

Still, the Colts lost to the Texans, Titans, Cowboys and got killed by the Jags. Granted, all were on the road, but losing 4 of 6 (not even counting week 17) to close out the season doesn't inspire confidence in me. Also, in those losses, the Colts scored 14,17,17,24. Usually, when you think of a Colts loss, it's of the 35-31 variety. This Colts team simply isn't as good as prior Indy teams and they are trending poorly. Indy looked really, really good against Philly, at NE, and pretty damn good against Cincy. I guess teasing them down to .5 or even (whatever you got) is semi-safe, but ATS, I couldn't possibly force myself to wager on the Colts. I DO think the LJ factor will be a big deal, even bigger than people are making it out to be at this point. What does Indy do to contain LJ? Stack the box? Green's savvy enough to hit Gonzo/Kennison on quick gainers and then Kennison again on a deep TD. With the Chiefs controlling the ball, I just see their D being fresh enough to pull out a couple stops and win the game outright.

Best of luck, Raoul Duke, but this game terrifies me.

nosuzieno · 01-04-2007, 09:21 PM

I agree that -6.5 was a suspect bet, but at a pick? I'll take an undefeated home team against a poor road team, Manning over Johnson. yes, colts look great against great teams and poor against poor teams, playing up or down to the level of competition is the trend all year. While reviewing their record, with exception of Dallas who you mentioned, they beat playoff teams NYG, NYJ, NE and Philly, covering all but at NYJ. I expect a close game but I also expect a SU Indy win. GL all~