W2W4: Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants Week 5

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By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

W2W4: Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants

Week 5 in the NFL season rarely is do or die time for teams but this season that is exactly what the matchup between the Eagles and Giants represent. Both teams are off to poor starts on the season, going 1-3 and 0-4 respectively but are still in contention because of how putrid the rest of the NFC East has been; the Cowboys are the lead dogs at 2-2 with the Washington Redskins playing as poorly as the Eagles and Giants at 1-3. This week represents a must win for both the Eagles and Giants as a win will put them right back into the thick of the division race and a loss will effectively end the season. For two teams playing so poorly the season is on the line now and here are some things to keep an eye on Sunday afternoon.

-Injuries Galore = Opportunities

Denver Broncos vs New York Giants Week 2 Recap/Grades

Frank Franklin II/Associate Press

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The third edition of the Manning Bowl this weekend did not exactly live up to the hype that surrounded it pre-game; unless you are a Denver Broncos fan. The Broncos ended up taking control in the second half of the game as big brother Peyton was able to hand little brother Eli his third loss in the head-to-head series. Eli’s New York Giants struggled to get anything going on offense and the defense just could not contain Peyton and the Broncos offense all game. I will break down the performances of each team by grading them out; each team performed on opposite sides of the spectrum and the grades will show that as the Broncos had the upper hand across the board.

W2W4: New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys Week 1

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2011/12/whos-going-to-win-between-the-ny-giants-and-dallas-cowboys.html

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

W2W4: New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys

Sunday, September 9^th 8:30 P.M.

The New York Giants will start the 2013 season in Dallas against the rival Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. The Giants will be putting their undefeated record on the line in Jerry World, as the Giants have won every one of their four visits there. The Giants will be looking to erase the bad taste left in their mouths from last season’s tough title defense and exact some revenge on the Cowboys who beat the Giants in the season opener last season at MetLife Stadium. Here are some things to keep an eye on for Sunday night.

New York Giants Preseason Wrap-Up

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The preseason for the NFL is an exciting time as fans get the first glimpses of their favorite teams; the new players the team brought in and the fresh slate gives every team the hope that this could be their year. That’s about all that is good with the preseason though as it reared its ugliest head throughout the process in injuries. One team that was hit hard with this was the New York Giants, who saw really no positives from the preseason. Here is a rundown of the preseason as a whole as the Giants gear up for the regular season opener on Sunday Night Football September 7^th in Dallas against the Dallas Cowboys.

-Injuries

Fox Sports/ AP Photo

2013 NFL Previews: New York Giants

Jason O. Watson/US Presswire

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Last Season:

A 9-7 season can rarely be categorized as a disappointment but that is exactly what 2012 was for the New York Giants; 2012 was a difficult one for Big Blue in more way than one. The defending Super Bowl champs had to face the most difficult schedule in the NFL and struggled with injuries once again throughout the season. Prince Amukamara and Kenny Phillips missed time throughout the season and Terrell Thomas was lost in the preseason once again to decimate an already thin defensive backfield. Justin Tuck battled a number of injuries all season and was ineffective, not registering a sack until the seventh game of the season.

All of this led to an underwhelming performance on defense for the Giants last season. They were atrocious all season long, ranking 31^st in yards allowed with 383.4 yards per game; 28^th in passing yards per game at 254.3 yards per game and 25^th in rushing at 129.1 yards per game. They did give up only 21.5 points per game, good for 12^th in the league, but they had a penchant for giving up big plays. The Giants actually gave up the most plays of 20+ yards in the NFL. Where the biggest problem for the Giants occurred was in the sack department. The Giants, whose defense relies on pressuring the quarterback, finished last in the NFL with only 20 sacks last season. A big drop-off from Jason Pierre-Paul and Tuck being hurt really hurt the Giants.

NFL Training Camp Battles to Keep an Eye On

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

We are almost halfway through the NFL Preseason and rosters are finally starting to take shape. Players are being cut to trim down to the mandated 53 man rosters and depth charts are being finalized for the start of the regular season. There are some teams that will need a little more time in figuring out their depth charts as position battles wage on throughout the end of training camp and into to the first week of the season. Here are some battles to keep an eye on throughout the rest of training camp.

Giants Minicamp Recap

AP Photo/Evan Pinkus

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The New York Giants wrapped up their mandatory mini-camp Thursday afternoon at the Timex Performance Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Here are 10 things that can be taken away from the mini-camp as it is the last time the Giants will be together until training camp opens at the end of July.

      1.)    Hakeem Nicks and Tom Coughlin look to be on the same page.  There was much made of Nicks missing the voluntary OTA’s and he would not discuss the matter at mini-camp this week.  The good news though is that he was in camp and looks healthy.  Nicks struggled through injuries last season as he broke his foot in OTA’s last year and was never able to fully recover for the season.  Coughlin has to happy that at least one of his two star receivers was at camp and ready to go.

Ahmad Bradshaw Bids Farewell to the Big Apple

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Ahmad Bradshaw’s New York Giants tenure officially ended today as he agreed to a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported. Bradshaw will receive a $250,000 signing bonus, $650,000 in per-game roster bonus and $1.1 million in base salary according to Pro Football Talk's source. The former Giants running back had an official meeting with the team this past Thursday and had been working out a contract ever since.

Bradshaw was one of a number of Giants veterans who were released this season because of salary-cap issues that needed fixing and to infuse some youth in the Giants roster.

The 27-year old Bradshaw will at worst will provide depth in the Colts backfield if not a starting running back. The main competition for Bradshaw will be former first-round pick and injury-riddled incumbent starter Donald Brown, second-year player Vick Ballard who impressed as a rookie and third-year player Delone Carter, who has struggled with injuries and fumbles.

New York Giants Draft Preview: Special Teams

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By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The NFL Draft is quickly approaching, as we get closer to the primetime opening round April 25^th.  This will be the sixth part in a series where I will discuss the current and needs for the upcoming NFL Draft for the Giants.

The sixth position I will take a look at is special teams.

Currently on the depth chart the Giants have Steve Weatherford at punter, Josh Brown and David Buehler at kicker, Jake Rogers who is a kicker/punter, long snapper Zak DeOssie, David Wilson, Andre Brown and Jerrel Jernigan at kick returner and Rueben Randle at punt returner. From last season, the Giants have let kicker Lawrence Tynes and punt returner Domenik Hixon leave; Tynes remains a free agent and Hixon signed with the Panthers.

New York Giants Draft Preview: Running Backs

Howard Simmons/New York Daily News

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

The NFL Draft is quickly approaching, as we get closer to the primetime opening round April 25^th.  This will be the first part in the series where I will discuss the current outlook and needs for the upcoming NFL Draft for the New York Giants.

The second position I will take a look at is Running Back.

At Running Back, the depth chart for the Giants goes David Wilson, Andre Brown (restricted free agent tender), Henry Hynoski, Da’Rel Scott and Ryan Torain. The Giants let two running backs from last season go in Ahmad Bradshaw, who was released and is still a free agent, and Kregg Lumpkin, also a free agent.