Giants, Eagles looking for rhythm and first place in NFC East

by Chris Murray
For the NFC'Easter

The question for the New York Giants (5-2) as they come into this week's NFC East showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field is whether the offense and the defense are going to show up at the same stadium?

After the defense was shelled for 48 points by the New Orleans Saints the previous week, the offense couldn't get out of its own way in the Giants 24-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The New York offense committed four turnovers—including three interceptions by quarterback Eli Manning.

Against the unbeaten Saints, the Giants defense gave up 493 yards of total offense while the offense piled up 325 yards of offense, but the Giants offense could only muster 84 yards on the ground with the tandom of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw. But then again, the Saints put the Giants in such a big hole that the running game couldn't help theG-men.

And of course, the New York media is in a major tizzy over the first-place G-men who are tied with the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys in the loss column. One Big Apple scribe is comparing the Giants recent swoon to late last season when they lost three out of their last four before being eliminated in the divisional playoffs.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin said his team is not losing confidence and saw some good things from his team in the loss to the Cardinals.

“I think you take the game itself and try to take it apart for them. Cite some examples of the team we played last night. They go into Philadelphia on Thanksgiving (last year) and get crushed. Yet they beat Philadelphia in the playoffs and are the NFC rep in the Super Bowl,” Coughlin said.

“It is a long season now and a lot of things are going to happen. I think it is important to realize and to go do something about it. We did make progress to a certain extent, although not all the way. We made progress in our coverage and the pressure was better and therefore the coverage was better and the players were better within it.”

Even in the midst of their two-game losing streak, the Giants aren't panicking coming into Sunday's game against an Eagles team that eliminated them in last year's playoffs.

“We're not concerned. We knew it was going to be a tough battle, we have a long season left,” said Giants quarterback Eli Manning. “We are 5-2, we're not in a bad spot, we are going to get back to playing better football. We have a big game vs. Philly at Philly, it's a huge game. We know it's going to be a tough battle, but we have to go out there, play well and eliminate the mistakes.”

The Eagles (4-2) come into their second straight game against an NFC East opponent not playing exactly like a Super Bowl contender themselves. Even in Monday Night's 27-17 win over the hapless, chaotic Washington Redskins, the Eagles offense was inconsistent.

Oddly enough, that was an improvement over not showing up at all as they did in a shocking loss to a very bad Oakland Raiders team the previous week. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said there were some plays he'd like to have back, but the offense is not as bad people think.

“I wouldn't say that there's that much inconsistency. I would say, after the Oakland game, there were a couple of miscues and some things that we can obviously clean up. I thought last week that the offense played well, they played hard,” McNabb said.

“There were some throws that I would like to have back, but you have to give respect to them. They (Washington) are a top-five defense and haven't allowed a lot of points and for us to put points on the board against them is still a challenge. But still, just over the weeks I've thought we've gotten better, and minus the Oakland game, I thought we played hard and we played effective. We have to play really well this weekend.”

Outside of the offense's two big plays—a 67-yard touchdown on an end-around by DeSean Jackson and a 57-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to Jackson late in the second quarter-the Eagles offense didn't do much. The Redskins actually outgained the Eagles 308 to 262. McNabb was sacked three times. The Birds completed just 4-of-15 third down conversions.

“We could do some things better at times. We weren't always crisp like we needed to be, but that happens,” Jackson said after Monday's win over Washington. “It is football, sometimes the defense is going to win and sometimes the offense is going to win. We will go back into practice, work hard and hopefully next week we will put it together a little better.”

Meanwhile, Eagles head coach Andy Reid wasn't quite happy with the media immediately following Monday night's win suggesting that his offense wasn't consistent.

“Twenty-seven points – I don't think that's bad. I don't think that's a bad night. Should we have scored a few more in the second half? Absolutely,” Reid said. “Can we improve on things? Absolutely. We need to keep doing that. I'm going to enjoy this one though.”

Reid didn't budge on that position when he spoke to the media on Wednesday and said his offense did well against the Redskins defense, which ranks 5th in the NFL.

You guys would probably know the stats better than I, but there haven't been a lot of teams probably in the last 28 games or so that have scored 27 points on that team that we just played,” Reid said. “I know one of them was from a defensive standpoint, I understand that. We take [the points] as team. I know the other teams that played against them also played defense.”

Miles to Go, but Cowboys receiver is getting there.

By Chris Murray
For the NFC'Easter
Maybe it's way too early to start breaking out the annointing oil for Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin—who is beginning to emerge as Tony Romo's favorite go-to receiver.

He may not be on the same level as a Terrell Owens just yet, but the numbers that he's put up in the last two weeks for the Cowboys says a lot about his potential as that game-breaking receiver that the team was hoping to find in Roy Williams.

In the Cowboys 37-21 victory over the Atlanta Falcons last Sunday, Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The Falcons could do nothing to stop the speedy, 6-foot-3, 214-pound receiver out of Monmouth. Whether it was a comeback pattern or a crossing route, Austin had a penchant for turning big gains into big plays.

“Miles Austin had another great game,” said Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips. “I think one more makes you consistent. It's looking good with him. Tony's connected with him well. He's such a big threat once he catches the ball. He's a force right now out there for us and teams are going to pay attention to him.”

That was the case on the 59-yard touchdown pass from Romo that board the Cowboys up for good in the second quarter. Austin easily sped past Atlanta free safety Thomas DeCoud for the score. He also added another score in the third quarter. That score was the thing that got Dallas going.

“I think it was pretty much a spark, I think the guys got pretty fired up,” Austin said. “The defense responded afterward and we got a little roll going.”

Austin's exploits against the Falcons comes two weeks after a record-setting performance against the Kansas City Chiefs in which he set single-game team record with 10 receptions for 250 yards and two touchdowns-including the game-winner in overtime. Austin said he wasn't trying to make any statements or prove any points. It was all about striving for consistency.

“I just went out and tried to play to the best of my ability and I'm going to try to do that everytime I go out,” Austin said. “I'm going to play as hard as I can and that's all I can do.”

Indeed, Austin is a long way from the great receiver that Owens has been throughout his career, but he's out to a pretty good start. If anything else, he is developing a solid rapport with Romo and is making the plays to keep the Cowboys offense moving.

“Miles has been doing good things, He's been working hard for a long time waiting for his opporunity and now that he has it, he's doing well,” Romo said. “He's definitely a big part of this offense. I'm glad to see all the time and effort, hard work he's put in is paying off. He's a good guy who deserves what he gets.”

Coming into the '09 season, Austin had a caught just 14 passes and played on special teams as a kick returner. Last season was the first year he had any sigifnicant time at the wide receiver spot. He caught just 13 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. In the last two weeks, Austin has caught 16 passes for 421 yards and four touchdowns.

Austin didn't necessarily come out of a powerhouse program for wide receiver at Monmouth College, but he made the Cowboys in 2006 as a rookie free agent and plied his trade while working as a member of the Cowboys kick-return team.

Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman said he knew Austin had the ability to play at the wide receiver slot because of his size, speed and raw ability. He said once Austin got a solid grasp of the pro game, he knew that he had the potential to be something special.

“Once he understood how to run routes, read coverages and do those things and I've been saying that once the light comes on with this guy, watch out because he's going to be something special,” Sherman said. “He's a physical guy. When I first worked him out he was 235 pounds, he got that weight off him. He's just an explosive guy and he's strong, very strong.”

Even with all the sudden success that he has experienced in the last couple of weeks, Austin realizes that he and his teammates have a long way to go during the course of this season. With teams like the Eagles, Giants and Redskins on the horizon, Austin still has a lot to prove.

“I'm sure that when we see the film, they'll be a lot of things we want to change,” Austin said. “There's a lot of plays that I probably messed up on and lot of other guys have messed up on.”

Snyder Needs to Get Out the Way and Let Football People do their Thing

By Chris Murray
For the NFC'Easter
The removal of Redskins head coach Jim Zorn's playcalling duties and bringing in longtime NFL assistant Sherman Lewis as a consultant to call plays for the struggling Skins is the latest episode in the daily soap opera of an owner who runs the team like he's playing in the Yahoo fantasy football league.

While it's not news that the Redskins owner is woefully deficient in his football I.Q., you have to wonder why he didn't just go all the way and fire Zorn and get it over with rather than cutting off his gonads and allowing him to twist in the wind.

But as my significant other often tells me it's like bringing logic to a situation that steadfastly resists it. The Redskins during Snyder's tenure have been a classic example of a bizarre situation trying to figure out which way is up, something they have yet to figure out.

After all, this is an ownership that brought you Steve Spurrier with former Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel leading the offense until they found out that Vanderbilt and Kentucky don't play in the NFC East.

If the Redskins lose and the offense stinks to the point of being rancid again, will Snyder bring in a spiritual medium to conduct a séance so he can consult with Sid Gillman and Bill Walsh from the great beyond? Hey, he might get his spiritual guru to contact the late Jack Kent Cooke who might give young Daniel a piece of his mind on how the young man is running his once proud franchise into the ground.

Bringing in Lewis, who should have been a NFL head coach a long, long, time ago, means that Zorn is basically a dead-man walking. He wields as much power in the governing of the Redskins as Prince Charles does in the governing of Great Britain. All hail to King Zorn—the figure-head leader of the Redskins.

Zorn's situation reminds me of the Republican Congress in 1994 appointing the D.C. Control Board to run the affairs of the city after Marion Barry was re-elected Mayor of Washington. The Control Board reduced Barry to a figure-head mayor with no power. That's the plight of Zorn.

There were various reports that Zorn had to accept Lewis' role as the team's play caller or resign. Even with over $6 million left over the last two years of his contract, Zorn probably should have walked away based on principle alone. But since he's probably going to get fired at the end of the year, I guess he's going to grin and bear it. That is lot of money.

Granted, Zorn hasn't really done a good job with calling the offense, which ranks 23rd in the NFL in yards per game, 29th in scoring, 20th in passing and 23rd in rushing. Zorn simply lacked the experience when the Redskins hired him.

That brings us back to Snyder. It's one of thing to blame the head coach for being in over his head, Jason Campbell, who has seen a merry-go round of offensive coordinators or an injury depleted offensive line for the Redskins woes on offense, but the owner has to be held accountable because he put it all together.

For all of Snyder's wheeling and dealing, Jerry Jones-like behavior, the Redskins are 78-88 under his watch as owner with just two playoff wins. If he wants to emulate his role model—Jones (whose own Dallas Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since 1996) he has to humble himself and get out of his own way and let football people do their jobs. Jones has a bunch of Super Bowl rings to halfway justify his micro-management.

The evidence is overwhelming, Snyder's micromanagement hasn't helped this team win on a consistent basis. Vinnie Cerrato, the team's vice president of football operations, is another guy who is a mere figure head. The team needs a general manager, who knows the league. You mean to tell me with all of Snyder's millions, he couldn't pull in a legitimate general manager who knows something about the league?

Even a constant meddler like New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner realized after constantly bumping his head up against the ceiling because of his own meddling realized that you have to let people who know the game do their thing. Yankee general managers like former GM Bob Watson and current GM Brian Cashman have won championships for that team because Steinbrenner realized he needed people who had a better grasp of the game than himself.

Snyder needs to realize that his way has not worked and that his time to do something different. If he's a true business man, he'll find people good enough to manage his team.

If he keeps going the way that he's going, Snyder and his franchise will be the living definition of insanity which means doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.